[opelnut_1]

I tried for along time to track down a set of the rear mid flaps and finally gave up/ Very Cool you found it all Gorden. Cant wait to see it putty up on the car.

 

[jayhawkjesse33]

Omigosh! Omigosh! Omigosh! I stopped by the body shop today, fully expecting them to not have even started it yet...........AND THEY'RE ALMOST DONE! It looks GREAT! It could be done in a week!

WOW!

Unfortunately, my kit hasn't shipped yet. The guy was sick for the past few weeks and he's probably never sent a package to the U.S. and certainly never one this large, so I'm going to have to wait quite some time for it to arrive. My body shop is cool with sitting on the car for 4-8 weeks. I'm also waiting for a Lenk grill to clear Customs that was shipped several weeks ago. But, all that said, my project is moving along quite rapidly!

Did you snap any pictures? What’s left to do?

 

[terrylewisac]

My 2001 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 had an automatic front air dam and an automatic rear spoiler.

AH so it could be done. Gordon I bet you could set something like that up where it's set to two different ride heights. 1 for street mode (lowered) and 2nd mode for undesirable plains. (raised)
With all the mods and experience you've gained over the years I bet this would be something you could figure out>

 

[The Scifi Guy]

They are a little degraded with age and out-gassing of the resin and he told me that the air dam was damaged and sent a pic:

Just another reason for me to consider not installing the air dam or to install it in some sort of breakaway or temporary fashion. That air dam caused me so much grief back in the day because it was so easy to break off due to the road conditions where I live. It's not even a big air dam, it only protrudes down about 2" vertical. The Steinmetz air dam on my GTX car originally stuck straight down 4"+. I never would have been able to exit my driveway with it sticking down so far. I trimmed off 2" starting at the center and tapering down towards the sides because of my bad experience with the Mirage air dam. I also added a cut to the center front so that if it did snag on something it could flex or break off without taking the whole front end with it. This picture shows the Steinmetz air dam before I trimmed it:

And later after I trimmed it back and painted the car:

 

[The Scifi Guy]

The shop wants me to bring over the doors today to make sure the fenders and doorways line up and adjust(putty) as necessary, especially the driver's side, which was quite Frankensteined. I'll take pics when I'm there.

Since the center part of the air dam is separate from the front wheel flares, unlike other GT air dams, I might consider making a replica of it out of rubber, plastic, or sheet metal and install the replica completely independent of the front wheel flares. Ha!, maybe I'll only attach it with velcro to the belly pan at car shows!

 

[The Scifi Guy]

I dropped off the doors and took some pics, you'll have to refer back to the first post to see the after-blasting pics to make before and after comparisons and you'll need to revisit the Gullwing Adventure thread to REALLY see what a huge transformation from hideous to pretty darn nice has occured.

 

[GoldGT]

It's amazing that you saved that car Gordo. Nicely done ✔.

 

[terrylewisac]

yea buddy

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

Shows what a great job you did cutting and welding the roof back on. Can't even tell it's cobbled together.

 

[The Scifi Guy]

The kit seller sent me some more final pics of the individual pieces before packing them away for shipping. And an updated shipping quote. The $1200 purchase price already included a $150 Euro shipping quote that covered parts of Europe, but shipping to here, probably by air, in an over-sized box was going to cost a lot more. He said the 4 shipping companies that gave him quotes all came in at around $950 Euro. Don't know if the original 150 Euro would be deducted. So, figure that this kit will cost me around $2000 shipped. Too much? Nope, still cheap for a one of a kind kit that lets me relive my youth.

 

[Lindsay]

Not sure what Germany policy is regarding VAT tax on exported, used parts?
An eBay Seller from Germany charged VAT tax on new part exported to USA.
Complained to Seller without results. Welcome to eBay.

 

[The Scifi Guy]

The price that was quoted on the guy's site did have VAT, but when he sent me the receipt the total cost was 200 Euro less. I thanked him for the discount, but he said it was because he deleted the VAT. This kit is not used, just dirty from 35 years of sitting and getting kicked around, and it is in Norway, not Germany. I'm sure the same rules apply, though. So far, the guys has been extremely friendly and has shown no attempt at trying to squeeze money out of me.

 

[opelbits]

Gordon-

I'm glad to see that after the initial upset the stars have been aligning in your favor on many fronts. The universe seems to be trying to make it up to you.

 

[The Scifi Guy]

There's only about 5" of space between the steering column and the dash top, so there's not a lot of choices. All the gauges are right in front of you and you can see them through the top of your steering wheel. Theoretically you could send them your 2 big round GT gauges and they could remanufacture them to have the other gauges displayed in them. This frees up the top of your dash for a double DIN touch screen. Here the link to the HDX:

https://www.dakotadigital.com/.../mode=prod/prd1074.htm

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Meanwhile in Maryland.....

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Opel Dune Buggy?

 

[kwschumm]

RIP

 

[Timbo]

RIP

I agree. The floors were in better shape than half the cars that pass through these pages.

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

I see that my "remove the interior from a car" mod has caught on. Makes working on the engine bay so much easier when you can walk right through the car, then just stitch it back to gether.

Not gonna lie, the dune buggy looks adorable. If I had a spare not-worth-restoring GT I'd totally make a cute little vehicle out of it like that. Golf cart motor or something.

 

[The Scifi Guy]

We tried to give the car away for free, but no takers. It would have made an okay "starter" GT to get used to the Opel experience while they search for a better body. So it sat rusting and got worse and all it was really good for was as a body parts donor car. Don't be fooled by the shiny paint, on top of Bondo, on top of rust and fiberglass patches, I put lipstick on a pig.