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Bendy's XE power 400 project


bendy
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Would Mk5 cortina mounts be easy to source? Sudds seems to reckon many fords of the era had the same mounts and are all 50mm. All the capris certainly list the same mounts and the ones on his are probably original and are certainly FAR harder than the manta ones.

How about a set of these?

ViewItem">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Engine-mounts-For ... dZViewItem

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I enjoyed reading that. Cant wait to see the arches going on. Can you do a step by step guide on the rears please [:)]

OMOC Member 6144

1982 1800 Manta Berlinetta Coupe

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Before you cut the flange off (at the rear of the engine) why not try the following tip that I heard from someone who regularly puts xe engines in to cars. Apparently they cut off the bit of heater pipe that sticks out of the head and then bond a 90 degree fitment into the hole (i would prob get it tig welded to be 100% sure it wouldn't leak). Wish i'd thought of that before chopping my bulk head

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Well i went to the local factors and capris and mk5 cortina mounts do indeed seem to both be 50mm but they wanted twice the price for a set than the ones on ebay so ive snapped them up, at £15 they cant be bad so ill see how they work out[;)]

Cutting the flange back a bit will be very easy and will ultimately aid geting the engine in and out anyway, its just like that so the 2 panels can be spot welded together as far as i can see so ill get rid of a section of it and weld up the joint. A sharp bending 90 degree 22mm silicone pipe will do the job nicely for the back of the head, i thought about getting a fitting brazed on but would rather have it stock to keep things simpler if the engine or head has to be changed in the future[;)]

As for the 400 kit ill document it the best i can but ill also be reading the guide on manta400 as ive never done it before and my kits already been fitted badly to a rally car and brutally removed so its seen some action and the rear arches could be beyond saving but ill make the best i can of it. The kit fitting will probably be the very last part of the project so dont hold your breath for that![:P]

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ive saved up a few bits for this installment.

Firstly i thought ill get done what i can inside the car welding wise, like get the seats mounted, cage sorted out and yet more patches welded in while im waiting for parts etc.

started with the seats which ive used the recaro sliders for both and modyfied the subframe for the driver side one for a good up and at the wheel position and good adjustabilty. I welded a bar across it and drilled holes then welded nuts on as per the standard mounts. the passenger side seat i wanted alot further back and far lower down so i made some custom brackets for each corner to level the seat up in the car, used angle iron and flat bar to make them and welded nuts in again for good adjustability. Had to remove the weird side mount point for the pasenger one. After i got that done i started into making some chequer plate heel lates for both sides (well a foot rest for the driver side) and welded nuts to the floors to mount them on. Thought id would be better than knackering the paint on the floors and will look better, the nut stacks will hold them off the floor so it doesnt trap dampness and i can remove them to clean them.

Heres the passenger mounts

DSC00300.jpg

After all that i tried the roll cage in and it turned out to be utterly rubbish, the rear part is spot on but the front seems oddly shaped and the top tubes and door bars fitted very very badly making it almost imposible for me (a 5 foot 7 24 year old) to get in and out over it. It looked like spirited driving might see an arm to cage collision happening too so i thought half cage it is for the time being!!! Its not like im building an all out competition car so the half cage will stiffen things up a bit and provide protection should the unfortunate happen! I rubbed down all the rust left by the sunroof apeture on the underside of the roof and treated with rust converter before fitting the cage, also rubbed the cage back to bare and primed it.

DSC00307.jpg

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If i do say so my welding is improving slightly these days.

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Got my new kit car hard type (capri, cortine etc) 50mm engine mounts so i thought ill clean the inch of cruddy oily skank of my gearbox mount, 1800 engine mounts and the 1800 sump and sand, prime and paint them up so all the mounting stuff is ready to go. They turned out pretty sweet for a few hours work and some VHT black paint.

mantaarches009.jpg

At this point i thought no longer can i put off the chopping out and re-shaping of the rear arches for wheel travel when the wide wheels and 400 kit is on. Its about the last welding job to do before i turn this thing up on its side.

After some head scratching i thought the best way to do it is to take the rear springs out and drop it onto its bump stops, like this . . . . .

DSC00325.jpg

Then mark on rougly where the 400 arch is and rougly what needs removed then start grinding . . . .

DSC00324.jpg

A good couple of nights work ensued and i cut the outer skin proportionately higher than the inner as to how muc metal i needed to bend up to the outside to make the gap meet again, it was alot of shaping, welding and grinding but heres it almost done. I wanted to make sure it was 100% sealed up well with METAL (and another rot disaster at the rear of the sill)

mantaarches001.jpg

mantaarches002.jpg

Heres the finished article (and the rotten old arch lips) and the clearance ive now got. just need to do the other side now[V]

mantaarches006.jpg

mantaarches003.jpg

mantaarches007.jpg

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Ready for billing 08

I really cant see it unless some pixies finish overnight for me or i quit my job and just work on the manta all the time, neither of which are very realistic (maybe the pixies)

Ive got both arches done now but ive done my back in on sunday trying to man handle a big trailer out of the shed so im off work and unfit to do anything at the moment

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  • 3 weeks later...

Been busy over the weekend, working on both mantas Im now in possesion of andymantaxe,s er. . . manta XE So had some jobs to do on that on saturday too. Started by getting manta number 1 out the shed after i decided it might not rain for an hour or so and i wasnt keen on crawling round under it on the drive way.

