Kadett LS 'sprint' fabrications . . . a little 'eye-candy'

[tekenaar]

Since I finally found a suitable aircleaner (TE-2800) for my 'sprint' manifold, being shipped from Germany as we speak, I thought I'd better get busy fabricating the two manifold support braces still required and not yet made.

I couldn't just copy the dimensions of the original supports, which I didn't have in any case, because I moved my alternator to that side of the engine and its mounting bracket interferes with the manifold's original front support mounting position, the engine 'ground-strap' bolt. So I redesigned the 'original' support to be mounted from the rear, lower alternator bracket bolt instead.

Here's how Kadett engine is now . . . you can clearly see the alternator bracket's rear mounting bolt I'm going to use to mount the front manifold brace . . .



. . . and here is the 'sprint' manifolds mockup on my spare engine . . . and yes, I will be using the exhaust manifold brace too (rear intake support lower mounting bolt) . . .



. . . did you notice my intake/exhaust 'allen-head' mounting bolts!

[dallasmanta]

Very cool Otto are you going to swap the new engine from the engine stand to the car or is that just your test lab?

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Since I finally found a suitable aircleaner (TE-2800) for my 'sprint' manifold, being shipped from Germany as we speak, I thought I'd better get busy fabricating the two manifold support braces still required and not yet made.

Sorry I couldn't find you those dimensions Otto, I have no idea what I did with those brackets. Still haven't found them.

Bob

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Sorry I couldn't find you those dimensions Otto, I have no idea what I did with those backets. Still haven't found them. Bob

. . . no problem, Bob, although I think I know what your problem finding them again is . . . you've been looking for backets!

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by dallasmanta Very cool Otto are you going to swap the new engine from the engine stand to the car or is that just your test lab?

No, just gonna swap it with the stock Solex setup in the first pic . . . engine on stand will be used for my 2.1 "BB" project . . .

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by tekenaar . . . no problem, Bob, although I think I know what your problem finding them again is . . . you've been looking for backets!

Man, I can't win with you!

I DID manage to find my NOS 40 DFI Webers however, and those have been MIA for about five years. They are identical internally to the DFO's, except these were brand-new, and the tops do not have the tall choke towers. So a more conventional air filter can be used. I had one of them for reference, but the other two I hadn't seen in years until last week. So I can finally assemble my ported/powdercoated Sprint intake, and the TruCraft-produced billet air cleaner tops with the new carbs.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Man, I can't win with you! I DID manage to find my NOS 40 DFI Webers however, and those have been MIA for about five years. They are identical internally to the DFO's, except these were brand-new, and the tops do not have the tall choke towers. So a more conventional air filter can be used. I had one of them for reference, but the other two I hadn't seen in years until last week. So I can finally assemble my ported/powdercoated Sprint intake, and the TruCraft-produced billet air cleaner tops with the new carbs.

. . . comes with age, Bob! . . . I did modify my manifold per your suggestions to get more even vacuum for the brake booster though!

. . . could you take some pics (4 sides) of one of your NOS DFIs and either post them here or PM them to me for my reference . . . puhleeze!

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by tekenaar . . . could you take some pics (4 sides) of one of your NOS DFIs and either post them here or PM them to me for my reference . . . puhleeze!

I can take pics, but still can't post them Otto. At some point I hope to be able to do that again, but it won't be for a while.

[2 Fast 4 U]

Originally Posted by tekenaar . . . engine on stand will be used for my 2.1 "BB" project . . .

2.1

[opelwasp]

I have heard of others making a "T" shaped bracket that connected the 2 carbs and then bolts to the motor mount. It apparently works great for dual DCOE's.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by 2 Fast 4 U 2.1

Heel goedkope 2.1 (93mm x 77.5mm = 2106cc), alles buiten de krukas blijft 1.9 onderdelen . . . . . . natuurlijk moeten de zuigers dan ook nog een stukje van boven afgeslepen worden.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by opelwasp I have heard of others making a "T" shaped bracket that connected the 2 carbs and then bolts to the motor mount. It apparently works great for dual DCOE's.

Actually much easier to do on this 'sprint' intake since an "emissions" plenum joining all four individual runners already exists . . . you just need to enlarge some holes that are already there! Nothing extra to plumb externally . . .

[RallyBob]

I have heard of others making a "T" shaped bracket that connected the 2 carbs and then bolts to the motor mount. It apparently works great for dual DCOE's.

Originally Posted by tekenaar Actually much easier to do on this 'sprint' intake since an "emissions" plenum joining all four individual runners already exists . . . you just need to enlarge some holes that are already there! Nothing extra to plumb externally . . .

