[RallyBob]

Other than the initial onslaught of orders, I haven't been seeing much in the way of payments for the header flanges. That being said, I'm going to prod here a bit before I offer up the flanges to those who didn't make the initial buy. I'm not trying to shortchange anyone who's been waiting these past few months, I'm just trying to pay the bills here.

That being said, in light of my recent loss of employment, I'm considering manufacturing other parts to make ends meet. So any potential input from forum members would be appreciated here as well....what parts would you like to see made? Or services rendered? Just putting out feelers...


Bob

 

[greensmurf20]

if you were going to try and start making opel related things to sell to pay bills, i know theres a recent interest in the intake manfifolds you've designed, i'm sure alot people would rather buy one from you, the designer/warehouse of opel knowlege, than to attempt to make their own. i hear alot of people talk about the front sport spring you designed for the GT, is this the same or different from OGTS? fuel injection would be the prized possession most of us would like that your capable of building, depending on how many of us can afford them.

 

[nobody]

The rear trip strip and maybe an adjustable panhard would be nice.

 

[cherokee]

My vote is springs. I would LOVE to get my hands on one of those fiberglass springs of yours.

I would also be intrested in some head work....for the car that is I am a lost cause

 

[BQS4]

Bob;
I have been involved in moving my Mom. She has been living in the same house for 30 years, so there's a ton of cleaning and sorting to do as this will be the LAST time I do this I need to send the money for my flange, which is about $50+/- with shipping? Sorry for the delay Bob, my bad.
Gene

 

[Gary]

... I'm considering manufacturing other parts to make ends meet. So any potential input from forum members would be appreciated here as well....what parts would you like to see made? Or services rendered? Just putting out feelers...Bob

Bob - I think that with Roger Wilsons pending retirement there will be a need for a source of ported, big valve heads. Ohh ... and your ported intake.

 

[RallyBob]

Thanks for the input so far guys. In terms of feasibility, here's the lowdown on your requests.

>ported intakes

Definitely can be done, but cores would need to be provided. I used up all my intake cores years ago.

>Fiberglass GT racing spring (front)

I still own the rights to this design, so I could have these made again. Same with rear coil springs.

>Rear trim strip for GT

Not very feasible, the overhead to produce them would be very high. Basically it's a tooling issue. I admit it would be a nice part to have again though....

>adjustable panhard bar

Very easy to make, good idea. I could also make stronger trailing arms from DOM tubing and with poly on one end and spherical bearings on the other. Better ride (compliancy) and handling.

>EFI system

Using the stock EFI manifold, updates could be made with modern injectors, throttle body, regulator and fuel rail. A wiring harness wouldn't be too hard to do either. The cheapest EFI is undoubtedly the Megasquirt. Perhaps car owners could buy the Megasquirt, and a basic, known program could be loaded that would let the vehicle start and run using the new injectors. Then the owner could fine-tune (need a laptop PC for this). Price could vary greatly with options however.

Some good ideas so far guys, keep them coming.

Bob

 

[greensmurf20]

would you have a general ideal or ballpark figures for your parts/ services, or is that just a thing where you'd like to make a few first before you decide on pirces?

 

[RallyBob]

would you have a general ideal or ballpark figures for your parts/ services, or is that just a thing where you'd like to make a few first before you decide on pirces?

Definitely would need to build at least one of each first to establish a price structure. I have no idea otherwise.

RE preparing cylinder heads (sorry I missed this before Gary). I'm not saying I can't do this work anymore, but I would not want to get involved with the general machine work. I am not happy with the service of any local machine shops at this time. The ones that are affordable are horrible in terms of keeping a schedule and so-so in terms of quality, the ones that do nice work are ungodly-expensive (4-5 times more) and still take a long time. So I would potentially only do the actual porting work, no machine work, no supplying parts, no assembly. Not sure if I'd want to do it on an hourly basis or by the job.

Bob

 

[davegt27]

first sorry to here that you lost your Job

On the header flange I really not sure what to do. I did raise my hand saying I wanted one but I never received acknowledgment so its like do I send money or no.

Hard to judge what to do, don't want to look like an idiot/fool sending money and I am not even on the list.

on the cool fun/neat stuff -- what would l like to see made

1) remember the little oil dam thing that goes in the back of the head to keep the oil level higher in the head.

2) Header would be on my list.

3) carbon fiber valve cover with removable top (yeah i am Crazy)

4) roller hyd Cam (OK i am in fantasy world now)

5) pull rod/push rod setup for the GT (so much room in the nose of the GT should be doable)

6) Your oil pump cover with adj. thingy on it.

7) DOHC head for our Opel motors (hey lets think big)

8) speaking of that did i tell you i have a new idea for valves

9) EFI manifold with Toyota 20 V quad TB's (the TB's go for around $200 to $250)

10) underdrive pulley for the Opel

OK i will shut up now

hey i could go own and own

Davegt27

 

[baz]

one thought
a twin spark kit :
reworked head to carry a pair of small bike plugs and an ignition spark kit to loose the dizzy
result : quicker flame front more power
go well with that turbo bob
go on bob you know you want too

 

[RallyBob]

Dave, you were always on the list for a header flange. If you want one, one is reserved for you.

1) remember the little oil dam thing that goes in the back of the head to keep the oil level higher in the head.

