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Steinmetz Watt Linkage for Opel GT on eBay

4662 Views 17 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  jeff denton, 
V
I saw this on eBay today. I was curious if anyone has one of these installed, or has fabricated one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4513037162
Steinmetz Watt Linkage for the Opel GT like it was sold in the early 70'

The watt linkage allowed only a straith up and down movement from the rear axle, no more side to side movement like it works with the original panhard rod. The handling of the GT is much better with it. The wattlinkage is one of the reasons why Steinmetz was so successful with the old opels on the racetrac. The wattlinkage comes as an complete kit ready to install.
Click to expand...

If you have one, or something similar, how do you like it?

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baz
they dont work with the orig linkage as it says they work instead of it and are good for track and rally but you would not realy see the diff on a street car unless you were driving like a loon and we are all good law abiding people on this site :D


arnt we :D :D
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soybean (R.I.P.)
I looked at it when it went up on Ebay as well, and wondered. Someone likes it. Did you see the price so far? and on a ten day listing as well. Almost like the FI that went for almost $500 earlier this month. :eek: Jarrell
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U
Yeah, I wondered...

I saw that too and wondered if it was worth hunting down. Did anybody see the yellow Kadett with the 1.5 L engine? fastback body 2dr, I think the bid was up to $800 or so. Hope it goes to a good ome somewhere....
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V
I did see the FI on eBay, but did not see the ending price...

Looks like the long rods connect to the triangle bracket(s) which are welded to the floor? Where does the that center small rod attach to?

Baz - when I get my GT going again, I probably will be driving like a loon, because its been a long, long, long time... :p
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baz
v6transplant said:
Looks like the long rods connect to the triangle bracket(s) which are welded to the floor? Where does the that center small rod attach to? :p
Click to expand...
1 long link goes to the body mount
1 long link goes to the axel mount
the bracket bolts to the diff cage
these i know
as for the bracket and short link i think thetriangle bracket welds in and link to give a second body fitting point to locate the axel in 2 planes
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C
I bid on it and it went over $200 before I quit. I think it still has a few days to go.
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T
baz said:
1 long link goes to the body mount
1 long link goes to the axel mount
the bracket bolts to the diff cage
these i know
as for the bracket and short link i think thetriangle bracket welds in and link to give a second body fitting point to locate the axel in 2 planes
Click to expand...
Close
1 long link to the stock panhard mount on the body
1 long link to the triangle bracket which connects to the body somehow
The center bracket bolts on top of the diff cover
the short link connects to the panhard mount on the axle to help support the center bracket

-Travis
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N
Not that I'm saying could be made cheaper using a stock rear cover or anything but this seller has some pretty cheap Heim joints in metric size.

http://stores.ebay.com/VXB-Bearings-Skateboard-and-Slotcar_W0QQsspagenameZl2QQtZkm
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V
Thank you for the eBay store link on the heim joints. :)

I've been kinda stumped where to find some of them... :eek:
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N
thanks for the pic it will useful to....identify one?
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V
no, location to purchase them. Hard to find in local stores around here...
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baz
Travis said:
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-Travis
Click to expand...
hey i try :D
close is not bad better than a mile off :D
pic does not show 1 thing though
where the 3 rods meet theres a swivel plate that allows for the movment up and down and all the watts i have seen have been on leafspring setups and they do mount diff to that for a coil spring setup


just wondering if a stub could be put on the casing and a 2 link watts then use 2 more rods to make an "A" frame with the stock trailing arms and the torque tube mounts to make the axel stable in lateral action :confused:
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T
nobody said:
Not that I'm saying could be made cheaper using a stock rear cover or anything but this seller has some pretty cheap Heim joints in metric size.

http://stores.ebay.com/VXB-Bearings-Skateboard-and-Slotcar_W0QQsspagenameZl2QQtZkm
Click to expand...
Be very cautious when replacing suspension pieces or other parts which could cause bodily harm if they failed. This is no time to skimp on quality. I like the QA1 Endura 2000 in chromoly, but everyone seems to have their own favorite.

Also keep in mind that unless the race is teflon lined, it will start making annoying ticking noises in short order, if not before you install it...

-Travis
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J
That whole linkage setup really would be useless to a GT, you see them on some old fashioned drag racers but they are not for going around corners. I stumbled upon this recently in a book while studying how to do a four link on a 49 chevy.
For the GT and anything that you want to corner you can't beat the panhard bar setup. There are some tricks to tuning it to work at your ride height and "full bump" height. It can be made adjustable on the GT, somewhere there's a picture in a thread showing it on Speedway GT.
According to the books about how to make race cars handle, the location of where the Panhard mounts on the GT axle is perfect. The other end's location could vary. When you're watching Nextel Cup races and the car goes in the pits and a guy runs up the the right rear window and sticks a tool in and gives it a crank, he's either adjusting wedge or tracking (up or down location of the panhard bar mount to the chassis. This makes the car go into roll oversteer or roll understeer around a corner. Very important if you are living near the edge... Just look closely at your GT and see how it works. It is simple!
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J
Forgot to mention that the heim joints you need are extremely common on heavy equipment. Any store that sells big yellow tractors has lots of them in the parts room. Try a Cat dealer, Case dealer, even John Deere.
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N
That's all good if you don't take into considerarion that on a straight acceleration it goes one way and the other under hard braking. Or if the rear springs have sagged as most have then you have a mixed bag of over and understeer. Then again if it's lowered much you cross datum on the rear and I'm sure I don't want to start that one again.

The watts link is to bring it neutral and not let the springs and panhard decide how it acts was my take on it.
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J
Yes, I guess it could react opposite of what you want under some conditions... I'm not used to making a car turn to the right... My experience is all in flat out straight line acceleration with one kind of car, full throttle hard left turns in another car, or hauling heavy loads off road in trucks...
It's all in the setup, sometimes what looks right or agrees with the textbook doesn't work as well as some trial and error adjustments.
There's just so much to it!!
Merry Christmas to all!!
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