The NZ Vectra 2000 thread

[021 Chad]

That metallic grey is the best colour these came in I reckon, stunning when polished up.

[026 Nik]

So many of the 2000's started life with RM**** number plates but very few are in numerical order.

[008 Julian W]

So mine at PP9808 appears to be oldest model left finished in maroon metallic.. -well most of the top coat has pealed off now in hot sun! - Teaching in the Wairarapa did not help) with a light grey interior in very good shape particularly the rear interior I think previous owners had it covered in sheep skins - the heading lining needs re-doing ; I had it since late 2002 and may have to consider selling it later this year as its its water pump and belts are almost due...and thats costs a grand to do professionally .and I am not a mechanic .that be a very sad...day indeed...when i sell it
My cars done around 222000km?
In my ownership I had Speedo done (Its got GLS model fitted around 20000km ago) ; Rack & pionion steering re-conditioned - no spare parts here and a few other things..have been done

It was originally owned by GM Managemt for first 1500km and sold to the public via Waggs of Masterton - That white RM car on a recent post I am sure was a Wellington new car - in 1990-1991 there only around 6-7 models new in the Wellington area on my rekoning ; they were used as a demo car by dealers thesenselves to sell the cheaper product
IN CHCH when I lived down there in 1990-1992 Blackwells had sold only about 3 themselves I used have the line flow prints outs (I may still have them i not sure where i stored them) given to me by John McKindlay the then dealer principle of Blackwells Holden - which gave me the full stats of all Opels that sold from 1990 - from memory this includes a lot of Vectra GTs ; Vectra GLS and the more basic models
I think they only sold then around 2 Calibras!

[127 Gordo]

Shame you're looking at trading it just for the belt and pump change as it's one of the easiest engines to do it on, with the right tools which can be easily purchased at Repco, etc.
If you've any mechanically minded, reliable mates, they should do it for a few beers or whatever - four hours taking it easy with numerous tea* breaks.
I think there must be a few more than just 2 '90 Calibras I've one, had parts off a couple of others and I'm sure at least one huy here owns/ed one.

*leave the beers until the job is done

[008 Julian W]

Thanks for that ..I was talking of 2 Opel Calibras sold by Blackwell CHCH themselves NOT the whole country I used to have a few mechanical mates who could help me out but they are sadly overseas now.

My plan was if I was to sell the car -I would also sell the Manta as well once The Surgery had fixed what they should have done more then 9 years ago in body restoration- Mike Bauke has offered to pickup the car ; fix what was supposed to have been done in the first time I had alread paid $5500 for the work (I had spare money then - not now) which was not done and deliver it back for free..not kidding - that may happen hopefully around Feb or March ..power of my carmagreview site may have had something to do it as he is keen reader as are a lot of Coachbuilders and vintage /classic enthusists in the country ..which is good to hear..I have more readers then I thought .I must get on to reviewing the latest Classic Driver mag...

[002 Lindsay]

Julian my first Calibra 91 red RD 3456 was owned from new by a dealer in CHCH no mention of Blackwells ?cant recall the dealer,dont think there in business any longer?

[008 Julian W]

Lindsay I remember that Reg - RD plate is it Red? There was another GM dealer it may have been Robertsons (but I might be confusing this with similar dealer in Palmerston North.. as I lived up there too)

I should try and locate that line -flow - When I started the Opel Manta Club Canterbury which ended up been a club for all Opels including Jim Stevensons 67 Opel Kadett Rallye RHD; I rang up the 2 Calibra owners (The line flow gave me reg ; full contact details and phone numbers of original owners..) and both owners were pretty arrogant at that time..

This smaller dealer I think was out Hornby Way ; Blackwells was opposite the CTV Glass 'sand-wich' that collasped in the big Earthquake - I remember talking to a local engineer at a business function in the 90s thinking that builing did not look that strong..and he agreed..

