Willit? Update

[namba209]

Darn, that was fast, thanx Keith, it looks like a phone call will be in order much later today. At least, I won't have to worry about access to it, it's sitting on top of a $1300 box full of parts to put it all back together again. Hopefully before the year is out.

[namba209]

Keith, et.al., Just got off the phone with the folks at JustDashes and they swear the dimples are in the original location of my VIN tag. He said when they vacuum form the vinyl to the dash it creates the dimples. He is also going to take pics of 3 GT dashes they have in shop and e-mail them to me. As soon as I get them I'll post them here for comparison.

[namba209]

It's been a fun first of the week, I finally got time to start pulling the front suspension out of the car. I used RustEater liberally on all exposed threads that I could see about 2-3 days before I started taking things apart. It paid off handsomely, with all but two bolts coming out of both sides of the wheel wells. I figured I could pull the main beam and get a good shot at the two bolts that are so stubborn, both on the pax side of the car, one was the vertical bolt to the lower A-Frame in the front and the other was the cross bolt the upper A-Frame is held in with. First I tried in succession on the upper A-frame bolt, a 19mm box-end wrench, a 3/8" drive impact tool, an 18" 1/2" drive breaker bar, all with no success. So I put a 4' long steel bar over the breaker bar and slowly brought my whole 145 lbs to bear on the pipe. There was a loud snap and the 3/8-1/2 reducer snapped in two. As the pipe crashed heavily to the ground taking my hand with it, I got bit by something on the main beam. So I took out my frustration on the lower A-frame vertical bolt, with a 16 oz ball peen hammer and a drift pin. The bolt didn't stand a chance, it came out nice and clean under a small amount of protest. Now if I can just get that dirty, rotten, miserable, son-of-a-siberian-seabiscuit-eating, razzle-frazzen upper bolt out, I'd be happy. Well, almost, I happen to notice as I was taking out the vertical bolt, there was a crack in the plate where the two bumper stops are on the right side. I need some expert advice here, the crack is about an inch long, I put up two pics showing the crack and what's left of the reducer. I'm sure I can stop drill the crack, "C"-clamp the crack and bring it back close to where it should be and weld it closed. So, look at it closely and give me you best guess, opinion, or whatever. TIA

[nobody]

Ron could you maybe post a more close up shot of that area?

[GTJIM]

By the way that crack has opened up the beam has bent near the inner end of the crack (2" or so along the ruler). A bit of heat may be needed to straighten it till the crack closes - then weld the crack, preferably with gas or TIG and using soft iron wire as a filler. If you cannot get at the other side of the crack it may be necessary to vee it out first to get a nice, full penetration, weld. And, Yes, drill the inner end of the crack to remove the stress point.

BTW: You need a nice German socket set ....

[namba209]

Jim, the idea of using a "C" clamp was to bring the edges of the crack closer together, then weld the crack shut, hopefull the heat generated will allow the metal to relax and cool off in the new position without creating more stress in that area.

"nobody" If I tried to get a closer shot of the area it would really be fuzzy, more so than it is now, as you can see by noticing the ruler markings.

[Old Hippie]

Ron, I'm thinking if you don't bend the beam back in the right direction when you heat it, your gonna have a bad alignment problem. Have you put a straight edge to it yet to see which way the drift went? I like angle iron myself for that. Either way, you are gonna need some serious heat and BIG clamps. Is there a frame shop near you. They can pressure bend it without alot of heat embrittlement. That way you can be sure of the center line and be sure it's true. Just my concern for you so that you don't use those nast hasrh words again!

[namba209]

After looking real close at the beam and noticing the shock absorber outer tube was gouged when I pulled it off last nite, it appears the PO had a ball-joint failure and the car dropped suddenly, the bumper plate and spring contacted and I beleive that's what did the crack on the bummper stop plate. The beam appears to be unscathed and is not warped, it's just the plate the rubber stops are on is cracked and the crack is about 1/8"-1/4" away from the inside edge of the main beam. Safari, so good.

[namba209]

Keith, et. al., I finally got the word from JustDashes and 3 pics of GT dashes they have in the shop waiting repair. He told me they were 69, 71, and 73 dashes. So from what the pics show, Keith's tag is in the wrong place, but I won't say anything to anybody.

Any way here's the three pics Frank at JustDashes sent me. HTH.

[benncojr]

Ron,

I just posted all the photos I could think of that show various measurements of the rim. I think it is what you are looking for but as you can see they appear to be a little different then yours (the back side of the rim does a less).

