Opel GT engine

Please delete if too off-topic.

I'd like the thoughts of those with experience with the 1.9 L engine. It reminds me of a stovebolt six because it has a removable (p***enger side of the engine) rocker cover. There's one in a junky yard I visited, today. Too bad it probably won't be saved- it's in pretty good shape, and it's got wide 13" ET mags on it.

 

I had an Opel. I liked it. It's a weired deal as I remember with the cam in the head but just above the deck surface with the lifters pushing directly on the rocker arms. I tried it with a 2CG and Weber's. Not exactly blindingly fast, but fun. Or maybe the cam was in the block just at the deck and the lifters went through the head like a Detroit Diesel. It has been a while. Anyway I think they are cool cars.

 

Why would Opel copy something GM did? Datsun//Nissan didn't copy anything either after WWII was over?? Kawasaki built airplanes before motorcycles too.

 

Opel was ( is?) the German devision of GM.

So they probably had engineers and designers flying back and forth.


Like one of the head guys that did the Edsel for Ford, got "promoted" away to England after that and designed one of the most succesful EnFo's there.
The Mk1 Cortina.

 

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"Why would Opel copy something GM did?"
Maybe because Opel is owned by GM and
has been since the 1930's.

Mart3406
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if its in pretty good shape why dont you grab it?
What are you into? they could make great drag cars or street racers, and they are real rare.
You can always clean it and flip it, just dont let it be crushed.

 

my buddy had an opel witha sbc,glide,and a 9 in out back and man did that thing bruise some ego's in it's day lol
I agree with bonez,get it and flip it,at least you could save it from the crusher.

 

Anyone here remember the Car & Driver magazine project Kadett Rallye that had a turbo back in the 70's? VERY fast car in it's day. Gary

 

As mentioned above Opel is a part of GM since the 30's , and has saved GM's (money) *** a few times.

 

I saw a MG B-series engine that said NISSAN on the head.
It was out of a Datsun Pickup and was a nearly exact copy of the MGB engine.
I also have a set of SU carbs from a Datsun.

BTW, the Kawasaki Ki-61 aircraft used a copy of the Daimler-Benz DB601.

 

mitsubishi(spell check..who cares!) also built planes.. The jap zero.. Yep! The same ones that did in Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941

 

FWIW,,,The old Datsun mill was a copy of the earlier MGA/Austin, 1500/1600,,The B was 1800 and had a little more beef in it.

 

Adam Opel AG has been a part of General Motors since 1929.

 

I drove a '70 Opal GT into the eighties. Finally sold it because it was hard to find parts and they were expensive. I was using it as an everyday car and needed a car that could be fixed without waiting for or looking for parts. As an aside the car had the best instruments I have ever seen. A speedo and a tach as well as the four standard gauges. The good part is that each of the four standard gauges had an idiot light on the face of the gauge.

Charlie Stephens

 

You could always do this with it: (all photos courtesy of Frank's daughter)

The first picture is a bit late for the H.A.M.B., as it was taken in '81 (I'm not sure of the year of the car.) It's actually car #3, as Frank wrecked #1 (an ex-Jim Oddy '69 Opel ch***is) when a Detroit Locker failed & sent him into the tree at Dragway 42. Its replacement was rolled by Linda at Norwalk when the chute failed to open in '78.

Gotta love short wheelbase Comp cars...never a dull moment...the last pics are from '75, when a Panhard bar mount failed. No wreck, but probably some pucker moments for Frank. Kinda like driving a AA/FA.

 

Opel GT's are cool little cars. a ton of them were hot rodded or drag raced in the 70's and 80's. We had an opel cadet when I was a kid and it was a bulletproof commuter car. Finally rusted out.

 

I think he hit the tree in Bowling Green. JC

 

Thanks, i run an tube ch***is opel gt nice pics but didnt really need to see that...lol I had an opel station wagon when i was young my dad pulled the head off for a gasket never did get that thing to run right after that.

 

Well, I'm working on high-MPG for my next project, so I'm looking at small engines. I want to keep it CA smog-legitimate, so it needs to be 1975 or older.

I will try to save it, if not for myself (logistics- I saw it on a road trip, I'm short on cash, etc.), then for an Opel GT fan (there are forums for everything).

Here are a few pictures of it.

 

http://www.dogfightmag.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?5-Cars-For-Sale

 

Theres one of these for sale right up the street from me

 

I know that Elpolacko spent way too much of his teens running around in a lowered and hopped up Kadett wagon...

 

The GT seems perfect for your project, they weight next to nothing, are decently aerodynamic, and built before '75. And people in Europe are putting Ecotec motors and 5spd's in them (like the 2.0 turbo Calibra/VX motor ) Even with the original 1.9 they should be able to do around 30 something mpg.

 

I knew Opel had a connection to GM in the '70s and didn't realize the history went that far back. Cool info.
And the Jap fighter planes, knew about that from when I was a kid and read a lot about that stuff.

 

Must see pictures!

 

You must be a lot brighter than you look.

 

My first car was a 70 GT in early 70's. Had a 1.9 and reved like there was no tomarrow. I'm lucky that I did not kill myself in it. GM product serviced by Buick who did not do much in the way of getting me parts. Was fun. The front had a transverse leaf front spring. It beat a TR6 on top end. Stupid of me. Opel in europe also used the 153 GM motor. It ran a Weber IDA 48. Don't know the years, but I have an alum intake and carb from one. Interesting stuff to me as I like the 153.

 

I have an Opel GT 1.9L engine in my garage right now, left by the guy I got the house from. Are they worth anything at all? I'd throw it away except that I think it's cool.

 

Are you sure that's the original 1.9 engine in that GT? At a glance it looks very similar to an old 151 c.i. "Iron Duke" like what was used in the later model Monzas. The 151 shared a lot of dimensions with the Chevy 250 inline six which would explain that resemblance.

Were the GTs built on the same ch***is as the Kadett? If so, from underneath it should be basically the same as the Chevette, from the firewall back. The Chevette used front coil springs, but the Kadett also used a single transverse front leaf spring.

 

The Chevette came from the Opal Manta and 1900 sedan introduced in 1971 or so.Double arms in front with coil springs,coils in back with control arms.A different suspension than the Opal GT and Kadett