We’ve actually done a few things post-show…nothing mind-blowing, but a renewed vigor to get things done goes a long way!
While we were at the show, we saw some neat ideas too, so the drive back was a series of discussions around what we wanted to change in our plan. We’ve done a bit of level-setting. We’ve regrouped. We’ve created revised lists. Now that we have four months till the next show, we’re slowing down a bit and taking stock of what we really want to get done prior to that.
The plan is to drive the car to the show, so the engine, front suspension and brakes are high on the priority list. Those need to get done first so that we can drive the car around some in order to be comfortable taking it on a trip.
Toward that end, we’ve dismantled the front suspension. The Gearhead has been pulling off parts to determine if that are still usable. If they are, I’m taking a grinder to them to clean them up a bit. Also, grinders are fun! If you don’t own one, please remedy that at your earliest convenience. The parts that I have done are nice and shiny, no more grime or caked-on dirt and grease.
The plan is to paint the inside of the engine bay white and the front suspension will get a coat of that as well just to jazz it up some (hence the other reason for the cleaning).
We have already gotten the spare tire mounted and balanced so that’s ready to get strapped into the trunk as well.
And we have all our parts ordered (motor mounts, anyone?) and on their way so once we have those, things will start to happen fairly quickly. Looking forward to its maiden drive around the block!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Kadett Chronicles 18: Roadtrip Rundown
So we’re back from the car show and let me just say that I had a fabulous time at my first-ever related experience. Here’s the 411 on how the trip went:
The drive out east was fairly uneventful (if you don’t count the rush at the prospect of getting out of dodge for a while). And we had beautiful weather for the long drive. I don’t know what it is about roadtrips with The Gearhead, but I always have a great time just watching the road and talking about whatever. Doesn’t even matter where we are going really; getting there is more than half the fun!
We spent the night in the comfort of a fellow Opeler’s house…along with about 6 other Opelers headed out to the show. The next morning was an early rise, but we were all up and at ‘em, ready to hit the road in a caravan. We picked up more Opelers along the six hour drive to show. I think we must have had about 15 cars in the caravan at one point.
Made it to the show without any mechanical issues whatsoever. Checked into the hotel (and were told that we were given a room with a “good” shower by the hotel staff, whatever that means) and took a quick nap before dinner and drinks with the Opeler group.
The next day we headed out to the show and spent a grand weekend in what I can only compare to a state fair. There were lots of import cars to run around and ogle as well various fair food and vendors (much like a swap meet) to peruse. I discovered a love of peanut butter ripple ice cream at the fairgrounds and I will never be the same. There was even a variety of bands that played.
Basically, we parked the car with the other Opels and then took out the lawn chairs and sat around chatting with people the whole time. A few breaks in there to tour other cars, get some grub, of course, but for the most part it was a lawn party with some really nice people.
Most of the car clubs had big party tents set up on one end of their designated spot on the fairgrounds too, for registration, in case it rained, and/or to provide some shade (it was hot and lots of sunscreen ensued). The Opel club also did an auction of car parts and other Opel collectibles in order to raise money to host the web site that everyone uses to communicate.
Since most of the Opelers were staying at the same hotel, we reserved a conference room for everyone to get together for a few drinks and shoot the breeze some more. People brought microbrews from their local breweries to share too and it was nice to get to know them on a non-car level. This is one great group of folks.
Beyond that, I took tons of pictures (of course) while at the show…over 1200 actually. I’ve been whittling that down and cleaning up the images this past week. Check them out!
We are definitely going to the show in September; this one is a little closer to home so we’re hoping to drive our finished Kadett there. Here’s hoping!!
The drive out east was fairly uneventful (if you don’t count the rush at the prospect of getting out of dodge for a while). And we had beautiful weather for the long drive. I don’t know what it is about roadtrips with The Gearhead, but I always have a great time just watching the road and talking about whatever. Doesn’t even matter where we are going really; getting there is more than half the fun!
We spent the night in the comfort of a fellow Opeler’s house…along with about 6 other Opelers headed out to the show. The next morning was an early rise, but we were all up and at ‘em, ready to hit the road in a caravan. We picked up more Opelers along the six hour drive to show. I think we must have had about 15 cars in the caravan at one point.
Made it to the show without any mechanical issues whatsoever. Checked into the hotel (and were told that we were given a room with a “good” shower by the hotel staff, whatever that means) and took a quick nap before dinner and drinks with the Opeler group.
The next day we headed out to the show and spent a grand weekend in what I can only compare to a state fair. There were lots of import cars to run around and ogle as well various fair food and vendors (much like a swap meet) to peruse. I discovered a love of peanut butter ripple ice cream at the fairgrounds and I will never be the same. There was even a variety of bands that played.
Basically, we parked the car with the other Opels and then took out the lawn chairs and sat around chatting with people the whole time. A few breaks in there to tour other cars, get some grub, of course, but for the most part it was a lawn party with some really nice people.
Most of the car clubs had big party tents set up on one end of their designated spot on the fairgrounds too, for registration, in case it rained, and/or to provide some shade (it was hot and lots of sunscreen ensued). The Opel club also did an auction of car parts and other Opel collectibles in order to raise money to host the web site that everyone uses to communicate.
