Okay, I admit I lost my Temper

[lowkey]

Okay Folks,

Let me start by apologizing,
I lost my temper, I do that sometimes.
When I owned the OpelHaus it used to bug me
that I would give somebody good advice,
and then they would go to the local speedshop.

My advice would be to do some lowbuck things
that took a some work, and a litlle money.
The guy at the store wanted to sell what he had.
Buy it now, no work involved.

Now, this is not a slam on Bob.

But they would show up a week later.
With a 38 weber, a 2.5 exhaust.
And say "I did what you told me."
Now it runs like crap."

They got sold a bunch of expensive crap.
It was not tuned.
They were not ready for that
and it's not one part or two, it's the package.

I learned to build Opels "one step at a time."
Newbies should build the HP gradually.

Why?

So they

1, Don't lose their enthusiasm.
2. Get killed test driving it.
3. End up with someting that is a tuning nightmare.
4. Learn to drive it in the meantime.

I was only trying to start west coast newbie out slow,
so he had an understanding of the process.

But Bobs comment about "building a lot of Opels."
followed by, the posts behind it.
Brought up bad memories.
Of guys who sold Opel owners stuff that was bad,
Just to make a sale, not caring it was good, or bad.

I used to tell guys with Opels.
Put some plugs in it, and new points.
Whatever you do, don't use "Blue Streak Points, or Champion Plugs. drive it in, and I'll set the timing and dwell for you.
Then they would have the car towed to my garage, and say;
"I did what you said."

The car would have Blue Streak points, Champion plugs, and a
they expected me to pay for the tow truck.
When asked, they would say: But that's all they had at the auto parts store."Like, it was my fault.

The same with guys who put a 2.5 inch exhaust on a stock 1.9.
It was my fault, not the guy at the muffler shop who told the guy anything he wanted to hear. Most folks want to hear to hear that you can buy easy answers.

There are no easy answers.
Bigger is not always better,
and the guy behind the counter,
has never even driven an Opel.

But since I was asked nicely

And very nicely, I might add.

I'll hang around.

And I'll chill out
Again I apologize,
Nothing personal.

James

[ddoyle]

Glad to have you aboard James, now about the burnout clips...
and what is a rectangular dash?

DAN

[Paul]

James,

Glad that you'll be around to help people learn about Opels. I hope that you will enjoy contributing to this forum as much as others seem to enjoy it. I've learned a lot from everyone here, the more perspectives the better.

Glad to have you aboard.

Paul

[BQS4]

James;
Before I got my pc in 97, I had to learn from people like you, now, with the help of the net, I have learned, and am STILL learning from You, Bob L, Bob D, Otto, and everyone, for that matter. I also pass on what I have learned to others who don't know of the various Opel Sites. So, as my kids tell me "What did you learn in school today?"
SHARING!

[greensmurf20]

nice to see we'll have yet another opel guru on here.....i think by rectangular dashes james may be refering to the 69 GT dashes with rectangular indicator lights...?

[N61WP]

Welcome aboard. Nice to have another "James".

Now if I could only find some Opelers here in Louisiana.........


Bestus,
James

[kwilford]

lowkey,

Thanks for the apology. We all have an off-day once in a while. What makes it bearable is when the burn wears off, the horizon becomes level again, and we get to be able to speak in level tones.

Myself, my current temper tantrum is with my insurance adjuster, who believes that my daughter's '87 Celica, rear-ended into a total loss by some clueless lady, is somehow worth $2000 less than every other similar car for sale in Western Canada. I guess I had better watch for the burn to clear before I talk to her supervisor...

But I digress. Welcome to the group, James, and I look forward to many knowledgeable suggestions from you

[dakotaguy]

Welcome lowkey! Glad to have you on board.

Knowledge is power. We welcome yours.

Keith, I had a similar experience with adjusters but was prepared.
I suggest the following:

1. Get copies of local ads for the same vehicle.
2. Print internet copies of same vehicle.
3. Go to several internet sites that do appraisals of vehicles and print them.

Then present them to the adjuster. I they still balk, ask to see the agent and show him/her the info.

What they may do is take them all (including theirs) and then average them. That's what happened with my hail out. Result was an additional $2,000.

For what it's worth, I print copies of GTs for sale on Ebay and what they sell for for the same reason.

Holy smokes! It's snowing this morning.

[Rodney]

Originally posted by N61WP
Welcome aboard. Nice to have another "James".

Now if I could only find some Opelers here in Louisiana.........


Bestus,
James

Im From La. Red Stick (Baton Rouge for thoses not in the knowing ;-)

[kwilford]

I had already done an Internet search (10 similar cars in Western Canada on Trader.com alone), put it all on a spreadsheet with adjustments for mileage etc, and it showed the car was worth $3k versus the $1.5 k they offered.

I took a deep breath and calmly called the claims supervisor, and explained (without once raising my voice) my case. She went to the head appraiser, and he agreed that the previous adjuster's reduction of $1500 for body rust was a bit extreme. So I got $2400, which is just what I thought the car was really worth.

Ya gotta like it when calm, cool logic prevails.