Kadettenclub!

Now that the Opile is running Miata front uprights and brakes I needed to adapt from the Opel rack to the Miata outer tie rods.  I just took the Miata tie rod and welded it into the Opel tie rod and it's rock solid.  Did I mention that the stock Miata brake hoses bolted right to the stock Opel brake line fittings?  This is a fact and I took advantage of this.  BTW, the brakes are now very effective and haul the car down from any speed in short order.  A massive change.

Note "Vendler through the frame" sway bar.  It's a 28" Nascar rear bar mounted in pillow bearings and running through the front frame rails.  Takes 5 mins to change the bar if I want to and is very rigid and compact.  All these parts are cheap and readly avalable on ebay etc..  Current bar size is 3/4" and it's plenty.

So, that was a lot but well, there's more.  While the Miata front spindles were surprisingly close to the Opel parts in geometry and size they didn't quite match.  The Miata tie rod points are a bit lower than the Opel ones relative to the position of the steering rack so I was getting a bit of bump steer.  Also the front roll center got a bit too low and under hard cornering there was a bit too much front end dive.  This would lift the inside rear wheel and that's bad for business.

The inner mounting for the control arms on the Opel are these forgings that bolt to the subframe.  I machined .175 inches off the mounting faces to raise the inner suspension pivot points.  .175 inches isn't much but I could not believe the difference it made.  Bump steer has been reduced to acceptable levels and the higher front roll center has reduced front roll very bigly.

Oh god Alex!  Stahp!  We can't take all this progress!  Yeah, sorry/not sorry.  There's more.

One of the things about being a part of a collective shop situation is that there are often unused parts all ove the place from other members' projects.  Enter some lost and decayed OMP carbon/kevlar Ferrari 348 Callenge Car seats.  These beauties were hidden in the rafters of the shop for years and had been a home to some very well heeled mice with a taste for Italianate luxury motorsports.  I bought them for a token amount and spent what felt like the rest of my life learning how to sew well enough to reupholster them.  After some serious crying and sweating I made safe and adjustable mounts for them and added some new 2" harnesses.  Sadly, I don't have any "before" pics but take my word for it these were only saved from the trash due to their "F"-car former lives.  Here is the office in the Opile now.  

So after that huge flurry of activity let's take a step back...

The Miata front spindle conversion and resulting changes made the front ride height drop about 2" while maintaining the  same travel.  Also added about 2deg of neg camber on both sides in the front.  Huge increase in front grip due to this.  Overall, the car has very similar performance to a well setup Miata and makes a lot of hay from the 1100cc lump.

Interviewer:  "So now that you've had such a great pandemic season, what's next for Opile?"

Well, I'm glad you asked that insightful question uh... (checks notes) Cindy.  We are looking at making some undertray parts to help with cooling and maybe reduce lift but nothing too fancy though.  Also, the dash is just a hot mess of switches and gauges and really could use a strong unifying design move to organize everything.  Maybe we'll just end the charade of having the stock cluster in the dash altogether.  The front lower control arm bushings are still stock rubber and the flex is noticable at the new cornering loads.  Delrin is in the future and maybe a rearward mounted radius rod to stabilize the control arms a bit more too.  Lastly, the cage was never a very good design and a mod to the driver's side door bar would really make getting in and out a lot easier.  While good for street use this would also make driver changes easier during races.  If they can have races again soon that is...

Stay tuned.

Oh god Alex!  Stahp!  We can't take all this progress! 
 

... said not one single person on this forum. Ever. I will take all the Opile updates I can get.

Oh. Also.  If anyone needs a set of Rallye spec dual Solex carbs I'm selling some here on ebay.  It's a complete setup with linkage and all the stuff you need to put them on your 1.1 powered Opel.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203062018782

alex_vendler said:

After a bunch of testing I've settled on a good ignition map.  Big advantage of programmable is being able to advance to 55deg on lift throttle so it burns everything on rundown.  Less gassy smell.  The other big deal is having a non linear timing curve.  

Can  you program it to shoot flames out the exhaust on overrun?  

In reply to alex_vendler :

always wondered about how easily early miata stuff would be to fit.  May have to check that out for mine atleast the brakes.  Great work as always.  keep it up well be waiting anxiously for the next updates. 

stuart in mn said:

alex_vendler said:

After a bunch of testing I've settled on a good ignition map.  Big advantage of programmable is being able to advance to 55deg on lift throttle so it burns everything on rundown.  Less gassy smell.  The other big deal is having a non linear timing curve.  

