No Rear Sidemarkers on a GT?

[opelgtmaster3]

ive been looking at opel gt pictures for a very long time. and every gt that ive seen has the rear sidemarkers. im confused because my gt dosent have the rear sidemarkers. theres no place for the sidemarkers to go in to, its all metal. ive looked in the spare tire area and theirs no mounts for them. so im guessing that the car was made with out the sidemarkers. do any of you guys know if there were any gts made with out the sidemarkers.

[kwilford]

Well, either Todd Martin of Opels Unlimited had a go at your car in the past (he has a habit of filling in the rear marker holes), or you have a genuine European spec GT. None of the Euro GT's had rear side markers. What's your GT's VIN number?

[opelgtmaster3]

the vin number on my gt is 0y07nc3049912

[namba209]

Keith, if his car is a Euro Spec GT, it will also have the sway bar mounts on the rear axle housing too, won't it?

[kwilford]

Maybe. The VIN tells me it is a '73. But I don't know enough about the later VIN's to say if it is a Euro GT. And I believe the rear sway bar mounts came and went, according to what Opel had on the shelf, especially in the last few months of production. So a couple of questions:
1) Are you SURE the rear marker holes haven't just been filled in?
2) What is your engine #? (does it start with a 19S or 19E?)
3) Can you find the build date on the car? It should be on a sticker on the driver's door, and is created by holes punched in the sticker (so even if it is painted over, you should still make out the date). It should also have some other information on the sticker, including what market the car was built for.
4) I presume the speedo is in mph, not km/hr

Anyone know what the VIN might tell us?

[opelgtmaster3]

it is a 73. the holes dont look to filled in. theres no weld marks on the inside, there isnt any bondo. i believe the car was bluit in november of 72 but sold as a 73. the title says 73.

[BDD]

My GT is a 1972. It has no side markers. I haven't seen any patch from the inside yet but I haven't looked too closely yet. I suspect that they were covered up but as I recall that is a point for rust to start anyway.
When that gaskets get old, water gets in and it flows right down into your rear fenders and they start rusting out where the water stops and gets trapped. I've been weighing wether or not to reopen and place side markers.

So far I think things are much better as they are. How will I ever know when the gaskets have failed and 've been set up for corrosion of the fenders? It's bad when it starts because there are layers of steel at the fender "lip" which trap water, hide corrosion and allow it to spread and grow undetected.

I say the side markers aren't needed anyway and only cause problems. Who needs 'em?

[Tim240Z]

Originally Posted by BDD I say the side markers aren't needed anyway and only cause problems. Who needs 'em?

Check with your local 'vehicle code'. They are generally required if the manufacturer put them there, but depending on your level of 'law abiding-ness' and the fact that most traffic officers likely wouldn't know the difference with these cars, probably not an issue.
I shaved all the marker lights on my Z, then got paranoid and looked up the CA vehicle code. It was based on vehicle width, so the little Z fell out of the code...cool for me....

[BDD]

Well, the bumpers don't meet the bumper laws of the mid 70's. Maybe that's beside the point. I'm not going to drive it much at all. I would really rather avoid rust issues.
I'm sure the police, as with most people. know absolutely nothing about these cars. I wonder if being a classic kind of pre-empts the vehicle code of each state? You know Model T's didn't have them and European GT's didn't either.
It's a good point though.

[jlthunder]

Side Marker Lights were not required in the US until 1968. To see if yours is a european model, take out the tailight near the fender and reach your hand in where the lights should go and see if the openings have been closed off or never there.

[Motor Mouth]

Originally Posted by opelgtmaster3 the vin number on my gt is 0y07nc3049912

Having looked at my various history books I'm pretty sure to say that the car is a US GT 1973, it's very likely that a late 72 build will have a 73 VIN plate on it.

As for your rear wings/ fenders I can only suggest that your car may have had a wing / fender at some point?. I've owned several US and Euro cars and the wings are solid with no signs of welding for the Euro car and with the hole already in for the US motor. my only suggestion is that Opel may have done a pressing for both and in the past a previous owner may have fitted the wrong type..................failing that you may just own one of the rarest GT's in exsistance.