Spot which motor is slightly more roadworthy!

mantaflipover-d800guw009.jpg

Rolled in the hatch which has been suffering the exhaust scraping off the ground on bumps and rough roads releasing a shower of sparks, also theres been a quickly worsening fuel leak which upgraded to pumping it out like hell on thursday so i felt this combination may result in a fireball of death. Heres how much fuel it dumped on the floor just taking it in the shed running for 30 seconds!!!

mantaflipover-d800guw014.jpg

Turned out the pump was leaking (squirting out violently) between the alloy casing and end cap and the supply hose was squashed shut so i revised it all with redundant stuff of the coupe and swapped the pumps. put new rubbers on the exhaust as there were none on the double hanger at all! Heres how low it was before i sorted it.

mantaflipover-d800guw013.jpg

Did a few other jobs around the engine bay etc and some running repairs then gave it a wash and clean out. Proceeded to give the shed a good tidy up and clean out since the coupe was out and gave it a good dusting too so that was saturday gone. Spent saturday night knocking up a better trolley and co2 bottle holding set up for my welder which turned out well! The hatch scrubs up well though despite its rusty bits!

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Got up at the crack of dawn this morning and got going on the 400, started by clueing up the wheel arch chopping, scrapping the airbox mounts in the engine bay and cutting the bit out of the bulkhead for the water hose.

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With that done it was time for the big tip over! Ive been soaking ALL the nuts, blts and fixings on the axles with Wurth 2040 penetrating spray for weeks everytime ive been in the garage and it payed off today, some were in a right mess but didnt have to get the air ratchet out for anything, brilliant! icon_biggrin.gif

Front axle removed

mantaflipover-d800guw017.jpg

used the hoist to assist with the tip over and a couple of tyres and an old mattres to lay the rear quarter on, worked brilliantly and managed it on my own. Tied it off to a metal loop thats stuck in the wall of the shed and round the roll cage. hmmm.gif

mantaflipover-d800guw019.jpg

Again using the hoist to assist me removing the rear axle, i cant stress enough how many things it really helps with, just need to use your imagination, i lifted the front up off the axle using the load leveller through the radiator mount holes. mantaflipover-d800guw021.jpg

Here it is with absolutely not a single component left on the shell, steering collumn is gone now too (must nick the irmscher wheel for the hatch)

mantaflipover-d800guw023.jpg

And the axles stuck in the corner for stripping down next time i get time to work at it. New welder trolley i knocked up there too, easier than humping it about, dont want to do my back in again!! downapint.gifsleep.gif:thumbup

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice one Andy

Much fun has been had in it so far, its been 4 days of snow up here (since saturday) and theres been alot of playing around! And heres some playing around before it was snowing.

Didnt go too nuts in there since theres a 4 foot drop onto the shore at one side and a concrete wall at the other

Aye ive got a grand new bed and mattres and all Sold my Calibra and got a new bed and a manta hatch 16V - cant be bad!, the one thats holding the manta up was like a ploughed field but im getting every last bit of use out of it

Aye Im glad someones looking forward to me sorting the roof cos i certainly aint! it will have to be alot more gracefull than the repair on the 400! But i have roughly worked out what ill do so we will see when the time comes. Ive got some paint mixed for the hatch so hopefully ill get it tidied up over summer while im running/selling the Astra

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Dont worry Andy its in safe hands

Due to my workmate Garys father suddenly passing away on saturday we all attended the funeral yesterday for garys sake, (hes younger than me, only 22) so its a tough break. Anyway it was a half day at work etc and i ended up home by 3pm so i started to investigate that manky looking chassis leg.

If theres been a low point in the project so far this is it, wasnt quite banking on this level of rot but i know you will all say its to be expexted!

Ill put the pictures below but all i can really do at this point is start to reconstruct this part back to where its good with heavy steel after treating the exposed inner leg, i dont really want to chop the whole leg out and make a new one due to the bottom arm mounting point - could get technical and i dont want to end up with geometry getting out of line. Remarkably the other side is nothing like this one ive smacked poked and prodded it but its just not like this, strange. Its pictured at the bottom

chassisleg003.jpg

chassisleg004.jpg

chassisleg006.jpg

chassisleg005.jpg

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Its funny but most of the Mantas i have ever had to weld (all of them) have had really bad rot on the drivers side chassis leg and almost none at all on the passengers side, I am suspicious its to do with the exhaust heat turning the water that gets into the chassis leg into steam and rotting it, I have noticed that the down pipe on a GTE is quite close to the leg in places, closer than the downpipe on an 1800 for sure, most cars i own/owned have been GTE so i cannot comment on the 1800 as much, maybe they rot out both legs at the same rate !

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Hi Bendy.

Jist had tae pop in und catch yae up, Louise wiz speakin aboot yae thi night und thi Cali, so while aboot thought awe wid drap in see who this 400 repo is comin alang. :thumbup

Aye yiv bin busy lookin the biz wul bi worth awe thi sare backs und fingers when yur fleein aboot yur island, wull amagine yul git a few birds wantin tae lol ower yur bonnet nae probs when finnished.

cheers rab.

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Aye cheers rab, cant believe the fate of the calibra, saddest thing ive seen in my life! :brick

If getting birds on the bonnet will be the end result ill best get the welder oot! :thumbup

Got a new bottle of C02 this morning and a new stock of grinder discs so ill get ripped into this leg and see what i can make of it, might need to brace it up like Robbie says. A new leg would be brilliant mantadoc but ill surely get it sorted! :thumbup

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