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LX9 Swap - '70 Opel Kadett Rallye

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  • LX9 Swap - '70 Opel Kadett Rallye

    Remember that LX9 I bought to install in my '90 Isuzu Trooper. Yeah, that never happened. It's just been sitting on the stand in my garage for two years. The old iron-head 3.4L continues to start every time I ask it to and only leaks a moderate amount of oil.

    I got it in my mind to build a car for the 24 Hours of LeMons, so I picked up a 1970 Opel Kadett Rallye with title off Craigslist for $250 (after waiting down their original $700 price). The idea was to run the original 1.9L CIH engine like Team Tinyvette does mostly successfully in their Opel GT. Well, the engine in the Kadett was partially disassembled by the previous owned and is now seized. I don't know how badly, I figured I'd just find myself another engine. So I asked a property owner if I could haul off an Opel GT that has been rotting there for 20 years (no title). Drug the GT home, got it running good after cleaning up the Weber and replacing the entire fuel system (still short a fuel tank, but I have something temp rigged up for testing).

    Long story short, both cars have automatics and the GTs engine is the newer one that had it's compression lowered for emissions - so it's not as potent as I'd like. You know what would be pretty potent though? That LX9 I have sitting on the stand.

    So, I took some measurements that verified the project is totally doable and earlier this week I yanked the engine and slushbox out of the Kadett. Have a lead on an S10's T5 transmission with 2.2 bell housing, clutch, etc that will mate with the LX9. I have a parts Trooper that will donate it's pedals, hydraulic clutch parts, probably brake booster and master, gauges, etc etc.

    Let the fun begin! [edit: photobucket doesn't seem to be loading the pics I linked, you may or may not be able to see them]



    LX9 with 3.4L RWD bracket and timing cover and 3400 UIM.
    '98 Volvo V90 - Ford 5.0 swap in progress
    '96 LR Range Rover 4.6 HSE - suspiciously reliable
    '92 Volvo 740 Wagon - former parts car, now daily-driver beater
    '71 Opel Kadett Wagon - 1.9L CIH w/ Weber DGV 32/36, in bits

  • #2
    Cool project Glad to see you are still alive.

    Originally posted by Canyonero View Post
    You know what would be pretty potent though? That LX9 I have sitting on the stand.
    I started grinning when I read that line, lol.

    Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
    -60v6's 2nd Jon M.
    91 Black Lumina Z34-5 speed
    92 Black Lumina Z34 5 speed (getting there, slowly... follow the progress here)
    94 Red Ford Ranger 2WD-5 speed
    Originally posted by Jay Leno
    Tires are cheap clutches...

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by pocket-rocket View Post
      Cool project Glad to see you are still alive.
      I haven't been wrenching a lot lately and my attendance here had dropped off entirely. My old Trooper just works, as does the rest of my friends Trooper fleet that was keeping me busy. I briefly got into the old EA81 Subarus (you can see an '83 Subaru wagon in the background). I bought a newish motorcycle last year (Suzuki DL650 "V-Strom") that I've been riding all over, and I'd been fiddling with some old Suzuki 2-stroke toys.

      Seeing that LX9 hanging out in the garage has been bugging me over the years though, I'm excited to be doing something with it. 200hp/220tq in a tiny RWD car should be interesting. I think those Kadetts only weigh about 1900lbs.
      '98 Volvo V90 - Ford 5.0 swap in progress
      '96 LR Range Rover 4.6 HSE - suspiciously reliable
      '92 Volvo 740 Wagon - former parts car, now daily-driver beater
      '71 Opel Kadett Wagon - 1.9L CIH w/ Weber DGV 32/36, in bits

      Comment


      • #4
        I have three coolant lines coming off the engine, one off the water pump, one from directly behind the thermostat, and another running from behind the thermostat to the opposite end of the LIM.

