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| Mechanical Mechanical – General Tips, Problems, and Solutions, not related to the specific systems above |
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#2 (permalink) |
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1000 Post Club
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Overland Park KS
Posts: 1,999
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vo meter
I dont know if you consider this common. But you will most likely need a volt ohm meter.
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Thank you members of opelgt.com for helping me on a 5 year reconstruction of the most beautiful car in the world Celeste: 1917,cc ,getrag resealed, 2liter Intake valves,ported,ISKY cam on solids,Opel forged rods,9.52 compression,total seal gapless,oil dam,RB gasket mod., DCOE side drafts,sprint,2in straight exhaust,pertronix,OMNI paint,SACHS clutch,OGTS & Kadette sway bars,Manta finned pan,3 V clock,Ball joints and Poly all... SAA-WEET! |
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#3 (permalink) |
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Living in the past
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Chesapeake, Virginia
Posts: 1,372
Real Name: Lloyd
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tools
10mm and 15mm sockets and wrenches, hard to find anything else that will fit those two sizes. Set of three 12 point external sockets. 8mm, 10mm and 12mm. 8mm for torque tube to diff. houseing, cam sproket and water pump to front cover. 10mm for caliper bolts (also fit 1.1 headbolts) and 12mm for 1.9 headbolts. Most other nuts and bolt on Opel are 13mm, 14mm, 17mm, 19mm and 7/16 (fuel pump to front cover).
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#5 (permalink) |
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2200 Post Club
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Chapel Hill, TN
Posts: 2,267
Real Name: Harold Collins
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Most fastener heads sizes are:
8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19mm 14mm IIRC is size needed for rod bolts 11mm not 7/16" as previously mentioned triple square bits as previously mentioned you can do quite a bit with a simple circuit tester but a multi meter (VOM) is nice to have wire strippers and crimpers Band Aids & Aspirin
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#7 (permalink) |
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Pensacola, Florida
Posts: 468
Real Name: Brett
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One item that I recently purchased that saved a helluva lota time on the re-installation of my starter was a stubby ratchet drive. Took about an hour to get that PIA bottom bolt out with my standard ratchet giving me 1-2 'clicks' per operation, versus 5 mins putting the thing back in with a 4 1/2" stubby ratchet with spinner wheel that I picked up from Autozone when I took the starter in to be tested.
Also a flexible screwdriver comes in handy for some of those hard to get at screws like the ones at the top rear of the dashboard. |
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#8 (permalink) |
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Old Opeler
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 5,686
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Special Tools
Here is a link to a pic of the "Tri-Square" or "12-Point" bits for the head bolts etc. You need the long ones to reach cam bolts and the lower row of head bolts.
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/46177-post6.html
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GTJim Opel Owner since last Century! Copyright © 2000-2009 J D Henry All Rights Reserved |
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#9 (permalink) |
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1000 Post Club
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: League City Texas
Posts: 1,117
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You might want to invest in a ratchet box end wrench for those lovely little bolts on the front of the seat tracks. Iv'e blocked the size from my mind from the last time I had to remove them.
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Texas Opel Preservation Society |
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#10 (permalink) |
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Über OpelGT.com Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 4,087
Real Name: Keith Wilford
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I moved this to the "Mechanical" Forum. You will find a "sticky" thread at the top of the Forum on FSM's. Also have a look at the "Tips and Tricks" forum, as there are several threads on speciality tools.
But for the COMPLEAT thread on tools, the following is compulsory reading: http://www.opelgt.com/forums/opel-te...ion-tools.html HTH
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Keith Wilford working on my '71 GT and '75 SportWagon Last edited by tekenaar; 02-10-2007 at 12:04 PM. Reason: Very nice, Keith! |
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#11 (permalink) |
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Opeler
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Lebanon, Tennessee
Posts: 38
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Some of the really, really far out "tools" I've had to use to perform emergency repairs of my Opels in the past include:
All of my best driving memories have been in Opels.... |
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#12 (permalink) |
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The Great Opel Search
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Casey, Illinois
Posts: 411
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dont forget the possibility of the tetnus shots
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1998 Sunfire "The Great Opel Search Continues" © of Skyler Shelton "The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work" Mark Twain "Tobmstones Dont Talk Back" Smoke Tires, Not Drugs... http://sportcar.net |
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#13 (permalink) | |
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6,000 Post Club
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Imperial Beach, CA South of San Diego
Posts: 6,054
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Ron 72 GT 3.4L V-6/T-5/ZF posi - almost done - Just need AC installed. ![]() 75 Chevy monza 5.7L/TH350/Auburn 3.08 posi - Next |
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#14 (permalink) |
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Senior Contributor
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Mt. Clemens, Michigan
Posts: 888
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One time I had to drive from Columbus Ohio to north of Detroit thru the pouring rain. The wiper motor didn't have the strangth to pull the wiper blades back down, so I attached some speaker wire to the driver side blade, then thru the passenger door frame to the driver seat. I was able to drive the whole way home pulling on that wire to finish every swipe. 4 Hours!
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Steve "ever notice you are never done tinkering with the GT?" Never mind, I am WAAAY beyond tinkering now...[/SIGPIC] |
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#15 (permalink) |
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Solo II is fun in a GT!
