[kgi4x4]

Hello all. My name is Kevin. I have a shop in Northern California, Red Bluff to be exact. I am currently fist deep in a project for a customer and just foumd this forum. Love it, full of great info!
The project car is a 1970 Opel Kadett. It came in with a partially disassembled engine. It had apparently lost oil pressure and imploded some 10 or more years ago. More recently the head was removed for inspection of cylinders/pistons, and left in a disassembled state until in my care.
We have already installed the upgraded suspension, 1 1/2" lowering leaf and rear coils, all Poly bushings, heavy rear sway bar, and powder coated all suspension components.
The motor is a one off custom. 1.9 liter bored to 2.0. 1.9L head mild port work. Pistons are Venolia, forged aluminum, built to our specs to achieve a 7.8:1 compression ratio.
Intake is a 83ish vintage, euro Opel/GM EFI manifold with Bosch injectors. A FAST Fuel XFI 2.0 EFI computer and harness(LS1) are being adapted to control fuel and ignition. (Currently in talks with Pertronics to have a custom built distributor made to work with the XFI system) Also required is an upgrade to an LS1 throttle position sensor(same GM/Bosch style, smaller bolt pattern). The original TPS is an idle, open, full throttle type, the XFI requires a reostatic type.
To plumb exhaust to turbo I built a one off header and crossover tube. This allowed me to locate the Garrett turbo on the drivers side of motor in the dead space in front of the master cylinder. Also upgrade to 90 amp Bosch alternator...generator and EFI... No buenos! Routing of down tube is tight but wrapped around and under the mastcylinder.
Well not sure if these pics will post but here we go...

 

[G.v.Mainberg]

This is going to be a very interesting thread.

Welcome to insanity

Dieter

 

[neuropel]

Helluva first post there, Kevin! Welcome aboard and good luck with the project.

 

[dsmith]

COOL! Should be a real sleeper Kevin.:yup:

 

[opelspyder]

Looks pretty fun! I wonder if Rallye Bob's Turbo manifold might have been a better choice or not, but looks like you are mixing a couple of different systems here, so good luck. One note on that engine, I hope you replaced the factory oil pick up tube with the later aluminum pan's tube. The Early Kadetts up to 70 used a real small diameter pick up tube, that later changed to a larger diameter. I assume this was a problem otherwise it would have stayed the same.

 

[kgi4x4]

Thanks for the welcome. Glad I stumbled onto this site...wish I had seen Rally Bobs turbo manifold before I built this one. It's a thing of beauty! And for the $ he's asking its well with it. The tubing I used cost almost as much. But then I guess I wouldn't have enjoyed :banghead: trying to figure out how to make it work. I truly thought I was doing something nobody had done...guess there aren't many things that haven't been done these days...
Some more pics:

 

[kgi4x4]

Looks pretty fun! I wonder if Rallye Bob's Turbo manifold might have been a better choice or not, but looks like you are mixing a couple of different systems here, so good luck. One note on that engine, I hope you replaced the factory oil pick up tube with the later aluminum pan's tube. The Early Kadetts up to 70 used a real small diameter pick up tube, that later changed to a larger diameter. I assume this was a problem otherwise it would have stayed the same.

I had two engines to pick parts from, a '70 10 bolt head and a '71/'72 12 bolt head. Both are aluminum pans...both had the same oil pickup. '70 had dipstick in the pan plus was in much better shape. I used as much of the original motor as possible except a couple of rocker studs it's all 10 bolt "delta head" stuff. Thanks for the heads up tho.

 

[nickincrete]

welcome
great work, i like your manifolds,
im doing similar for my gt but a 2.2 litre with a 2.4 head
im using megasquirt 2 though so i can get rid of the dizzy and use wideband and anti knock
what turbo are you using ?
you must be looking for a lot of boost if your cr is so low ?
i was thinking of bringing my manifold in front of the engine but now ive seen yours i may think again if there is room in the gt

 

[G.v.Mainberg]

I truly though I was doing something nobody had done...guess there aren't many things that haven't been done these days...

If you wanna do something truely new (in the US Opel scene), make it a 4x4. Your screen name suggests you might have some experience.

Dieter

 

[opelspyder]

If you wanna do something truely new (in the US Opel scene), make it a 4x4. Your screen name suggests you might have some experience.

Dieter

I have a guy in the next town over that put a Kadett L on a 4x4 chassis. It looked okay, but the car was pretty rough in condition regardless. I have a picture somewhere I'll have to dig up

 

[kgi4x4]

welcome
great work, i like your manifolds,
i'm doing similar for my gt but a 2.2 litre with a 2.4 head
im using megasquirt 2 though so i can get rid of the dizzy and use wideband and anti knock
what turbo are you using ?
you must be looking for a lot of boost if your cr is so low ?
i was thinking of bringing my manifold in front of the engine but now ive seen yours i may think again if there is room in the gt