The Hornby Dealer was basically a very small petrol service station with a small dealership attached -I met the wife of that dealer in the parking lot in Merevale when I parked my Manta next to hers - Hers was 1 of 2 Red Opel Manta 2.0GSI Coupes (notch - boot version) specially imported new to NZ and could be the one that has since been re-powered by an Opel 2.5V6 from a Vectra B last heard to be in Hamilton somewhere. - I used to keep in contact -with its owner but my an old computer 'crashed' completely with those details - One day i get computer mate to see if he can get info from the hard disc as i have kept the box.

There was another GM dealer out in Ambley further South Canterbury -which is still going strong it was when I did a road trip down South in the Vectra around 2006 - I believe Blackwells may own it now as they re-located their dealership for a time out there post earthquake.

[002 Lindsay]

Julian its red, and still in Nelson, i remember the owner it was Shackel motor comp in CHCH and there was a dealer in Wellington, with the same name,if not the same company they ownedit for quite a while,i think it came into Auckland,before CHCH.

[020 Brad]

FAU987 (was RM5433), White, NZ new, WOF/REG
Now in my possession. Will become a track car.

[021 Chad]

So the red one will be storage for the spare motor then?
Do you think you'll work with the motor in the white one or stick the motor you last ran in there?

Congrats on the purchase matey, a reliable track donk will be great fun.

[020 Brad]

To be honest I'm still trying to figure out my plan. I'm taking a bit of a step back, so the plan now is to have something similar to your Vectra, but probably still with a cage to complete in some events where possible, and because I like safety on the track. I'll try and keep it road registered so I can just drive it to the track. Because of this, I don't think the red Vectra will ever see the light of day again, so I think it will get cut up for spares in case i bin the white one. The I'll scrap what I don't need. I'm just trying to rationalise my collection of crap.. haha

As far as the motor is concerned, I will just run with this one for now. It seems tight and it goes noticeably quicker than my Calibra, so not sure what the story is there. Perhaps the cat has been removed or something. I was told by the seller that this car was sold to him by a guy from Waiheke Island..

I'll start having a look over the new car in the next couple of days/weeks and I think I'll put together a solid game plan that I have to stick to. Courtney's already said I'm not allowed to strip the new one until all the crap is gone from the old one Lucky I have her! Who knows what kind of state I'd get myself into if I didn't have a voice of reason on my side. Even now I have 5 cars and a trailer in my driveway

[127 Gordo]

Sounds like it's the one Jerry sold about 5 years ago - he said it was a good 'un.
Jerry is the chap building up the Tigra for a Targa car.

[021 Chad]

Sounds like it's the one Jerry sold about 5 years ago - he said it was a good 'un.
Jerry is the chap building up the Tigra for a Targa car.

Yeah it's the same car we saw!
It did look like a really nice example when we saw it in Jerry's care, a clean tidy engine bay tells a good story.

[020 Brad]

I figured it must have been Jerry.

You guys would be gutted to see it now in that case. Obviously it's getting on in years, turning 23 this year, but it is now far from a tidy example. It has been owned the last few years by a teen/early 20 yo, so I guess that explains it. I don't think it had been cleaned it that time - had that green build up that cars get. The engine bay was very untidy, with even red insulation tape over on of the intake pipes. There was no water at all in the header tank and oil was below minimum, despite having been changed recently. Those things do worry me a little bit about the motor, but I'll just run it for a while and see how we go. It doesn't seem to build pressure in the header tank, there is no sludge and it doesn't appear to blow smoke or steam, so fingers crossed the head is not porous and the headgasket is ok. It will need the cambelt done soon, so maybe that will be a nice excuse for a set of cams at the same time..?

I'll get some photos up some time in a new thread. I can say I'm relatively happy that it is so rough though, because the body is quite sound (aside from a GL guard on the LHS), so it will be a good track car base and I won't feel guilty about stripping it.

Anyone after some Vectra 2000 interior parts? Julian I'm looking at you - it has a great headlining surprisingly which I'll let go for cheap.

[021 Chad]

I have a 'powercap' that I fabricated a few years ago that you can borrow.
What it does is replace the intake (SFI) box, this means that you don't need to use that flexible oval to round tube adaptor which usually splits and falls apart. Instead it has a 3" fitting for silicone piping, making a much more reliable junction.