Page 1 of 2

Opel Commodore A Coupe 3.5V8 1969

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 10:47 am
by terziakis
Here is my little project. This is my first car, I owned it since 1991. It had 2.5l R6 with triplewebers. I registered it 1992, and after driving 1 year motor failed.
I started convert it to V8, bought 1978 SD1 3.5 engine with BW65.
But then life got in the way, army, school etc. I put project on hold.

Then about 2006 I started project again, I didn't hurry, there were months when I didn't even touched it. And winters here in Finland are cold and I don't have warm garage, so basically I worked from april to october on weekends.

In summer 2012 I got engine running and first time since 1993 I drove it. Last summer (2013) I painted it and put glasses in, there is some work to do before I can register it again, maybe next spring.

And here is couple of pictures:
Image
First snow few weeks ago.


Image
Image
Dirty enginebay.

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 11:00 am
by r2d2hp
Thats a seriously cool car. Like it a lot :-)

p.s. what headlamps are you using

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 11:09 am
by terziakis
Thanks.

Headlamps are Depo "tuninglights" for BMW E32/E34. Not direct bolt-on, I made new brackets for them.

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 1:42 pm
by kiwicar
Hello
Very nice I really like that a lot.
Best regards
Mike

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 8:43 am
by chodjinn
that is a mean looking car mate! Really like the lines on it

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:59 am
by terziakis
Thanks for kind words.

Engine specs:
1978 SD1 3.5
Crower Comp-U Pro 50230 Camshaft
Castings finished in heads, nothing special
ACT carbon fibre plenum + 70mm throttlebody
MegaSquirt MS1 2.2 + Edis8

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:00 pm
by mgbv8
That looks COOL!!!

I can see so many parts of the car that remind me of other cars. MK3 Cortina, MK1 Escort, Dodge Charger, GTO, Mercury Cougar to name but a few.

I just love that look !!!

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 7:14 pm
by Mark
Looks fantastic 8)

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 10:11 pm
by NorthernBloke
Love it 8)

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 10:27 am
by terziakis
Here is few pics from build

Image
Image
I turned car on a side and cleaned undercoating, there was some rust and I sandblasted it.

Image
Then new paint and undercoating.

Image
I was welding holes in firewall, but then..

Image
I didn't like all those dents and all, so away it goes.

Image
And new firewall.

Image
Image
Then "new" lock/radiatorshroud (don't know right word) from donorcar, it needed some new metal.

Image
Image
Image
Image
And making new innerfenders.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Fitting radiator in place.

Image
Painted enginebay.

Image
We hoisted engine and transmission in place, no scratches to new paint, but few dented fingers :D

Image
Wiring engine and fitting carbon plenum.

Image
I bought that plenum cause original was hitting on bonnet, but new plenum was too high too..

Image
..So I cut a hole to bonnet and

Image
Image
Image
Image
fibreclassed scoop to it.

Image
Image
I had removed all wiring from car in a past, so it was time to new wiring.
First it looked mission impossible, but with time (and beer and smoke), I figured it.

Image
Image
After painting and fitting glasses in. We are remodelling our garage, so car was dust.

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 5:48 pm
by kiwicar
Hi
I really like the way you have rebuilt this car, especially the engine bay, it is a really high quality job, however that is also apparent in the rest of the build, you should be very proud of what you have built here it is excellent.
Best regards
Mike

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 7:21 pm
by gelmonkey
I know what I like when I see it and that's it right there.
It just shows that to make something look simple and straight you have to do a lot to make it look less.

Fantastic and well done.

P :D

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 7:37 pm
by ChrisJC
Nice work. Very nice welding and fabrication!

Chris.

Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:36 pm
by brettp
That is gorgeous

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:42 pm
by terziakis
Maybe it is time to update.
But first: Thanks to all for liking it.

I had for frontbrakes widened Volvo 4-pot calipers, but there was some problems with them, so I ordered Wilwood calipers, made new brackets for them, and now they are awesome!
Front brakes Wilwood 4-pot calipers with 330X30mm discs (from Peugeot 406)
Rear brakes Ford Sierra Cosworth calipers with 300x10mm discs (from BMW E34)

Image
Front brakes

Then to interior, I made new carpet, and my sister made new cover for rear seat. I made console from scratch, but I'm not very happy for result, I will make new console later.
Image

Image

It was time to get car registered, but I was redflagged, engine is 48cc too big. So I had to make application for special permission, but it takes about one year at Finnish Transport Sagety Agency (Trafi) to handle my application. So now car is useless until I get that permission, or if I get it.

And if/when I get car registered, I want to convert from BW65 autobox to 5speed manual, if someone have parts I need for convert ( flywheel, clutch, bellhousing and trans R380 or LT77) I'm interest for buying them.