Today i started making up the new manifold. STEP 1 COMPLETED I have the outer outlets all mocked up and tacked together and on Tuesday i will start on the middle pipes. Then it will be off to the welders to have it all fully welded up properly! STEP 2 COMPLETED Now i just need to add the collector and set it up so it meets the lower part, then its off to the welders. And its back!
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Now im making my own manifold and have streamlined the system setup i am able to simplify the steering and lose some of the UJ’s and support. So the setup will now be (working from the rack up) a Borgeson dampening UJ to replace the original flat rubber damper, then up to a Borgeson standard UJ, then i have used a Borgeson joiner to extend the standard steering column shaft so it brings the position of the UJ further down allowing the space i need for the manifold and as i have ditched the idea to run a 4 into…
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The two big issues i have always had are: Trying to get a decent manifold for the right had drive is almost impossible! When you do try to use anything bigger than the standard down pipes you get lots of problems getting it past the steering coloumn. Over the years i have tried loads of different options for exhausts (a couple you will see in other posts) and i have looked at all sorts of steering option (again, quite a few versions in older posts) so after trying lots of options that are made for the left-hand drive cars and…
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As the title suggest, this is not pretty but hopefully will get me to a point where i finally have a system and steering setup that works and that I’m happy with. Its very rough as my welding is shit and I’m not very patient with making exhausts, not something i could do for a living! But hopefully it will let me test out the fit and give it a bit of a shakedown and check that the clearance is all ok so i can then hopefully find a decent company to make me a pr oper one that does…
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I have started to mockup the new exhaust header. After finding some pics of a company in the US who did a very nice system for an A series i have pinched a few ideas to see if it helps and one of those is to fit a bracket to the system and attach it to the gearbox, which will hopefully help to reduce and vibration on the system. Once i have it as i want i plan to give the car a couple of runs with my dodgy version on, with the view to having a proper one made…
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So a quick update for anyone dropping by the site. Yes the car was on the road and i had 2 trips out in it, but the one thing that i have never managed to get sorted out properly was the exhaust and the manifold i spent so long adjusting and fitting just didn’t work and knocked too much. So as i knew it would drive me mad if i just carried on using the car i thought that it was best to take it off the road to fix it properly. I did a bit of googling and found…
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So on Tuesday i had managed the pull the dash and get all the gauges working and hopefully the temp sender. So it was off down to Tesco’s to fuel up as the level was reading a bit low. With the new battery, i hoped it would start ok so as Tesco’s was not far i thought it was best to head there and back! Got there ok, the temp gauge was reading nicely and all the other gauges working great. Filled up, started up ok, so i thought, maybe a run a little further!! Once i got going she…
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Today was a big day! we finally hit the road for the first shakedown of the A series. Apart from a couple of niggles and i need a new battery as the battery doesn’t hold its charge, it was a good run around the block. The engine seems to have a nice bit of pull to it so I’m looking forward to the time when its run in and i can get it properly tuned and open it up! I need to get the temp gauge working as that not reading so I’m not to sure how hot she is…
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Finally, the Omex loom is all setup and everything tested and now we are all balanced and setup and ready to go. I think there will be a few little tweaks needed to the balance once we have had a run but i think its good enough for a test run! I need to sort out why it looks like the alternator is not charging the battery? could be a loose wire so that is the next thing to sort out and then we are all set for the first run out for a very long time!!!! https://www.theopelproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-Opel-Project.mp4
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CIH Cam and Ignition Timing Originally Posted by GTJIM . . . Timing the cam is one of Opels little endearing foibles! Even the Factory Service Manuals cam be misleading as the drawing of the engine is actually WRONG in some of them – nice huh! Fortunately the picture of the crankshaft keyway position and the text is correct. The keyway in the crankshaftMUST face upwards and #4 cylinder be at Top Dead Centre with the camshaft turned so that the valves for #4 cylinder are closed ( the cut outs in the cam for access to the head bolts will be in the correct position as this setting). Once the cam wheel is…
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