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.

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!

Kadett Chronicles 2: From crap to cool – a perspective

Let me first announce that I say “crap” lovingly. It’s all in the eye of the beholder, after all, and every time The Gearhead looks at his Opels, he just doesn’t see the crap. The surface rust, the dirt, the torn vinyl seats with stuffing pouring out of them, the hardened window rubber, the cracked windows, the broken headlights, etc, etc, etc. Nope. He just sees the possibilities. What the car once was and could be again. You know, the cool. Actually, I admire that about him.

Then there’s me. Not a car junkie myself, but I am cut from the same cloth that appreciates a passion. I can understand the appeal in the idea that something exists in an new, altered, and/or better state all because of you. So while I see the crap, I can also see the cool. I’m perfectly willing to throw myself into any project that my loved ones have cookin’. Why? Because it’s important to them. If they have a passion and a project, I’ll gladly jump on that bandwagon.

So when The Gearhead decided to polish up the Kadett to make the car show circuit, I was all in. But I’ll let you in on a little secret….I am, after all, a girl and therefore would like to roll into the car show in a gorgeous car. No rust. No dirt. New paint. You see where I’m going with this. Hmmm. I wonder if this means that I’m actually responsible for this whirlwind month. I’ll have to cogitate on that while watching The Gearhead replace the ignition switch later.

And while we’re on the subject, I hope you don’t expect to see lots of technical details and instructional type information on this here blog. I’m writing it and know none of these things. All I can report on is what I observe or learn on this job. So alas, you’re gonna get my spin. I do hope you stick around though, if not just for the pictures.

Kadett Chronicles 1: Setting the stage

The Gearhead.
My husband is a gearhead, an Opel gearhead, specifically. He loves everything about these cars. He belongs to Opel forums online, goes to Opel car shows, has Opel friends. Even the cat is named Opel. Not to mention that he owns about 10 of these cars. Most have seen better days, but all are beauties in his eyes for one reason or another.

The Geargirl.
That’s me. I could also be called The Support. The Help. The Photographer. The Blogger. The Kitchen Sink. Basically I’m in this to make The Gearhead happy so I’ll try my hand and anything that needs doing. Need a ¾ inch socket? I’m here to serve. Need a cool beverage? I’ll gladly provide. Need a dash pulled out? I’m your girl. But mostly I stick around because he looks super-fantastic-great all greased up in dirty jeans and old ripped t-shirts. And I love photography so this gives me yet another thing to shoot and practice on.

The Challenge.
Restore a 1967 Opel Kadett in one month. There's a car show coming up and we’re going. Come hell or high water, we’re going in an Opel. A pretty one.