Since most of the Opelers were staying at the same hotel, we reserved a conference room for everyone to get together for a few drinks and shoot the breeze some more. People brought microbrews from their local breweries to share too and it was nice to get to know them on a non-car level. This is one great group of folks.
Beyond that, I took tons of pictures (of course) while at the show…over 1200 actually. I’ve been whittling that down and cleaning up the images this past week. Check them out!
We are definitely going to the show in September; this one is a little closer to home so we’re hoping to drive our finished Kadett there. Here’s hoping!!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Kadett Chronicles 17: Roadtrip!
Just a quick note to say bon voyage. We're off to the car show tonight! Woot! It might be sans Kadett, but as the true Opelers tell us, these things are more about the people than the cars. I'm looking forward to meeting The Gearhead's Opel gang. More to come post-show!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Kadett Chronicles 16: Progress report (5/17-5/18)
The Gearhead has continued to work on the engine and during that process discovered that both motor mounts and the transmission cross-member are shot. And it sure doesn’t make much sense to drop a new motor into the car without any working mounting points. Basically the only thing holding the engine in the car at that point is gravity which doesn’t make for ideal travelling conditions.
On top of that, some of the parts we had ordered from Germany still aren’t here yet. I hate how you can’t count on things you can’t control. Grr.
So the project has not only stalled, it’s come to a screeching halt. The original challenge was to get the car done in 30 days. Granted, it was a tall order I admit. But if we had been able to pull the engine sooner and the parts came through the mail on time, we probably would have made it happen.
At this point, we’re not going to be able to bring the car to the show. There’s just no way to get it done. We ran out of time. I’m extremely frustrated by this, but there’s nothing much I can do about it I guess.
The new plan is to wait for the parts to get here and then put the car together. At least we’ll be able to drive it around for a while and work out any kinks before the next show. There are two coming up – one in California in August and one in Illinois in September. Maybe we’ll be able to drive it to one or both of those.
I’ll continue to post our progress as well as other car-related bits as they come up.
On top of that, some of the parts we had ordered from Germany still aren’t here yet. I hate how you can’t count on things you can’t control. Grr.
So the project has not only stalled, it’s come to a screeching halt. The original challenge was to get the car done in 30 days. Granted, it was a tall order I admit. But if we had been able to pull the engine sooner and the parts came through the mail on time, we probably would have made it happen.
At this point, we’re not going to be able to bring the car to the show. There’s just no way to get it done. We ran out of time. I’m extremely frustrated by this, but there’s nothing much I can do about it I guess.
The new plan is to wait for the parts to get here and then put the car together. At least we’ll be able to drive it around for a while and work out any kinks before the next show. There are two coming up – one in California in August and one in Illinois in September. Maybe we’ll be able to drive it to one or both of those.
I’ll continue to post our progress as well as other car-related bits as they come up.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Kadett Chronicles 15: Progress report (5/13-5/16)
Lots to report today...I had meant to post throughout the weekend, but time really got away from us. Plus, The Gearhead caught a cold somewhere along the way so we were less productive than we hoped we would be this past weekend. Friday night was spent sans car at all; The Gearhead slept from the minute he got home from work till around 9:30pm and was back in bed by 11pm. So we lost some time there, but he really needed his rest so it was for the best. We both were up bright and early on Saturday and Sunday though.
Here’s what we got done:
The floor carpet was cut, sewed and installed. This is not a hard process, it just takes a while. We bought a roll of brown paper at the local home improvement store and it worked great for creating the template we used to cut the carpet down to size.
That paper also doubled as a backdrop for spray paint work that had to be done. We painted several things a matte black including the dash, cigarette tray, glove box and the gas can.
I finished upholstering the back seat side panels and rear shelf. And I have to say – what a pain. Granted, that was our fault for the design we came up with, but still. It does look great in the end though…very sporty with the alternating black vinyl and blue outdoor canvas fabric stripes. Then we installed these panels. This was another challenge because of the padding that we added to the panels. It made for some tight fits when it came time to put the back seat in. But it all worked out, just took more time.
We put in the door windows and also finally got to install the door panels too. After they went on (with a million tiny clips by the way – ugh), we installed the door pulls, window cranks, door handles and lock pulls. Everything is chrome except for the door handles and lock pulls; those are black. It all looks nice and polished and shiny!
Speaking of…I cleaned and polished just about everything under the sun. If a part had to go back on or in the car, it was dirt-free going in! From the bumpers to the hood ornament, everything got some spit and elbow grease. My hands are all dry and scratchy from all the cleaning supplies and water rinsing. It was a beautiful sunny weekend though and it was so nice to be able to spread out and lay everything on the grass to dry.
Most of the window weather stripping is in. All the new dark black is really impressive against the white/blue colors of the car. It really pops.
Pretty much everything is installed on the car now. Even the headlights and taillights are hooked up and ready to go. The only essential things missing are the driver’s side seat (need the room to work on the steering column and pedals) and the windows.
