Malcolm's Targa is coming home to the US

[crliwa]

Hi all ..

well I'm home w/the Targa another fun trip to get an OPEL. If you've never driven through Brooklyn on the BQE you have no idea what bad roads are.. My son drove , towing the empty trailer with the Bronco It's a 50 mile trip from Babylon Long Island to Port Newark, NJ, Left at a little after 5 am to beat the traffic by 530 traffic was building .. glad we left when we did.
On the BQE the ramp from the trailer came loose and started dragging... lots of sparks.. stopped and got it back in it's holder.. and away we went. Over bridges and bumpy roads and throgh city streets we arrived in Downtown
Newark, N.J. had 45 minute wait til the US Customs office opened . went thru the security chek and got into the customs office .. I was first on line ... only abou 1/2 hour and $400 poorer I had what I needed .. Off to the shipping company office..... It was not at the addresss they gave me but after 3 phone calls... THank god for cell phones we were at the office... They were fine and I could see the car from the office... I had been moved there prior to going into storage.. I had 5 days to p the car from the day it got in last week. It was surrounded by REAL MINI's and other cars as well as a trailer for the Aston Martin Racing team. Left the officde went to get the cxar...STOP ..can't nring in the trailer til they check the VIN
and My ID ... again. The car is blocked by a mini.. back to the office.... they telll me to just push the MINI and anything else out of the way and drivde the Targa to the gate.. Targa Battery is DEAD . I put on the battery pack stilll won't start....
No Gas? They agree to let the trailer in ... we push the car on to it .. easier than I thought ..and see some damage to the drivers door. Back to the office ... they call for an inspector I should wait... WOW in less than 15 min. he's there... no problem.. gives me a receipt.. Craig JR. has the Yarge strapped down and we are off. Can't get out til they recheck the paperwork... Now a tractor trailer wants come in where we are going out.. they finally get him straightened out and we can leave...
We decide the BQE is just tooo bad so we willl head thru Midtown Manhattan... Thru the Lincoln tunnel up to 42nd street and across town... Lots of thumbs up, then uptown to the 59th street bridge and we are In Queens.(ON Long Island) YES.
10 more minutes and we are on the Long Island XWY.
45 minutes and we are putting gas in the GT then back home ... 8 hours and we are back... great.
We take it off the trailer... try to start it ... no luck... pull the plugs... BAD
Get new plugs.. calll Dennis at Opel GT source ... What do I set the gap at on my new FI 2.4 ...30? YES he agrees .. new plugs in .. jumper cables on .. VRRRRom sounds great..
Test drive ... where's reverse? there it is go go go ....Into second **** brake pedal and clutch pedal are BIG and I brake as I try to push in the clutch.. I'll need to remember that...
Next shift works better... back home and Craig's turn ... He does the same thing. back home to clean it up...
Later.....Craig

[neuropel]

Awesome Craig...
How bad was the damage to the door? Not too bad I hope!

Which EFI system does that car have? I looked through here before but couldn't find anything.

You gotta get us some pics!

Todd

[baz]

craig i think the pedals have alloy dress pads on ,you can unbolt them and the normal pedal pads are underneath just fit new rubbers

do we take the rushed typing and chopped sentences as a happy chappy with a good new toy

[crliwa]

Yes there are pedal covers... and Yes the missed keystrokes` are just my excitement... It looked ok as I was typing ... reallly ..it made sense to me

[benncojr]

Photo's please

[namba209]

Craig, that's just too fantastic. I'm glad there was no major damage. After you've had the chance to slow down, cool down, mayhaps you can put some pics up for us. We're all just waiting, oh yeh.

[gtzero]

YES, PICS PLEASE! I hope the door isn't too bad. Congratulations.

Manny

[baz]

ah its so much nicer to remember when you were sitting in it , and taking your own photos and crawling all over it and playing with it and now im going some place quiet to have a rest

[crliwa]

Just took some pics as soon as Craig Jr downloads and emails them to me I will post them. The door isnt too bad but it is a deep chip and a few small chips on the back edge of the door.
Boy, a Gt w/ fuel injection really starts easy... I don't know the particulars as to what FI system is on the car.

