Help Start/Tune Up 72 GT

[Qwick]

Is there anyone that lives around the Sacramento area. I live in Stockton CA and I just don't have the time and resources to work on my GT.

Right now I'm using my bike to get to work and I would really love to get my GT running.

I attempted to do it my self by installing the XR700 & Pertronix coil with no success. I bought the wrong XR700 (a discontinued one), so for right now I just want to do it the old fastion points tune-up way.

Before I install the electronic stuff the only problem I had was the gas needle was sticking. I have the new gas needle, but I don't have the time to work on getting it running and tuned.

I don't know very much about Opel's and I don't have the time right now to study the manual. I know alot about a 85 Toyota SR5 years back that I modified and it took me a while to learn that motor.

I would pay someone to help me, because I need the car like yesterday. If you know of someone that lives in the Sacramento area, would you have he/she respond to my post. My car is in storage on Calvine Road.

Thanks for you help!!!...

[Qwick]

Just checking to see if anyone knows a GT Opeler in Sacramento?

[kwilford]

It appears that our Northern California members are at the beach this week. Or would that be at the ski hill? Whatever, I would suggest that you call Gill Wesson or Dennis Gardiner at Opel GT Source (http://www.opelgtsource.com/ which is THE source for parts and advice for Opels) and ask their advice. They are in Sonora CA, and that looks to be fairly close to Sacramento (or at least it seems darn close compared to Calgary!)

HTH

[West Coast GT]

I'm about an hour away from Stockton and can put in a day this weekend.

1st - did you alter the wiring to the existing coil or distributor (other than hooking it up to the new equipment)?

2nd - You mentioned the car's is in storage on Calvine St? Could you elaborate? Is this a tow truck yard? A self-storage facility, or someone's home? It'll make a difference on which tools and equipment to bring along.

3rd - beer preference is Henry Weinhart's reserve - send private message if you want to work on it this weekend. (next weekend is the Goodguys Custom Rod & something or other event)

(at the beach..... that's not an unreasonable assessment given this week's weather. My office was forced to close due to the extreme fair weather conditions that prevented us from reaching the office)

[baz]

we are going to have to start a trust fund for our poor "cal" members so we can ship them up to keith for the winter (sort of a reverse snowbird thing)
it must be pure hell living in all that sunshine 50 weeks a year

[namba209]

Baz, obviously you don't know about "May Gray' or "June Gloom" here in SoCal, but the temps makes it worth staying without the big yellow orb. I would have assisted Quik, but it would have been one helluva commute.

Ron

[baz]

ron i remember one or two bogart films with rain but thought that was just CGI
must be hell the other 10 months though
and free e rides we only get the odd 3-5 to 4-1 her (where i live there are 7 fault lines and over where azzi lives i think theres 5or6 all normaly very quiet )

[West Coast GT]

You know, California gets far more snow than most eastern states.
It's just that we know enough to put it up in the mountains where we can go to play in it when we want to.
And keep the beaches open year round.

[namba209]

Keith is going to nail us for being off topic, again. We've got the mandatory 7-8 fault lines here inSANe DIEGO, and on occasion we get the fun of an unannounced "E" Ticket ride. We're lucky that they are not as severe as they have been in the L A area. Along with the extreme high cost of living, another minor inconvenience of living in America's Finest City.

Ron

[kwilford]

No worries, Ron, this is DEFINITELY "on-topic". At least with regards to California. And it IS in the "Open Discussions" forum, where darn near anything goes.

And what's a little earthquake now and again, compared to six months of pending instantaneous hypothermia and/or frostbite. Two months of "gloom"? When we went to CA few years ago in February, the Canucks stood out. As the only folks in the outdoor swimming pool. "Heck, Martha, don't them folks know it's only 78 degrees out?" Canada: land of six months of winter, and six months of bad sledding.

[Gary]

Ahh yes... reminds me of the time I went on a golf vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC with a bunch of guys. It was the first week of November and we decided to go for a swim. As I was coming out of the water I ran across a 'local' who was walking the beach wearing a winter jacket, gloves and a hat with ear muffs. She looked at me with this strange look on her face and I smiled and said "Just another crazy New Englander" as I dove back into the surf. Wish I had a camera for that one.

[BQS4]

HEY!!!
As a native of that area (I was born about 60 miles down the coast and spent my summers at Pawleys Island, again just down the coast) I resemble that remark!!

