Opel Rekord E 2.0S...

[MattyClark]

Evening all, been a lurker on here for quite a while and have posted a few times on the Facebook group but as I now own some shite, I feel the time is right to make a thread...

 

It's a 1979 Opel Rekord E that's been off the road 17 years, has 2 previous owners and has only done 67,000 miles. I've wanted this car since 2012 (I was still in school at the time) but a few months ago decided I'd finally make an effort into getting it, with the help of a friend's dad and a couple of months negotiation we finally managed to get it. 

1979 Opel Rekord 2.0 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

The first time I saw it, all those years ago...

 

And now:

DSC_0061_2 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

DSC_0379 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

DSC_0056_2 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

DSC_0382 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

DSC_0055_2 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

DSC_0054_2 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

DSC_0385 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

DSC_0396 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

DSC_0397 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

DSC_0394 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

DSC_0395 by Matthew Clark, on Flickr

 

The previous owner did quite a good job of preserving it, almost everything is coated in waxoyl and the underneath is undersealed, even the exhaust is painted in red oxide. As to be expected though, it does need some welding and also an OSR door quarter glass 

[fordperv]

Great save, i love the interiors on these

[Asimo]

That velour is luuurvly!

Good luck with the resurrection.

[Tamworthbay]

Good luck, and you can be sure none of your mates will turn up in the same car.

[danthecapriman]

Wow, that's an early one isn't it?

The interior is lovely, very blue. Good luck with it, should be a great project.

[trigger]

That's fabulous, the interior is very pimping 70's. Good luck with the project.

[Wilko220]

Fantastic!

Is that six separate buttons for different stuff on the steering wheel or is it just two for the horn?

[stormee]

A Rekord Berlina (velours) with some options, nice!

 

[r.welfare]

I owned two of these about 10 years ago, lovely cars. I found them more solid feeling than the 1980 Mk2 Granada 2.3 V6 I had a couple of years afterward. That looks pretty well preserved as you say and the wonderful velour seems present and correct! And I can confirm it's two buttons (each with three indents) for the horn on the steering wheel. What are the various rocker switches for? I seem to recall mine only having one for the heated rear window and the rest were blanks.

[Walter White]

Good work. You are management class now. The catering manager at the school I went to (1986 to 1990) had a similar Opel Record 2.0 proudly parked behind the kitchens.

[Split_Pin]

Love these, I used to enjoy spotting these as opposed to a Carlton back in the early 1990s.

[Junkman]

I really hope all goes well.

 

Over the decades, it turned out that the Junkman and Rekords don't bond well.
 

Let me explain.

 

Despite I have a life long hankering for Rekords, every time I ended up with one, it turned into a vexation.

The last one I acquired wasn't dissimilar to yours, just that it had the rah sexy red velours fnar fnar, which makes a wanker winner out of us all.
Sadly, already on the way home from picking it up, it showed the first glitches, in form of cutting out whenever the road went slightly uphill.

Needless to say that it was bought unseen and picked up after dark in a rainy night, the customary procedure of shite purchasing.

 

On closer inspection on the following morning at about 13:00, it turned out, that the tank was rotten on the side facing the back box

along its seam full length. The cutting out was caused by dirt having entered said tank by means of being kicked into there from the rear tyres.

The rear wing and boot floor in that area also consisted of Bild Zeitung and wob. Needless to say, that the car had a fresh TÃœV.

Anyway, a replacement tank wasn't available for love nor money. You can get everything for an injection, but if you have a properly aspirated one,

you're basically fucked. Twice. Even in Germany.

 

Earlier in my life, a mere 30 odd years ago, I bought a C Rekord Caravan WBoD. A 1900 S with four doors in Duck Egg Blue with red plastic interior.

That one went extremely well and had superior* roadholding, courtesy of radials up front and Winter crossplies out back, a combination I can
only recommend. Sadly, only the outer panels of that one were intact, the entire structure underneath was essentially non existent.

Interestingly, all the uber Rekords I had, i.e. Commodores and Kapitäns/Admirals, did not suffer from terminal rot, only my Rekords did.

Hence I coined a phrase for Rekords, which meanwhile has actually made it into German folklore - Opel Corrosiona.

 

Anyway, if you need anything, please feel free to PM me. I'm a native German speaker and I do have my connections.

[MattyClark]

I suspected this would go down well on here! Great to hear people's stories of them, hopefully I'll have more luck than Junkman! (I may be in touch if I need anything I can't find over here, cheers)

 

I owned two of these about 10 years ago, lovely cars. I found them more solid feeling than the 1980 Mk2 Granada 2.3 V6 I had a couple of years afterward. That looks pretty well preserved as you say and the wonderful velour seems present and correct! And I can confirm it's two buttons (each with three indents) for the horn on the steering wheel. What are the various rocker switches for? I seem to recall mine only having one for the heated rear window and the rest were blanks.

