Opel Roots

[Opel-Joe]

Hello fellow Opelers,
I'm a new member and i wanted to introduce myself and tell a bit about my Opel history.

The first car I drove was a 1971 Opel Manta. It was my brothers car, and I was fourteen, the the year 1975. In 1980, my brother gave the car to me and that started my affair with Opels. I was living in Healdsburg Ca. and in 1981 I started working at Chris Zootis Performance Center. In 1983 I bought my second Opel, a '73 Manta Rallye, red and black with the sunroof option.
I was a gifted mechanic working at a prestigous speed shop. One of the opportunities that came my way was working on Ron Silveria's '71 GT SCCA E production race car. That car was very successful and was driven by a stunt car driver from southern Ca.

I had several GT's come and go through the early eighties. I didn't have the maturity to know what I had until many years later wishing I still had a few of the special cars I worked on, such as life.

In 1985 I had an unfortunate accident and stacked my Rallye in a rear ender. Totally my fault looking down for some music and the vehicle in front stop short. I remember I barely had reaction time and hit the breaks on impact. The car crumpled and the engine was in the front seat. I held onto the steering wheel and it bent like a pretzel as my head went through the windshield. other than a few stitches and shaken real bad, I was lucky to walk away. I attribute that to my level of athleticism, I was a highly motivated rock climber and did gymnastics for the training.

After my Opel was in my front yard for a few months, I sold everything I had. I may have even just given it away, I really don't remember. Maybe the collector who got all my stuff would remember me and and say hey.

So I have gotten the notion to get a GT and have a fun hobby car for my garage. I just moved my machine shop from my house to a new 4,000 sq ft facility, and I have 1,000 sq ft that need something wonderful to fill it
So I'm looking for a clean GT to restore, tune and enjoy.
Thanks for reading

[heimue]

Welcome to Opel-heaven, Joe! You will get every question answered that you might come up with (if any are still un-answered after searching through a few million posts...).
Enjoy the forum!

Dieter

[Phoenix]

Texas is a hot spot for a lot of Opels for sale. Seems its to far for East coast or West coast folks to travel to get one, so they pretty much stick around there. Good luck and I can guarantee that there are at least half a dozen on Craiglist at this moment.

[Opel-Joe]

Hey ya'll thanks for the welcome

[RallyBob]

Welcome.

I remember speaking to Ron Silvera numerous times over the years (I used to sell Opel parts). Does he still have the race GT?

[Opel-Joe]

Hi Bob,
I move from Healdsburg in 1986. The last I heard he had sold the car and the new owner sold the close ratio four speed for a wide ratio 5 speed. Not such a good idea for a tight track car. Tracks like sears point and laguna seca ate it up with a close ratio box. Brings back good memories.

Do you know if anyone played with putting the 4.11 rear end from the 1.1 in a 1.9 for autocross?

[opelwasp]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Welcome. I remember speaking to Ron Silvera numerous times over the years (I used to sell Opel parts). Does he still have the race GT?

Hey Bob, my father own's Ron Silvera's GT. Do you know any of the details on it?

I can get some pics.

[Opel-Joe]

I still have an old picture of myself and the car when I had to do a clutch replace between qualifying and the main event. I had two hours to get the job done and had 30 min to spare. I have kept that picture in my tool box for 25 years. I think I'll go into it and try to scan it.

Wasp, I like to see some pics of the car as she is now.

Thanks

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by opelwasp Hey Bob, my father own's Ron Silvera's GT. Do you know any of the details on it? I can get some pics.

As far as I knew, the car was ever-evolving, so I don't think the parts remained the same for long! Roger Wilson told me more about the car than Ron did, as he crewed for Ron on occasion. He did mention some of the things that worked/didn't work over the years (for example, the big Lenk header made less power than the smaller Pacesetter on thatr particular engine combo), but that was part of the trial and error R & D aspect of racing. I know at one time the car had a 2.2 head on it (not legal BTW), Roger kept telling me the car had 'raised ports' but he couldn't figure it out since at that time 2.2's were ultra-rare in the US. It wasn't until I got my first 2.2 head in my hands that it made sense to me as well.