Can  you program it to shoot flames out the exhaust on overrun?  

 

I tried making a "bang and pop" map but without being able to dump fuel on overrun the results weren't very impressive.  Just a sad fart or two.

alex_vendler said:

stuart in mn said:

alex_vendler said:

After a bunch of testing I've settled on a good ignition map.  Big advantage of programmable is being able to advance to 55deg on lift throttle so it burns everything on rundown.  Less gassy smell.  The other big deal is having a non linear timing curve.  

Can  you program it to shoot flames out the exhaust on overrun?  

 

I tried making a "bang and pop" map but without being able to dump fuel on overrun the results weren't very impressive.  Just a sad fart or two.

Sad fart.

I'll play around with antilag on the upcoming TurbOpile Brazilian build. I should have full control of all of that stuff with my ECU. Working now on building a harness to talk to it with a laptop, then I'll know for sure.

For all you HARD CORE Opel 1.1 fans here are some decals I made.  Half the size of a Porsche 2.2 and twice as cool I say.  $5 shipped in the US.  Paypal me if you want some.  vendler.dp@gmail.com

In reply to alex_vendler :

Paypal sent. 

With this thread bumped up I decided to get back on my 67 Kadett. It was pushed into the back yard a couple years ago when the starter wasn't working and I had other projects going. Today over lunch I decided to see if I could get it to crank. The starter was just grinding and not engaging, with a few whacks of a hammer it started cranking nicely and spewing very old gas out of the disconnected fuel line. 

No spark so I'll have to put on some of the ignition parts I bought a similar number of years ago and see what happens. 

Let's see pictures! 

I pulled it out of the spot by the temporary shed where it had been sitting for a few years. 

It hasn't helped the interior at all to be sitting outside with no window or door seals. It was sitting in the New Mexico desert for who knows how long, then sitting outside in a storage lot in Norwalk, OH, then at my house. When I got it the interior was still present but covered with a few inches of red dirt and other nasty stuff from sitting since 1979. All of the plastic and rubber is brittle, I'm afraid to touch too many connectors since the plastic just crumbles. 

The fuse block has seen better days. Opel was nice enough to use spade terminals for the connections so I'll just replace this with a 6 position blade style fuse block. 

I checked the coil and it had 12v with the ignition on but no spark from the coil. I swapped in another coil and got a weak spark. It wasn't enough to get it to start or even try to start. The plug wires are not in great shape, I have a new set on order. 

EvanB (Forum Supporter) said:

With this thread bumped up I decided to get back on my 67 Kadett.

I had a 1967 Kadette wagon back in the early 1980s, mine was sort of a light yellow.  Rustiest car I ever owned, but it always started and made it through a couple Minnesota winters.

I'm a big fan of the wagon.  Wish I had one to make into a sweet 1.1 street machine.

Im betting your super weak spark is a ground issue.  Make sure the engine ground strap near the starter is firmly bolted to the frame.  Also make sure the coil is bolted down too.

That is the most "2020" fuse block I've ever seen by the way.  Wow.

alex_vendler said:

Im betting your super weak spark is a ground issue.  Make sure the engine ground strap near the starter is firmly bolted to the frame.  Also make sure the coil is bolted down too.

Good plan. The ground strap by the starter is present but questionable. I set the coil there too see if i could get any change, I'll mount it more permanently and continue the troubleshooting.

See what voltage you get at the coil when cranking.  That might be a thing.

It took at bit of cranking and some fresh fuel plumbed into the carb but it is running!

Also, the starter is taking fewer and fewer tries to actually crank. I have a spare somewhere. 

I'm thinking the clanking from the front cover is the timing chain or something similar? It is only present while cranking and at idle. 

Posted some in my general build thread: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/clapped-out-garage-projects-and-such/168468/page6/#post3091977

Also, thanks for making the stickers, it was the push I needed to get out and start working on this thing so it doesn't sit and deteriorate any longer. 

What are you using to adapt the large outlet on the water pump to a normal size radiator hose?

That hose is a real odd one.  You can buy a new one from Opel GT Source.  It's the only way I've seen to solve that.

COngrats on getting the car running!  Let's see it drive!

Howdy GRM folks! We've had quite a few goings-on in the Kadett world, with the Opile race car completing another Lemons race, and my turbo Brazilian street engine build getting...built. Popping in to say hi for now but working on updates.

The 1.8 turbo out of the Sunbird?