Hi guys! Picked up this '62 Opel yesterday, it's worn, torn, old and in need of love. Currently it has a Volvo 3 litre OHV straight six, and a 4-on-the-floor. I think I have a 3-speed auto somewhere around. First up is to fix the ordinary result of Swedish weather and 60's Opel metal, RUST. And lots of it. Floor, rockers and many othe parts is infected by rust. Also building a working exhaust is among the first things to do. My first goal is to have it up and "barely" running by the end of May. From then on, it's pretty much an unwritten page, what to to the car. I only have two kinda' crappy pics from picking it up, I will hopefully be able to add a few more tomorrow after cleaning the car out. What du you guys think i should do to the car after fixing the obvious? This is a real low budget build, but I'm not afraid to put many hours on it.
I'm interested to see how this goes, please keep us updated. The 3 litre Volvo 6 is a fun engine, especially with a 4 speed, and I'd love to have one. This has the potential to be a very cool rod or custom.
Style-wise, you could really clean it up by shortening the rear side bumper. And ditch the upper tail lights, to accentuate the fins. If you must run an upper light, try something knife-edged, like 1960 Cadillac. The full wheel covers for these cars look good, resembling the popular 1953 Stude caps. Finish them off with a center bullet (around 2 1/2" or 3" dia. ).
Yeah, I might let the Photoshop pros do their magic, but i think i should take som better pics with a better camera first! The engine needs some tenderar love tio, not to bad though. I once had an almost mint condition engine just like this one. Got a good bid and sold it. It's in a boat now, would've been nice to have now...
Thanks Ratatouille, many Europeans here? I'm thinking whitewalls, maybe caps as 'Mo mentions and making fender skirt for the rear. My skills aren't good enough yet to pull of a chop like the picture but i am no stranger to sheet metal work, so other bodywork is possible. The front clip and front end of the fenders is pretty screwed up by rust, so there will be some mods later. The hood is damaged, so i might change it or build something new from it. How would it look with 2 caddy 59 lights and a removing the upper taillight?
They are fine, B30. I have two in my shop, if you pick them up, I will swap straight over for a brownie box. OU or ODU. And that kaptain got the looks, and will be very a very good custom ride!
Some people shy from the Caddy lenses as overused, but they can look nice, as on this vintage 1957 Chevy. Of course, there are many other options, many available in repro, including '52 Buick, '49 Pontiac, or....?
they are kinda scare out that way and they are definitely rare out this way .. cant way to see what will be the out come n this one ..
I must say, I like your enthusiasm! But i must ask for som patiece, as i work full time, have two kids and a lot of other projects to squeeze in. Will post some pics later at least.
Ratatuille: Read your whole build thread. You are f****ng amazing. Threw out all the crap that was inside the car. After lifting out the seats, i started sorting out wat to keep and what to thorow away. There was one shopping bag of "keepers" and one whole garbage bag of rotten carpets, beercans, cut-out pieces of rusty sheet metal, panties (uh-wait-what? Even if the come off in the car, wouldn't they logically be re-installed on the girl in question?). This is how the rear looks. Extended about 4" between trunk and bumper. This is the front, with a pair of kinda grotesque Cadillac bumper parts. Sticks too far out front for my taste. Fixed the most important thing. Ever. Painted the shifter knob! Just love the Toyota dark grey metallic. And here is anoter pic from the side, w/o the fenders. All for now, guys, and again, I just love your input!
My inclination would be to start with basics, and strip away much of the chrome and excess decoration to smooth out the body. In the rear, I would delete the upper lights, and just leave the bottoms. Strip off the trunk handle and Sverige badge and the rear will look good. If you want to extend the crome strip from the fin down to the remaining taillight after deleting that upper light, you could use a bit of side trim from a Volvo Amazon to fill the gap. That should be easy to find. The car already seems to sit rather low. It will be interesting the see how it stands with the front fenders in place.
The cas was about 2-3" lower a couple of years ago, but if you look at my firt post in this thread, it how it looks now, but with fenders. Old picture: I was thinking about making somthing kind of continental kit looking, but i'll wait until later, to see how it works out with other mods. You know, my brother is currently living in Switzerland, in Baden, but he drives a new-ish Fiat 500 I know he can be a good guy even though that.
These are cool cars. I would probably start by just cleaning it up, making all the repairs and getting rid of some of the chrome. Just nice and clean with some cool wheels and it will be fine. Good idea to lose the upper tail lights though. Sure, a chop or two door conversion would be cool, but you can go and buy a coupe version if you want one that bad!
Ok, you could possibly two door it without so much trouble. At least no cutting your front and rear screens. Packard taillights always look good too.
Actually, I think i'll keep the for doors for now, but that is so cool. Packard lights would be cool. Just have to see what I find at the local swap meet May 30. But i do think i will ditch the upper tail lights, since it looks good on the pics. Made myself an oil barrel BBQ last night for tonights party, so no progress on the car. The thing about the chrome is that it's real crappy allover. What du you guys think about painting the bumpers and other chrome parts in a dark grey metallic kind of color? At least until i can afford to rechrome it. Or as som say here, "better with shitty chrome than paint"? What color on the car would go well with that?
I saw that /\ coupe in Stuttgart, southern Germany a couple of years ago. I thought it was a great looking car, but I didn't realise it wasn't a factory produced car. There was also this Autenrieth coupe, coachbuilt in Germany.
First of all, clean up the rear so you can get some focus. Replace the upper tail light lenses with clear flat lenses, as in two posts above. (Until you get rid of them altogether.) Is the "S" badge a requirement? If so, drop it to beside the plate; if not, Bye bye! Lose the bumper guards, until you can replace the bumper, which is much too cumbersome. All this will take little time, and cost next to nothing. Post some pictures when you do. At the swap meet, keep your eyes peeled for some splt bumperettes, which will work well with a rolled rear pan (perhaps from sections of the current bumper, or another oil drum?).
I agree on removing them Volvo Amazon bumper horns! And remove them top lenses to, and smooth it out. That blue coupe that was posted is so beautiful. I like them rear lights, what are they from. Install Volvo 140/164 headlight buckets, and French them headlight rings. It deserves it! And do a nice even spray of dark blue tinted heavy primer, and stand back and look at it. Then you can drive it and do the changes on area at he time, re splash with primer and drive it a lot. Looks so good with door handles shaved!
The Jalopy Journal
