My 73 Opel GT project...

1933 Views 29 Replies 9 Participants Last post by ken2, 12 d ago

MalteseMissile

Discussion Starter · 5 mo ago (Edited)

Hello,

I wanted an Opel GT for 30 years! Finally retired, so I bought mine in November of last year. It's was kept in really good condition and well taken car of by the previous owner. However, there are things I wanted to do to it, that will make it my GT, so here's what I have been doing with it!

Any feedback, advice, suggestions are more than welcome...thanks!

Here's the list of items we repaired or replaced:
Upgraded to LED lights
Replaced turn signal switch
Replaced broken Recaro seat handles
Upper ball joints replaced.
Removed broken clock gauge and replaced with oil temperature gauge
Installed the window washer kit (water bottle, tubing, clips washer valve)
Battery tray replaced
Replaced headlight wiring installed the Hella H-4 European headlights and bulbs
Replaced dome light wiring
New Pertronix ignition and coil
Replaced horn wiring and repaired the steering wheel, so the horn actually works.
Replaced differential, transmission, motor, and coolant fluids
Bled brakes
Painted front bumper frame
Repaired both door panels, so they actually snap back onto the door
Fabricated/altered the front license plate brackets, so it doesn't look like crap
Replaced the worn out glove box

Removed the windshield, dashboard, and heater, so we can repair the broken heater/defroster cables, duct hoses and glove box.

Once that's done, re-install the instrument panel, dash, and windshield! Then it's on to adding Dynamat sound deadening and new carpet, I'll update this post as work continues!

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MalteseMissile

Discussion Starter · #2 · 5 mo ago

It would only allow me to add 10 pictures, so here are rest of them...

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Young Gt Lover

· #3 · 5 mo ago

Nice! That Gt looks super rust free! Good luck on it!

Sam

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Will I. Finish

· #4 · 5 mo ago

Wow, you are moving at WARP speed....very impressive - great pictures too.

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MalteseMissile

Discussion Starter · #5 · 5 mo ago (Edited)

Will I. Finish said:
Wow, you are moving at WARP speed....very impressive - great pictures too.

Thanks! I don't like to waste time on this type of stuff...get er done right? I'll keep going until all the stuff I want done is finished. Then, I'll slow down a little to finish off the little stuff. After all this is finished, I still need to get the belly pan dents fixed, then paint it. I'll post the updates.

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MalteseMissile

Discussion Starter · #6 · 5 mo ago (Edited)

MalteseMissile said:
It would only allow me to add 10 pictures, so here are rest of them...

MalteseMissile said:
It would only allow me to add 10 pictures, so here are rest of them...

Spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday working on the GT!

I finished installing the Dynamat sound proofing inside the car, then I installed the new carpet.

The drivers side window rolled up only 80% before it would get jammed, so we took it apart and fixed all the internal parts. Now it rolls up nicely!

Also got the dome light to work, the door jamb wire was old and broke off.

Passenger side rocker vinyl door speaker and vent was old and falling apart, so we replaced that too.

Glove box was so old, it disintegrated. Only way to replace it was to pull out the dashboard. The new one looks great!

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Young Gt Lover

· #7 · 5 mo ago

MalteseMissile said:
Spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday working on the GT!

I finished installing the Dynamat sound proofing inside the car, then I installed the new carpet.

The drivers side window rolled up only 80% before it would get jammed, so we took it apart and fixed all the internal parts. Now it rolls up nicely!

Also got the dome light to work, the door jamb wire was old and broke off.

Passenger side lower vinyl door speaker and vent was old and falling apart, so we replaced that too.

Glove box was so old, it disintegrated. Only way to replace it was to pull out the dashboard. The new one looks great!

Nice! I like the 24 hours of lemons tape. Lol

You will have to let us know if the sound deadening works good. My grandpa and I want to fix my rockers on the 69 Gt and then maybe do sound deadening. Right now it has no sound deadening in it.

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MalteseMissile

Discussion Starter · #8 · 5 mo ago

Young Gt Lover said:
Nice! I like the 24 hours of lemons tape. Lol

You will have to let us know if the sound deadening works good. My grandpa and I want to fix my rockers on the 69 Gt and then maybe do sound deadening. Right now it has no sound deadening in it.

I thought that 24 hours of lemons tape was really cool too lol! I know these cars were built in the early 70's but the first time I drove the GT it sounded really loud to me. I figured since I'm taking everything apart, now was the time to install the sound deadening. I'll definitely let you know if it's worth installing.

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Young Gt Lover

· #9 · 5 mo ago

MalteseMissile said:
I thought that 24 hours of lemons tape was really cool too lol! I know these cars were built in the early 70's but the first time I drove the GT it sounded really loud to me. I figured since I'm taking everything apart, now was the time to install the sound deadening. I'll definitely let you know if it's worth installing.

Awesome! Right now on my 69 GT I just have a header with 2.25 in pipe and a glass pack and a homemade resonator. It is pretty loud! I am hoping to put a jones muffler in place of the glasspack to quiet it down a little bit. But I definitely need some sound deadening.

