Tow bars and tie in's for the 1900?

[Gary Sullivan]

I was planning on rigging my Ascona to tow and I would like to do 4 wheels on the ground. Any of you who have done that have any recommendations as what tow bars and base plate arrangements work best. I have a 75 and the manual says don't tie in to the bumper or its hardware. Ideally, I would like something that breaks away pretty easily. Looks like I probably need to drop the lower valance unless their is a clever way to gain access to frame members up higher.
An additional question: Any of you use those drop down beetle tow bars? They are pretty lightweight, but so is the Ascona.
Appreciate any insights.

[heimue]

Gene,

I guess you can post some pictures from your modified tow bar for the Kadett? Its not the easiest thing to fabricate, but for long hauls there is nothing better if you want to go 4 wheels on the ground!

Dieter

[oldopelguy]

If you're going to Carlisle I can bring you a base plate you can either give me a little bit for or copy to make your own.

For Anonymous D's sake I'll add the following disclaimer on the rest of this post:
Obviously my experiences with and recommendations for towing and tow bars come from my own personal experience with tens of thousands of miles of auto transport and are just recommendations given freely on the internet. Ultimate responsibility for the tow rig and all it's parts is up to you.

Basic tow bar base plate for the big-bumper Ascona and Mantas mounts in the front frame rails in place of the front bumper and bumper shocks. Once you've disconnected the wiring for the front lights at the back of the headlight bulbs in order to remove the front bumper complete with it's shocks all you have to do is pull the two clips holding the ends of the shocks in place inside the wheel wells. These clips are just like the ones that hold the end of the rubber brake lines in place, you'll see them on the back of the pockets for the shocks and once you get the grime and undercoating off they're pretty obvious. They may be a pain to get off that first time.

Once the shock clips are off you should be able to pull the bumper away from the body with not much more than a tug at each end. Some times the rubber strip between the bumper and the body is attached to both, sometimes not, so you may also have to remove a couple screws or clips there. Careful tugging on the wiring and you should be able to pull the whole thing free. If you're planning on using the tow bar a lot I would recommend installing a couple trailer wiring plugs just behind the bumper on each side for the lights, it'll make pulling the bumper a 5 minute job and you'll be able to use the car side of those plugs to hook into the wiring to supply power to the Opel to light up it's marker and turn signal lights from the vehicle you're towing it with. Sure you get amber turn/brake bulbs in the back, but that's actually legal in most states and you don't need to run magnet lights to the back of the car while it's in tow.

Now with the bumper off you have a couple of 1.5" or so sockets in the front of the car. Believe it or not, once you fish a small black plastic gasket/seal out of those sockets they are exactly the same diameter as 1.25" water pipe. Get yourself a couple pieces of said water pipe about a foot long and insert them into each of the pockets, shooting for their ends sticking out a couple inches from the front most part of the nose of the car. A sturdy piece of 2" angle steel cut to length will then be welded to both of the pipes linking them together and giving you a nice flat front to mount your choice of tow bar to.

With the angle welded on you'll then need to drill a 1/2" hole in the angle as close to the center of each of the pipes as you can. Now get yourself two pieces of 1/2" all-thread, the grade 5 or 8 stuff from McMaster Carr if you can, (though I've gone thousands of miles with regular grade-2) along with a pair of hardened washers, lock washers, and lock nuts for each rod. (You can double-nut them too, total of 8 nuts.) Slide your threaded rod through the hole in the end of the tube, the hole in the flat face of the angle steel, all the way to the back of the bumper pocket in the front of the car and on out the hole in the back that the shock previously stuck out of. Stack a flat washer, lock washer, then your nuts on each end and tighten up to firmly retain the pipes into the pockets.

The all thread is only loaded in tension, the pipe is in compression, and as long as the angle is welded on well the two pipes and pockets in the front of the car share any sideways loads on the front of the car. The all-thread goes through the angle in case your welds break and both ends are easy enough to get to. With the bumper out of the way the two loops welded to the front pockets are easy to get to to attach safety chains on the front to back everything up as well. All neat and tidy, no messing valances or front spoilers, and easy to install/remove when you get to your destination.

Your mileage may vary, and I'll see if I can dig the one I've got here up and snap you a pic or two.

[Gary Sullivan]

Thanks for the pointers. That was very helpful and makes a lot of sense.
I think I probably will be down there Saturday, but I have some little surprise plumbing issues which have popped up and I won't know for sure till probably tomorrow sometime. Greatly appreciate your assistance.

[BQS4]

Originally Posted by heimue Gene, I guess you can post some pictures from your modified tow bar for the Kadett? Its not the easiest thing to fabricate, but for long hauls there is nothing better if you want to go 4 wheels on the ground! Dieter

I will post pics when I get back from Carlisle (current located)

[dallasmanta]

I have a two piece tow bar set up for a big bumper manta that I had made in Sacramento in 86 that i used to tow my 75 behind my bmw to TX. This setup required to drill two holes in the bottom of the bumper that holds the car mount piece on the car there are two additional install points that use the loops on the bottom side of the bumper energy shock mount to keep the keep the pulling and pushing from collapsing the bumpers. This whole set up is connected via a removable tow bar and uses a 2 inch receiver. If any one wants to see what it looks like I will post pictures. Ron

[Gary Sullivan]

Thanks for the responses. Yes, I would dearly love to see pix of any tow setups or base plates. This is very helpful. (The Ascona is a bit more complex than the GT's. Years ago with my GT I only had to pull the grill and fabbed a braced U bar to fit between the frame rails). Thanks again.