Oh my... What have I done?!

[FuriousGT]

Well, I'm now part of the Opel world as of 6/13/09. Why my title? I may have gotten in well over my head. In high school I took auto shop for 1 year and that is the extent of my mechanical knowledge. In college I majored in electronics and computer repair, but focused more on computers. I can read a wiring diagram but am not super confident in my ability to rewire an entire car, if I need to go that far.

What initially looked like a relatively easy restore project is looking a lot more daunting now that I have had time to really look the car over. I have about three boxes worth of parts, most of which I don't know where they came from. It looks like the previous owner used the parts boxes for storing the car parts as well as plumbing parts, other cars parts, etc, etc. What goes to the Opel and what doesn't? I have no idea.

To make this even more complicated a nissan hardbody truck motor was dropped into the GT along with the whole nissan drive line. I have not tried to ID what year the motor is but I'll eventually need a repair manual for it. The motor turns by hand so that is a good sign. I will need to figure out how to attach the shifter since it is now about 6 inches back from the original factory point. Doing this will mean moving the e-brake somewhere. I was thinking about fabing one of those step e-brakes like are found in many trucks. Don't know if I have the skills to do that though.

There is virtually no major rust. Oh, the entire car is rusty, but it appears to be all surface. The interior looks quite healthy, apart from years of spider habitation. The paint is junk. It appear that a bad black paint job was done over the original yellow. I have the factory paint chips and codes from the 1972 vette and plan to get the GT painted with the factory orange color that the vette had. I currently don't have a key but I read a post last night about key codes and so I pulled the door handle and plan to call my local locksmiths today to see if they can build me a new key. Oh, I broke the window crank while I was removing the door panel.

There is probably so much more detail I could go into but I won't. So although I have no idea what I'm doing or how I'm going to get this car running I'm still excited for what may be...

P.S. Has anyone here previous owned a 73 GT with the VIN 773108879?

[jtb]

Hi,

Don't panic too much, you're in the right place! I, too bought a car that was in a series of boxes, mixed with fiat and volvo parts, and so on. Get yourself an Opel factory service manual to start, and any parts you can't identify, post a picture on this forum and some-one will be able to help you. Do a search for 'what is this' and I bet you'll find photos from others (like me) who have done this.
If the engine is mounted, that's a good start. depending on the transmission and shifter arrangement, it can possibly be moved forward by shortening the remote, or by linkages. I wouldn't recommend a foot e-brake, as the opel footwell is so narrow to start with. What about to the left of the driver's seat?
I took my lock cylinders to a locksmith and they were able to make a key. The only hard part was finding an Opel blank, but they are available (or substitutes).
Window cranks are prone to failure, search around for repair tips, or there are people (like me) who have spares available.
Good luck with your project! If you get to a point where it is truly too much for you, I'm sure you would have no trouble selling a non-rusty GT, but I hope it doesn't come to that! The toughest part about a project like this is the perseverance to see it through. Search around the forums, there's plenty of info here on both the stock Opel and engine swaps.

Cheers,

jtb

[Phoenix]

Can we some pics of the engine install? May not be too many people here who can help you with that engine but there are nissan forums.

If you post pics of the items that you don't know what they are, we can help you. That's actually pretty fun. The harder, the more fun.

You may have problems getting a key from a local shop but opelspyder can make you one and has the proper keys. Just PM him.

OpelGTsource.com is a fantastic resource for new and used parts plus if you put out a wanted thread in he classified you will find plenty of people who will have a spare part to sell you.

Finally, there are way more members than you could imagine. There maybe a member right down the street. Someone can help you and it's good to look at other cars. It always inspires us.

[sawdust]

Originally Posted by FuriousGT Has anyone here previous owned a 73 GT with the VIN 773108879?

check out the Opel Registry It might be there If not you can register it.