[Thom71GT]

For those that are interested, I got three "guesstimates" today. The first one was a joke. The guy said 3 hours per hub and 65 bucks an hour. Roughly $800. uh........no.

Second guy I called said probably $225 - $275 depending on what he needs to do but he needs to look at it. Hmmm, ok, I can deal with this, so as I am taking my axles and hubs to his shop I see another machine shop and I turn in. The guy says "50 bucks". I ask for all 4? he says "Yes". Uh..... you can make sure its centered correctly and balanced and.... He interrupts "Well, I have no way to balance it..... blah blah blah" Oh, ok, well give me your card.

I get down the the right shop and he can get it centered, use lasers for guidence and make sure evrything is nice and balanced. Yep, I think I'll use him. Oh, and his friend next door has a CHROME SHOP (For all you atlanta area guys) Its called General Chrome and I am going to call him in a bit and get his take on Opel parts and bumpers. I'll post my findings.

 

[benncojr]

Looks like we are starting to get a good list of vendors that will do work in Atlanta on Opels!! Hay!!

 

[oldopelguy]

fabricate or modify?

Thom, are these new from scratch hubs, or are you modifying Opel front hubs into 5 lug or cutting down Fiero ones for bigger brakes?

If new from scratch, aluminum or steel? And do you have a finalized drawing or are you still "work in progress?"

If the Opel hubs, do you have a particular brake rotor in mind?

If the fiero hubs, are they making caliper brackets too? Or were you planning on using the more common Baretta brake upgrade option? http://fierozone.tripod.com/realbrakes/ or:
http://users.arc.net/worf/gcfc/grandam.htm

Or the Corvette upgrade?
http://shop.westcoastfiero.com/brakes/brakes.html

The corvette upgrade is awesome!

 

[Thom71GT]

Whoa, slow down.....

I'm just modifying the existing hubs from 4 x 100 to 5 x 114mm. Nothing fancy. Perhaps in the future I'll do a big brake upgrade, but for now its just a bolt pattern mod.

 

[oldopelguy]

could 5x100mm work?

Too bad 5x100mm won't work, then you could just toss on a set of Fiero hubs and calipers and be done with it.

That's my plan for the Mantascona. Then, since the Fiero hubs mount the wheels 3/4" or so further out from the spindles and the Toyota axle is about the same width wider than the Opel one, I should be able to use FWD wheels on both ends. I'm planning on some aftermarket 15x7 or 8's with both the 4x100 and 4x4.5" bolt pattern drilled in them, there are several available, and I'll use one bolt pattern on the one end and the other on the other.

But then I'm a cheapskate.

I still need the caliper brackets for the fiero calipers, but here's a couple of comparo photos:
-The first is the spindles, without splash shields, fiero on left, Opel Kadett on right.
-The other 2 are an Opel hub, rotor, and caliper insalled on the Fiero spindle. I would love to get the reverse, but like I said, still missing the caliper bracket.

 

[Thom71GT]

Well, I've looked and looked and finally found some nice custom wheels that I can get made for 5 x 114 with a +12mm off-set that wont set me back 4 billion dollars. So, thats what Im going to get. With the wheels, tires and this mod, it will be about $1350 - $1400 for a cool custom look and thats not too bad.

......... Holy crap stuff adds up!!! I just added up in my mind what I spent on lowering my GT and getting this look. It'll be around 2k for the Lowered new suspension and the new wheels and tires. WOW!!

 

[Killer Texas GT]

Know what you mean I just dropped 2K for wheels and tires for my GT more than I paid for my GT 29 years ago.
Steve, from the pictures it looked like the steering knuckle sits higher on the Fiero spindle, or is it all relative and just lowers the front body hight or does it stay the same? I can get my hands on Fiero suspension parts as I know a guy who collects them like we do Opels.
Which reminds me, I got those pics of the GT trailer hitch I need to get to you.
rk

 

[oldopelguy]

kadett?

I haven't actually measured everything yet, Rodney, but from a cursory glance I can tell for sure that the spindle is a bit shorter top to bottom than the Opel one and there are some other differences as well. Keeping in mind that the Opel spindle in the pictures is a Kadett one, with a longer steering arm and no Ackerman as compared to the GT and Manta set-up, I'm not sure comparisons here would do most of you much good. Eventually I'll have that comparison article done, though, and we'll move on from there.

The real point I was making is that the brakes and rotor/hubs bolt right on from one to the other as long as you do the works as a set. And for anyone else looking for 5 lugs and/or a brake upgrade, the Fiero stuff might be worth a look to bolt onto your Opel spindles. If you can get me a set of caliper brackets from your guy I would be greatly apreciative, as I'll need them soon enough.

Which reminds me, I need to get the taillight housings from that wagon of yours too, I realized driving away that they are the ones I've been looking for for a while now.

Thom, in the rear are you planning on having the stud holes in the sxle shafts welded up and new holes drilled? If so, I may have some brake rotor options for you for the back too.

 

[Thom71GT]

Rotors in the back? 4 wheel disc? Im all ears.......

 

[Killer Texas GT]

If you can get me a set of caliper brackets from your guy I would be greatly apreciative, as I'll need them soon enough.

Which reminds me, I need to get the taillight housings from that wagon of yours too, I realized driving away that they are the ones I've been looking for for a while now.

Is that why David Mc is asking for them as the right lense is missing. I will see what I can do on the brackets.
rk

Okay Keith fix the quote