Bob

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Opel-Joe Hi Bob, I move from Healdsburg in 1986. The last I heard he had sold the car and the new owner sold the close ratio four speed for a wide ratio 5 speed. Not such a good idea for a tight track car. Tracks like sears point and laguna seca ate it up with a close ratio box. Brings back good memories. Do you know if anyone played with putting the 4.11 rear end from the 1.1 in a 1.9 for autocross?

There's a lot of people on this forum just crazy enough to try stuff like that, so it's already been discussed.

Discussion

[opelenvy]

Joe, I just read your post. There is a Texas Opel club meeting this weekend in Livingston, TX.
Here is the email posted on texasopel : Opel Club of Texas, OMC

"Here we go guys.Im going to post all the road numbers but the landmarks Im going to use will get you right to the house the easy,est.

From Houston
Come up 59 north, you will be going thru Splendora and Cleaveland,in Livingston you will take the 190 exit and turn left under the overpass and be headed west toward Huntsville,about 5 or 6 miles on you will see a shell station on your left.it is out their all by itself so it is very visable you will be turning left their on FM 2457.Its not a hard left turn it is more a Y dogleg type turn. go staight approx.4 or 5 miles.thru a blinking yellow light.about 600 yards past the light on your left you will see a gas station,store on the far side of the corner and a used appliance store on the near side of the corner,their will be refrigerators,washers and dryers out front imposible to miss..
turn left on the road between the two. FM 3126.go down 2 to 3 miles.on your left you will see the backside of the main office and pavillion,slow down and turn left into Lake Livingston Village sudivision..very well marked.from their just follow the signs I will have out to the cabins.
From Dallas
comeing south on 45 you will take 190 east toward Lake Livingston,Onalaska,and livingston.I have only come this route once myself so I am not familiar with it but following the signs you should have no problem.
OK 190 east 25 miles or so you will come to Onalaska go on thru.Onalaska is on a peninsula so you will cross a lang bride comeing into town and then go across another leaving town about 5 or 6 miles after leaving Onalaska you will come to a yellow blinking light,it is the only blinking light their is so you will not miss it.
turn right at the light FM 3126.4 or 5 miles down the road will dead end,turn right approx 600 yards you down is the used appliance store and the Gas station/store turn left betwee the two FM 3126.go 2 or 3 miles and turn left into Lake Livingston Village.Very well marked.
from their just follow the signs I will have out to the cabins
Broke down and I now have a cell phone so any problems you can give me a shout.
tom kaye
cell.409-377-4044
home.936-566-5554
210 Champion Way
Livingstone,TX 77351"

I am just up the road the other side of Austin from you in Cedar Park.
A good friend of mine and Opeler lives in Driftwood.
What kind of machine shop do you run? There are always TX folks looking for someone who we trust to work on our CIH babies.
You should try to come out to the meet. There was a fella at the last meet in the spring who later listed his GT for sale. Not sure if he ever sold it.
There is one on Austin Craigslist for $1000. I wouldn't give that much for it, but that's me.

[Opel-Joe]

Hey George,
Sorry i missed the gathering. I hope it went grand!!
An opeler in driftwood? would like to meet. Driftwood is about 15 minutes from wimberley.
I'm a designer of fall protection equipment. I take my designs through the development stages, DFMA, design for manufacturing and assembly. I have a fairly nice shop. I do mostly CNC mill work, some manual work and CAD design. I'm light on the welding tools. i may have to remedy that if i want to weld up some stainless tubes.
I've been switching gears and now I'm thinking I want another Manta. There is a really rough one 15 miles away. Would need a total restoration.

[opelenvy]

Originally Posted by Opel-Joe Hey George, Sorry i missed the gathering. I hope it went grand!! An opeler in driftwood? would like to meet. Driftwood is about 15 minutes from wimberley. I'm a designer of fall protection equipment. I take my designs through the development stages, DFMA, design for manufacturing and assembly. I have a fairly nice shop. I do mostly CNC mill work, some manual work and CAD design. I'm light on the welding tools. i may have to remedy that if i want to weld up some stainless tubes. I've been switching gears and now I'm thinking I want another Manta. There is a really rough one 15 miles away. Would need a total restoration.

Is that the one in Dripping? I went and looked at the $600 in DS.

[Opel-Joe]

Originally Posted by opelenvy Is that the one in Dripping? I went and looked at the $600 in DS.

yep that's the one