Ratty GT

[ungermm]

Here is my newest 72 GT. I saw an ad on Craigslist and found out that this car had been parked for the last 20 years. On the phone, the seller initially asked for $500. When I went to see the car , I could see it was in decent shape on the outside, but the animals had taken shelter in it. Rats that is, and it looked like they had made a nice home out of it. The motor could be turned by hand, but it seemed a little tight. I explained that I only considered it a parts car and that I would be interested in a few parts from it. However, the seller did have the title and keys. He said if I didn’t buy the car, it was going to the wrecking yard, and to make him an offer. I think he knew I wasn’t very excited about it. He said “Give me $150.00.” Hmmm???...So, I now own a really ratty GT. I put a fresh battery in it, sprayed some WD40 in each cylinder, and got the engine to turn. However, it turned slow and the spark looked weak. I found that the water pump had froze so I cut the fan belt and after priming the carb the she fired up soon after. It actually idled pretty smooth and didn’t smoke. I still had it towed to my house though. I think she is do for a major makeover. Ungerdog

RattyGT.JPG RattyGT 002.JPG

[sbarc]

Actually it looks pretty rust free. It's a good project car. As for the interior.....you usually replace most of that anyways if you do a full restoration.

Steve B

[opelbits]

Nice deal, but I gotta ask...what's with the gallows in the background?

[opelnut10]

Originally Posted by opelbits Nice deal, but I gotta ask...what's with the gallows in the background?

Just be careful cleaning it out you might find Mr. no-shoulders (snake) crawling around in there and he will get upset if you remove his food supply (rats). The gallows in the background looks like a home made chain fall rig for removing motors Looks pretty complete as far as exterior and glass, you certainly didn't get hurt for $150, good buy I think.

[opel kid]

hey just look through all the junk and you might find some treasures!
dought it but you never know...

[opelwasp]

Woo Whoo! you have a running GT again! Now don't try to turn this one into some ones hood ornament.

[ungermm]

Originally Posted by opelbits Nice deal, but I gotta ask...what's with the gallows in the background?

Yeah, That was my back yard home made engine puller with a come along. I used it a couple times and it worked well enough. It's retired because I was able to find a good used cherry picker on craigslist.

Don't know if anyone noticed, but there is a dried up dead rat on top of a spare speedometer in the interior photo. I found another small mouse sized rat under the rear shelf, and a live one came running out of there as I was poking around. Geeze, I really don't like rats all that much. I told my wife, and she won't go near the car.

Along with a couple extra dash gauges, I found some weird looking goggles that at first I thought were welding goggles. However, the lenses are kind of orange/yellow in color (maybe from age) and the rubber molded face piece around them says polaroid. There is a knob between the lenses that turns and I would guess turns them into polarizing lenses. I found a real nice slide rule back there also. If you don't know what that is, it's kind of like a calculator without batteries. They were invented sometime after the abacus and before the texas instrument. Jerry

[azopelnut]

Hey Jerry
Looks like a good buy to me.
Rent a steam cleaner and power wash everything inside and out.
You really don't want to take a health risk

[azopelnut]

At least wear a mask and rubber gloves

[opelbits]

Watch out for those dead rats...remember what they did to Europe!


The goggles may actually be worth something if they are in decent shape.

The slide rule is what got us to the Moon. Back before computers and NASA's three martini pre-flight briefing.

[baz]

new name for you

captain beaky

YouTube - Captain Beaky and His band