Always loved the Opels. We used to go to the GSCA Nationals every year and there was a guy racing an Opel with a big HP Buick Stage 2 turbo motor in it. It was a sight to see, running low 8s when that was ludicrous fast.
There's a guy here in Jax putting a turbo Buick in one currently; I found most of the drivetrain parts for the swap for him. Haven't seen it in probably two years though so I'm not sure of the current status.
I had a very similar set of ideas to yours, went and found an Opel GT. 5 years later, I had a mostly working racecar. Literally no moving parts other than the door hinges are suitable for anything performance... it's a really slippery slope!
Have fun, enjoy the process.
When you've barely started a project but have a machinist friend that digs it...
You go from this:
To one of these:
The one on the left will turn blue/purple with heat.
Ballin'.
One sexy stripper...
In reply to preach :
Heck yeah!
In reply to preach :
I see that E36 M3 is getting real. 
Shift knob on the left- Stainless or titanium?
In reply to Recon1342 :
Ti
Sometimes it's the little things when you find something E36 M3ty:
All but the dash is out for the interior.
from my research with hive help. The pinch seam of the body is 100mm wider on a 944. Seams (sic) like we are close enough.
I'd be so tempted to cut the rear sheetmetal and make it a hatchback.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
That's going to happen to a degree
PO was so proud of the 4 tip stainless exhaust...
When in doubt throw TWO gaskets at it...
Some quality time in the shop after a really cool Wheels and Wings car/airplane/helicopter show
Also had a buddy come over with his 16yo kid. They got into making sheet metal so they took some measurements and radius figures for a couple patch pieces I need..
Engine is supposed to come out through the bottom. I don't have that capability...
Opel GT update on a Sunday morning. Life is good.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:Life is good.
It is.
Car is getting stripped to it's chassis. If anyone needs Opel 1900 or GT mechanical parts hit me up. I just need the body. Floorboards are pretty decent and unobtanium forget about the engine/suspension/interior stuff which is OK.
My Cayman needs to go to the shop so I don't know how much car money I have right now but I hope to keep clearing this chassis since it costs very little. After a bit of drive time the Cayman will be sold to fund this project.
3 difficult bolts to undo and I think the engine is ready to pull. Stopped being fun and I have adulting to do so I stopped.
I have found some interesting stuff from repairs. Many loose fasteners, double gaskets, crappy maintenance.
Stuff like the cam bolts:
one is definitely not like the others.
Maybe I missed something...........how are you going to lift the engine out the top if you don't have the ability to drop it out the bottom?
If you have a chain hoist or engine hoist to pull the motor it's easy to drop it out the bottom. Lower the engine to the floor (I set mine on my creeper) then lift the car up with the same hoist, and simply roll the engine out from under it.
In reply to MiniDave :
Been thinking about that but some of the body is pretty tender and I don't want to have a casualty when I use the engine hoist to lift the nose up.
Really stripping it down so far was only a few hours and it was fun. My shop is Zen.
I was also told it couldn't be done. They never said I couldn't do it in pieces.
I dropped the motor out of my E-Type out the bottom. I was working in a garage with a fairly low ceiling so I couldn't get the whole car up very high, this way worked far better than the way the shop manual said to do it!
But I hear you on the Zen mode!
I drop the motors out of my Mini's out the bottom, subframe and all, but I now have a scissor lift that makes it so much easier. Not perfect, but way better......
The metal work here is sick, hope mine does not need this much:
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