Using a Garrett T25/T28. We are planning on starting with 7-14 psi to see what happens. With the possibility of running up to 22psi at some point. This may require a custom made head gasket...MLS or similar... At this time I don't know if anything is offered. Anybody got info???
The pistons were made to allow for as much boost as we can throw at them. Was going to have them coated but the tech at Venolia said it would be a "waste of $" unless we were expecting over 400 HP, per hole!!! Had them make a slightly over-sized wrist pin to add strength there. From what my investigating turned up the crank and rods are forged units from factory...capable of handling high HP. If I'm wrong please let me know! The compression ratio for 7 psi worked out to roughly 8.2:1 so we gave some cushion room, @7.8 to allow for all out insanity should the urge for more ever arise.
We're also running an automatic...TH180. My tranny guy said there wasn't much in the way of hop up parts but said he had a few tricks up his sleeve. Stayed with the stock stall converter as others running TH180s said the Opel unit was the most sought after, due to its high stall speed.
I have an inkling suspicion that it will need a brake upgrade before it's all said and done...what's the best option. Also what wheels fit? Looking for a "euro spoke" style rim. Owner wants to run stock 14" with hubcaps(for sleeper look) but knows when it's time to go, a second set of shoes will be required.
The car's plans are to be used for running around locally (Portland area) and one trip a year to Montana, with possible road course racing for fun. But will not see daily duty.

 

[nickincrete]

i went for a 2.2 crank as this and the 2.4 crank are much stronger
also the 9 inch clutch
i have volvo 4 pot calipers and honda vented drillled discs (246mm i think) on mine with 15 inch wheels
but im pretty sure they fit under 14 inch wheels
i have also replaced my master cylinder with a geo metro one
it was like going from no breaks to excellent ones
you can also go discs on the rear but its overkill
you should find the info on this site
early bmw 3 series wheels fit and often were fitted with non bmw (oem) aftermarket ones
pollybushing the rear end makes a huge difference and removes all the loading up feeling
the torque tube shaft can be a weakness but you can buy stronger ones from ebay.de
after that is the rear axle that can be an issue over 200hp

 

[RallyBob]

This may require a custom made head gasket...MLS or similar... At this time I don't kno of anything offered. Anybody got info???

Cometic makes MLS head gaskets for the CIH engines. Not cheap though, $140-$180 depending on the thickness.

You're gonna want to chop down the front suspension bump stops about 1/2 way. With the front lowering spring, at static ride height you'll find that the bump stops are almost touching the a-arms.

One small bump in the road and the bump stops suddenly become your springs....:yup:

 

[RallyBob]

BTW, welcome here Kevin. And VERY cool project!:yup:

 

[ggl]

Also what wheels fit? Looking for a "euro spoke" style rim. Owner wants to run stock 14" with hubcaps(for sleeper look) but knows when it's time to go, a second set of shoes will be required.

Wheels are 4x100, same as older BMW's, VW's and lots of smaller Jap cars. The choices are literally endless and you should have little problem finding a style and offset that will suit you

If the sleeper look is still on VW made some 15" steel wheels for the mid 90's Golf/Passat. The offset isn't typical FWD so may fit your project, I had a set of those slightly widened for one of my Opel projects, from 6.5" to 7.5"

For alloys, Revolution wheels always look good on older cars in my opinion but you are perhaps looking for something bigger than 15"

 

[G.v.Mainberg]

I have a guy in the next town over that put a Kadett L on a 4x4 chassis. It looked okay, but the car was pretty rough in condition regardless. I have a picture somewhere I'll have to dig up

I hear you, bro. What I meant is, make it a 4x4 by NOT putting the whole car on a different frame from another car. There is a gear box existing from the Opel Frontera A, and it has the CIH bell housing. 5-speed manual all wheel drive. OK guys, I have to go back in the basement, take a few measurements, and take inventory of my sheet metal... :bs2:

Dieter

 

[SpringGT]

i went for a 2.2 crank as this and the 2.4 crank are much stronger
also the 9 inch clutch
i have volvo 4 pot calipers and honda vented drillled discs (246mm i think) on mine with 15 inch wheels
but im pretty sure they fit under 14 inch wheels
i have also replaced my master cylinder with a geo metro one
it was like going from no breaks to excellent ones
you can also go discs on the rear but its overkill
you should find the info on this site
early bmw 3 series wheels fit and often were fitted with non bmw (oem) aftermarket ones
pollybushing the rear end makes a huge difference and removes all the loading up feeling
the torque tube shaft can be a weakness but you can buy stronger ones from ebay.de
after that is the rear axle that can be an issue over 200hp

I have installed the Volvo calipers with 263 mm vented Honda rotors and they do work with my 14 inch wheels.FYI

 

[kgi4x4]

I hear you, bro. What I meant is, make it a 4x4 by NOT putting the whole car on a different frame from another car. There is a gear box existing from the Opel Frontera A, and it has the CIH bell housing. 5-speed manual all wheel drive. OK guys, I have to go back in the basement, take a few measurements, and take inventory of my sheet metal... :bs2:

Dieter

Now that's UNIQUE. Way to think outside the box. Being that we just finished a '70 FJ40 for him I don't think I could talk him into the 4x4 conversion. I know it's off topic but gunna post a pic of it any how.

Thanks to all for tips!

 

[opelwasp]

That kadett is going to be so awesome. I can't wait to see it done. Your turbo design gives me some ideas for my GT.

 

[kgi4x4]

That kadett is going to be so awesome. I can't wait to see it done. Your turbo design gives me some ideas for my GT.

Glad I could inspire you. By the way you are in my back yard. My shop is in Red Bluff, literally at the end of Hwy. 99. You could stop by if you're up this way and check it out in person...