What’s left? The engine. We took out the front suspension last night so that we can get the engine dropped in. Hook that back up to the suspension and install the ignition switch and let her rip! Not so fast…also need to replace the shocks and work on the brakes. And we need to get the spare tire mounted and balanced. So basically all the mechanicals. Nothing like cutting it close.
On top of that, we re-thought our transportation out to the show. We were going to pull the car behind The Gearhead’s S10 via tow bar. But now that we won’t get a chance to drive the car around some to get a feel for wheel bearings and whatnot, we decided to trailer it. What that means is that we need to borrow my father’s trailer and his truck to pull it (the little 4-cylander S10 won’t cut it). My father and his toys live 2 hours away from us. So now we have to head there tomorrow night to pick those up. Which means one less day to work on stuff. There’s never a dull moment!
I have to say that I’m surprised at how much longer everything took to get done this weekend. I’m not sure if that’s because we were doing such a great job or if it was really just that hard. If we had another week, that would have been perfect. As it stands now, we’ll likely not get to everything. That’s ok though. There’s another show coming up this fall so it’ll give everyone something new to see.
Here’s what we got done:
The floor carpet was cut, sewed and installed. This is not a hard process, it just takes a while. We bought a roll of brown paper at the local home improvement store and it worked great for creating the template we used to cut the carpet down to size.
That paper also doubled as a backdrop for spray paint work that had to be done. We painted several things a matte black including the dash, cigarette tray, glove box and the gas can.
I finished upholstering the back seat side panels and rear shelf. And I have to say – what a pain. Granted, that was our fault for the design we came up with, but still. It does look great in the end though…very sporty with the alternating black vinyl and blue outdoor canvas fabric stripes. Then we installed these panels. This was another challenge because of the padding that we added to the panels. It made for some tight fits when it came time to put the back seat in. But it all worked out, just took more time.
We put in the door windows and also finally got to install the door panels too. After they went on (with a million tiny clips by the way – ugh), we installed the door pulls, window cranks, door handles and lock pulls. Everything is chrome except for the door handles and lock pulls; those are black. It all looks nice and polished and shiny!
Speaking of…I cleaned and polished just about everything under the sun. If a part had to go back on or in the car, it was dirt-free going in! From the bumpers to the hood ornament, everything got some spit and elbow grease. My hands are all dry and scratchy from all the cleaning supplies and water rinsing. It was a beautiful sunny weekend though and it was so nice to be able to spread out and lay everything on the grass to dry.
Most of the window weather stripping is in. All the new dark black is really impressive against the white/blue colors of the car. It really pops.
Pretty much everything is installed on the car now. Even the headlights and taillights are hooked up and ready to go. The only essential things missing are the driver’s side seat (need the room to work on the steering column and pedals) and the windows.
What’s left? The engine. We took out the front suspension last night so that we can get the engine dropped in. Hook that back up to the suspension and install the ignition switch and let her rip! Not so fast…also need to replace the shocks and work on the brakes. And we need to get the spare tire mounted and balanced. So basically all the mechanicals. Nothing like cutting it close.
On top of that, we re-thought our transportation out to the show. We were going to pull the car behind The Gearhead’s S10 via tow bar. But now that we won’t get a chance to drive the car around some to get a feel for wheel bearings and whatnot, we decided to trailer it. What that means is that we need to borrow my father’s trailer and his truck to pull it (the little 4-cylander S10 won’t cut it). My father and his toys live 2 hours away from us. So now we have to head there tomorrow night to pick those up. Which means one less day to work on stuff. There’s never a dull moment!
I have to say that I’m surprised at how much longer everything took to get done this weekend. I’m not sure if that’s because we were doing such a great job or if it was really just that hard. If we had another week, that would have been perfect. As it stands now, we’ll likely not get to everything. That’s ok though. There’s another show coming up this fall so it’ll give everyone something new to see.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Scenes from The Shop: How to make the most of a confined workspace
So I’m just gonna say it…car restoration projects take up a lot of room. I don’t think I was naïve to this fact prior to starting this adventure, but it never really hit me until I was looking through the photos I’ve taken during this intrepid journey.
Let me paint the picture for you:
We have a two-car garage that is currently functioning as a storage space and workshop space as well as a home for The Gearhead’s motorcycle. We have a short two-car driveway. We live in a duplex townhome community. Hence we have a home owner’s association that has a lot of rules. Rules like “thou shall not park your car on the street for more than seven days at a time” and “thou shall not make a lot of noise” etc, etc, etc.
Not the makings for the best case car restoration project scenario. For all the lists and plans that we have made before and during this month, one thing we did not take into account is the work space. Well, I take that back some…we knew it was small and not ideal, but we really didn’t have any other choice so we worked with what we had. But I think we could have taken a more methodical approach not only to where we worked, but how we worked as well.
My advice to Gearhead’s with confined working spaces is this:
1. Try to remove everything that isn’t related to the car project. Is there any place else you can store the boxes of holiday stuff and camping gear? Some options would be to rent a storage unit for a while; the cost may well be worth it. Or even moving some of that seasonal stuff into an unused spare bedroom? You can shut the door and just forget about it till the project is done. This is bit of a pain in the beginning, but so worth the extra room during the project!