 

The two original ones are the heated rear screen and rear fog lights, the two red ones are later additions and I'm not sure what they're for, they don't do anything now! There are brackets for front fogs so could have been for them, but I don't know! I might keep them, if I can use them for anything

 

 

 

Did some tinkering at the weekend, changed the oil and filter (the old oil had been in there at least 17 years..), surprisingly the local motor factors had a filter in stock-turns out it's the same as a Mini. It has a problem with starting and running (until up to temperature, then it's fine), seems the autochoke is at fault but the plan is to go through everything and replace, clean etc. Need to buy a welder (and learn to weld) and then I can make a start on the rot...all very exciting!

 

If anyone happens to have any parts for these hanging about that they want rid of, let me know and I might be interested.

 

 

[mercrocker]

Lovely.   So much better looking than the equivalent Carlton which had that peculiar droop-snooty look.   Opels of this period do appeal to me, I had some great times with a Kadett B and my Ascona B and long before these I persuaded my Dad to get a 1900 Rekord D coupe (he was more of a Minx man but the Opel shook him out of his cardigans into suitably louche check suits).   

 

It somehow used to make a statement having the Blitzen badge instead of a Griffin.  Good luck with it!

[MarvinsMom]

when and why did velour trim fall out of fashion?

 

thee are ace motors though, a friends father had an estate one in brazil nut poop brown with beige trim when at school. that was a great car that even now we get misty eyed over....

 

good luck, we need more updates though!

[Skizzer]

Mmmmm, those seats.  Mmmmm.

[dollywobbler]

Brilliant. This place seems to have just got better and better since The Fall.

[406V6]

Superb.   Another lover of velour here. Much preferred to that disgusting vinyl-like leather that pervades most up-market modern cars.  I cannot understand why the public likes leather, especially when it costs ££££ extra.

[anonymous user]

They're lovely looking cars and that one is the twin of one that my brother had in about 1984, I remember refitting the rear screen to it using a butter knife. (don't ask, long story) It was the bridesmaids' car at his wedding and he used it on his honeymoon (touring scrapyards in the west country and yes they are still married) and had to teach his wife how to bump start a car as the starter played up.

[AnthonyG]

Lovely and seems quite sound - I was expecting a bit of a rot box from the first pic so am pleased for you that the inner wings still exist.

 

The blue velour looks superb, I was recently reading some 80's Saab 900 brochures, which listed velour as a 'comfortable' alternative to leather

[MattyClark]

It is surprisingly sound, the only real rot is in the inner wings, little bit on the sills and one door. The bodywork has quite a few little scabs all over it, most of them have been painted over by the previous owner (with emulsion paint...) but nothing major. Going to start cutting out the rot tomorrow and my mate from work is going to pop down one weekend with his welder and teach me.

 

The seats seem popular! They are lovely though, very comfortable....very blue    They are quite faded though, especially the rear one, is there any way of restoring the colour?

[MattyClark]

Can anyone recommend a good rust proofing product? Is waxoyl as good as it seems or is there something better?

[r.welfare]

Bilt Hamber stuff is very well regarded in the press and here, but more expensive than Waxoyl.

[richbraith]

That's great, I'm not far from you.  Love to see it when it's done!

[danthecapriman]

Can anyone recommend a good rust proofing product? Is waxoyl as good as it seems or is there something better?

Another vote for Bilt Hamber products. The Dynax S50 and UB wax are both brilliant. I've been using a lot of it on my old Fords for quite a few years now and had no trouble with it.

 

http://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/

[Vin]

That looks great, I do like the late 70s Opels. That has a 'PY' Middlesbrough identifier so it hasn't gone far in it's life...

[sutty2006]

glad to see another rekord getting saved.

 

Heres my 85 rekord E 2.2CDi i saved last year.

 

 

 

[Split_Pin]

Wrote some things

Welcome back chap 😀

[MattyClark]

I'll have a look at the Bilt Hamber products, thank you

 

Made a start cutting out the rot, found a few more bits that initially seemed solid but still very little rust for a 37 year old car, that's been stood around for 17 of them Once I've got it welded up I'll start work on the engine, it runs and drives but starting is an issue-seems the autochoke doesn't work most of the time. Once up to temperature though it runs fine. 

[sutty2006]

Those auto chokes are utter wanktastic. I had trouble with the auto choke on the 2.0 GL carlton I recently sold. I couldnt find a manual choke to convert it so sold it as is lol