Ash's Kadett D GTE

[Ash]

Here's my much loved Kadett D GTE.
I bought the car about 2 years ago now and have been restoring her ever since. She's a rare beast in that not many real German GTE's still prowl the streets anymore and she's going to run a Turbo'd 1.8E engine.

I started the restoration with the intension of just restoring her to her former glorey but I've decided to change a few things in order to make her a little more special.

Here's a picture of her when I bought her.




I bought her from a guy in a City Called Bremen. I saw her on ebay and decided that she was mine no matter what. Luckily tho I only paid about 350 quid for her. I went to collect the car one saturday evening.
He started telling me how he wouldn't of sold her if he could get the engine to run properly, it wouldn't idle apparently.

I'd come prepared and changed as many things as I could to do with the electrics and ignition. My final Job was the spark plugs.
I offered up the socket and to my supprise the plugs where loose!
I replaced the plugs and tightend them all up. I connected the battery then jumped inside. With one turn of the key she burst into life and purred like a kitten . I told the bloke that the idle problem was loose spark plugs and he nearly cried. Tought sh$t though the car was mine

I made her road legal again and drove her back to the UK in order to start the restoration work as I dont have the facilities in Germany.







I Got her into the garage and the fun began.







I finally got her totally stripped and ready for welding. she need all the usual places welding but wasn't the worst example I've seen repared.



With the engine out and one 'bad ass' Turbo kit bought from Turbo Tom the engine could be rebuilt with the mods needed.
This engine managed to produce 206Bhp while Turbo Tom had it.



I've played with it somewhat since then and hope to equal or even beat this figure when she is finally tested after the 500 mile run in. I've added a Pace R5 GT Turbo intercooler which will remove any problems that the previous intercooler had. eh Tom



The fifth injector has been move to the elbow on the throttle body and all the induction pipes will be made from stainless steal tubing to remove as many hose joins as possible.

I've also lowered her 40mm and have a set of Deep dish alloys.



I'll be adding a roll cage and full set of strut braces. To stiffen her up too.





I've also got my sights set on another incarnation of the same engine and have started building a engine that will have been totally rebuilt using as many new parts as possible. This engine will also have steal rods and oil jets to cool the piston bases. I'll then turn up the boost from 8-10 psi to 12-14 and take her for a test



I'm going for Casablanca or Alpine white. Not sure yet


Even though she's not on the road and all this hasn't been sorted yet I thought I would share my plan/spec. She won't be on the road before all this is sorted.

Brakes
Volvo 240, 4 pot calipers. ✓
New Pads ✓
Grooved and vented discs.
Goodridge brake hoses, ✓
New brake pipes ✓
Mk3 Astra Rear Disc beam ✓

Gearbox
F28 ✓

Engine
1.8e With PACE turbo convertion. ✓
1.8.e block, Ported and polished cylinder head, ✓
Turbotechnics Turbo, ✓
Metal cometic head gastet, ✓
7.5:1 Compression ratio, ✓
Boost retard device, ✓
Fifth injector, ✓
Pace R5 GT turbo intercooler, ✓
Cool run stat ✓
Z20LET flywheel, ✓
stainless steal induction pipes ✓
8- 10 psi boost ✓
Modified sump with oil pickup, ✓
oil catch tank,
K&N panel filter, ✓
BMW E46 radiator fan, ✓
Stainless header tank, ✓
Bailey DV26 dump valve, ✓
Kent Cam pulley, ✓
Bailey, turbo oil filter,
Oil cooler, ✓
Insulated manifold and turbo ✓
PACE manifold adapter, ✓
New fuel lines ✓
Split fire igition leads. ✓


Suspension
Gas shocks & -40mm springs, Poly bushes. ✓

Wheels and tyres
RH deep dish, 195x50x15 ET 37 ✓

Exterior
Returned to standard. ✓

Interior
Standard GTE trim, ✓
Roll Cage with door bars but no diagonal, ✓
Middle console, ✓
Couple of extra gauges ✓

Ice
Not arsed, As long as I can hear it properly.


Me at 100mph on the autobahn bringing her to the UK



Checking for oil pressure

[Ash]

A few newer pics.

[Ash]

[Ash]

A few pics to keep the thread up to date.

[Ash]

Bit more of an update

[Ash]

Well I thought i'd update this thread as it was a little overdue.

The car has come on alot since the previous pictures. I've not encountered many problems with the rebuild. Just a bit of modification to some parts.

I managed to find a sunroof big enough after many years of searching. Opel in Germany had one all the time. I just never asked

The roll cage doesnt like the new sunroof so i've had to modify the top bar brackets.