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Norman Oklahoma
Posts: 181
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1) a good digital camera, 3 megapixel or better.
2) a Facom Ratchet or other premium ratchet with a 72 tooth spline mechanism. 3) Digital calipers (Metric/Inch) would be nice too. 4) a used copy of “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot” (Paperback). For general car maintenance and humor (but not for spelling).
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Dan 'okieopel' Oklahoma Opel Preservation Society O.O.P.S. |
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#16 (permalink) | |
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Pensacola, Florida
Posts: 468
Real Name: Brett
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#17 (permalink) |
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Member
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the best tools i have found for working on opels, are a set of metrinch they are the best tools for working on opel in my book because ,they fit both metric and standard bolt& nuts
a lot less chasing back &forth form the work bench try them you like them i love mine you can find them at metrinch-tools.com really they are really great tools the only thing that i have brake in the ten years that i have mine is the extension but i was trying to turn a welded nut which it did before it broke
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Opeler Forever, Ben Last edited by ben; 03-11-2006 at 04:09 PM. |
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#18 (permalink) |
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former opel racer
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: near some glaciers
Posts: 2,863
Real Name: Jeff "Oh-Oh" Denton
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This is getting very funny. The throttle cable suggestion reminds me of when I helped a Firebird owner at a local rod run, his cable broke and in my truck happened to be some fencing wire. We made a new "cable", the wire actually fit smoothly in the original cable housing and bent nicely at each end to hook up. Worked beautifully!
Steve's story hits home, too. When I worked for a cement company that generally forbid me to actually fix anything I had to rig up a piece of cord to the windshield wiper of a cement mixer. Ran it from the blade, through the vent windows on each side, and tied together. The driver simply pulled the cord one way and then the other. Not DOT approved but when shown to the company owner he actually agreed to allow me to order a new wiper motor... Dan's VW book review is a coincidence. I was cleaning thirty years of junk out of a storage building at work yesterday when I came across THAT book, which I have seen before, it is hilarious. Unfortunately this one was in horrible shape, water damaged, torn up, pages missing, chewed up by mice, etc. I threw it in the dumpster, it was really that bad... Computerthug's suggestion about the oil pressure line reminds me to suggest to everybody to never use that phony plastic crap, I know it is the standard of the backyard auto repair industry but it is an upcoming failure for you for sure! To cite examples of my experiences with this would take a while...
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No Opels were harmed in the filming of this movie. However two Mustangs, a Pinto, and a Capri were hospitalized. One Mustang was euthanized the next morning. |
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#20 (permalink) | |
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6,000 Post Club
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Imperial Beach, CA South of San Diego
Posts: 6,054
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__________________
Ron 72 GT 3.4L V-6/T-5/ZF posi - almost done - Just need AC installed. ![]() 75 Chevy monza 5.7L/TH350/Auburn 3.08 posi - Next |
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#21 (permalink) |
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Long Island, N.Y.
Posts: 361
Real Name: Craig Roberts
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too funny
Reading about the broken seat and wipers had me cracking up -- My first Opel had the broken seat and no heater and a variety of other problems. If you've never owned a car that was held together with chewing gum, string, rubber bands, wire coat hanger and tape then you are just plain spoiled
(and rich) It wasn't fun then but looking back 35 or so years later those were great times. Definately duct tape and a wire hanger are a must have in an OPel toolbox
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Craig Roberts |
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#22 (permalink) |
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OpelGirl
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Bronson, MI
Posts: 333
Real Name: Kim
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I love the "so I could get home stories" should be a mastercard commercial. Keith, thanks for the link, i didnt realize someone had already addressed this issue....I thought i was so clever
![]() Thanks so much for all the suggestions guys. We had a marathon gargae cleaning session today, most of the trash out and the office is clean, Cody's girlfriend has a line on some big comfy furniture for it. Cody is out there right now putting the transmission back in his lowrider and hopefully the garage will be clean and empty this weekend so i can get my opels in. Then i can work on taking off the waterpump and getting the headlights to roll over. |
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#23 (permalink) |
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Opel Addicts
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Buy a 13 mm stubby wrench (or cut down a regular one) to remove and tighten the bolts on your weber carb. It will save you LOTS of grief!
Vickie
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1958 Rekord Olympia Newest Acquisition 1969 Kadett LS Odette Showroom New Original 1969 GT Omi The Grandmother 1970 GT Octavia Streetrod 1971 GT Opie DESTEC car 1972 GT Olessja Under restoration from being rear-ended 1973 GT Oscar Awaiting Restoration 1975 Manta yellowOmaryellow The Bumblebee 1975 Ascona Sport Wagon: Otto Colonel Mustard 2008 Solstice yellowOliver - "Ollie"yellow |
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#25 (permalink) |
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No....its not a Buick....
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: IL.
Posts: 1,042
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awww heck, the BEST thing I got in my garage is the box of band-aids!! I swear some of the things on a GT were installed by oompa-loompas!!
Joe
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What ...we got here...is........failure......................... to communicate.... Some men,you just cant reach...so you get what we had here last week...which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it...I dont like it, any more than you men... |
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