2. Pare down the tool selection. If you have a tool collection anything like The Gearhead, you don’t need them all for this job, so it may be worth the extra room to just box up the tools that you won’t use and put them in that unused bedroom with the rest of the rejects.
3. Set up the tools that you will use. Hang them on the wall so you can to make use of your vertical space.
4. Remember to return the tools to their spot on the wall at the end of the night. The Gearhead argues with me on this one, so let me clarify a bit. I'm not talking about the wrenches and sockets and stuff that you are using all the time. It's just as handy to have them right on the floor next to whatever you are going to do next. But the stuff that isn't used often...just get it out of your way.
5. Have a designated space for the stuff that comes out of the car. Seatbelts, mirrors, dash pads, headlights…there’s so many little things. We set up two steel shelving racks on one side of the garage to house all this stuff. Again, makes use of the vertical space and clears the floor. It still looks like a mess, but at least it’s all together in one spot and you don’t have to worry about tripping over anything.
6. Moved finished pretty parts to a clean room. When we upholstered the door panels, there was no way I was going to let them live in the greasy, dirty garage while the rest of the car got overhauled. The dust alone would have killed all our hard work. So they currently live in that unused spare bedroom, safe and sound. If you must leave them in the garage, cover them with a tarp or blanket.
And take this advice for what it’s worth. We certainly don’t have all the answers! Ultimately, you need to find the working style that fits you. But I think these suggestions can only help in the long run. Do you have any tips to share?
Let me paint the picture for you:
We have a two-car garage that is currently functioning as a storage space and workshop space as well as a home for The Gearhead’s motorcycle. We have a short two-car driveway. We live in a duplex townhome community. Hence we have a home owner’s association that has a lot of rules. Rules like “thou shall not park your car on the street for more than seven days at a time” and “thou shall not make a lot of noise” etc, etc, etc.
Not the makings for the best case car restoration project scenario. For all the lists and plans that we have made before and during this month, one thing we did not take into account is the work space. Well, I take that back some…we knew it was small and not ideal, but we really didn’t have any other choice so we worked with what we had. But I think we could have taken a more methodical approach not only to where we worked, but how we worked as well.
My advice to Gearhead’s with confined working spaces is this:
1. Try to remove everything that isn’t related to the car project. Is there any place else you can store the boxes of holiday stuff and camping gear? Some options would be to rent a storage unit for a while; the cost may well be worth it. Or even moving some of that seasonal stuff into an unused spare bedroom? You can shut the door and just forget about it till the project is done. This is bit of a pain in the beginning, but so worth the extra room during the project!
2. Pare down the tool selection. If you have a tool collection anything like The Gearhead, you don’t need them all for this job, so it may be worth the extra room to just box up the tools that you won’t use and put them in that unused bedroom with the rest of the rejects.
3. Set up the tools that you will use. Hang them on the wall so you can to make use of your vertical space.
4. Remember to return the tools to their spot on the wall at the end of the night. The Gearhead argues with me on this one, so let me clarify a bit. I'm not talking about the wrenches and sockets and stuff that you are using all the time. It's just as handy to have them right on the floor next to whatever you are going to do next. But the stuff that isn't used often...just get it out of your way.
5. Have a designated space for the stuff that comes out of the car. Seatbelts, mirrors, dash pads, headlights…there’s so many little things. We set up two steel shelving racks on one side of the garage to house all this stuff. Again, makes use of the vertical space and clears the floor. It still looks like a mess, but at least it’s all together in one spot and you don’t have to worry about tripping over anything.
6. Moved finished pretty parts to a clean room. When we upholstered the door panels, there was no way I was going to let them live in the greasy, dirty garage while the rest of the car got overhauled. The dust alone would have killed all our hard work. So they currently live in that unused spare bedroom, safe and sound. If you must leave them in the garage, cover them with a tarp or blanket.
And take this advice for what it’s worth. We certainly don’t have all the answers! Ultimately, you need to find the working style that fits you. But I think these suggestions can only help in the long run. Do you have any tips to share?
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Kadett Chronicles 14: Progress report (5/12)
The car is home! Check it out! We picked it up from the body shop last night and it’s gorgeous. They really did a super paint job. Then they buffed the heck out of it. We opted not to use single stage paint too…we went for the whole ball o’ wax which included a clear coat. I love the way it looks so shiny and new.
Now we get to put Humpty back together again. We’ll give the inside a good cleaning and while we’re doing that, contemplate whether or not we have the time to go for the gold on a few things. There’s something about the new paint that makes some of the other stuff in the car look a bit drab.
For example, the dash could probably use a coat of black paint before we put the newly upholstered black vinyl dash pads on (remember, no airbags back then so the dash has these foamed pads that run the length the of car in case you get into a crash). But I’m not sure we have enough time for those little things at this point. They might have to be post-show updates. And that wouldn’t be the end of the world really. There’s another show in September. It’s the same crowd so it might be nice to have something new to show them then too.