Sorry, about the delay, this past week and half has been VEERRY Busy. On the weekend I was at a retreat (Tres Dias) from last wed to Sunday - little to no sleep every night. Monday was unpack for the weekend, Tuesday was another meeting for Tres Dias, Wed was setting up the women's retreat for Treas Dias and a speeding ticket coming home from the local sheriff. So I have been a bit busy.

As soon as the photos are approved take a look and see if the measure up!!

[saxybiker]

Ron,

The pic's you posted from just dashes are where all of our vin #'s seem to be.

Vickie

[kwilford]

Originally Posted by namba209 Keith, et. al., I finally got the word from JustDashes and 3 pics of GT dashes they have in the shop waiting repair. He told me they were 69, 71, and 73 dashes. So from what the pics show, Keith's tag is in the wrong place, but I won't say anything to anybody. Any way here's the three pics Frank at JustDashes sent me. HTH.

Well I'll be damned! Joan provided the holes after she glued the cover on, and I could have sworn that they were back in the correct place. So I stand corrected. With a VIN tag in a non-stock location. Good thing that the local constabulary don't know their Opels very well. Sorry for all the confusion. I think I'll just get the damn thing hauled off to the salvage yard now...

[namba209]

Hey Keith, don't do that, please, we need all the GTs we can get back the road.
I personally thought the dimples were in the wrong place as I said at the beginning of this mess. I'm glad this has been cleared up.

Now for an update on Willit? I got the upper control arm off, finally. But I snapped the bolt in two and it's still frozen in place. Rust Eater, PB Blaster, and some penetrating oil hasn't helped so far, neither has a lot of well placed blows with a ball peen hammer. Although, it did help in my frustration, a very little. Tomorrow, if I can't get the bolt out, I'll take to my local alignment shop and see what they can do for me, along with make my wallet a little thinner.

Rick, here's a hint for you and all the others that want to put pics in their replies, scroll down below the reply box to the additional options to the attach files block and click on Manage Attachments. You'll be able to attach pics from that block. Just remember to use the Submit Reply button button below the options block. HTH.

[Old Hippie]

Ron, I understand the thin wallet thing. But peace of mind is a wonderful thing! Not to mention your local shop gains alittle more Opel info each time you (or any other In-sane Diego Opelers) visit him. That's handy also.

[namba209]

Rick, it does look like the wheels will work on my GT, although the back side of the mounting flange is different as you noted. All I have is two questions. First, did you have them mounted on a stock GT either front or rear? And, secondly could you double check the dimension between the inside of the bead flanges. It was hard to tell from you pics the width of the wheels. Mine measured right at 6 1/8" between the inside of the flanges. If yours are close to that, we just might make a deal for a pair. Your worst looking pair at that.

[namba209]

Old Hippie, Hey Dude, not only is this a great little shop, but it's one of the old school. No laser beams or computerized stuff here. They use the old fashioned degree plates the front wheels go one, and spray the tire with white paint and scribe a line in the paint while it's turning to "Measure" the caster, camber, and tow-out/in. When the GT gets together enough, it's going to that shop for an alignment check with the new poly bushings, etc. all installed, and they'll finish up the exhaust for me while it's there.

[benncojr]

Originally Posted by namba209 Rick, it does look like the wheels will work on my GT, although the back side of the mounting flange is different as you noted. All I have is two questions. First, did you have them mounted on a stock GT either front or rear? And, secondly could you double check the dimension between the inside of the bead flanges. It was hard to tell from you pics the width of the wheels. Mine measured right at 6 1/8" between the inside of the flanges. If yours are close to that, we just might make a deal for a pair. Your worst looking pair at that.

Ron,

First, I do not know if they were mounted on a stock GT. I received them with all the other parts and car that I purchased, I will contact the PO to check with him.

I will double check the dimension between the inside of the bead flanges tonight and get back with you.

And I add the photos on the earler message and the final photo is on this one. The last time I tried to put photo on they said it was to big.

[namba209]

Rick, to get the pics attached to the reply post block, I use PhotoShop and use the image button to get the major dimension to 600 pixels. There are other picture programs that will do the job also, it's just a matter of trial and error on some to get the largest file size or pixel size the site program can handle.

And, thanx for taking the time and effort on getting the info to me, it may seem to be a PIA, but I just gotta know if the wheels will fit. Not a good thing if they won't.

[benncojr]

No, PIA.

It has just been a very busy 2 weeks. I will get the dimisions for you.

The icing on the cake for the week is I got a speeding ticket (63 in a 45). I thought it was 55. That is the type of 2 weeks it has been!!