Should I buy this Oldtimer?
 

Once upon a time in a post war Germany there was a German factory, building cheap post war cars for the German and European post war market. The factory was building Opels, since this was long before Opel turned gay and sold to GM. One happy day in 1957, an Opel Olympia was built. The Olympia was a small and cheap car with a simple 4cylinder engine, 2 doors, seating for 4 and styling to look a bit like the cooler US-cars. The little Olympia was sold to Sweden.

Let us make one thing very clear: Life for a car is not the same in Sweden as it is, for example, in the Carolinas. We have snow, we have rain that lasts for days, we pour salt on our roads and life for a car can be pretty damn hard. Rust is what kills cars in Sweden and I think we all agree that fixing rust suck.

The little Olympia story has a big hole in it until 1995, when it was sold to the current owner. The body had then been renovated; the unavoidable rust fixed and new paint was applied, all by a professional body shop. The Olympia was then in a state of: “All the parts are there, someone just has to assemble it and I don’t have the time for it”. The deal was made and the Olympia was sold. The current owner parked it in a large garage full of folk-racing cars with the intent to assemble it.

It waited there until 2011…

It was never assembled… *insert sad music*

In June 2011 the current owner needed the space and moved the Olympia outside where it is currently parked. He had a business meeting with my brother in law, who saw the Olympia by chance. My brother in law can’t buy it (because my sister will rip his balls of if he brings home another project) but I can.

It is still in the same state as it was 1995, but some rust has made it back in the sills and it the joints between the body parts. The garage let some moisture in during the 16 winters it had been parked there. It is nothing that needs welding though, just a little local sanding and brush-painting, since it will be covered by the chromed trim pieces anyway.

The price is 7 000kr = ~$1200. It cranks right up, but the gear linkage is broken so it doesn’t drive, but it did drive to the spot just 2 weeks ago. The linkage broke when his kid played with the shifter. All parts are included, such as lights, trim, interior stuff etc. It will need working hours and love, but not a lot of cash to become nice again. The seller is a subcontractor to the firm where my brother in law works, so he is not bullshitting me (since that would be very bad for business, indeed). Assembled, I am guessing it will be worth ~25 000kr.

Not saying that I will take your advice or anything :fawk:, I’d like some inputs. I am itching to try more of a renovation as a change. I am currently only working on the race car between races. This would be a no-demands-no-deadlines project. I have a spot free in the garage and I am expecting this to be a safe "at least a break-even" project, unless I screw up something really bad (first time I renovate, instead of repair). The car is not really a long time keeper since I have no real feelings for the car, but it could make a nice first-time project.

Though?

tl;dr

Short version, just for you: Do you think the POS Opel from -57 in the pictures (pictures are good. No reading needed ;)) would make a good project?

Thats pretty awesome, and it seems like a steal to me

Yes.

Oliver!!!!

If you would like a project it looks like a decent one to do.

Throw the Opel tractor motor in a lake and replace it with an F20C and you've got a cool ass little car...

fixed that for ya

Meh... you'd have to destroy that car to make an LS fit in it. An F20C is the coolest easily available 4 cylinder*, thus it's the best choice.







*excepting a nice 80whp B6, of course.

Do it- but find yourself a badass opel twin cam four banger and swap in, at a later date.

Do it.

I'm currently working on a Triumph TR6 that belonged to my father that is in very similar condition. My only comments would be... parts availability and enthusiast community support. The Triumph community is mostly a bunch of stuffy old fuckers that still use yahoo groups, but the car is simple enough and parts are still available cheap so it hasn't been an issue. Nothing worse that looking for some voodoo wear item widget that has not been available since '58 :laugh: Looks fun and is pretty unique. If you can get parts or cross reference is good, go for it!

The C20XE (?) from the Calibra/Vectra Turbo would be a nice engine to have in this car...

Do it! I am always in for old Opelz...

like this
http://images.forum-auto.com/mesimages/793960/8.jpg

I like it, fix it up and sell it to a collector

Gentlemen, I thank you for the encouragement!

