[worldrallyoffrd]

Alright guys,
I'm brand new to the forum, and opels all together. I enjoy working on cars, and must have some kind of attraction to not so popular ones (already own a 76 el camino, now i'm on to opels i guess) I found two engine's in my greatgrandfather's barn. They are in AMAZING shape for there age. After asking my still living grandfather about them he informed me they are identical engines out of a 1980 Opel. They were test engines (for the manufacturing plant) and have 0 miles on them. They still turn over, and everthing still has oil on it. I just need to know where to find the parts... and what kind/size engine they are.

Heres some numbers i pulled off them
Off of intake manifold: 90106820-88-1
Off of Block: 4721608
90090474
0222

Can anyone tell me what engines these are and if they're worth anything. I also need to know the best place to find parts, and I need to know what transmission (perferably manual) to match it up with and were to find one of those aswell. Also do they make headers for these, I have no idea what i'm going to do with the engines.. any suggestions.. Opel's are hard to find, maybe i could make an opel dune buggy or something..

(sorry if i offended anyone with anything I've said, I know how many car enthusiasts take things said about their cars the wrong way. I'd punch someone if they said "spoiler" in the el camino forum I belong to, and I dont want to do anything like that in here, remember, I'm new)

WROR

 

[Dmcbrass]

1980?
The last german Opel imported into the US was in 1975. Not sure when the last Japenese Opel was brought into the country.

 

[BQS4]

engines

WROR;
Can you take some digital pics to post? That may help.
Gene

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

Isuzu "Opels"

After 1975 GM USA imported Japanese Isuzus that were rebadged as "Opel" to cash in on the previous popularity of our type of "real" Opels!

The major difference is that the Isuzu engines have the exhaust on one side of the head and the intake on the other ("cross flow"). They are entirely different motors of Japanese production. GM owned shares in both Opel and Isuzu at the time.

If possible, a picture or two would be very helpful for identification.

 

[BQS4]

engines

WROR;
You might not want to consider using these motors in an actual car as you stated that these were test engines. I know that when GM changed a model, they would send several chassis' down the assembly line and assemble the car/truck with all options. This was to see if the assembly line was working correctly and that all the timing was correct. If not, they could make corrections. These first run cars were not to be used on the road, but, were sent to various schools and such for training purposes. The Tech School I attended in the mid-70s had such a vehicle. It was a fully equipped 74 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, with less than 50 miles. We only used it to show how to operate a chassis dyno. These engines your Grandfather has might be such type of engines.
Check carefully first.
Gene

 

[Ooooner]

Gene,
Why would you not want to use the engines? Are they not put together very well?

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

Back to Front!

Roy,

The first few engines assembled usually turn up things like "What bits can be put in back to front" and "What bits can be left out by mistake" and so on.

Even: "Which bits are the wrong size"

GM is not perfect

 

[worldrallyoffrd]

These motors are not test motors like you guys are thinking.. They take ever 200th motor or so out of the line to make sure they're still good. My grandfather had these engines given to him becuase he was the vice-president of the company that made the machines that manufactured the engines. From what i understand they were hooked up to a dyno and tested for compression etc.

Ok.. to answer a few questions from above:
I cant use them the way they are becuase the one didnt have any sparkplugs in it.. meaning it probably has rust on the inner cylinder wall..

They are the "flow through" design talked about above.. I.E. the exhaust exits one side and the Intake enters the other. Does that mean they're isuzu?..

Can anyone fill me in on where to get parts?

WROR

 

[Gary]

Does the block or the valve cover have the Opel "Blitz" on it? (circle with a horizontal lightening bolt) Are there any other identifiers on the block or head?
I don't know if the Isuzu Opels were assembled here or in Japan.

 

[garrymc]

If the valve cover has Isuzu on it, it is the Japanese "Opel" engine. If it is not marked Isuzu then a crossflow Opel head would be most interesting...and valuable.

Garry

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

I-Mark

They are very probably Isuzu engines out of the "I-Mark" or Isuzu/Opel of that era. Probably 1.8 litres but may be the later 2.0 litre Single Overhead Cam motor. Try "Isuzu" or "I-Mark" in your Web search engine and see what turns up. I have the 2.0 litre version of this motor in a 1984 Isuzu Impulse and it has done 260,000 kms without a wimper. EBay has a section under "Isuzu" too.

Do the motors have intake and exhaust set-ups and distributors? If the intake manifold has "ITEC" on it that is for the "Isuzu Total Engine Control"
fuel injection and spark control system. If they were originally carburetted then there will be a fuel pump or fuel pump position on the side of the head.

I see what you mean now by "test engine" - perfectly good ones removed from the production lines to check quality control.

 

[ging]

And WROR,

WELCOME!!! to the site!

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

Oops!

Yes! Welcome to the Opel Community WROR - I had forgotten that this time ......
Thanks Ging

 

[worldrallyoffrd]

heres some pictures.. i hope this works it's the first time i've used a system like this... I hope this helps with identification. It says GM all over it as you can see in the pictures (sorry about the quality i had to shrink them to make save file space). No isuzu on the Valve cover.. It just says OHC


WROR

 

[BQS4]

motors

WROR;
One thing off the bat, the one you have pictured is a traverse mount, meaning front wheel drive

 

[worldrallyoffrd]

Oh?.. are opels front or rear wheel (thinking they're rear am I right?) I also found a tag on the front that says 1.6 (as in tag i mean sticker with barcode.. can you believe that 20 years and the barcode is still on this puppy) I looked up 1.6 GM on the internet in the 1980s and got chevette and vauxhall/opel.. am I on to something with that?


WROR

 

[BQS4]

motors

WROR;
Opel makes both front and rear wheel drive Opels. Vauxhall is the UK version of the Opel, like the old Dodge/Plymouth. They're exactly the same (except that the UK has RHD) just different name

 

[RallyBob]

Looks like the 1.6 OHC used in the front drive Kadetts (D and E), and the front-drive Pontiac LeMans here in the US. Same family of engine as the 1.8 OHC used in Chevy Cavaliers and Pontiac Sunbirds for years.

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

NOt Isuzu!

Those are "GEN II" Gm World motors from a Chevy Cavalier and may other GM front wheel drive cars - including Opel Asconas and Holden Camiras. Designed by Opel and manufactured in Australia (3.2 million of them and still being made) and also Brazil ( no idea how many). They come in 1.3 ; 1.6 ; 1.8 ; 2.0 and 2.2 litre flavours - most probably 2.0L ones you have from USA GM use in the "J"-car platform. Parts will be readily available from your local GM dealer as they are used in Cavalier/Firenza/Skyhawk/Sunbird/Sunfire models from 1983 till 1996. However those cars also used a 1.8L Isuzu motor and a 60 degree V6 as well so not all of them have the motors you have....

If they are 1.6L they do probably come from Pontiac LeMans as Rally Bob says..

 

[worldrallyoffrd]

well I'm pretty sure they're 1.6's.. any way I can tell for sure short of using pop bottles (little humor from the other forums)..

Is there a number that should tell me on these things?

WROR