I can't take it out anymore because we had snow recently and the sand is terrible so I'll just wait a few more days. To be honest, It's reallly not legally on the street ... I have to register it ... the plates are Malcolm's YXY762 and I have it insurred for only $7000 til it gets appraised. I have been know to drive for months with switched plates as long as I've switched the nsurance, but I willl really make an effort to make it Legal asap.
Usually my neighbors make a comment like why do youhave so many cars.. U can only drive 1.. but this time they are actually commenting on how nice it is... and they ask when I'm taking it to AZ ... I told them it willl be here til the end of summer and maybe then it will go to AZ.
I wrote to Malcolm to find out what some switches do to speed the learning process so I can adjust mirrors, lights etc while looking at the road.

[baz]

have you had the top off yet ?? looks real good like that
and dont forget the injection wants 98 ron gas to run at its best or the best you can get and the ecu will adjust things to work at a little lower power setting

[crliwa]

Here are the pics.... Guess who's behind thev wheel...with the big grin.

[crliwa]

Baz,
Only had the top off for the last pic... I haven't driven it w/o the top... I put 93 octane in it, that's max available here...as I drive around the USA
I've never see anything higher... I guess I should ask Mal what the compression is... The car is now safely tucked away.

[opeldean]

the best part is that you got to enjoy it with your son. I know I speak for many here.

[wrangler]

Too Cool Craig... That sh*t-eatin grin could only be outdone by the one I would have on my face if I were behind the wheel! I'm glad to see it made it across the pond with little incident. I look forward to seeing many more pics as well. As far as mods go, that GT has it going on. Look forward to seeing it this summer if you take it to Az!
Brett

[spdkilz02]

looks very good...

[namba209]

That is really neat Craig. I'm gonna guess I'll look pretty much the same, the first time I lite off the engine in Willit? You have a really unique set of wheels. Now there are two of those on the road. AZ isn't too far from CA, you think you may bring it to Ventura for the OMC fest this year?

[crliwa]

Yes My son and I are enjoying the new Opel Targa.. He's even supposed to go to Carlisle this year .. he usually goes to the Ford Nationals the same weekend
Well I must be getting old... I decided to actually have the Targa on the road Legally Yes that means Insurred, registered and inspected just like regular people. I'm not 100% legal though I like Malcolms YXY762 english plates so I leftb them on and have thev (new) New York plates in an envelope behind the seat. Yesterday I went to the DMV and they hadn't done a car from overseas in quite some time so I told them what customs told me and they looked up the processs in the book and in about an hour I had plates, A legal
NY registration, a temporary inspection and a set of new plates. I fibbed about the price by about 90 % so my 8 1/2 % tax was bearable and Off I went. Back home, traded my daily driver for the Targa.. it was 70 degrees so no top....NICE
Next stop was to have it "inspected" at the dealer that my son works at. Only safety inspection needed since it's a pre 73. It passed .. no surprise there. I had to jump it to get to the dealer and it didn't charge on thev 10 minute trip ...After the inspection I headed back and still the battery hadn't charged...... I only worked ti 2 today so I took it out again. but first I swapped batteries... made 3 stops and by the last one the battery groaned .. the light on the amp gauge is always on ... I 'm afraid the alternator is not charging. I have the battery tender on it and will try starting it tomorrow and see if the alternator willl keep a fully charged battery charged or if there is a blown diode or whatever. Since the alternator is chromed I hope it's not the alternator. ... perhaps someting simple but who knows...
I am taking it to the body shop Monday or Tuesday to have the shipping damage estimated .....

I also don't have the key to lock the gas cap-- Is the instruction sheet for rekeying the gas cap easily fouund on this site.. or is it on yahoogroups?

