http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/washout/ Home of the Classic Opel Community for the Opel GT, Manta, Ascona, and Kadett. Site includes Opel Community Forums, Opel Photo Gallery, and Opel Classified Ad Board. Home of the New England Opel Club en Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:42:12 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.opelgt.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/washout/ http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/washout/5-road-trip-2008-day-three-trip-complete.html Sat, 24 May 2008 01:53:37 GMT I finished the trip today. I left Tupelo about 8am and pulled into Sulphur LA at about 6:30 pm. The car did a great job, no mechanical issues at all! Total was 1149 miles and 35.49 gallons burned for an average MPG of 32.37!

For anyone who hasn't driven the Natchez Trace Parkway, try it. I got on it in Tennessee and only got off to spend the night. I was like having your own highway. I drove for at least an hour and a half this afternoon without ever having another car in front of me or behind me. Just the occasional car passing me from the opposite direction. Speed limit is posted at 50 but I drove 60 all day and passed a couple of officers without any problems. I got off the trace in Natchez and got on your "normal" two lane roads going through Louisiana. Of course here things were back to normal, terrible roads, slow drivers and tailgaters.

Well, I don't know if anyone is following this but it was a great trip and a lot of fun. I'm really proud of the car and the fact that my modifications all held up to the abuse. ]]> Washout http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/washout/5-road-trip-2008-day-three-trip-complete.html http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/washout/4-road-trip-2008-day-two-complete.html Fri, 23 May 2008 02:35:11 GMT Day two is complete now and again the GT performed flawlessly all day. I covered about 420 miles today and took the tours at the George Dickel and Jack Daniels distilleries. Long and the short is Jack makes a lot but George makes select. I drove the Natchez Trace Parkway from Tennessee to... Day two is complete now and again the GT performed flawlessly all day. I covered about 420 miles today and took the tours at the George Dickel and Jack Daniels distilleries. Long and the short is Jack makes a lot but George makes select.

I drove the Natchez Trace Parkway from Tennessee to Tupelo MS and found it to be a great drive. Two lanes, VERY little traffic, it was like having the road to yourself. If you plan to make this drive, be sure to get gas before you get on it. There are very few stops and you'll have to hunt for gas in some areas. I'll press on tomorrow on the Trace to Jackson MS where I'll tour the National Agriculture Aviation Museum.

Depending on time I'll continue to Louisiana tomorrow or maybe add a day to the trip. ]]> Washout http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/washout/4-road-trip-2008-day-two-complete.html http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/washout/3-road-trip-2008-day-one-complete.html Thu, 22 May 2008 02:28:11 GMT I got off of work a day early and so the trip began today. I only covered about 325 miles but it was a great day. The weather was perfect, around 75 degrees and clear as a bell. I only drove back roads as I left out of Ohio and headed into Kentucky. The roads of Kentucky were made for the GT.... I got off of work a day early and so the trip began today. I only covered about 325 miles but it was a great day. The weather was perfect, around 75 degrees and clear as a bell. I only drove back roads as I left out of Ohio and headed into Kentucky. The roads of Kentucky were made for the GT. Switch backs and S turns through the country made for great scenery and a lot of fun. I enjoyed the tour of the Buffalo Trace Distillery and the Wild Turkey distillery. I can see the cost of "samples" will greatly exceed the price of fuel on this trip. After leaving the distilleries I headed to Campbellsville KY to spend the night but when I got there it was just too early to quit driving. I pressed through the countryside until the shadows grew long and it was time to call it a day.

Glasgow KY was near and made a good stop for the night. The Opel performed flawlessly all day, I'd like to have a nickel for every driver I saw watching the GT as it went by them! Teenagers stop in their tracks to watch it go by. People who wave are still at a low number, only one in Ohio and three in Kentucky, I'll see if it improves as the trip continues.

Tomorrow, Tennessee and the George Dickel and Jack Daniels Distilleries. ]]> Washout http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/washout/3-road-trip-2008-day-one-complete.html http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/washout/2-opel-road-trip-2008-car-plan.html Mon, 19 May 2008 16:15:22 GMT Well, After 9 years of living in Ohio it was time to move back to my birth state of Louisiana. In time I'll get back to Texas my home of choice. It took two trips between OH and LA to get all of our "stuff" moved. My wife asked if I was going to trailer my 1970 Opel GT home. It was a good question but it just seemed wrong to trailer a car that I had worked so hard on to recover from years of neglect.

The GT, a 1970 with a fair body and tolerable paint. I built the engine last summer, Bored over to a 2 liter, new 2.0 pistons, Chevy 1.6 exhaust valves and 1.83 intake, hardened valve seats, new valve springs, Roller rocker arms, ported and polished the head, unshrouded the intake valves, balanced the entire rotating mass including the flywheel and Chevy S-10 clutch, added an OR66 camshaft (3 degrees advanced), Weber 32/36 carb on a modified intake, EDIS Electronic ignition, DIY MegaSquirt ECU ignition controller, chevy 60 amp alternator.

The car needed the usual fixes, repaired the headlight wiring, lowered the suspension 1 inch with OGTS lowering springs, added after market rims with Sumito tires (sticky), new radiator, carpet, dash cap, seat covers, Sony stereo cd/mp3 player four speaker system with boosters, fuel tank modified for fuel injection (future project) and resealed, Optima battery, replaced headlights with halogen, front and rear suspension completely rebuilt with poly bushings, added front and rear anti-sway bars, brakes replaced and added stainless flex brake lines, transmission resealed, drive shaft rebuilt including a new donut bushing, new U-joints, several dash gauges replaced or repaired, the clock was repaired, new heater core and fan motor.

Prior to leaving on my road trip I had an occasion to drive the GT on a short trip of about 100 miles. It seemed like a good idea to warm up the GT as it had been sitting for several months. The shake down trip proved to be a good idea. During the drive I broke the number three intake rocker arm stud. I limped the car home and proceeded to repair it. This was complicated by the fact that I had already moved all of my spares and 99% of my tools to LA. Thank God for Opel GT.com, I posted a cry for help. The guys responded by offering their spares and got me going again. During this repair I found that I had an interference issue between the roller rocker arms and the valve spring keepers on the intake valves, that was corrected. Then I took the car out for a 183 mile shake down, the GT performed flawlessly and even got 34.88 miles per gallon on the drive.

The plan - this is a simple trip, 1200 miles through the country staying away from major highways. My tourist stops will be whatever I see that interests me as well as distilleries in KY and TN then on to some civil war grounds and sites along the way. I promise not to stop for any Giant Balls of Twine! The trip will be spread out over 3 to 4 days. I'll have nothing more than a gym bag of cloths, a handful of hand tools, and a double fistful of MP3 disks loaded with the 60's and 70's.

The car is packed and ready to go, I get off of work on Wednesday May 21st and plan to leave on this trip on the 22nd. I will try to post a progress report as I go along to chronicle the ups and downs of the trip.

Gregg ]]> Washout http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/washout/2-opel-road-trip-2008-car-plan.html