Oliver's son - 79 Opel Kadett

I love the black element on the side. Gives it a nice personal touch without being too carbage-y, and makes it not look like an Opa-car.

Edit: I've probably posted one of these sketches before, but here's a Kadett owner getting an MOT... :lol:

 
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shad_68 said:
Yeah, right... getting it through the T?V, how hard can it be?! :p
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Turn out that some things are harder than they look: The hand brake cable snapped during MOT examination (coundn't it just last ONE MORE use?!).

NO MOT FOR YOU!

At least i passed the classic car certification.
 
Update: Got it MOTed and got the classic car certification - the car is now registered and officially road-legal! Fun fact: the "H" (for "historic vehicle") is not part of your license plate number, so the number still is "LG-XX 123".
As if was raining heavily last weekend and i got a deadline for a paper in ten days, final works on the car (and pictures of the result) are delayed until after pentecost.
 
What exactly does the classic car certification do? Is it just to prove the age/originality of the car or what?
 
captain_70s said:
What exactly does the classic car certification do? Is it just to prove the age/originality of the car or what?
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That's what it certifies. As a result, you get a flat tax of around 190 Euros/year - which is a joke compared to the emission/displacement-based taxes you normally have to pay (340 bucks in my case), you are exempt from environmental regulations (especially the dreaded "Umweltzonen", which basically forbid any car not meeting EURO4 from entering the larger german cities) and might even get cheaper insurance.
 
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Ah right, over here if a car was registered before 1973 it is tax free and we don't have many enviromental regulations for cars outside of standard checks during the MOT test. I'm fairly sure the age of the car is taken into account during them, as long as there is no excessive smoke.

Classic car insurance in general is cheaper, I'm 18 and a 1999 Nissan Micra 1 litre would cost ?1300 a year to insure, an old 1.3 Triumph Toledo would be closer to ?800 through a specalist company!
 
While i still don't have time to work on the car until the weekend, at least i rented a spot in an underground parking lot, so my car will be safe from vandalism and rust.
Additionally, this gives me a place to meet my mysterious source while tracking down a government conspiracy.
 
Did some more work on the car, mostly finishing touches...
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The current state of the project, the most visible change being the stickers. At least 20 hp extra ;)

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While huffing gas - most of the work i did is visible here:
Chrome bar in the window seal, new car radio, "Kadett" insignia.

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And finally: Until i find a matching right-hand side mirror, ugly black thingys shut the mounting holes. Notice the window seal needing to be replaced...
Note the brilliance of the paintjob - the cobblestones reflect in the door!


TO DO:
-Re-do most of the interior (the dashboard, carpets and roof lining need to be replaced).
-Find the source for the mysterious oil leak below the cylinder head cover. After being through three seals, i think i can rule out a bad and/or improperly installed seal.
 
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The paintjob is awesome! You have been awarded one AiR gold medal for your efforts!
Pssst, you know there's a hole in your boot?
 
AiR said:
The paintjob is awesome! You have been awarded one AiR gold medal for your efforts!
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Thanks a lot - in this case, it really paid out to pay a professional.
AiR said:
Pssst, you know there's a hole in your boot?
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narf said:
404: Boot lid lock not found :lol:
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As mentioned before, large chunks of the Kadett are GM parts bin crap. GM being the largest carmaker in the world by a margin back when the Kadett was made, this is one hell of a big bin. Add to this that Opel never bothered to add their RWD models to their computer-based parts catalogue, it means that the dealership employee has to deal with microfilm catalogues when ordering parts - and in case of both the boot lid lock (too big!) and the rubber cover for the shifter (too small!), they just grabbed the wrong part from the bin. Will have to retry ordering one in both cases.
 
Update: New boot lid lock ordered, will arrive... some day shortly.

Today i will once again try to fix the valve cover oil leak, check the clutch cable (it feels like it is rolling on blank metal somewhere, which will lead to it snatching if i don't do anything against it, re-adjust the passenger's side window (fucked it up first time, when i roll it down it tilts a bit) and hunt for what i fear might be excess air getting into the carburettor. If that's the case, well... i got even more work to do ;)

EDIT: I hope i got the valve cover leak fixed now, but only time will tell.
Same goes for the carb, replaced two seals which apparently were shot - but i'm still not entirely sure if it's fine. Will have someone check the ingnition and CO settings tomorrow or tuesday.
 
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EPIC fail on my part: The way the air takes when entering the engine does not end at the carburettor: The seal between the intake manifold and the engine head is shot, too.
 
F<insert meme that Q hates)! Why the fuck do you need a special screwdriver to take apart the intake manifold? Looks like i'll have to do some shopping tomorrow.
 
Yesterday marked the car's 31st birthday (not the day it was made, but the day it was first registered at the DMV). It's good to have it back on the road on time. Will give it a nice cleaning to celebrate tomorrow.
 
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag =) ( I hope it's correct, just polishing up my german ). :lol:
 
Had the replacement wing mirror for the one that broke on the way to the Ringmeet in the mail today, just to find out it's the wrong one and won't fit on my car. Damn. As i go on holidays tomorrow and don't want to do another 1500km without a mirror i thus had to get the old one fixed up properly, or at least properly enough to last for a week or so. And when i'm back at home the right part will already be waiting (of course it will be! :p ).

Apart from that i finally got a boot lid lock installed and the car, as a whole, is doing fine. Expect holiday pics soon.
 
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