        If I recall, this is set up to circulate coolant over the thermostat so that it will open when it needs to. So, what needs looped around to what? Do I need to have a T on a heater line or something? For that matter, which ones are the heater lines?
        '98 Volvo V90 - Ford 5.0 swap in progress
        '96 LR Range Rover 4.6 HSE - suspiciously reliable
        '92 Volvo 740 Wagon - former parts car, now daily-driver beater
        '71 Opel Kadett Wagon - 1.9L CIH w/ Weber DGV 32/36, in bits

        Comment


        • #5
          That's gonna leak.
          '98 Volvo V90 - Ford 5.0 swap in progress
          '96 LR Range Rover 4.6 HSE - suspiciously reliable
          '92 Volvo 740 Wagon - former parts car, now daily-driver beater
          '71 Opel Kadett Wagon - 1.9L CIH w/ Weber DGV 32/36, in bits

          Comment


          • #6
            Engine bay is mostly gutted now.

            I will have to cut on the firewall, but there's nothing important under the dash so it shouldn't be a big deal. Oil pan is getting cleaned and welded this week so I should be able to set the engine in the bay soon and figure out some motor mounts.

            '98 Volvo V90 - Ford 5.0 swap in progress
            '96 LR Range Rover 4.6 HSE - suspiciously reliable
            '92 Volvo 740 Wagon - former parts car, now daily-driver beater
            '71 Opel Kadett Wagon - 1.9L CIH w/ Weber DGV 32/36, in bits

            Comment


            • #7
              I bet this thing is going to be a blast to drive!
              Past Builds;
              1991 Z24, 3500/5 Spd. 275WHP/259WTQ 13.07@108 MPH
              1989 Camaro RS, ITB-3500/700R4. 263WHP/263WTQ 13.52@99.2 MPH
              Current Project;
              1972 Nova 12.73@105.7 MPH

              Comment


              • #8
                Hope so! I'm gonna need your LX9 tune though.
                '98 Volvo V90 - Ford 5.0 swap in progress
                '96 LR Range Rover 4.6 HSE - suspiciously reliable
                '92 Volvo 740 Wagon - former parts car, now daily-driver beater
                '71 Opel Kadett Wagon - 1.9L CIH w/ Weber DGV 32/36, in bits

                Comment


                • #9
                  Awesome! Got to love the 3500
                  Links:
                  WOT-Tech.com
                  FaceBook
                  Instagram

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Hey FF, you ever get your twin-turbos going?
                    '98 Volvo V90 - Ford 5.0 swap in progress
                    '96 LR Range Rover 4.6 HSE - suspiciously reliable
                    '92 Volvo 740 Wagon - former parts car, now daily-driver beater
                    '71 Opel Kadett Wagon - 1.9L CIH w/ Weber DGV 32/36, in bits

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      No, sold it. Car sat forever once I started working on cars for a living.
                      Links:
                      WOT-Tech.com
                      FaceBook
                      Instagram

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by ForcedFirebird View Post
                        No, sold it. Car sat forever once I started working on cars for a living.
                        Gotta love that... Now that I went without anything coming to me for months and started on my car I've had 2 Hondas (one being a timing belt/valves) and a Focus in the last two weeks...

                        Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
                        -60v6's 2nd Jon M.
                        91 Black Lumina Z34-5 speed
                        92 Black Lumina Z34 5 speed (getting there, slowly... follow the progress here)
                        94 Red Ford Ranger 2WD-5 speed
                        Originally posted by Jay Leno
                        Tires are cheap clutches...

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Bummer, I wanted to see how that turned out.

                          I got my Kadett last winter but I'm just now starting to work on it. I got an Opel GT also, and I spent some time on it, but decided it was a lost cause.
                          '98 Volvo V90 - Ford 5.0 swap in progress
                          '96 LR Range Rover 4.6 HSE - suspiciously reliable
                          '92 Volvo 740 Wagon - former parts car, now daily-driver beater
                          '71 Opel Kadett Wagon - 1.9L CIH w/ Weber DGV 32/36, in bits

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Yeah but i used to live in Albany, Oregon and car bodies last alot longer in the pacific northwest than in indiana LOL I'll bet that opel is pretty solid

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Both of them are pretty sound, which is surprising with the GT because it sat out for 20 years with glass missing. The interior was mostly a loss, but it's not rusted out. Cars do last out here.
                              '98 Volvo V90 - Ford 5.0 swap in progress
                              '96 LR Range Rover 4.6 HSE - suspiciously reliable
                              '92 Volvo 740 Wagon - former parts car, now daily-driver beater
                              '71 Opel Kadett Wagon - 1.9L CIH w/ Weber DGV 32/36, in bits

                              Comment

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