So, what do I need to know (questions and more questions!)

[CoriolisSTORM]

Gents, I have FINALLY (well hopefully, unless something comes up.) acquired enough to start working on my Opel piece by piece. As many of you know, I have a '75 Ascona setting around that is engineless, and needs new interior, rubber, suspension from the looks of it, and floor pans. So, I'm wanting to start this weekend, planned on it this past one, but I had to work... (installing new machines!) So, I was talking with a coworker who restores cars and is a big gearhead, and told him my floor pans were rusting and such, and he said something about the body might not be salvageable due to it being a unibody from the rust. Is there some truth to this? He said that the car might have possibly flexed. To my knowledge, the doors still line up right anyway... True? When I cut the floor pans out (later on) and try to reweld some new ones in, will I need to cut some braces first? Also on this subject, I need a new firewall patch and battery box... I can see daylight from the inside.
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How do I remove the interior? I need to remove the dash, steering column, seats (front and rear) center console, and carpet. Pretty much EVERYTHING! I saw what looked like torx screws from a brief inspection, is that what is used everywhere?
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Wiring, should I rewire the entire thing? methinks so after it set up for 26 years in the woods, I'd hate to put it all back together, connect a battery and then it burn down 30 seconds later.
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Where's the cheapest place to buy POR 15 or the equivalent? Finally, where could I buy some sheet metal?

[jvandyke]

I've seen references in threads here to guys setting up jigs to keep the body from flexing when cutting out sections on a unibody (GT as I recall in this case).
I'm sure nothing is too far gone as long as you're willing to spend the time and money to make new pieces and weld 'em in.

[BQS4]

The bracing idea is a good one, as it holds the body in shape PRIOR, to cutting the floor pans and such. As for sheet metal, it's possible that some members, myself included might have a parts car with the correct sheetmetal needed. Yes, it's better to TOTALLY trip out the interior when doing this.
As for wiring, you can go with "EZ Wiring" Painless Wiring or one more as the name escapes me, but, there's also a company in Germany that makes an EXACT copy of the complete harness for the Ascona A.

[Anonymous D]

The 1975 came with fuel injection, which is a unique and rather complicated harness (particularly the connection to the FI ECU "brain box"). I would not replace the harness with anything other than the original Opel design, with the only exception being if you replace the FI unit with something else (either a later FI system or a carburetor).

[CoriolisSTORM]

Originally Posted by Anonymous D The 1975 came with fuel injection, which is a unique and rather complicated harness (particularly the connection to the FI ECU "brain box"). I would not replace the harness with anything other than the original Opel design, with the only exception being if you replace the FI unit with something else (either a later FI system or a carburetor).

Very true, if I can find a stock complete FI unit, I'll do that when I get to that point, first I gotta get the body to the point where I can even consider that.

[namba209]

As far as stripping the interior, IDK about the 75 models, but on my 72 GT, all I needed was common hand tools and some metrics for the bolts. As for the wiring, I would do a physical check of each wire, then ohm them out to be sure they're intact electrically. On Willit?, I used almost all of the original wiring. The wires that were bad, I cut out and spliced in new wires, so I had the original wire colors at both ends. For the FI engine computer, I again used the original wires that came with the computer and engine, and ohmed them out and ending up putting 13 additional fused circuits in to a custom power panel that has 20 aircraft style circuit breakers. All in all, the wiring took me 2 weeks to do. HTH.

[CoriolisSTORM]

Originally Posted by namba209 As far as stripping the interior, IDK about the 75 models, but on my 72 GT, all I needed was common hand tools and some metrics for the bolts. As for the wiring, I would do a physical check of each wire, then ohm them out to be sure they're intact electrically. On Willit?, I used almost all of the original wiring. The wires that were bad, I cut out and spliced in new wires, so I had the original wire colors at both ends. For the FI engine computer, I again used the original wires that came with the computer and engine, and ohmed them out and ending up putting 13 additional fused circuits in to a custom power panel that has 20 aircraft style circuit breakers. All in all, the wiring took me 2 weeks to do. HTH.

I don't to my knowledge have ANY of the original wiring for the FI as the owner before my great grandfather apparently retrofitted a carburetor on it. The only problem I'm worried about with using the existing wiring is about the insulation being brittle and eventually (not immediately) rubbing/flaking off and shorting out. I'd like to think a fuse would handle it, but I've seen it not work properly...

[opelwasp]

Originally Posted by BQS4 The bracing idea is a good one, as it holds the body in shape PRIOR, to cutting the floor pans and such. As for sheet metal, it's possible that some members, myself included might have a parts car with the correct sheetmetal needed. Yes, it's better to TOTALLY trip out the interior when doing this. As for wiring, you can go with "EZ Wiring" Painless Wiring or one more as the name escapes me, but, there's also a company in Germany that makes an EXACT copy of the complete harness for the Ascona A.

American Autowire is the other and in my opinion the best. But of course it is the most expensive.

[CoriolisSTORM]

tool list for the tear down? Here's what I'm thinking:
sockets (mm or standard?)
wrenches""
Allen wrenches
torx bits
hammer?
I gotta go out and buy all this as I am sadly just starting out as a maintenance tech... Carpet and dash, do they pull right out or what?

