New Sportwagon owner

[opelenvy]

I too have joined the ranks of the Sportwagoneers. The SW previously owned by Scott Delohery made the trip from Petersburg, VA to Austin, TX, roughly 1500 miles. Scott drove it to Birmingham, AL where I met him via a Greyhound Bus (never again). Scott's leg of the trip was flawless except for blowing off an A/C hose. I got the car and headed back towards Austin. Somewhere in the middle of Louisiana I smelled antifreeze, saw the temp start to rise, and shut her down. Once the steam cleared I saw that the heater hose going into the block next to the exhaust manifold had finally had enough of all the age and heat and decided to blow out. Well of all the stuff I did bring in preparation for any mishaps, heater hose was not one of them.
I disconnected both hoses where they go into the fire wall. I cut out the part of the hose that was ripped open and reconnected the now much shorter still very brittle hose back on the block. I used the heater control valve as a splice and connected the two hoses coming off the engine together making a nice loop. That got me the rest of the way home. So now I have to fix A/C AND heat, among a few other things.
As you can see, my boy, Wyatt, can't keep his hands off of it.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by opelenvy I too have joined the ranks of the Sportwagoneers. The SW previously owned by Scott Delohery made the trip from Petersburg, VA to Austin, TX, roughly 1500 miles. Scott drove it to Birmingham, AL where I met him via a Greyhound Bus (never again). Scott's leg of the trip was flawless except for blowing off an A/C hose. I got the car and headed back towards Austin. Somewhere in the middle of Louisiana I smelled antifreeze, saw the temp start to rise, and shut her down. Once the steam cleared I saw that the heater hose going into the block next to the exhaust manifold had finally had enough of all the age and heat and decided to blow out. Well of all the stuff I did bring in preparation for any mishaps, heater hose was not one of them. I disconnected both hoses where they go into the fire wall. I cut out the part of the hose that was ripped open and reconnected the now much shorter still very brittle hose back on the block. I used the heater control valve as a splice and connected the two hoses coming off the engine together making a nice loop. That got me the rest of the way home. So now I have to fix A/C AND heat, among a few other things. As you can see, my boy, Wyatt, can't keep his hands off of it.

Congrats on a fine buy/trip! Begs the question, gonna register it Classic or Antique?

[Gary]

Welcome to the Sportwagon club!

You have a real clean one there. Scott brought it to Carlisle the past couple of years. You won't find too many in better condition. Good luck.
(Now you need a roof rack)

[Sportwagon75]

"Now you need a roof rack" - Drills holes in a pristine Sportwagon roof!!????Sacriledge!!! Heresy!!! Blasphemy!!!

[Gary]

Sorry, couldn't resist, Scott

So do you want to change your screen name?

[opelenvy]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Congrats on a fine buy/trip! Begs the question, gonna register it Classic or Antique?

Well I think I will register it Antique to start out. I have some brake issues to get straightened out. Antique doesn't need inspection so I can legally drive it while I work on it. It wouldn't pass inspection right now. After I get all the bugs worked out and I convince Angie that it is safe to haul the kids around in I may register it classic.

So can I be a member of "T.O.P.S."?

It is a VERY clean car. I was looking through the paperwork that Scott gave me and it was pretty neat. The original installation paperwork for the ARA A/C unit. Installed at 20 miles on the clock. The original window sticker with the price with options. I paid $70 less than it cost in 1975
Some neat stuff in there. You didn't tell me about all that Scott.
After driving only GT's for a while, I must say, the comfort and handling of the 1900 is most impressive. After several hours in the seat the only discomfort I had was from the lack of A/C.
The size of the gas tank leaves something to be desired. Seems I was stopping to gas up every couple hours. When I went around the clover leafs fast I would smell gas afterwards. Is this normal?

[Sportwagon75]

Originally Posted by Gary Sorry, couldn't resist, Scott So do you want to change your screen name?

Nah...I think I'll stick with it. Besides...what would I call myself...Rackless Roof??? May sound strange amongst a crowd of GT fans...but the Sportwagon was my first real Opel love. The other models grew on me over time. And I also still have the first wagon I bought years ago from Ray Morrow. (Opels Only) It's still semi-roadworthy and structurally sound but has lots of surface rust. If I ever get around to it...that wagon will be my next project once the current 75 Ascona is finished. Meanwhile...perhaps I'll hold onto George's check and have the car repossessed if he drills holes in the roof!!

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by opelenvy Well, I think I will register it Antique to start out. . . . After I get all the bugs worked out and I convince Angie that it is safe to haul the kids around in I may register it classic. So can I be a member of "T.O.P.S."? It is a VERY clean car. . . . The size of the gas tank leaves something to be desired. Seems I was stopping to gas up every couple hours. When I went around the clover leafs fast I would smell gas afterwards. Is this normal?

