Why we Luv our Opels?

azopelnut · 10-13-2006

My 75 Sportwagon sat for most of a year until I fired it up to make the Julian CA cruise for the San Diego Opel Club's get together. After leaving Julian I had to go to another stop making it a 565 mile round trip in one day....My 106,000 wagon used no oil and got around 23 MPG loaded to the gills with stuff I would need if it ever breaks down... it doesnt! I am seriously thinking of tempting fate by not taking any extras next time.

namba209 · 10-13-2006

Originally Posted by azopelnut

I am seriously thinking of tempting fate by not taking any extras next time.

IDK Paul, after leaving it here for a week after the fun and games at the Coronado Classic Car Races, A. Murphy may have hitched a ride, and you know how unpredictable he is.

For the folks that don't know, Paul's Sportwagon is box stock and last weekend he put it on the dyno at the Coronado festivities and pulled an honest 64 and a shade more horses at the rear wheels. Not too shabby for having that many miles on it. Congrats Paul on having a really reliable set of wheels.

tekenaar · 10-13-2006

A small comment on general Opel reliability . . . Opel mechanicals, with VERY FEW exceptions are pretty much bulletproof and any small things that may go awry can typically be fixed "on the road" with just common handtools. I have bought three of my Opels from owners very remote from me, flown to their locations and driven the cars back to Texas, not entirely without minor mishaps, but fixed on the road with tools taken along "just in case".

Bought my Hooters orange '72 GT in Houston, flew there and drove it back to Plano without incident. ~230 miles.

Bought my '85 Bitter SC in High Point, NC, flew to my son's home in Richmond, VA, drove down to High Point the next day and drove back via Atlanta in the aftermath of a hurricane to Plano. Had "holed oil filter" incident on northeast side of Atlanta, which was fixed with Gene's help by replacing oil filter with OEM size unit (smaller diameter). No further problems encountered. ~1075 miles.

Bought my very low original mileage '69 Kadett LS in Seattle, WA, flew there and drove it back through 7 states over four days to Plano. Had two on-road incidents, minor one caused by "pilot error" (thought tank held 13.3 gallons like GT, actually holds only 10.3 gallons!!) on first day at 2:00 AM in Boise, ID and one on second day just north of Helper, UT, which caused a one day delay at Price, UT to fabricate a tool to remove, block off the failed OP 'idiot light' sender and reinstall it. No further problems encountered. Drove car to Houston meet two weeks after return to Texas and after replacing OP sender. ~2650 miles in ~21 days.

Quite a testament to Opel reliability I'd say . . .

PROPEL · 10-13-2006

Originally Posted by tekenaar

A small comment on general Opel reliability . . . Opel mechanics, with VERY FEW exceptions are pretty much bullet proof...

I think you meant "mechanicals", Otto!

RallyBob · 10-13-2006

Originally Posted by PROPEL

I think you meant "mechanicals", Otto!

Wow, the corrector has been corrected.

tekenaar · 10-13-2006

Originally Posted by PROPEL

I think you meant "mechanicals", Otto!

Originally Posted by RallyBob

Wow, the corrector has been corrected.

Glad to see someone's paying attention . . .

namba209 · 10-13-2006

Actually it could be either way, as in the mechanics of the Opel engine or the mechanical attributes of the Opel engine. Makes no nevermind to me, I understood it the first go around.

10-13-2006	#1 (permalink)
azopelnut Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Yuma Arizona Posts: 636 Classified Rating: 0% (0)	Why we Luv our Opels? My 75 Sportwagon sat for most of a year until I fired it up to make the Julian CA cruise for the San Diego Opel Club's get together. After leaving Julian I had to go to another stop making it a 565 mile round trip in one day....My 106,000 wagon used no oil and got around 23 MPG loaded to the gills with stuff I would need if it ever breaks down... it doesnt! I am seriously thinking of tempting fate by not taking any extras next time.

10-13-2006	#3 (permalink)
tekenaar Cunning Linguist Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Plano, TX 75074 Posts: 3,987 Classified Rating: 0% (0)	Opel reliability testament A small comment on general Opel reliability . . . Opel mechanicals, with VERY FEW exceptions are pretty much bulletproof and any small things that may go awry can typically be fixed "on the road" with just common handtools. I have bought three of my Opels from owners very remote from me, flown to their locations and driven the cars back to Texas, not entirely without minor mishaps, but fixed on the road with tools taken along "just in case". Bought my Hooters orange '72 GT in Houston, flew there and drove it back to Plano without incident. ~230 miles. Bought my '85 Bitter SC in High Point, NC, flew to my son's home in Richmond, VA, drove down to High Point the next day and drove back via Atlanta in the aftermath of a hurricane to Plano. Had "holed oil filter" incident on northeast side of Atlanta, which was fixed with Gene's help by replacing oil filter with OEM size unit (smaller diameter). No further problems encountered. ~1075 miles. Bought my very low original mileage '69 Kadett LS in Seattle, WA, flew there and drove it back through 7 states over four days to Plano. Had two on-road incidents, minor one caused by "pilot error" (thought tank held 13.3 gallons like GT, actually holds only 10.3 gallons!!) on first day at 2:00 AM in Boise, ID and one on second day just north of Helper, UT, which caused a one day delay at Price, UT to fabricate a tool to remove, block off the failed OP 'idiot light' sender and reinstall it. No further problems encountered. Drove car to Houston meet two weeks after return to Texas and after replacing OP sender. ~2650 miles in ~21 days. Quite a testament to Opel reliability I'd say . . . Last edited by tekenaar; 10-13-2006 at 08:21 PM.. Reason: mechanics not bulletproof, mechanicals are ;-)

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10-13-2006	#7 (permalink)
namba209 5,000 Post Club Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Imperial Beach, CA South of San Diego Posts: 5,968 Classified Rating: 0% (0)	Actually it could be either way, as in the mechanics of the Opel engine or the mechanical attributes of the Opel engine. Makes no nevermind to me, I understood it the first go around.

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