[West Coast GT]

It's Friday morning - haven't heard if you still want assistance. I'll keep checking during the day to see if you've left a message.

If you do want help this weekend, please post a private message as to how I can get in contact you you. Meanwhile, check your private messages as well, I've supplied my phone number.

You mentioned you're short on time and might pay to get the GT started. I don't take pay. But you need to put in the time.

[Old Hippie]

I liked SD when I lived there in 76. Was a SoCal person for 5yrs. If it wasn't for the cost of living, increasing numbers of basket people and bangers, I would have stayed. Nice Opel driving area!

[namba209]

Well, it used to be a good driving area. Now we have 10 lane parking lots during the morning/evening commutes. We're paying the highest gas prices in the nation and are in the top 5 for highest cost of living. I just wish all the tourists would go home, then I and all the other natives would have the roads to ourselves. I keep telling folks 90% of the people in CA are lousy drivers, the other half of that equation is, 10% of the people here are natives. It must be the weather.

Ron

[Qwick]

Thanks West Cost GT, I sure would appreciate your help and I would also put in the time also.

My car is in self-storage. The location is 8740 Calvine Road and called Calvine Self Storage. I don't have a timing gun (going to have to purchase this for the future anyway) or a dwel meter.

The only wires that I removed from the orginal coil was a ignition system called a Tiger 500 ignition something. Off hand I don't remember the exact name. I still have it and didn't through anything away.

I called Opel GT Source Wednesday about the XR700 and Gil said it should still work on my GT, but I don't know the GT engine very well I could use your help.

The problem I'm having is, the optical reader is not hitting the shutters 4 slots for ignition. It lands between the slots and I can't get the distributer adjusted correctly. Gil said I should be able to move some "S" shaped plate to adjust the reader.

I work Saturday from 7am to 330pm, Sunday I'm off. Would you be avalible Sunday?

I had great help from namba209, via forum, but being a newbie to the GT some of the knowledge was going over my head, and I don't have a GT machanics book.

I give you a call on my lunch break Saturday maybe around 11:30AM.

[GTJIM]

There is a reprint of a very good workshop manual presently available - it is often offerred on EBay for around $27.95.

Printed by Brookland Books, its library No. is ISBN 1 870642 864

The cam timing drawing is even correct!

Pic of cover:

[Qwick]

Thanks GTJIM, I'll try to pick that book up!...

[opelbits]

Originally posted by kwilford No worries, Ron, this is DEFINITELY "on-topic". At least with regards to California. And it IS in the "Open Discussions" forum, where darn near anything goes. And what's a little earthquake now and again, compared to six months of pending instantaneous hypothermia and/or frostbite. Two months of "gloom"? When we went to CA few years ago in February, the Canucks stood out. As the only folks in the outdoor swimming pool. "Heck, Martha, don't them folks know it's only 78 degrees out?" Canada: land of six months of winter, and six months of bad sledding.

Back in Feb. 97, my wife and I went to S.F. to visit friends. One day we decided to drive down to Monterey. We took a side route down 17 Mile Drive. At one point I really had to make a pitstop, so we stopped at a reststop/restroom building in one of the parking areas along the beach. It was about 40 degrees with a serious wind coming off the water. The kind that cuts right thru your clothes. Anyway, I'm in the restroom when these two guys come in. Both about 40-50 years old. They sit down and start removing their clothes. I thought this was a little odd. After I was done doing what I had to do, I turned around and they were both standing there in solid color swimming trunks (looked like underwear) and boots. I guess they noticed the rather curious look on my face and promptly said, "It's o.k. We're Canadian." Then they ran out into the water, like two very large, very white, oddly dressed, but quite happy penguins.

[West Coast GT]

Qwick - sorry I had to bail out on Sunday, but I got ahold of a bad Spam & egg sandwich at the Hawaiian barbacue shop, and, well, things just had to run their course (pun intended).

Here's my understanding:
The car's been in storage since 1984.
Recently you attempted to fire it up, put some new gas in the tank. It would fire on Hot-Start, but never really ran on it's own.
Next you substituted the original points/coil for the electronic units.

Here's my suggestion for our plan for this Sunday.
1. Pull the top of the Carb and dump some fresh fuel in the bowl.
2. If you've got the battery with you, make sure it's charged up. Otherwise I'll have jumper cables with me and we'll top it of as we prepare the engine.
3. Give it a shot correcting the new elect. ign,. system, so bring all the instructions please.
4. Check plugs/wires for good condition (I've already plotted the closest Kragens & Auto Zone stores incase we need to run over and pick some up).
5. Check Timing, spark, fuel delivery.
6. Fire it up.