So beyond that conundrum, the plan is to lay the carpet down and go from there adding things in from the ground up. There will be lots of progress to report as we’re into the last week before the show and things will happen fast…you know, because they have to. There’s nothing like a bit of pressure to motivate you to get things done. Some of our best work gets done that way. I love it.
Now we get to put Humpty back together again. We’ll give the inside a good cleaning and while we’re doing that, contemplate whether or not we have the time to go for the gold on a few things. There’s something about the new paint that makes some of the other stuff in the car look a bit drab.
For example, the dash could probably use a coat of black paint before we put the newly upholstered black vinyl dash pads on (remember, no airbags back then so the dash has these foamed pads that run the length the of car in case you get into a crash). But I’m not sure we have enough time for those little things at this point. They might have to be post-show updates. And that wouldn’t be the end of the world really. There’s another show in September. It’s the same crowd so it might be nice to have something new to show them then too.
So beyond that conundrum, the plan is to lay the carpet down and go from there adding things in from the ground up. There will be lots of progress to report as we’re into the last week before the show and things will happen fast…you know, because they have to. There’s nothing like a bit of pressure to motivate you to get things done. Some of our best work gets done that way. I love it.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Kadett Chronicles 13: Progress report (5/10-5/11)
Work continues on the engine; it's over half rebuilt now and the plan is to finish that up tonight. Also, we stopped at the body shop last night and got a sneak peek at the paint job. All I can say is wow. It's amazing. The blue is a smidge darker than the original paint it seems, but I quite like it. It has a hint of sophistication to it. And the bright white on the top third of the car is beautiful. I love the combination! Pics will be posted as soon as we get to bring the baby home.
Beyond that, The Gearhead pulled some dark blue carpet out of another Kadett that he owns. He took it over to a car wash and pressure washed it to see if it cleaned up (and didn’t disintegrate for that matter) as a possibility for use in this project.
Normally I’m all for repurposing things, but I have two issues with this old carpet:
1) I’m not sure a dark blue carpet will look right in a baby blue car with black interior. It just seems like one too many colors.
2) This carpet has been out at the farm for long while now. There are creatures at the farm who like to use fuzzy things like this for nesting as well as a repository for other bodily functions. I’m not keen on using this and anyone that has ever owned a pet will probably back me up and attest that there are some stains that just don’t come out. I’m a big proponent of just moving on and going with new in this particular category.
So now that I just made that command decision, we’ll end up using this carpet as a template to cut new stuff.
We were at our favorite home improvement superstore recently and combed through all our carpet options. There was a decent selection of options and colors, but in the end, we picked up a couple of 6x8 foot outdoor area rugs from their patio department.
The rugs are actually near exactly the same as the actual carpet sections in terms of color and texture. The rugs are a little more flexible; meaning that they aren’t as rigid as the carpet samples so we think it will be easier to cut and install. The rugs are a black/charcoal gray mix of fibers so it will blend with the interior of the car perfectly. They are for outdoor use so they can take a beating and be hosed down if we ever need to deep clean them (although we do have black rubber floor mats going down on top of them so chances are we’ll never have to cross that bridge). Beyond that, the rugs were the cheaper option too so it all worked out in the end!
Beyond that, The Gearhead pulled some dark blue carpet out of another Kadett that he owns. He took it over to a car wash and pressure washed it to see if it cleaned up (and didn’t disintegrate for that matter) as a possibility for use in this project.
Normally I’m all for repurposing things, but I have two issues with this old carpet:
1) I’m not sure a dark blue carpet will look right in a baby blue car with black interior. It just seems like one too many colors.
2) This carpet has been out at the farm for long while now. There are creatures at the farm who like to use fuzzy things like this for nesting as well as a repository for other bodily functions. I’m not keen on using this and anyone that has ever owned a pet will probably back me up and attest that there are some stains that just don’t come out. I’m a big proponent of just moving on and going with new in this particular category.
So now that I just made that command decision, we’ll end up using this carpet as a template to cut new stuff.
We were at our favorite home improvement superstore recently and combed through all our carpet options. There was a decent selection of options and colors, but in the end, we picked up a couple of 6x8 foot outdoor area rugs from their patio department.
The rugs are actually near exactly the same as the actual carpet sections in terms of color and texture. The rugs are a little more flexible; meaning that they aren’t as rigid as the carpet samples so we think it will be easier to cut and install. The rugs are a black/charcoal gray mix of fibers so it will blend with the interior of the car perfectly. They are for outdoor use so they can take a beating and be hosed down if we ever need to deep clean them (although we do have black rubber floor mats going down on top of them so chances are we’ll never have to cross that bridge). Beyond that, the rugs were the cheaper option too so it all worked out in the end!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Kadett Chronicles 12: Progress report (5/6-5/9)
The engine has been our focus on and off while the car has been in the paint shop. And it’s been giving us some trouble.
Normally, I’d say that the engine is The Gearhead’s domain. But since it refuses to cooperate as of late, I’ve been called in to help trouble-shoot. Mostly that means that I listen as The Gearhead talks through the issues and possible solutions. I ask really probing and insightful questions like “huh?” and “what does that mean for us?” and “will we still be able to drive it to the show?”
