Love at First Sight...

[Spaceball13]

I just moved back to Texas at the end of March from Virginia where I was stationed with the Navy. I have always wanted to restore a classic sports car of my own but I have never had the opportunity or the time. I was out at my brother-in-law's property when he showed me 'this old car' that he was thinking of hauling out and maybe making a little money off of. I immediately fell in love with the little car and put in my preliminary offer to save it. I did a quick walk around the car and took note of the Opel and 1900 labels on the back. I was immediately reminded of a C3 corvette when looking at the body design but it also had hints of a Porsche (small size and smoother lines). I am now obsessed with finding out as much as I can about Opel and this little GT. The interior is completely destroyed and full of car parts and other random things (including a decent layer of local feces). I will have my work cut out for me.

The engine is more than likely shot (couldn't find the hood release to get a good look) and the whole car is sitting on the frame because the tires have sunk into the loose ground here in north Texas. The interior will need to be completely replaced, if you can even call it that, sense most of it isn't even there. All of the glass is in good condition with no visible cracks or scratches. The body in general looks to posses some decent surface rust which leads me to think there might be much more rust to be uncovered. The front of the GT took the brunt of the rust on the exterior. It has been exposed to the elements for __ years now but I am still hopeful that when I dig it out I'll be surprised.

I have started tracking down the title to the car so I can get a hold of it and already looking for a date to head on up to the car again to dig it out and clean out the interior to see what I am up against. Next time I am up I'll be sure to take my camera to get some pictures for you guys. I'll need all the help I can get because I only have a small, single-car garage, limited tools and limited experience. I don't mind spending my days on my back under a car though. This will be my first time working this much on a car and I'll more than likely spend a lot of my time in books and on the internet researching what to do next. I hope that I will be a proud owner of a sweet little Opel GT in the near future. Any help or advice I can glean from this community and its experienced members will be of great help, and any assistance I can luck into in the area would be great too. I now live in Plano, Tx if anyone is near that I can consult with about my (hopeful) upcoming project.

~Steven

[Rionart]

Welcome aboard Steven.
In a few minutes Otto will be along, he is your neighbour and about to become your new best friend....

[sawdust]

welcome to the site.

[timemachine]

Welcome to the site, you'll find lots of help and support here.

Before you jump in on a complete restore, have a look around the classifieds on this site, e-bay and craigslist where you'll find a lot of GTs. It will give you an idea of the availability and price points for a solid car (be skeptical of descriptions of course). You'll probably find a driver for a whole lot less than it will cost you to remake a basket case.

We're all for saving restorable cars though, so if this is your dream, go for it and keep us posted!

Jim

[markandson]

I have restored 2 rust buckets now and I would take a real hard look at the condition of the body before you start to dump money into the car. The mechanical stuff although time consuming if you do it all the way right is never the issue, rust is. The body work can slow you down to a crawl and either cost you a fortune or make it so that you don't have a nice looking car or a very worst you will get frustrated with the amount of work and never finish your project. All that being said you have the choices mentioned above which is to find a better body if you determine that the one you have is shot or jump in with your eyes open and bring the car back to life, it only takes time and money. Good Luck you will find plenty of help on this site.