Spyder Progress At Last

[PROPEL]

Originally Posted by supertweet May I ask where you sourced the Campagnolos, and if you have any photos? ...You have any Borrani's as well??

No Borranis, but I have two different sets of Campy's. The 13x7's (left) are the identical to vintage Conrero rims. (Two of these 13x7's will require specialized wheel restoration, btw.) The 13x5.5's are pictured on right. Campagnolo wheels are virtually impossible to find for Opels. I have been collecting these over time from different sellers, sometimes one wheel at a time in order to make a whole set!

My Spyder is going in a different direction than Keith/Dallas' more modern interpretation. I'm trying for a period one-off look... along the lines of the factory Aero GTs in styling/execution. Vintage small diameter rims, Moto-Lita wood steering wheel, red leather interior, smooth silver dash like a Porsche 550, vintage fender mirror, chrome accents, etc. Since I'm not going with bigger wheels, the car will be lowered 2" in order to reduce the large gap between the tires and fender arches.

Drivetrain will be a SSD 2.0L mated to a getrag 5-speed and 3.67 axle.

[PROPEL]

Okay, apparently the photo upload on the site is not working right now.

[Gary]

Originally Posted by PROPEL Okay, apparently the photo upload on the site is not working right now.

testing an upload. (pic from work pc)

[Ooooner]

Gary... Is this you at work?

[PROPEL]

It's working now. Here are the wheel pics...

[Gary]

Originally Posted by Ooooner Gary... Is this you at work?

Not a chance. It is from a "life before OSHA" file that I have.

[markandson]

Originally Posted by opelspyder Looks good, but not sure what you mean by concieved before Dallas's. I completed his car two years before he got. I hope you had them make your door gaps adjustable. There is always flex on the body that may cause the rear door gap to touch. Keith

Have to repost this question - How do you do "adjustable door gaps"?

[jordan]

Jeff, there are 2 turnbuckles one on either side within the car attaching to the aft part of the rocker panel and the other end attaches to the inside of the car about at the striker plate for the door latch, they can be adjusted inwards or outwards to achive a better door gap. I can't find a picture of it yet but it's a neat concept.

[opelspyder]

Jordan is close to right, except I chose to have the other end of the turn buckle nearer the inner rear shock tower area. This allows after everything is all set and welded, to move the body with a turn of a wrench to set your door gap and then lock in the turn buckles with jam nuts. Even factory cars that are convertible flex here, some worse than others (kind of the weak point of the convertible. I've seen people weld in solid roll bars and while this still works, it remains that the door gaps are what you are stuck with. Put the car on a 2 point lift and see how it flexes and you will understand where I am coming from on this.
Keith

[Mike Trout]

Just my 2 cents, they didnt mask it, he is not even wearing a dust suit to keep the dust off the material being sprayed and its not even in a booth, I should slap his hand thats all not good
Not to diss on the shop or anyhting or make you feel bad but dont be to suprised when you look at your car if there are some dirt nibs in it

[ronskydivepops]

It took two years to get my GT painted. The shop I went to basically does only insurance work, because that's where the money is. The owner cut his teeth doing custom paint jobs though, and at least once a year he would take in a custom car and paint it. If time was not a constraint then he would take on the job. I pais thru the nose for the paint job, but if I ever have a problem he'll fix it for free. It's been four years now and it still looks as good as the day I took it home. My son paid 3/4 as much money as me at Maaco and has rust bubbles everywhere four years later on his classic Mustang. The wait for me was worth it in the long run.

[Mike Preble]

Just a side note. I know where there might be more of those rims. Email me at mjpreble@earthlink.net if you are interested. I don't have them but know where they are.

Mike

[West Coast GT]

I thought that photo of Conrero's GT 130 looked familiar.
Pages 54-55 of Automobile Quarterly, Volume 10, Number 1, 1st Quarter 1972. "The Opel GT Lives!" by Gianni Rogliatti.

Damn, but those are good looking wheels. Are they still available?

[Dallas]

I just got word of this Spyder project. I am happy to see another Spyder in the mix. Keith did a lot of enginering and work on my car. I am very pleased with it. I would love to see how your car comes out. Keep us posted on the project. The latest project I did to mine is ANOTHER center console that flows up to the gages and covers all the factory stuff I never used anyway.

[Dallas]

Pics of the new console from front to back. Fiberglass and carpet.

[jordan]

Well done dallas, very fitting for the car. Any Idea on what you are going to do with the steering wheel, I'm sure you've given that some thought.

[Dallas]

That is the next thing to go. Gil has told me of a black and yellow steering wheel that will match... we'll see.

[azopelnut]

Hey Dallas
Is there anyway that you could give a little decription of your interior. (What parts are custom, what parts are other from other makes, what everything does)...everything looks absolutely great!
Are those Miata seats?

[Dallas]

Those are Miata seats that Keith put in. I had them covered with marine style vinyl in case it gets wet... and it has. I added the Blitz to the head rest. The door panels are custom made. I tried to make the design on the door follow the shape of the car itself. The door openers are stock, but the handles are from a hot rod custom shop and I modified them with finger holds to close the door. All stereo is new and includes a new CD player, 4 door speakers, 10 inch subs behind the seats and an amp and air compressor with a 5 gallon tank behind the subs. I made the center console with fiberglass and incorporated a modified $5 autozone cup holder. Painted it black with bed liner material then added carpet over most of it. Then I added the battery cut-off and push start button like a race car. The other green switch is for the air compressor. On the back of the console and between the seats I made a soft center console with some of the yellow vinyl and added the hood emblem. This is between the subs and seats and flows up to the, again, hand made tonneau cover. I made it from spray foam and fiberglass. There is a thread on here somewhere showing step by step on that. The dash is a factory replacement and I added the air shock gauges and control switches where the glove box was.

[Dallas]

Here is the toneau cover project thread

http://www.opelgt.com/forums/2d-body...body-mods.html

[PROPEL]

Yesterday was a major twelve-hour ordeal, as I scrambled to rescue my spyder and any of my associated Opel parts which I could manage to find. The business closed its doors without any notification to its customers. Fortunately, I had stopped by to check in on the (typical lack of) progress. When I arrived on the scene, the building was in the process of being looted. I have lost numerous NOS parts and essentials like rechromed bumpers and gas tank. However, I feel fortunate that I was able to get my car out of there in one piece. Their lawyer was trying to tell me that nothing could be removed from the premises without authorization by the bankruptcy trustee. Meanwhile, I watched helplessly as customer parts and business assets were (apparently) being stolen or thrown into dumpsters!

[RallyBob]

Damn Walter, that sucks! At least you got the car back in one piece though, as you said. Definitely could have been worse!

Now if you had just sold me the car a few years ago this all could have been avoided...

[BQS4]

Walter;
Keep an eye on Ebay. The parts may be popping up there. The location of the parts will be the giveaway

[opelspyder]

I hate that for anyone. We had a shop in Nashville that had 150 classic cars, and they went belly up. They were known well as they restored a Tucker. They were just too big. But I offer something to you. If you want help finishing it, give me a shout. I somehow down the road had experience with a roadster and may be able to get it finished for you. Schedule is a little tight, but at least I would have space for it. Just offering that to a fellow Opeler I know. We have the distance problem, but that can usually be solved. Again that sucks to happen to anyone.
Keith

[PROPEL]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Now if you had just sold me the car a few years ago this all could have been avoided...

I know! But I tried... remember how difficult they made it for you to come check out the car?