Otto, I think he means the carb stabilizer brackets, not the vacuum connections...

[2 Fast 4 U]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Heel goedkope 2.1 (93mm x 77.5mm = 2106cc), alles buiten de krukas blijft 1.9 onderdelen . . . . . . natuurlijk moeten de zuigers dan ook nog een stukje van boven afgeslepen worden.

Daar is de 2.2 krukas voor

[tekenaar]

Still busy with details getting my air cleaner paid for and shipped here, so I thought I'd take some time today to attend to some small details. By comparison, the primary carb-side throttle linkage pivot which attaches to the Kadett's firewall is closer to the engine for the stock Solex than the new DFO pivot will be by 2¾".

Since both are mounted at the same height, I didn't really want to drill additional holes in the firewall just to move the pivot bracket outwards, so I fabricated a bracket that uses the original Solex bracket mounting holes and allows the new DFO bracket to be mounted in the proper place too.



All that remains to be done now is to lengthen the primary throttle control rod that goes behind the engine by the same amount as the pivot bracket will be moved. I will cut the rod, thread both cut ends and then insert a threaded tube of the proper length between the threaded ends and fasten it in place with two jam-nuts.

[rallye73]

Otto,
Did you still want/need the measurements for the support brackets? I know I have at least one of them sitting in my shop with my intake I could easily photograph and measure. Let me know.

Darrin

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by rallye73 Otto, Did you still want/need the measurements for the support brackets? I know I have at least one of them sitting in my shop with my intake I could easily photograph and measure. Let me know. Darrin

Thanks, but already fabricated them specifically for my Kadett . . . had to modify front brace from original's dimensions (1st post in thread).

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Still busy with details getting my air cleaner paid for and shipped here, so I thought I'd take some time today to attend to some small details. . . . . so I fabricated a bracket that uses the original Solex bracket mounting holes and allows the new DFO bracket to be mounted in the proper place too. All that remains to be done now is to lengthen the primary throttle control rod that goes behind the engine by the same amount as the pivot bracket will be moved. I will cut the rod, thread both cut ends and then insert a threaded tube of the proper length between the threaded ends and fasten it in place with two jam-nuts.

To fabricate this adapter bracket correctly, I measured the distance between head/manifold surface in my Kadett and the Solex throttle throttle pivot, 5.5" . . .



and then measured that same distance on my 'sprint' DFO mock-up on my spare engine, 8.5".



Piece of cake I thought - just move my NOS pivot bracket out 3" from the original and fabricate simple adapter to do just that using the Solex pivot bracket original mounting points. Both original Solex and NOS (DFO) throttle pivot brackets share the same mounting bolt spacing . . . so, bonus, even simpler!

Measure, measure, measure, measure . . . center punch, center punch, center punch, center punch . . . drill, drill, drill, drill . . . tap, tap . . . and adapter bar for DFO pivot bracket is done. Spray adapter bar to make it pretty and assemble NOS pivot to it.

Hmm, let's just go mock it up in my Kadett . . . unhook throttle spring, unscrew, unscrew, fit new adapter behind Solex pivot bracket, screw, screw . . . and measure NOS pivot bracket.



What the hell, it measures 7.5"! . . . one inch shy! . . . what the ????

Well, I knew my measurements and my math were "spot-on" . . . I mean how difficult is 8.5 - 5.5!! A little closer look at both throttle pivot brackets soon revealed all . . . D-OH!

While both pivot brackets share their mounting bolt spacing, I had assumed they also shared pivot point locations, they don't. I had used the NOS pivot bracket, center pivot point, as a template for all my measurements and assumed that the Kadett's original Solex bracket also used a center pivot point . . . it doesn't, it's pivot is near the edge away from the engine.

. . . just so happens to be exactly an inch difference between the way it was measured and where the stock pivot point actually was . . . mystery solved and lesson learned . . . don't assume ANYTHING! . . . it IS an Opel after all!!

[opelspyder]

What are you going to use for your thermostat housing? I saw the DFO setup used a side mounted neck for clearance. I also saw the linkage was a little tricky on the original setup as well, like one main rod goes all the way to the front bracket, then a rod goes back towards the fire wall and connects the two??? Who knows. Maybe not having everything like the sprint had it is not a bad thing
Keith

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by opelspyder What are you going to use for your thermostat housing? I saw the DFO setup used a side mounted neck for clearance. I also saw the linkage was a little tricky on the original setup as well, like one main rod goes all the way to the front bracket, then a rod goes back towards the fire wall and connects the two??? Who knows. Maybe not having everything like the sprint had it is not a bad thing Keith

Keith,
There are at least two types of distinct throttle linkages of which I'm aware. I have a complete copy of the sprint 'differences' manual published by Opel in 1968. In two different pics in the DFO section it shows both a single main throttle shaft . . .



and a dual main throttle shaft, one below the other. It says nothing about the use of either approach, so I assume it's just model dependent.



