We are not planning to completely restore my car. We are kind of makeing it into a race car. We will fix the rockers but that will be the only rust that we will really take on. My Gt is kind of a daily GT or a beater GT that has a destroyed body but a good engine and maybe some day a good suspension.
Isn't that why you got the GT, to get it out of his barn?
Just for thought... the seller can easily get $300.00 for it as nothing but scrap metal. So why would he take $100.00 ??
It is my great uncle with the 40+ cars. My grandpa has a few mg and triumphs and he actually restores his cars and doesn't let them sit for 20 years like my great uncle.If you can get it for $100, then go for it.
But I thought your grandpa was trying to get rid of cars on the property, not add more?
Since you will presumably always be short on funds (a teenager with little or no budget), then I think your future holds a lot of bodywork on junky GTs. So, no point in avoiding it, get crackin'.
FIRST... make sure your GT is safe enough to drive and runs reliably. I'd patch the holes and rust spots. Then consider doing upgrades like a 4-speed. Don't give in to the temptation to take apart functioning systems, or you're backsliding from Car and toward Lawn Ornament again.
Autos are so rare, that any GT you do buy is likely to have a 4-speed in it, so it's not much of a luxury. When you buy a car, buy one that'll be the one you fix up first. Don't start accumulating iron on someone else's property.
Right now you don't put a lot of time into your Opel, so, careful about adding a 3rd GT to your grandpa's property. You already don't work on the one/two you have much at all.
The Opel GT is a uni body or another term is monocoque. That means the body IS the frame. Having a "beater daily driver" is all well and good, but as others have said, patch the car up so it is safe to be on the road, not just for your sake, but for the sake of all who are using the road with you. If you go to step on the clutch or brake and your seat tears out, because the floors are rotted out, and and flips backwards on you (don't laugh, I have seen it happen several times in the past, or if you lose a wheel or a rear suspension component tears loose because the body is all rotted at the attachment points, you could lose control and crash into someone and kill them or yourself. Functioning brakes and suspension are another important factor. I have always built my cars with brakes, suspension and chassis as the first and foremost upgrades and or repairs, ALWAYS. Being able to go fast don't mean anything if you can't stop quickly and safely at the end.
On My GT for some reason the floors are almost perfect they only have like one dime size hole it them. You are right though. We probably will down the road keep on fixing more rust and getting it to look better.
Just wishfull thinking.
No I will be at 2 GTs. I am still trying to get my great uncle's other GT but I may not get that one. I am doing drivers ed right now so I will hopefully have my permit in a few weeks.
www.opelgt.com
