PROJECT - Restoration of 1972 Opel GT Download

[opelspyder]

Belly pan is officaially part of the car again. When bonding fiberglass to metal, it is always important to insure that cracks will not develop later. We use a Lord Adhesive here made for bonding metal to metal and fiberglass to metal. It is actually crash tested and is what most bodyshops are using to attach quarter panels!!! We glue then clamp it down to set and then trim the edges. Robert trimmed this afternoon and it looks really good. The fiberglass pan was a little bit of an pain, but was most feesible at the time.
Keith

[opelspyder]

We are in the wetsanding stage of the body shop part. What happens is after you have done all the bodywork, and then primed-you begin to step down in grit on sand paper...of course by sand paper numbers it goes higher---so lets say FINER. This actually will make the primer as smooth as the final paint in the most part so you can see a gloss or shine from the primer. Helps to see if any final pits or high lows need to be addressed. Then it is ready for paint. The runny white water is from the wet sanding and will be cleaned off with a precleaner before painting. Decided we will paint it on the rotisserie as well.
Keith

[opelspyder]

Well Friday is the day. The long awaited day has come. At 6:00 AM the Opel GT will be painted 60620 Fireglow Orange. We are focusing on the main body as we have to paint in the engine bay and all. I checked over the body, and I see nothing that henders us from expecting a sweet paint job. I cannot wait until tomorrow to download the pictures. NOW-comes my disclaimer...I cannot predict the future...we mayu end up with hell when we are done. Things do happen. But I have faith that we will end up with a sweet finished project. We will be wetsanding and buffing the body on the rotisserie, and then mounting the car back on to the chassis. That way we do not get a bunch of wetsand residue all over a sweet chassis. Enjoy the suspense
Keith

[opelspyder]

4-1/2 hours later and we are finished. I basically rotated the car while Robert painted it. We had a fun time. The body was straight as an arrow and only one small run near the front marker light (easy fix during wetsanding) I can't believe how nice it turned out. Oh, to video tape a 4-1/2 hour paint job would have been a pain. I didn't even want to take pictures due to it being one less thing to cause an error. Enjoy the pics!
Keith

[opelspyder]

Here are some more pics.
Keith

[opelspyder]

Here is some different lighting
Keith

[opelspyder]

Here are a few more in front of a white background where it recieved all its metal work. I did not see any orange peel, nor flaws of any signifigance. Will take very little finish work to complete. The prep and bodywork is number 1 on a project like this, but Robert is a skilled painter as well. I learned a few things while working on it with him.

[opelspyder]

Here are the other items after paint. We have wetsanded and polished the body, and now ready to take care of the doors and hoods. I will begin assembly of the car and have several pictures coming up today and this week
Keith

pills11.com )

[opelspyder]

Here I have reundercoated just the fender wells. I cannot stand the look of a car without blacked out fenderwells-just a personal thing. Then I began putting it together. First the new brake lines are installed as this is much easier to do 1st. Then I installed the firewall material, and then fished the headlight cable through. I also made a stainless steel fuel line out of 5/16 and pre-bent it to the body. I will reinstall this once everything is set with the motor, as there are certain clamps that come off the engine.
Keith

[opelspyder]

Rotisserie needs to go home. So here we begin the where we started in January going back onto the lift. I am removing the rotisserie and it will be ready for anyone else that needs a GT restored at my shop-plug. Anyways here are the pics. The car has been given several new names in the shop-I guess by the last pictures it did give me the munchies
Keith

[opelspyder]

Well with everything running smoothly, the engine is going in. Actually I didn't even lay a scratch when putting it in, it went smooth. Tightened up and getting late-so rear end and fuel line tomorrow; maybe front end and some dynamat. Who knows, maybe we'll have the doors on?
Keith

[opelspyder]

I couldn't get back to sleep this morning, so I came in about 4:30 and got to wrestling the rear end into the car. The new bushings are good, but the bolts they give you, you have to drill out larger to accomidate them. I will end up putting the rear trailering link on after I can get it on the ground. It's easier when someone can push down on it and then hook the bar. I then installed things like the clutch cable-just merely routing it as of now, and I installed the stainless fuel line. I like to flare the ends of the tubing to give a better seal. Stainless is tough, but I use a hydralic flaring tool just for this job. I will put things like springs and such the further I get into the assembly. I then began the front end assembly and putting on the tierod ends. It is really nice having all this stuff ready to go and powdercoated. It makes short work on the finishing assembly. I am for the most part going to use the original clamps and such that were used to hold cables down, but may make some new clamps for other areas.
Keith

[opelspyder]

Put the wheels on it to make it movable once again. It will get the wheels coated, and new trim rings and such. It is sitting pretty high in the front, due to new bushings that are alot stiffer, no battery in front or radiator, bumpers, and such. They tend to sit high in the front anyways-always worse when just put back together. Its nice to see this car is in the stage it was in the 3rd or 4th post of this thread, too bad it will still take several more post until it will be done though. Al here at the shop has been calling it Cheetos' Diablos. I don't think it will stick, but had to put a plug in here for him too.
Keith

[opelspyder]

Had a chance to do a little bit of Dynamat on the inside of the car. I chose to use the Dynamat Extreme. It is more for noise reduction, than temperatures, but still provides a heat block. I like this over there other lines as it really adhears well, and contours whatever you are covering. They offer a little roller to help you flatten it down. I will be doing as much as I can, without hindering on the interior installation. Parts of the tunnel will be left, do to the consoles always seem to be a little tight going back in with new carpet. I also am working on the headlight cable hardware. A new cable will be used, but the old hardware must be used. I have two ends in excellent shape that with the proper grease, should give us years of use. Also I forgot to mention, the rubber boots and grommets GT Source is offering, fit great!!!! The underneath of this car looks great, and the rear drainboots, and floor plugs and e barke boot, makes it even better. Its nice to be able to have that stuff, and makes it a real showpiece underneath.
Keith

[opelspyder]

Remeber back in a earlier post I mentioned drilling 2, 1/8in holes in each hindge on both the body and door side. This is why, attach doors one time and they shut and are lined up perfectly. I installed door stickers as well. Looks a lot more complete now.
Keith

pills11.com )

[opelspyder]

Here I've gone way ahead of myself and put the front emblem on. I know, I know-add the jewelry last, but I could not help myself. Also continued applying Dynamat on roof and doors. Here is the picture of the door stickers from last post.
Keith

pills11.com )