[dcm013]

Originally Posted by CoriolisSTORM tool list for the tear down? Here's what I'm thinking: sockets (mm or standard?) wrenches"" Allen wrenches torx bits hammer? I gotta go out and buy all this as I am sadly just starting out as a maintenance tech... Carpet and dash, do they pull right out or what?

Opels are metric.

There are no torx fasteners in an old Opel unless put there by a PO. There are some fasteners, such as brake rotor and cylinder head bolts, that require serrated/12 point/triple square bits but I'm not aware of any in the interior. Do not try to use a torx bit on these.

And get yourself a factory service manual.

Don

[madhatterpdc]

Originally Posted by CoriolisSTORM I gotta go out and buy all this as I am sadly just starting out as a maintenance tech...

Craftsman has mechanics tool sets that are outstanding for anyone that is starting out. Buy the biggest set you can afford, just make sure that the additional bits that come with the bigger set are worthwhile.

Go to sears.com and search for 00933260000, it's a 260 pc set for $200. That plus a ball pein hammer, some pliers, some screwdrivers, and for an investment of less than $300 total, you have a great foundation to build on.

[namba209]

Torx bits you don't need, triple square bits, there are 3-4 sizes you'll need if tearing down the brakes, rear-end and the engine. All the hardware is metric, unless changed by the dreaded PO. You'll also need a Phillips #2 screwdriver. The carpet has holes in the corners that snap over a plastic piece screwed in to the floor pan. The dash has about 8 Phillips screws holding it in. You have to remove the instrument panel to get it out, but be careful taking it out. It's plastic and over 30 years old and brittle. The wiring harness may hang up on the tabs the screws for it go in to. Finesse is needed much more than brute force. If things don't come apart as they should, back off, take a break, then try again.

[CoriolisSTORM]

Originally Posted by namba209 Torx bits you don't need, triple square bits, there are 3-4 sizes you'll need if tearing down the brakes, rear-end and the engine. All the hardware is metric, unless changed by the dreaded PO. You'll also need a Phillips #2 screwdriver. The carpet has holes in the corners that snap over a plastic piece screwed in to the floor pan. The dash has about 8 Phillips screws holding it in. You have to remove the instrument panel to get it out, but be careful taking it out. It's plastic and over 30 years old and brittle. The wiring harness may hang up on the tabs the screws for it go in to. Finesse is needed much more than brute force. If things don't come apart as they should, back off, take a break, then try again.

thank you greatly! What do you guys do for anti rust? I know Por 15 makes an undebody coating (forgot the proper term), but many jeep guys (the only other thing I've worked a lot with) use a bed liner kit as an undercoat inside and outside. I was thinking more on the outside than inside though...
quickie edit: Where do I find a FSM for it? I DO need one. I looked on eBay and saw a Haynes manual, but that's not quite it... I need a FSM for a '75 Ascona...

[kwilford]

Originally Posted by CoriolisSTORM Where do I find a FSM for it? I DO need one. I looked on eBay and saw a Haynes manual, but that's not quite it... I need a FSM for a '75 Ascona...

What you actually need are two Factory Service Manuals. You need the 1974 Opel FSM, and the 1975 Opel FSM Supplement. The '75 Supplement only has the changes for 1975, such as the EFI and the bigger brakes. They are often on eBay, but I don't see any tonight. DON'T get the "Preliminary Service Manual", as they are less than useless. Just do a search from time to time such as
Opel service manual factory, Parts Accessories, Cars Trucks items on eBay.com
Oh wait, here's a 75 FSM:
eBay Motors: 1975 BUICK OPEL 1900 MANTA SERVICE MANUAL SUPPLEMENT (item 150224945772 end time Apr-10-08 14:46:05 PDT)


HTH

[CoriolisSTORM]

Well, pretty bad news guys, both floor pans are gone, as is one rocker panel. All the seats and brackets are garbage, needs a new headliner and back vinyl piece under the back window. Not even sure if its worth it, but it has a ton of family history. We found a chicken snake chillin' out under the back seat... Nothin g like raising up the vinyl only to find a surprise like that! My grandfather told me to wait until I get an actual job (as opposed to an apprenticeship) to continue and to really think about if its worth it.

[kwilford]

Well, if you want to get ready for it, or find another 75 Ascona, here is a '74 FSM:
eBay Motors: 1974 Opel 1900 Manta Chassis Service Manual GMC (item 370038396257 end time Apr-07-08 18:28:28 PDT)

[CoriolisSTORM]

Alright gents, here's what I've come up with, and according to my grandfather and others why its not worth it;
Battery box/Firewall

Overall interior (what's left)

Driver Floorpan:

continued later.

[CoriolisSTORM]

<continued>
Passenger floopan:

Friendly Critter:

I think I'll call it quits for a while on cars, other than barely maintaining my Caliber and neglecting my Wrangler. Me=depressed car wise.
</continued>

[dcm013]

I'd say the car is junk as far as restoration goes. But before you scrap it strip off any good parts - glass, unrusted body panels (if any), and other mechanical parts, etc. Then find a better starting point for a project when you have sufficient time and money.

Don