ITB Ascona is finally progressing

[ravn99]

sweet welds,,,,,,great shaping,,,,my gt is on its way over!

[husker]

No doubt... awsome looking body work. If you are looking for some extra money I could line you up with some body work on my GT. I have drawings of the mods I want but I don't have the guts yet to start hacking... especially when I only have 6 hours or so behind the grips of a MIG. I plan on getting some misc body parts from a junkyard and practicing quite a bit...

Does anybody on the board do body work for hire??? I am looking to have some custom fender vents created and am looking at some local shops... I will have very detailed spec drawings completed soon...

[RallyBob]

I couldn't bring the racecar inside this weekend (not running, bad back), and decided instead to work on other components. I determined it was easier to replace the front nose clip rather than try to repair or patch together the old one. This is what is on the car now, you can see it's pretty bad.

[RallyBob]

The donor front clip is in better condition somewhat, but still needs work. The most obvious difference is this front clip is from a 1974 vehicle with big bumpers, so the cutouts for the bumper tubes need to be filled.....

[RallyBob]

Closeup of the big-bumper holes......

[RallyBob]

Patch panel in place......

[RallyBob]

Patch panel after final welding and grinding. I was careful not to overheat the sheetmetal while welding and grinding, so this patch will need minimal body filler.

Bob

[IT Manta]

I am not sure how I missed this thread bnefore Bob. Very informative. I will save your cage pictures to use as ideas to upgrade my built in '87 cage. Why have you not updated this thread in 5 months?

[Gary]

Originally posted by IT Manta
Why have you not updated this thread in 5 months?

It just *might* have something to do with the 27 other projects Bob has going on. I think RallyBob's day is 36 hours long.

[RallyBob]

ITB car has been parked since December. I've worked on smaller components, but not the shell.

Lately, I've worked on the GT-4 engine and associated updates for my friend's GT-4 Manta. It's a logbooked car, and is primarily in need of some TLC and an engine, but not a complete rebuild. So it's a lot closer to being done. I will be running the GT-4 car in exchange for the engine work (see 'Welcome a new Opel racecar' thread for details). The ITB car is not dead, merely hibernating.

Bob

[BQS4]

Bob;
Pardon me for asking what sounds like a dumb question, as I don't race, I hardly have time to even do the restoration on my Opels as it is, But, I notice that you're using a 4 dr Ascona Sedan. Is there a reason/advantage, or is it just what you have to prepare/run? Again, sorry for the dumb question.

[RallyBob]

It's what I had available to me. I'd have prefered a 2-door, as that model is lighter. The chassis of the Ascona and Manta are the same, and both are FAR superior to the GT in terms of handling. This is well documented in showroom stock racing of the early '70's, where the Manta dominated the class and was baned eventually...the GT was not competitive at all sorry to say.

The Ascona does have a bit better front/rear bias, 52/48% versus the Manta's 54/46%, but the aerodynamics do suffer. Not much of an issue at the tracks I will be running at, but it would definitely hurt at more 'open' tracks with higher average speeds.

The donor car has solid framerails, which is critical for a northeastern car...most are structurally unsound by now.

Bob

[RallyBob]

This car has found a new home!

One less project for me to work on....

Yeeha!

[GTJIM]

One less project for me to work on.... Yeeha!

As we get older we DO learn to prioritise -

Warmth
Food
Sex
OPELS
Beer

and not necessarily in that order!

[nobody]

Jim, scratch the beer and sex and your close. Even tho the two go together some of us don't partake in either. Tig or Mig and fab work are close.

[RallyBob]

The ITB Ascona has left the building....

Most assuredly, it has gone to a good home in Pennsylvania, to be completed by a guy with higher standards than myself.

Along with it went many used parts that were leftover bits from racing days past. These included parts from my own street cars, from old road racing cars, from old circle track racing Opels, and from my days of doing R & D when I was running my Opel shop here in CT. Altogether there's enough parts to put together a 150-160 hp 1800 lb. hillclimb car. Should be a blast!

Bob

[emircea]

Maybe this does not sound good, but I noticed a few weeks ago a 'going down' on the enthusiasm on the forum.

I also noticed that some of the people with the best expertise lost their interest or gave up their passions...

I totally understand them and I am sorry for this happening.

I'm sorry; even if I wasn't very active, I have read your various threads and some of them still make me dream (and damn, I'm 31, not a teenager anymore; in august I'm going to have a wedding and start a family). I just not feel very well when this happens.

[RallyBob]

Maybe this does not sound good, but I noticed a few weeks ago a 'going down' on the enthusiasm on the forum.

I also noticed that some of the people with the best expertise lost their interest or gave up their passions...

I totally understand them and I am sorry for this happening.

I'm sorry; even if I wasn't very active, I have read your various threads and some of them still make me dream (and damn, I'm 31, not a teenager anymore; in august I'm going to have a wedding and start a family). I just not feel very well when this happens.

As for me, it's just a matter of having to either find storage for my cars or get rid of them, because I have lost my previous storage space. Plus, if I can find a good home for a project car, I'd rather do that than crush it. I simply don't have the time and money to work on all these cars at once, so I am concentrating on the ones that are most important to me...I haven't lost enthusiasm, but I need to focus on the important ones (to me).

I have these project cars to deal with:
*1975 Manta road-racing car (most important to me right now)
*1972 Ascona wagon (road car, next important one to me)
*1971 Ascona rally car
*1973 GT convertible (for my father)
*1970 GT for Bonneville
*1975 Sportwagon
*1972 Manta rallye (hillclimb car)
*1973 Ascona (my old crashed road car...not sure what to do with it?)
*1974 Manta Luxus road car (turbo EFI 2.4)
*1973 Manta Luxus (I want to build a replica Manta GT/E from this)
*1974 Ascona, this is the first Opel I ever drove. It is the reason I started working with Opels. It needs a LOT of work, but it is important for the sentimental value. I just want to restore it.

Then I have a 1969 Kadett wagon I need to get rid of, and a 1975 Manta shell I need to cut apart. I just don't have room any more!

Bob

[neuropel]

Have truck, trailer, and storage space...will travel!

Todd

[nobody]

I understand the storage issues oh so well. No matter how hard I try things keep showing up that are too nice to throw out on top of the stuff already here. I know of two more GTs here in town but no way to do anything with them anytime soon for that exact reason.