Spyder Progress At Last

[jordan]

Some 13" tires I would like to find would be some vredesteins, but they will be very tough to come by.

[baz]

jordan i know we are wwwwaaaaayyyyy off topic but have you come across there mud and snow tyres , truly great tyres in yes mud and snow , well for a road tyre good grip , low noise and good wear rate
i used to use them here as a winter tyre when we used to get snow and bad weather , but dont need them now with all this global warming

[jlthunder]

The body shop I used was a one man operation. Payment was simple. He worked on it, when the bill came to about $1000.00, he called me and I came over with cash and he then continued work. If someone came in that wanted his done quick, he put mine aside and worked on the other customer. Sadly, after 20 years, he closed up his shop and now works for a hot rod shop. He is no longer his own boss. Other people argued over payment and that cost him his business.

It took him approx 1.5 years to do my car, we worked together to keep costs down(I took all of the chrome and glass out(except the front and back window) out to save on labor costs and I ordered the parts he needed from OGTS to save on markup.
To summarize, find a body shop you are comfortable with any everybody wins.

[opelnut10]

I'm sure we have all had bad experiences trying to get body work and paint done on our cars. First thing to consider is space in the shop and type on equipment being used. Secondly how much work does the shop do, I have seen some very decent body work done in a back yard shop but when it comes to paint preperation and enviorment is the key to a good paint job. If you can find someone that has pride in their work and the patients to do it right, for gods sake pay them a decent wage for their labors and everyone will be happy. Big shops have a lot of overhead and fast insurance work does pay the bills and the quicker you can turn them around the more insurance work you are going to get, so our type of work has to be a labor of love and pride in the finished product.

[PROPEL]

If you can find someone that has pride in their work and the patients to do it right, for gods sake pay them a decent wage for their labors and everyone will be happy. Big shops have a lot of overhead and fast insurance work does pay the bills and the quicker you can turn them around the more insurance work you are going to get, so our type of work has to be a labor of love and pride in the finished product.

This shop specializes in metal/rust repair and bodywork for classic cars (think Mustangs, Camaros, Alfas, Triumphs, Datsuns, etc.) They do very little insurance work and do not wish to compete with the insurance-based bodyshop directly across from them. I had another Opel done by them almost twenty years ago with no problems, back when they were a smaller establishment. At one point, they had problems with too many cars in their yard, and the state got after them. While my Spyder was in their possession, they relocated to a larger facility (this is when my friend's car vanished).

Their work is not cheap, and I definitely paid them a decent wage for their expertise. Because I was not around to supervise or kick their butts into gear, they allowed my car to languish. Instead, they would send me false reports about how much work had been done. I trusted them because I had already established a relationship with them, and I knew the owner was having family medical problems. In essense, they were able to get full payment for the job plus extra without any of the promised work having been performed. They admitted having cash flow problems, and my upfront cash was used to float them while they worked on (over?) other customers.

At one point, I just wanted to sell this car, as-is, and get out from under it. But the shop even made it difficult for potential buyers to come look at it in my absence.

If I did not have all my paperwork in order, a signed affidavit guaranteeing completion of the job within a set time period, and a possible lawsuit... I don't think this car would ever be completed.

[PROPEL]

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]

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]

Gary... Is this you at work?

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

[markandson]

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.