GM Parts bin help needed

Dr_Grip

Made from concentrate
Joined
Jul 8, 2008
Messages
15,179
Location
HEL
Car(s)
79 Opel Kadett|72 Ford Country Sedan|03 Volvo XC70
Hey guys, i'm looking for a part for my Kadett, it's the a dampening rubber thingy for the shift stick. So far, none of the usual spare part dealers was able to help me, so my questions are:
-How unique are GM part numbers?
-Does anyone know where i can get the Opel Kadett C spare with the part number 738951?
 
GM part numbers aren't that unique - part of the problem is that they just use one long string of numbers with no formatting, which makes it difficult to search for them online (you find anything else but what you're looking for.)

That number's too short for most US GM parts and it doesn't turn up in the GM USA parts catalog, so I don't know if they can be any help.

One suggestion is to try the gearbox manufacturer - who made yours?
 
GM part numbers aren't that unique - part of the problem is that they just use one long string of numbers with no formatting, which makes it difficult to search for them online (you find anything else but what you're looking for.)
One thing that's helped more than once (not in this case, so far) is simply punching the numbers into eBay. Some people list parts with no description but the part number - most likely cause they don't know what they are selling...

That number's too short for most US GM parts and it doesn't turn up in the GM USA parts catalog, so I don't know if they can be any help.
This means we sorta kinds established that GM Europe and GM USA have different catalogues. One more fun fact i just learnt from yet another classic car parts dealer i talked to on the phone: GM Europe has a tradition of re-assigning part numbers after a couple of years, so even if you find a dealer who has the part with the right number, there's no guarantee it's the part you're looking for...

One suggestion is to try the gearbox manufacturer - who made yours?
Don't know, but i'll try to find out if everything else fails. Thanks for the tip...

EDIT: All hail OTR Opel Parts at Arolsen, they'll ship the part out tomorrow!
 
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I would suggest checking in other countries that sold 'corporate twins' of your car. The closest we had was the "Buick-Opel" and nobody bought it, so we're going to be a bad option.

Another option would be to borrow an intact one and have someone run up one in polyurethane.
 
I would suggest checking in other countries that sold 'corporate twins' of your car. The closest we had was the "Buick-Opel" and nobody bought it, so we're going to be a bad option.

See above - i got the part ;)

The Kadett is based on GM's T-Platform, so among it's twins are both the Vauxhall and the Chevy Chevette (which, eventhough they share a name, don't share body or engines), the Isuzu/Holden Gemini (identical), the Argentinian Opel K180 and the Daewoo Maepsi-Na.

As none of these cars share drivetrains with Opel's offerings i'm pretty much stuck with Opel when it comes to drivetrain parts, as long as the parts were not recycled from somewhere else in the vast GM universe.

Chassis parts and -in some cases- the metalwork and/or interior are pretty much interchangeable, though.
 
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You forgot the US imported version, the "Buick-Opel".

1972-buick-opel-1900-001.jpg

That's not a C-model, but just proof that we did have such an awkward branding.
 
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The car on the brochure is a A-Model Manta, which (and whose Saloon cousin, Ascona A) was sold as a Buick-Opel 1900 for the 71 and 72 model years. From 73 to 75 the name was changed to Opel Manta for the Coup?. After 75, importing from Germany became too unprofitable due to the exchange rate.

That's when it gets interesting. By "interesting" i mean the bad kind of badge-engineering interesting.

Because the Opel brand was already established, GM decided to import the Isuzu Gemini, which shared it's sheet metal, but neither interior nor drivetrains, with the Kadett C, to the U.S. and re-badge them as Opels, which were then sold simply as the Buick-Opel.

Already confused?

Any of the U.S. Opels mentioned above were also sold in the U.S. as the "Opel Isuzu" at various times.
 
You also have to know that GM(at lest here in NA) has redone thier parts catalog numbering system at least twice in my lifetime. And are you talking about the trans mount?
 
And are you talking about the trans mount?

No, it's a rubber part that surrounds the shifting stick's mount into the tranny so the stick won't vibrate. I sent the money out last night so i expect the part to be here around Wednesday. I'll post a pic then.
 
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