What is up with this obsession on motorswaps? Not a singel post says: Boost it!! WTF?!

Oliveeeer!!! :laugh:

EO2K: Thanks, good point in the club support and parts. I will check that out before I buy it.

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:


But I agree- it looks fairly tight on the exhaust side of the engine bay. Perhaps an upward-outlet manifold (like the Greddy manifold, but log-style) with a GT22?


EDIT: Are the intake and exhaust on the same side?

Needs Megasquirt, contact me. :naughty:

I think that if the body is free of rust (not covered by quick paint job), then it appears to be a real deal. The paint seems to be nice.

Not only yes, but Hell yes! Damn, I'd love to find something like that around here.

Roommate in college had an Opel Kadet, and that thing just would not die. Rusted all to hell, and had 220+k on it, but still ran and shifted perfectly. Car broke in half from the rust, so he towed it behind the barn and ran it WOT with no oil until it exploded. Took a lot longer than we thought it would, like 10 minutes.

Leave it stock and drive it through the countryside on sunny summer afternoons.

I miss my '69 Opel GT...

Bought it today.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1309726375
After two temporary fixes: attaching the exhaust and refitting the gear linkage, it drove of the trailer and into the garage by its own motor. But, with 46hp (well, in 1957, it had 46hp) and 2 flat tires, it wasn't so elegant.

All jokes aside, I will naturally keep it stock. No engine swap or other crazy stuff. The goal is to get it in to a reasonable shape and pass inspection this spring.

We are doing progress.

In for pics of camera operator. :bigtu:






...but in all seriousness, looks great man! Glad to see you got it up and running, looks like you are doing better than I am with my summer project! :loser:

Awesome! Is it faster than your tractor?

That's great! Keep us updated with pics of progress.

No, not really. ;) It only has about 1m of exhaust. That is why it sounds so tractorish.

I also noticed that the small metal plate in the engine room says it is made 1956. So it is a -56, sold in Sweden -57 (papers says -57).

Pic of camera operator attach. Now don't come and say I don't deliver! :fawk: With one racingmiata and one old opel filling up the dubbel garage, I must admit that she is a quite understanding operator too.

And just the other day, I hooked up the headlights. It did take some time to track down the right 6v bulbs. Check THIS out!

Love it!

I just added the last hose clamp on the engine of the Olympia today. There is plenty left to do on the car, but I am done with what hides under the hood. I was expecting at least some water leaks, since I made what feels like a million seals from scratch, but it actually seals just fine.

I had to cheat at 2 places: The pins that hold the valve cover has an odd thread and I couldn't find any new nuts for it. So I had to paint the old nuts instead. And the fixation for the battery is a mix of stock parts from a parts car I visited some time ago and new hardware (lack of stock parts).

The radiator curtain has found its home again and as you can see, the car is ready for a cage. ;-)

So much fun. It really looks nice under the hood. You have done a lot of work.

More videos driving it soon please!

Thanks and yes, pleanty of time has been spent with the sandblaster cabinet and in the paint box. Luckily, I have a very generous workplace. I have found a lot of fun details as I have been stripping parts. There is an Opel-logo on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g on this car. Down to the smallest part of the carb and the brake parts. They really "design a car" back then, not just assembled one from available sub systems made by subsuppliers. And I didn't even know the radiator was made out of brass until I stripped the paint of it.

Driving videos must wait until spring. There is a bit too much snow for classic cars right now. ;)

Cool project.

My roommate in college drove an Opel Kadet that was beat to hell, and it just kept on running. Must have had over a quarter million miles on it, and even though it was 25 years old and rusted out, it rarely needed any maintenance, let alone actually fixing anything.

I am very jealous of your toy.

Owned at least one (usually more) Opel GTs for over thirty years before switching to Miatas (need more of them).

We know. You wrote that a few posts back. :D

See how impressed I am/was? That was 30 years ago, not even my car, and I still remember it.

Test drive!
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1344546063
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1344546063

like

man, that thing is older than some members on here and so clean

love it

Older than 99% of the members here.

It is the 1%.