I have a few of those I had made for myself still kicking around. But a lot of people have just used a copper plumbing junction (1/2" to 3/4" pipe) instead since it's ridiculously cheap. So I never bothered to offer the ones I had made.

2) Header would be on my list.

This is a tough one because for this I'd need to either build a really intricate jig or have a dedicated car (GT) just to build headers from. I have neither. Plus, it would be expensive. However, I just spoke to Gil today and he's kindly reminded me to get his prototype header for the GT done so he can have them mass-produced. I will hopefully have the time soon.

3) carbon fiber valve cover with removable top (yeah i am Crazy)

I have a friend who does high quality vacuum-bagged carbon fiber parts. I only would need to send him a mold or a buck and it would be a go. Not inexpensive however....
I was actually thinking instead of making fabricated aluminum valve covers with extra clearance for roller rockers/stud girdles.

4) roller hyd Cam (OK i am in fantasy world now)

I can't see this happening to be honest. It's been enough of a stretch getting the solid rollers in our hands.

5) pull rod/push rod setup for the GT (so much room in the nose of the GT should be doable)

Probably cost prohibitive for most folks. I was going to build one for my Dad's turbo GT though.

I am considering a fabricated tubular upper/lower a-arm setup for the GT, which bolts to the stock crossmember. Stock spring setup would remain, but could be switched to coilovers. They would be stronger, and would slightly widen the track to reduce understeer.

6) Your oil pump cover with adj. thingy on it.

Easy to do.

7) DOHC head for our Opel motors (hey lets think big)

Yes, big $$$$$. The billet cams alone would be about $1200.

8) speaking of that did i tell you i have a new idea for valves

I'm all ears....

9) EFI manifold with Toyota 20 V quad TB's (the TB's go for around $200 to $250)

I thought about this as well using TB's from a GSX-R 1000 motorcycle. Cheap and easy to get off ebay. But again, costly overall (programmable EFI, injectors, fuel rail, regulator, pump, etc) and a very narrow market place.

10) underdrive pulley for the Opel

Easy to have made again in steel or aluminum. Plus the water pump pulley, and the alternator pulley. Still have blueprints for those somewhere.

Thanks for the ideas Dave....

Bob

 

[RallyBob]

one thought
a twin spark kit :
reworked head to carry a pair of small bike plugs and an ignition spark kit to loose the dizzy

I looked into this years ago, but the Opel CIH head has water jackets throughout on that side of the combustion chamber. The only place the head is 'solid' is where the standard plug is. I guess a hole could be bored, and an insert furnace-brazed into place, but this rapidly ends up losing on the hp/value scale.

On a similar note, I was going to have a block furnace brazed with a 3/4" deckplate and new liners so I could increase the rod length via the taller deck, and run a larger bore. But as I priced it out it slowly became very apparent that it would be a very expensive proposition, and probably not cost effective in the long run.

Bob

 

[baz]

bob if you are going to do a 3/4" deck plate then could you do it to take a different head ?
countersunk bolts to put plate to block then studs for the new head!!!
dont know if it would work but its a way to get a twincam head
just need to find a head with the same centres

 

[greensmurf20]

the plate idea woudlnt work because the piston would have to travel through the block, and the plate. even if the plate was thin enough for the rings to not hit the "ridge" between the head and plate wouldnt that still be a bad idea?

 

[RallyBob]

the plate idea woudlnt work because the piston would have to travel through the block, and the plate. even if the plate was thin enough for the rings to not hit the "ridge" between the head and plate wouldnt that still be a bad idea?

If done correctly it would work fine. My original idea was to furnace-braze the 3/4" plate to a block, effectively making it one piece. Then the plate and block are bored oversize, and a full-length sleeve is inserted in each bore. End result, a tall-block with full length cylinders. The real difficulty is retaining coolant capacity at the top of the bore, where the heat is the greatest. So some really trick machining is needed within that 3/4" plate prior to attaching it to the block.

Bob

 

[Gary]

rallybob's comment from another post: BTW, do you want me to make a set of those short 'square-to-round' adapters to merge the flange to a round tube like I did on the turbo Manta?

Bob, those square-to-round adapters should be a good seller for the header flange buyers...

 

[mrtzmd]

Head Pipe?

I know this is selfish but i need to fabricate a Stainless Steel Head Pipe for my 2.4 with Motronic & Getrag that i am installing (GT), it has a different size flange and position than the stock 1.9lt. Also a set of headers or the square to round adaptors to weld on to the headflange i just got would be nice. I'd rather pay Bob Legere to fabricate these than a local exhaust shop. Just a thought. Thanks
Mauri

 

[RallyBob]

Sadly, one-off custom work is a luxury I won't be able to perform. For that you need the car and all associated parts and a workshop to host the car. So I'm limited to things I can work on on a workbench.

 

[kwilford]

Based on the obvious interest in keeping RallyBob gainfully employed in the Opel business, I have split this thread off onto it's own.
By the the way, Bob was Opel-employed once before, I might remind everyone, back in C&R Cars, but the Opel Community wasn't well enough connected to keep him in titanium and molybdenum. Maybe with the 4500 members of OGT.com feeding him orders, he could take up the mantle again, at least for the HiPo (and more expensive stuff) that we middle-aged crazies seem to crave (and can probably more readily afford)? Good luck Bob.