Thanks again guys for all the support
Craig

[Gary]

Originally Posted by crliwa ... I also don't have the key to lock the gas cap-- Is the instruction sheet for rekeying the gas cap easily found on this site.. or is it on yahoogroups? Craig

Not sure if it is here yet or not. I was at a locksmith near here a month or so ago and he said it is real easy to rekey. He smiled when I told him I thought you needed to melt the plastic washer and remake one. He turned and pointed to his heating system duct and said he used to put them in there (or in an oven) for a few hours and the washer would get soft and you could pop it out and reuse it. I'm gathering up a bunch of caps (4 so far) to take to him and hopefully he will show me all his tricks! He still had a bunch of Opel key blanks on the wall.

[crliwa]

Electrical problems and Opels they just seem to go together.. Well I got up today and decided to attempt to diagnose the electrical problem on the Targa.
Here's where I am.
The car came in w/ dead battery.
When we got it home we changed the fouled plugs and jumped it. It started fine.

After 2 stops and restarts the battery was dead again.
Replaced the battery.. it started fine.

After 3 starts and stops it was dead. the light on the amp guage always on and charging 20 amps

Left Battery tender on all night. started fine this morning.

Checked and found 11 volt constant drain on the battery and 13 volts charging from the alternator, so the Alternator is good but SOMETHING is killing my battery..

After fully charging the battery, The Light goes off but came back on after I cranked it over a few times and ran the battery down a little.

[soybean]

Craig, here's something I found and kept from one of the boards. I don't know who the credit belongs to. HTH, Jarrell

There is only one way to really track down a battery drain.

1. You need to take a standard "Test Light" that uses a regular 12V bulb (not one that uses an LED).

2. Next you disconnect the (+) Battery Cable, and connect the Clip of the "test light" to the (+) Battery post & connect the Probe end of the "test light" to the
(+) Battery Cable end.

-If you have a Battery Drain, then the Test Light bulb will be illuminated. When the test light bulb is "ON" bright, it indicates that there is a sufficient Current Draw, in the cars system, to drain the battery. These draws can drain a battery from over night to a few days.

-If the Test Light Lamp is "ON" dimly, it usually is a Memory Draw for a stereo or alarm system. These smaller draws will drain a battery in usually 1x month.

-If the Test Light Bulb is not illuminated at all. You do not have an external battery drain, and you may want to have your battery tested for a bad cell, or for internal shorting. (Yes-internal drains are possible.)

If your Test Light lamp bulb is "ON" continue.

3. Next you will want to pull ALL of the cars fuses.
4. Check to see if the Test Lamp light is OFF. Test Lamp light OFF, go to step 4a. Test Lamp light still ON, go to step 5.

4a. Begin to install 1x fuse at a time, until the Test Light illuminates again. Once the Test Lights bulb illuminates again, you have found & isolated the circuit that is causing the battery drain.
4b. Next you will need to refer to the cars wiring diagram to see this circuit controls. You will want to highlight all of the wires on the diagram & disconnect
1x item at a time to determine "which" component in that circuit is draining the Battery. Once the Test Lamp light goes out again, you will have found the failed part.

5. If you have disconnected every fuse & the Test Lights bulb is still ON, you need to try a few more things.
5a. You will want to disconnect the fuse/s for any Aftermarket Stereo components, alarms etc. that are wired directly into the car (that are NOT hooked to the cars stock Fuse Box).

-If none of these disconnected fuses cause the Test Light bulb to stop glowing you will need to disconnect more components.
5b. You will want to Unplug the Voltage regulator harness from the voltage regulator. -Did the Test Light bulb go off, if not go on to 5c.
5c. Disconnect the B+ terminal wire from the back of the alternator.

One of these systems described above can drain a battery. If you did not find the cause of the drain, go over the system again in a day, preferably with a friend who may ask questions that make you think. I traced a weird electrical problem back in 94 with my GT. I went over the same procedure 4 or 5 times. Finally my Dad came out and asked if I have located the problem. When he found I had not yet, he decided to help. After just a few minute (and I had been at it for hours) he asked if I have checked "This" is the circuit. Well.......I had deer in the heads lights look, and realized that I had been skipping this step every single time, and guess what...........That Was the Problem