At present the exhaust is in the making and the first bit has been done. I just need to find a cheap stainless mid section and i'll start fitting it.

Enjoy the new pictures.

[Ash]

My car has now been moved to Germany Lets hope that I can get it back together

[Ash]

Well, now the car is back in Germany i've been doing my best to get it back together. I took the pictures then took the engine out as it has no gearbox. Now the engine is out I plan on converting it to a disc beam and doing all the brake/fuel pipes. All the bright work is going on this weekend and the engleman mirrors.










Sorry for the shitty pictures had to use ye'old phone as my blackberry went tits up.

[Ash]

Thought I would do a bit of an update.
So Far i've chopped off one of the rear spring cups as it was rusty. It had been bodged a few times before. Patch over patch so i'm glad i did it.
The new F28 arrived and has been treated to a fresh coat of paint. The engine has been painted too, going from blue to silver. I think it looks better. The Fuel tank got a fresh coat of paint after stripping off the many years of underseal.
I've almost finished rebuilding the GSI rear axle and once the calipers are painted up it will be going back on. As I had no axle on I thought i'd offer up a wheel. I think it looks ace but I know it wouldn't work in the real world. The intercooler has been modified and it now fits a treat around the radiator. I hadn't taken into account the thickness of the pipes so it was about 5mm out first time. All done now. The rear bumber is on now and i'm trying to fit the front bumper skin to the frame at the moment but its a bit of a fiddle. Fuel and brake pipes are next. The bright work is going on in the next week also. I've needed to find smaller pop rivets.

[Ash]

The back axle is now fully built and painted. Just waiting for some spring cups to arrive so I can weld them on.

The first bits of bright work have gone on.
The radiator and intercooler have been fitted.

I decided to take a look inside the volvo calipers and it was a good job I did. They are full of sludge. The pistons are ok but they need a new seal kit.
You need to trim them slightly to fit the discs. I think vaux discs are a bit thicker but smaller in diameter than volvo.

I fitted the fuel filler neck but the rubber joint to the tank was being a bitch.
I soaked it in WD40 then heated it up and it went back on a treat.

[Ash]

Bit of an update. I'm basically doing all the small jobs now. Wiring, Water pipes, boost pipes, brackets and other small jobs.

I've got one more stainless 45° bend to arrive in the post and the induction side of things are finished. I've actually got more room that I thought I'd have. I'll use this to fit a bigger fan.

I'm going to hold off on the Volvo calipers for now as they require a bit more modification. I'm also going to fit a bigger servo as they are much bigger brakes. So putting on a set of 256mm GSI calipers on instead.

Spent a fortune last night buying all the niff naff and trivia that the little jobs need.

Alternator is all on, but I found the starter is on its way out and required a quick rebuild and oiling up before it would engage. I wouldn't mind but I made 1 from 2 and that bugger still played up.

I've use a bucket load of jubilee clips making sure all the hoses don't blow off when under boost.
All of the Vacuum pipes have been fitted with pneumatic fittings for peace of mind.

The original engine mount didn't give me much room so I changed it for a later alloy type which is a bit thicker but not as high where I needed the room for the induction pips.

Its getting there.

[Ash]

As of the Saturday the Kadett has my almost undivided attention for 2 weeks. I'm going to kick the living sh$t out of it and try and get it ready for Oschesleben 2014. It will be driving by Monday I promise!

[Ash]

Well its been an eventful few weeks. The master cylinder failed after being sat for so long with no fluid so the whole unit is being replaced for a Omega B unit. I don't think I should have any problems stopping after that.

The roll cage has been modified for the sun roof and fits perfectly. I was pretty worried about this tbh as its a risky job chopping into a roll cage however all went well.

The stainless exhaust I have is being modified to fit as it just wouldn't fit my car. Biggest problem here is that I need a TIG welder. I'll figure something out.

The Air/Fuel ratio meter i've installed tells me i'm running very rich so I need to lower the fuel pressure and up the idle. I've found the sweet spot with the AFM just need to finishs that job off.

I've fitted the window trim with new clips and added the englemann mirrors to the doors.

I've got all the electrics (I require) working but this will change as and when to accomodate things.

The only thing stopping me from driving it around the block is the fact my Astra coupe blew its engine and I can't get my tools back home to work on the kadett. As soon as I have a car i'll take her for a spin.

[nelson c.]

You are not gonna use the GTE bodykit? I am asking this because I don´t see any holes in the fenders and the rest of the car to fit the bodykit. You GTE looks so good, a true inspiration.

[Ash]

I'm bonding on everything but the side skirts and rear valance. I just haven't got round to drilling the holes.