Why not leave it as "Antique" even after problems are fixed . . . 5 years, $50, "stated-value" less expensive insurance! BTW, what type plates for reg?

DESIRE is ONLY requirement for membership . . . you're in!

There is a vent/overflow tube at the filler neck of the tank, make sure it's intact and connected. Also check the condition of the gas cap seal.

[Sportwagon75]

"When I went around the clover leafs fast I would smell gas afterwards. Is this normal?" - Well...I didn't do any 80 mph cloverleaf maneuvers in that car but I never had any fuel odors. Having said that...I know that it was only about a month ago that all the carbon media fell out of the canister under the hood. The car hasn't been driven much since then. I'm not sure if that would have anything to do with it. Just a thought. -SD

[opelenvy]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Why not leave it as "Antique" even after problems are fixed . . . 5 years, $50, "stated-value" less expensive insurance! BTW, what type plates for reg?

Otto, My reason for change would be driven more regularly, as a DD. That is limited w/ antique.
What do you mean by, "what type plates for reg?" Do you mean vintage plates, like I have on the GT?

Scott, it wasn't 80mph, just more spirited than say, my wife would do.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by opelenvy Otto, My reason for change would be driven more regularly, as a DD. That is limited w/ antique. What do you mean by, "what type plates for reg?" Do you mean vintage plates, like I have on the GT? Scott, it wasn't 80mph, just more spirited than say, my wife would do.

Set of same-year Texas plates, personalized or single Antique plate issued by state?

[opelenvy]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Set of same-year Texas plates, personalized or single Antique plate issued by state?

Well I was eyeing Ebay for some cool '75 TX plates, but I think I will just get the single plate issued by the state.
Maybe if I ever come across any neat ones, I will switch over to the vintage ones.

[opelenvy]

Well I took the rims off my GT and swapped them with the Sportwagon. They look very nice on there I think. They are 13x6 with 205/60's and fill the fenders nicely. Of course the GT has the skinny's under it now. I think I'll leave them on for the Texas Classic Car show, it looks stock. No one there would know the difference.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by opelenvy Well I took the rims off my GT and swapped them with the Sportwagon. They look very nice on there I think. They are 13x6 with 205/60's and fill the fenders nicely. Of course the GT has the skinny's under it now. I think I'll leave them on for the Texas Classic Car show, it looks stock. No one there would know the difference.

Just curious, just regular DD plates, antique/classic '75 plates (last year where they still gave out new plates every year, '76 was first year for stickers on '75 plates, BTW) or state issued classic or antique? Anyone else coming down (or up) for the 9/11 car show . . . hmmmm, now THAT's kinda odd!?

Was gonna go the the Route 66 bash in IL later in Sept., but it doesn't look so good at the moment.

[opelenvy]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Just curious, just regular DD plates, antique/classic '75 plates (last year where they still gave out new plates every year, '76 was first year for stickers on '75 plates, BTW) or state issued classic or antique? Anyone else coming down (or up) for the 9/11 car show . . . hmmmm, now THAT's kinda odd!? Was gonna go the the Route 66 bash in IL later in Sept., but it doesn't look so good at the moment.

Well if you look at the picture of the rear of the car you can see they are just regular DD plates. Once I work out any bugs I plan to drive it daily so I didn't bother with the classic plates that are somewhat restrictive. I am still watching Ebay for some '75 plates though.
I just realized that the car show was coming up so soon, so this is the first I have said about it. Rick came out last time with his Wagon but did not register. Marty showed up as well. I also got to meet Vidar from Houston.
Come on down Otto. Bring one of your cars.
Would be good to see you again. And you are welcome to crash at our place if you'd like.

[opeldean]

isnt there a special vendor that a lot of folks use?

i am going to register my second gt as an antique...not as a daily driver like celeste

any advice or do i just call my agent?

[jlthunder]

I use J.C. Taylor Insurance for my GT. It is registered as an Antique. I pay approx. $60/yr. It is insured for $7000.00 and driven under 1000 miles/yr. If I insured it with my daily driver, I would pay over $500/year and they would only give me blue book value

I'm sure others out there could tell you about other antique car insurance brokers.

As far as registration in PA, one time fee and no annual registration and no inspection and you get a purple license plate!

[opelenvy]

Here in Texas I have my GT registered as an Antique. $50 for five years, no inspection. No front licence plate, only the rear.
Insurance through Grundy. $95/year for $10K replacement.