Ok, so I’m not giving myself enough credit here. While I don’t claim to understand engines inside and out, they aren’t completely foreign to me so I can follow along pretty well. I figure that I’m involved in these conversations to help The Gearhead get to an end result as quickly and as pain-free as possible. If that means moving some things around in our resto-schedule, then I can do that.
So we started by yanking out the original engine with the plan to use another Kadett engine that The Gearhead bought earlier this year. As it turns out that there were some issues with it so he went hunting through storage and found yet another Kadett engine. He brought that one home and the hope is that he can take them both apart and, between the two, reassemble one good one.
So far, so good, although in the end, this reassembled engine won’t be all that reliable for highway miles which means that eventually we’ll have to replace it. I’m not one for rework, so this bugs me a little. However, on the other hand, it’s better than pulling the car to the show so I’m all for anything that will allow us to drive it in.
There will likely be more on this as The Gearhead works through the kinks today and tomorrow. Beyond that, the car should be back from the paint shop on Wednesday so we’ll be able to start putting it back together again later this week and into the weekend. First up: carpet!
Normally, I’d say that the engine is The Gearhead’s domain. But since it refuses to cooperate as of late, I’ve been called in to help trouble-shoot. Mostly that means that I listen as The Gearhead talks through the issues and possible solutions. I ask really probing and insightful questions like “huh?” and “what does that mean for us?” and “will we still be able to drive it to the show?”
Ok, so I’m not giving myself enough credit here. While I don’t claim to understand engines inside and out, they aren’t completely foreign to me so I can follow along pretty well. I figure that I’m involved in these conversations to help The Gearhead get to an end result as quickly and as pain-free as possible. If that means moving some things around in our resto-schedule, then I can do that.
So we started by yanking out the original engine with the plan to use another Kadett engine that The Gearhead bought earlier this year. As it turns out that there were some issues with it so he went hunting through storage and found yet another Kadett engine. He brought that one home and the hope is that he can take them both apart and, between the two, reassemble one good one.
So far, so good, although in the end, this reassembled engine won’t be all that reliable for highway miles which means that eventually we’ll have to replace it. I’m not one for rework, so this bugs me a little. However, on the other hand, it’s better than pulling the car to the show so I’m all for anything that will allow us to drive it in.
There will likely be more on this as The Gearhead works through the kinks today and tomorrow. Beyond that, the car should be back from the paint shop on Wednesday so we’ll be able to start putting it back together again later this week and into the weekend. First up: carpet!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Kadett Chronicles 11: Progress report (4/29-5/5)
Since the car has been in the paint shop, we’ve been working on other details of the project.
We booked our hotel room and registered for the car show. So exicted!
Then we cleaned up the seats of the car with good old fashioned soap, water and elbow grease finished off with a high-gloss Armor All chaser. We let them dry in the sun and they look marvelous! We really saved ourselves some time by choosing to pilfer another Opel for these seats; they are in great shape!
And we finished up most of our shopping to get all the supplies we need now while we have the time to talk through options and whatnot. One of our big decisions was around door panel recovering. Let’s talk fabric, shall we?
I love picking out fabric. It’s like putting together a terrific outfit but without the stress of making sure you find it all in your size. The original door panels were covered in vinyl and they had that fake stitching pressed into the vinyl so that there was a 4-inch stripe created across the panel where the window crank is located. I can only assume it was an attempt to create some interest in an otherwise fairly basic model. So we decided on a dual fabric combination to enhance that feature even more.
Since the interior is black, we went with black vinyl. Again, we’re just breaking the mold here aren’t we? The vinyl we chose is not smooth; it has a slight texture to it. Frankly, it’s the kind of vinyl you’d see in cars that had vinyl in them. So it works.
The complimenting fabric we chose is baby blue – exact color of the car or darn near – with a small diamond pattern embossed into it. It’s outdoor canvas fabric so it’s heavy, durable and stain-resistant. And we gave it a spray of Scotch Guard just to be on the safe side.
We designed a pattern that is pretty close to the lines of the original door panels…ours just includes two colors. This is repeated on the side panels in the back seat as well. We also used the fabric on the rear shelf cover too. It has a large stripe of the blue fabric down the center of the shelf with the black vinyl on either side. This follows the line of the painted stripe on the hood so your eye follows from the exterior to the interior through the whole car.
Overall, we didn’t use much of the baby blue fabric which I think makes it seem all the more special. I had thought about tufting all this too, but the seats aren’t tufted so I decided to save that idea for another car.
Beyond that, The Gearhead found a web site that makes vinyl headliners on the cheap so we ordered that up in order to save ourselves a wee bit o’ time to focus on other things. The headliner also comes with matching black vinyl for the visors too. Bonus!
We booked our hotel room and registered for the car show. So exicted!
Then we cleaned up the seats of the car with good old fashioned soap, water and elbow grease finished off with a high-gloss Armor All chaser. We let them dry in the sun and they look marvelous! We really saved ourselves some time by choosing to pilfer another Opel for these seats; they are in great shape!
And we finished up most of our shopping to get all the supplies we need now while we have the time to talk through options and whatnot. One of our big decisions was around door panel recovering. Let’s talk fabric, shall we?