My Rekord C/Commodore A manual in German that also covers both the 'sprint' Rekord and Commodore GS (2.5 CIH-6 with twin progressive Zenith two barrels on it) states that the sprint option was available on all Record C models inluding the Caravan!

There are also two different types of "on-carb" throttle levers - one hangs down from the engine-side throttle gear (mine) and is pushed by the link from the manifold main throttle shaft, the other points up from the engine-side throttle gear (yours) and is pulled by the link from the manifold main throttle shaft.

Obviously, opposite rotation main throttle shafts require unique linkages to be fabricated regardless of the car in which it's going. HTH

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by opelspyder What are you going to use for your thermostat housing? I saw the DFO setup used a side mounted neck for clearance. I also saw the linkage was a little tricky on the original setup as well, like one main rod goes all the way to the front bracket, then a rod goes back towards the fire wall and connects the two??? Who knows. Maybe not having everything like the sprint had it is not a bad thing Keith

Yep, another problem to solve . . . test-fitted bottom of a standard '2-bolt' T-stat and while it looks tight, may have to try grinding the rear water neck mounting area a bit and just plugging the rear-facing heater hose outlet and use an FI ('75) fitting in the block drain plug . . . that's just from a quick 2-minute look-see though. Maybe the FI T-stat housing is a solution too.

Thanks for the alert, so busy thinking about all the other 'conversion' issues that I completely overlooked this one . . .

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Yep, another problem to solve . . . test-fitted bottom of a standard '2-bolt' T-stat and while it looks tight, may have to try grinding the rear water neck mounting area a bit and just plugging the rear-facing heater hose outlet and use an FI ('75) fitting in the block drain plug . . . that's just from a quick 2-minute look-see though. Maybe the FI T-stat housing is a solution too. Thanks for the alert, so busy thinking about all the other 'conversion' issues that I completely overlooked this one . . .

Alternatively you can mod the t-stat housing like this:



I've done this for quite a few tight fitments...DCOE intakes, EFI intakes, my own Sprint intake.

Bob

[opelspyder]

Will the top of the neck clear the carbs on that DFO setup? Or did they use that setup due to that special air cleaner setup? Also I received my Carbs from you OTTO..thanks
Keith

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Yep, another problem to solve . . . test-fitted bottom of a standard '2-bolt' T-stat and while it looks tight, may have to try grinding the rear water neck mounting area a bit and just plugging the rear-facing heater hose outlet and use an FI ('75) fitting in the block drain plug . . . that's just from a quick 2-minute look-see though. Maybe the FI T-stat housing is a solution too. Thanks for the alert, so busy thinking about all the other 'conversion' issues that I completely overlooked this one . . . Originally Posted by RallyBob Alternatively you can mod the t-stat housing like this: I've done this for quite a few tight fitments...DCOE intakes, EFI intakes, my own Sprint intake. Bob

Nice work as usual, Bob!

After my very quick 2-minute 'Look-See' last night, I did some further mock-ups to address this till now overlooked potential problem area . . . glad I did!

First I mocked up a T-stat used on all the stock, Solex 1.9 engines . . .



. . . doesn't look close even with some grinding of problem areas and using Bob's ideas, there's just not enough 'meat' on the rear T-stat neck mounting ear to clear the DFO accelerator pump . . . I'd be real worried about leaks and being able to tighten that rear bolt! Believe me, using the stock 'carb' T-stat was my preference!

Not one to let this minor set-back stand in my way, I went on to my second thought last night, a '75 FI T-stat housing, mocked it up and have pretty much decided to go with this solution in my Kadett, as it most elegantly solves all the problems . . .

1. No mods at all needed for clearance . . . the biggest problem, IMO.
2. No futzing with the block drain plug . . . always a real PITA!
3. All holes already there for FI sensors can be used, only 'heater hose' nipple hole at rear of T-stat housing needs to be modified, enlarged and retapped.
4. Coolant refill "burp" petcock is easily added . . .

. . . so here it is then with some notations of my intended usage added.

[RallyBob]

Hmmm, I don't recall there being any clearance issues with mine. Did you install phenolic spacers like I did?

Bob