1976 Kadett C Estate 1.6 16v turbo

Hi everyone I thought I would introduce you to my latest acquisition - its a 1976 Kadett C estate for those that didnt know :roll:

Ive had it a couple of months now so decided it was time to get a project thread up.

Basic run down of the plan of action is restoration of the body back to its former glory and a more modern more powerful engine.

I'm going to go with the GM 1600 16v engine from the likes of the corsa B and astra F as they are readily available and its not to difficult to use most of the 1.6 corsa vxr internals in them and the turbo bolts up to them. Plus the fact they are lighter, cheaper and more readily available than the commonly used C20LET 2lt 16v turbo engine.
And of course I will be uprating the rest of the suspension, brakes, and drive train etc to suit the new motor.

Firstly the shoddy mobile phone pics I took when I went to view it:





I'm not sure what's with the paint on the roof?





In need of a clean but solid





A poorly door and a grubby sill/rear arch on the N/S - nothing to alarming this is the worst side





A previous poor quality local filler repair on the O/S rear arch







Both front wings have had repairs in the past and need repairing or ideally replacing





Bonnets there but has rust and stone chip issues







The underside looked and felt solid but until its up in the air who knows





The interior is complete and in reasonable condition



No way to verify the mileage other than the interiors condition







Other than a rip in the head lining :x



And finally under the bonnet



















Then here are some pics from the day I collected the kadett.

Poised and ready for collection



It drove on to the trailer a treat



And back home after surviving the 60mile journey





Some better shots from around the car and the grotty areas

Front end







Under the front N/S arch







The N/S front arch, passenger door and N/S sill







N/S rear wheel arch





Under the filler cap...interesting



The rear end



And rear lower panel



The O/S rear arch, and a poor quality repair







O/S sill



And under the O/S front arch



Here is another previous repair that wasn't done to the highest standard





Front wings...yet more repairs





And while the car was on the trailer I thought I would be rude note to get some from underneath























I continued my initial route around and decided to investigate what was under the rubber covering in the boot









I think some thing has been living here!





It looks clean enough





And of course Dotty the dog who appears to like my new investment







I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of space available with the seats down



Now I just needed to get all this including the trailer



In my single garage



Simples!













All swallowed







All in all I think it could be a lot worse

Once the Kadett was home and settled I decided to start having a poke around the car to see what was actually hiding and what I was going to need to fix it

Initial signs of crispiness



Front bumper off



A look under the dash on the N/S as I was removing the wing bolts



N/S wing off



A little curse word up the front here





And a dead wing



O/S wing off and a similar story here too



Not too bad considering the date of manufacture



There were a few other areas hiding on the O/S under the wing but I had spotted them previously





Here



Here



Here



And there



Once I had sussed out exactly what was needed I started to strip the car down a little more (bearing in mind I space is tight so I cant go mad) and started removing rot.

Here are some pics

I started here



Removed the wing sealer



Head lights out ready to be cleaned up





Front grill out without breaking any clips thankfully



Some wire wheel action to remove yet more crud etc



And on to attack the spot welds when I could find them that was as they were well hidden. Even rubbing the area back with sand paper, the wire wheel and a scotch brite disk didnt prove that helpful.









And off



Heres the area after a little more cleaning - no further nasties found





I started on the bottom of the sill too but unfortunately ran out of time





This then brings us up to last weekend when I got a good stint on the car.

I got the car up in the air and started to strip the engine down



Coolant drained then rad out



Disconnected the few wire that there are



Exhaust off and gearbox disconnected



Then engine out





Leaving me with this



Next I set about box and prop centre section removal





So I could make some space for the manta box below





And a couple of comparison shots between the original and the manta box - the original looks tiny!





With the old engine and box out of the way (is anyone interested in taking then off my hands?) I decided to try the new engine and box together

1600xe block







Block plus box - fits a treat







With the block and box together I couldnt resist trying it in the hole





I'm happy with the space around the engine and box





Given that the engine and box went in the hole with little issues I slipped it back out again and started on the engine mounting plates

The easy side



all mounting holes square and on the same plane



A little CAD (cardboard aided design)



Next the other awkward side



35mm to make up



So I started with this after some measuring



That turned in to this to stay close to the block and avoid the coolant pipe







Once I was happy with the templates I decided to transfer them to metal



then up to the workshop and out with my newly acquired plasma cutter



The first rough cut



And after a tidy up







Annoyingly I don't have a bender so it was a case of heat and beat but it came out ok



And I found the required 35mm



Not a bad fit either







Annoyingly I cant get it all welded in to the car as I don't have a gearbox shifter to get the exact position of the engine and box in the car

More next time

James