I love picking out fabric. It’s like putting together a terrific outfit but without the stress of making sure you find it all in your size. The original door panels were covered in vinyl and they had that fake stitching pressed into the vinyl so that there was a 4-inch stripe created across the panel where the window crank is located. I can only assume it was an attempt to create some interest in an otherwise fairly basic model. So we decided on a dual fabric combination to enhance that feature even more.
Since the interior is black, we went with black vinyl. Again, we’re just breaking the mold here aren’t we? The vinyl we chose is not smooth; it has a slight texture to it. Frankly, it’s the kind of vinyl you’d see in cars that had vinyl in them. So it works.
The complimenting fabric we chose is baby blue – exact color of the car or darn near – with a small diamond pattern embossed into it. It’s outdoor canvas fabric so it’s heavy, durable and stain-resistant. And we gave it a spray of Scotch Guard just to be on the safe side.
We designed a pattern that is pretty close to the lines of the original door panels…ours just includes two colors. This is repeated on the side panels in the back seat as well. We also used the fabric on the rear shelf cover too. It has a large stripe of the blue fabric down the center of the shelf with the black vinyl on either side. This follows the line of the painted stripe on the hood so your eye follows from the exterior to the interior through the whole car.
Overall, we didn’t use much of the baby blue fabric which I think makes it seem all the more special. I had thought about tufting all this too, but the seats aren’t tufted so I decided to save that idea for another car.
Beyond that, The Gearhead found a web site that makes vinyl headliners on the cheap so we ordered that up in order to save ourselves a wee bit o’ time to focus on other things. The headliner also comes with matching black vinyl for the visors too. Bonus!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Scenes from The Shop: How to buy your very own Opel
Originally posted in January 2006 on The Gearhead’s blog Seeing the World Past the Bug-Splattered Windshield and re-posted here in it’s unaltered entirety (except for five wee typos that my English minor background just could not leave alone) with permission from The Gearhead because the more Opelers in the world, the merrier!
Opels are interesting cars. They were imported and sold through regular Buick dealerships all over the US from about '57 to '75. That's a pretty good run, all things considered, roughly equivalent to how long Hyundai, Acura, Lexus, and Kia have been selling now. That's long enough to have purchased one as your first car going off to college, then as your second car because of brand loyalty when you needed something bigger for your new family. As they were pretty solidly engineered cars, with decent features and in the last few years excellent handling, there's a few of those folks still around. They are all by now 50-somethings set in life with the kids out of the house and some $ to spend these days bringing back a long lost friend from the dead.
But they also sold a lot of them, and they are all 30+ year old cars now, and new they were the cheapest cars GM sold here in the US and advertised everywhere as such. Which means they aren't particularly worth a lot. That brings an entirely different demographic under the "Opeler" umbrella, the folks who have an Opel strictly because it's cheap. These are the folks who squirm at the idea of an "expensive" $500 paint job or $800 5-speed transmission upgrade. (Well worth every penny, by the way.)
So what do you get into when you join the Opel community, then, with these two completely different demographics dominating the scene? Strangely enough, unlike most other similar marquees you get an amazingly open, helpful, friendly group of folks that'll usually give you the shirt off their back if you really need it. See, unlike the MG, Triumph, Corvair, Jaguar, Fiat, Morris Minor, Etc... groups, the Opel community was all but abandoned for the better part of 20 years here in the US. In 1975 you could get parts at any Buick dealership or parts store. By 1995, I had to drive all over Houston to find a valve cover gasket on short notice, and to get the "good" ones I had to agree to buy all 50 of the minimum batch Fel-Pro would make to get them ordered for me. We would have all given up on our Opels and tossed them into the crusher if it weren't for the internet and the new-fangled shrinking of world economies it provided. This orphaning, though, made for a remarkable tight group of old-timers, and they smack the kids into decent people before they associate with them.
So, now maybe you've decided you want to look into buying an Opel yourself? How does one go about doing it these days? There are club listings, and E-bay, and the like, but they do occasionally show up even in the local paper. Here's how my last purchase went:
Looking through the paper, stumbled across an "1975 Opal wagon for sale, $250" ad. The obvious (to an Opeler) misspelling of Opel was sure to keep the usual Opel vultures away, and the price was so low the car was obviously junk or the seller didn't know what they had. Either way, well worth the look anyway just-in-case. Called the seller, set up a time, and went to look at the car. Those of you familiar with the ritual of buying an old car know all the usual stuff that happens during that first meeting:
-"Is this the car for sale?"
-"Yep, that's the one."
-"Have you had it long?"
-"No, not long, only (yada, yada, yada) Got it as a project and not going to get around to it."
-"I see, did it run well when you bought it?"
-"(It doesn't really matter, just trying to see if they feel bad for it going down the tubes or good for restoring it some.)"
-"It looks like just about what I was looking for, I was hoping for (whatever) though." (sigh)
-"That would have been nice for sure."
-"Is $250 your bottom dollar?"
-"I could probably let you have it for $200."
-"Thanks, let me go get the $ and my trailer."