If we simply can't get it to run, let's put the original points/coil back in. We'll try to get it to the point where you can drive it home where you can spend time on it. In an environment that has light & electricity.

Bring basic tools, elrct ign instructions, Hot-Start......
I'll bring the timing light, Opel manual, dwell meter, jumper cables, spark plug cleaner, battery post cleaner, ....

You wouldn't happen to have AAA Plus membership would you? It's good for 100 free miles tow.

[Qwick]

Hi West Coast GT,

I've been so busy this week that today I actually had time to get on the internet.

Guest what?........

Wednesday I was unsuccessful with the ign equip so I just bought a timing light and points and put them in and "yaw lah" I now have it running.

...but it runs awfully bad, can't get it to idle correctly, black smoke comes from the pipes even after letting it run for a while. I had to hold the butterfly open so if would not turn off.

Tried to drive it and it putters, have no excellaration, can't go any faster than 30 to 35 mph. Sounds like I need a valve adjustment.

Friday night I drove it home on the freeway and I had my friend follow me with her emergency lights on so erveryone would go around me. Try to imagine me puttering down the highway doing 35 mph.

...so now I have my car here in Stockton, and now I can work on it everyday...

Any suggestion on how to get it running properly base on it's condition?

[greensmurf20]

CHECK DWELL!!!....caused me lots of problems. you'll need a dwell meter to check it or get it set but a set of feeler guages should get you close enough for the time being. if your not familiar with points all you gotta do is turn the motor over with the cap off so you can see the points and rotor and such, there will be 4 raised points on the distributor shaft that open and close the points....put the motor in a spot, any spot, it dont matter, so long as the points are open to the full extent. loosen the screw a little bit and move the points around until you get the desired gap between them when fully opened..... .018 i believe, but please dont quote it. then i'd adjust the valves, set the timing again, and then adjust the carb and recheck to see that everything is still correct.

[Qwick]

Thanks greensmurf20, I'll do that this Sunday and let you know how successful I was later that day.....

[West Coast GT]

Good News! Congratulations!

I'm glad I checked the forum tonight. I just finished packing up the tools & equipment for the trip to Sacramento in the morning and would have shown up out there.

Anyway, the rough running could be the old fuel, and possibly water moisture that's separated out in it. Also, as the fuel evaporated from the carb, it may have gummed up some small orifices.

Since there's no good way to dispose of bad gas, your best bet is to leave the car be, blend in good gas to dilute the old bad stuff, and just run it through the engine. Just burn through the tank, adding some occasionally to further dilute it. If the car begins to run better, then chances are fuel was bad and part of the problem.

Eventually, when the engine doesn't seem to make any more improvement, then it's time to start fixing things. Replace your original fuel filter. I'd recommend adding an additional filter. You can get one of those inexpensive clear plastic ones like we used to throw on Volkswagons. But install it ahead of your real filter so that it fills with all the crap first.

Next, fill the fuel tank again, this time adding fuel treatment to pick up that moisture and clean your lines.

Then look to clear the carb out, again after several hours of running and the engine has stabilized. You can order a gasket kit or re-build kit from OGTS. But what I'd do 1st is pick up an aerosol can of carburetor cleaner. With the engine running, spray the outside body and linkage down to remove dirt and crud buildup (I start with the outside because I get immediate satisfaction of seeing results when it looks clean). Still, with the engine running, spray the butterflys. The engine will most likely stutter so go at a pace the car can take. Try not to let the engine stop. When its running relatively smooth again start spraying the inside walls of the carb & any surfaces in there.

After it's stabilized again, shut the engine down and pull the top off the carb, and spray orifices and such. If you're feeling good about it, take the carb off, drain the fuel, open it up, and spray the jets and orifices.

And if you're feeling really good, rebuild it.

The key on all of this is to limit the number of variables. So keep making sure it's stable before introducing a new potential problem.

Anyway, again, great news. Call me at the cell number I gave you last week if you get stuck. I'll keep the phone with me tomorrow, Sunday, just in case.


Oh Yeah, might want to change that oil. What's happened over time is the interior walls will have condensate running down into the oil, from which acids will form, thus etching bearings and such. Chances are you evaporated the moisture during your trip back to Stockton. But the acids may still be in there.

[Qwick]

Thanks West Coast GT, I'll call you when I need some help!...