Here is a video of it:

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wilderbry

· #10 · 5 mo ago

Young Gt Lover said:
Awesome! Right now on my 69 GT I just have a header with 2.25 in pipe and a glass pack and a homemade resonator. It is pretty loud! I am hoping to put a jones muffler in place of the glasspack to quiet it down a little bit. But I definitely need some sound deadening.

Here is a video of it:

Nice video !! LMAO, by the time you get it running really good, your tongue is going to be hanging out to your chin. Don't let it run too rich for very long or you're going to "wipe" your cylinder walls and start losing compression. That black smoke is partly due to burning off the oil lubrication in the cylinder. Keep up the great work with the grandpa. He looked like he was enjoying revving up the engine lol.

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Young Gt Lover

· #11 · 5 mo ago

wilderbry said:
Nice video !! LMAO, by the time you get it running really good, your tongue is going to be hanging out to your chin. Don't let it run too rich for very long or you're going to "wipe" your cylinder walls and start losing compression. That black smoke is partly due to burning off the oil lubrication in the cylinder. Keep up the great work with the grandpa. He looked like he was enjoying revving up the engine lol.

Yea that is an old video. It is a year old. We have got it running way better since then. It runs very good now. When I manually shift it since it is an auto I can rev it to over 5,000 rpm and it sure does pull! I need to make some videos of that. Lol. My grandpa and I have a lot of fun.

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wilderbry

· #12 · 5 mo ago

Young Gt Lover said:
My grandpa and I have a lot of fun.

THAT my friend is what it is all about !! I am not one of those "don't touch my car" people at car shows. I let them get in and take a photo. It has cost me to replace the turn signal lever a couple of times because kids tend to grab onto it. But don't let something like that turn you off from letting people in and touch the car. Knowing you have done the work to your car and its flaws; will make you feel so much better than the dude that paid out all his inheritance money to BUY that fancy show car. The experience you earned, is worth more than any trophy that can be bought. As you go to more and more car show's you will know what I am talking about.

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Young Gt Lover

· #13 · 5 mo ago

wilderbry said:
THAT my friend is what it is all about !! I am not one of those "don't touch my car" people at car shows. I let them get in and take a photo. It has cost me to replace the turn signal lever a couple of times because kids tend to grab onto it. But don't let something like that turn you off from letting people in and touch the car. Knowing you have done the work to your car and its flaws; will make you feel so much better than the dude that paid out all his inheritance money to BUY that fancy show car. The experience you earned, is worth more than any trophy that can be bought. As you go to more and more car show's you will know what I am talking about.

Yep car shows are pretty fun. I am hoping to take my 69 Gt to a bunch this year. I wil be getting my license in March, so I will be able to drive to shows. My grandpa and I try and bring as many cars as we can to a local show about 2 miles from my grandparent’s house. Going to Springfield For the Opel show was also a ton of fun!

My grandpa’s British cars his spitfire and midget don’t really win anything. They are super nice cars but people don’t really pay any attention to them.

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MalteseMissile

Discussion Starter · #14 · 5 mo ago (Edited)

Project update...Spent another three days working on the GT, but it’s finished and I can finally take it home tomorrow! Finished meaning… I can actually drive it home and work on it at my place starting tomorrow!

This is what we fixed this time:

Replaced speedometer cable
New rear deck dashmat
New rear tire spare cover
Repaired door panels
New spare tire replacement sticker
Installed windshield
Installed windshield washer tubing
Sound proofed both doors and backseat cargo area.

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rrossjr

· #15 · 5 mo ago

Good progress. Rolling restorations are the way to go.

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MalteseMissile

Discussion Starter · #16 · 4 mo ago

Update...all the major work has been completed. She runs great and my heater finally works lol! Upgraded LED lights on dash are really bright! I brought her home and I have been doing little things like polishing the windshield to get some of the deeper scratches removed. Next up is polishing the wheels, so they look shiny again!

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Young Gt Lover

· #17 · 4 mo ago

MalteseMissile said:
Update...all the major work has been completed. She runs great and my heater finally works lol! Upgraded LED lights on dash are really bright! I brought her home and I have been doing little things like polishing the windshield to get some of the deeper scratches removed. Next up is polishing the wheels, so they look shiny again!

Nice! How did the sound deadening work?

MalteseMissile

Discussion Starter · #18 · 4 mo ago

Young Gt Lover said:
Nice! How did the sound deadening work?

My bad, I remember you wanting to know about it and I forget to tell you. It really helped alot, so it's worth doing! If you need to replace the carpets, it's the perfect time to do it.

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Young Gt Lover

· #19 · 4 mo ago

MalteseMissile said:
My bad, I remember you wanting to know about it and I forget to tell you. It really helped alot, so it's worth doing! If you need to replace the carpets, it's the perfect time to do it.

Cool! I will have to get some sound deadening for my 69 GT. What brand did you use? And was it expensive?

MalteseMissile

Discussion Starter · #20 · 4 mo ago

Young Gt Lover said:
Cool! I will have to get some sound deadening for my 69 GT. What brand did you use? And was it expensive?

I used Siless ($75) for everything but the doors and Dynamat ($70) for the doors. Both from Amazon and had good ratings.

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