Next thing you know you'll be bringing home a car in need of some work for sure, but worth more to your friends in parts than what you paid for it complete. Sure $500 would have been a bargain, but no arguing that $200 is a lot better, right? Besides at $500 you might have to consider the Karma check and the rest of the VW Idiot's Guide's pre-buying techniques, whereas at $200 you can take your chances and give it a once-over at home. What am I saying, I always mash myself into the seat and do a quick "does this car feel right?" check.
Opels are interesting cars. They were imported and sold through regular Buick dealerships all over the US from about '57 to '75. That's a pretty good run, all things considered, roughly equivalent to how long Hyundai, Acura, Lexus, and Kia have been selling now. That's long enough to have purchased one as your first car going off to college, then as your second car because of brand loyalty when you needed something bigger for your new family. As they were pretty solidly engineered cars, with decent features and in the last few years excellent handling, there's a few of those folks still around. They are all by now 50-somethings set in life with the kids out of the house and some $ to spend these days bringing back a long lost friend from the dead.
But they also sold a lot of them, and they are all 30+ year old cars now, and new they were the cheapest cars GM sold here in the US and advertised everywhere as such. Which means they aren't particularly worth a lot. That brings an entirely different demographic under the "Opeler" umbrella, the folks who have an Opel strictly because it's cheap. These are the folks who squirm at the idea of an "expensive" $500 paint job or $800 5-speed transmission upgrade. (Well worth every penny, by the way.)
So what do you get into when you join the Opel community, then, with these two completely different demographics dominating the scene? Strangely enough, unlike most other similar marquees you get an amazingly open, helpful, friendly group of folks that'll usually give you the shirt off their back if you really need it. See, unlike the MG, Triumph, Corvair, Jaguar, Fiat, Morris Minor, Etc... groups, the Opel community was all but abandoned for the better part of 20 years here in the US. In 1975 you could get parts at any Buick dealership or parts store. By 1995, I had to drive all over Houston to find a valve cover gasket on short notice, and to get the "good" ones I had to agree to buy all 50 of the minimum batch Fel-Pro would make to get them ordered for me. We would have all given up on our Opels and tossed them into the crusher if it weren't for the internet and the new-fangled shrinking of world economies it provided. This orphaning, though, made for a remarkable tight group of old-timers, and they smack the kids into decent people before they associate with them.
So, now maybe you've decided you want to look into buying an Opel yourself? How does one go about doing it these days? There are club listings, and E-bay, and the like, but they do occasionally show up even in the local paper. Here's how my last purchase went:
Looking through the paper, stumbled across an "1975 Opal wagon for sale, $250" ad. The obvious (to an Opeler) misspelling of Opel was sure to keep the usual Opel vultures away, and the price was so low the car was obviously junk or the seller didn't know what they had. Either way, well worth the look anyway just-in-case. Called the seller, set up a time, and went to look at the car. Those of you familiar with the ritual of buying an old car know all the usual stuff that happens during that first meeting:
-"Is this the car for sale?"
-"Yep, that's the one."
-"Have you had it long?"
-"No, not long, only (yada, yada, yada) Got it as a project and not going to get around to it."
-"I see, did it run well when you bought it?"
-"(It doesn't really matter, just trying to see if they feel bad for it going down the tubes or good for restoring it some.)"
-"It looks like just about what I was looking for, I was hoping for (whatever) though." (sigh)
-"That would have been nice for sure."
-"Is $250 your bottom dollar?"
-"I could probably let you have it for $200."
-"Thanks, let me go get the $ and my trailer."
Next thing you know you'll be bringing home a car in need of some work for sure, but worth more to your friends in parts than what you paid for it complete. Sure $500 would have been a bargain, but no arguing that $200 is a lot better, right? Besides at $500 you might have to consider the Karma check and the rest of the VW Idiot's Guide's pre-buying techniques, whereas at $200 you can take your chances and give it a once-over at home. What am I saying, I always mash myself into the seat and do a quick "does this car feel right?" check.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Scenes from The Shop: A new site series
So it occurred to me the other day that The Gearhead is a wealth of Opel knowledge and it would be nice to share some of that. I just have these epiphanies sometimes! There was even a light bulb that turned on above my head and everything.
This new series of posts will provide how-to and otherwise instructional information on Opels. But since I’m writing it, the perspective will be just a wee bit different. The twist is that this series will speak to people in layman’s terms. Ok, you caught me. I admit it. I’m not versed on the ins-and-outs of how to do much of anything car related. But this series will change all that! At least, I’m hoping it will. A girl can dream.
So if you are a new Opeler or a veteran who just wants a little refresher, this series may be for you! Stay tuned.
This new series of posts will provide how-to and otherwise instructional information on Opels. But since I’m writing it, the perspective will be just a wee bit different. The twist is that this series will speak to people in layman’s terms. Ok, you caught me. I admit it. I’m not versed on the ins-and-outs of how to do much of anything car related. But this series will change all that! At least, I’m hoping it will. A girl can dream.
So if you are a new Opeler or a veteran who just wants a little refresher, this series may be for you! Stay tuned.
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