MUSCLE MANTA V8 A series

[paul1393]

Some up-dated photos of my Manta. The car has appeared in the gallery for some years now. Since then there have been a few changes, some of the major ones are listed here. Hope you like the car!

Wheels are Compomotive MLs (5 stud hubs)

Exhaust is stainless with x type cross-over pipe under gearbox.

Engelmann mirrors

Electric adjust leather seats

Motolita steering wheel.

Extra louvers for engine cooling

Hydraulic clutch -I used a cable before...it was a tad hard!

The radiator I bought from http://www.summitracing.comits for a 57 Chevy. The filler cap neck has been removed and the hole welded up as it was redundant with the header tank and the new filler point in the top hose.

The bulkhead transmission tunnel and floor -near the exhausts- has been insulated with a reflective material. Exhaust headers are custom made and ceramic coated.

Paul Holtom OMOC 412

Edited March 3, 2011 by paul1393

[garymanc]

stunning car[][]

also read about your repair 1st class job[8D]

what car are the leather seats from[]

16v monaco blue manta coupe

E862BOA

E850LRV monaco blue coupe

IN SUNNY manchester

[Guest]

Stunning car. Very much like what I am trying to achieve except with a modern TDI. I especially like the bonnet louvres for hear reduction. Did you require any firewall / transmission tunnel mods?

Ian B.

[paul1393]

Thanks for the comments! The seats are Porsche 928.I think they suit the manta well as the horizontal pattern look very in keeping with the original

Below, some shots of the engine bay with the motor removed. I have de-seemed the chassis rails and the horizontal joining seem across the bulkhead. This gave more room around the headers and between the motor and the bulkhead.

Mods to the transmission tunnel took the form of two curved relief sections -one on the left and one on the right- to allow room for the shape of bell-housing to sit neatly against the bulkhead.

Mods at the front of the engine bay were more extensive. The front body cross-member was removed chassis rails extended and a new cross-member installed further forward. the lower front panel has been cut away for the radiator support. An oil cooler sits in front of the radiator. The cut-out on the right side inner wing is for the re-located brake servo.

Edited March 3, 2011 by paul1393

[Robbie]

Paul the car looks awsome as usual,[^] guys this is one awsome A series, I have been driven in it and driven it when Paul came here for a visit and its pure porn, plus Paul knows everything about the A series []

http://www.mantamagic.com

OMOC N,Ireland Rep

id="blue">

OMOC 5706

Please dont shoot me it,s only an opinion not a demand

Email robbie @ mantamagic.com (without the spaces)

[Guest]

Hi,

Thanks for the explanation and pics re. the engine bay and modifications. I am currently working out possible engine / tranny scenarios. Looks like there is a fair amount of room available for larger engines. I am still toying with the 4 cyl. vs. 6 cyl.

Ian B.

[retrocarclub]

Wow, good work, that's stunning! []

1981 Vauxhall Cavalier 2000 GLS 16v

1990 Austin Rover Metro GTa - Daily driver

OMOC Member No. 6115

http://www.retrocarclub.co.uk

[Sutty2006]

Lovely colour!!!! *slobbers*

------------

Drift on!!!!

OMOC 6081

Recovery work taken. Email for more details

[midasmesh]

Does look good, was going to ask if the seats were from a Porsche but read the post again just incase i missed it and i did.

It is a very nice car thou Paul keep up the top work.

Midasmesh giving it rear wheel action in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

omoc 5285

Based in Leek near to Alton Towers.

[Guest]

Hi,

After your engine bay mods, how much space do you reckon you had?Enough to install an inline 6 w/ ancillaries?

Thanks,

Ian B.

[paul1393]

Thanks to all for the comments. The car will never be up to the standard of yours Robbie!

To Ecomanta, yes an in line 6 will fit and has been done many times. TE 280 Manta comes to mind and there have been many replicas. There must be plenty of archive photos on this site which should help.

Paul Holtom omoc #412

[Guest]

Hi,

Thanks for the info. I am also considering the Vauxhall / Opel Omega 2.5 inline 6 (BMW) five-speed as a possibility. From the pictures, the engine bay certainly seems roomy enough to showhorn everything in. Block height / turbo may still be an issue.

Ian B.

[Rick-Manta]

What camshaft and lifters are you using? I'm having some issues to say the least removing mine and that's not the end of it. All the Rover V8 'experts' are telling me I can't change the lifters without changing the camshaft as it'll rapidly wear everything out [?] and I've also been told the uprated 'bleed up and down' lifters clatter like mad making the engine sound like a bag of spanners! Sheesh!

Nice to see you're using a hydraulic clutch, I've heard of a few cable operated manta V8's but don't fancy it myself! Hopefully see you and the car at a southern meet in the new year.

CHECKOUT MY V8 VIDEO HERE http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Djuq2xoCp1E

[paulmanta]

Rick: Rapidly wear everything out is not the half of it, it takes about 3 mins to totally wipe out a camshaft in a rover V8 if the tappets and cam are not matched, you have to change it all at the same time or you can have hassles. the oil you use is critical as well, too thick and it will speed up wear on first start up.

[paul1393]

To; Rick-Manta I am using a Piper 270 cam with stock lifters. However I have a set of "Compcams" high rev lifters to use with a new cam which I have yet to get. I have also heard the same as you about the "Roads" lifters the high blead down ones, they are very noisy. paulmanta is right about matching a new cam with new lifters or you will have a writen off a cam in a very short time.

[Rick-Manta]

Thanks. I'm still struggling to get my camshaft out (see my topic on removing the crankshaft pulley, f**king impossible!) and was tempted to leave it but having muddled the order of the old lifters, I can't. I first thought it was scaremongery but no, everyone says you must replace new with new. Doh! Thanks again.

CHECKOUT MY V8 VIDEO HERE http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Djuq2xoCp1E

[Manta Mal]

Hi Paul, Thats a stunning Manta 'A', with I guess the V8 sound and power to match?

Do like the metalic blue paint, may go for blue or yellow, as used on the new bmw mini, for my 'A', with black vinyl roof.

What car did that neat brake servo / master cylinder come from?

Cheers.

Mal...OMOC #6022 malalsal@aol.com Start your Manta restoration today........ before it's too late!

[paul1393]

To Manta Mal. The servo is the orignal! The master cylinder is Commodore "B" the bore is 23mm. I have Willwood 4 pots on the front and stock Commodore "B" rear disc's and calipers.

When I bought the car it was Signal Yellow with a black vinyl roof which was OK. Back in the 80s I had a Monza Blue "A" which I sold. I always liked that colour so I decided to paint this one the same.

I have always thought Vinyl roofs take something away from the curvy flowing shape from the roof down the rear piller! But that is just an opinion!

[Manta Mal]

Hi paul, Thanks for the info on the brake servo/master cylinder, I may have to adopt a similar setup. I have previously bought a nice powerfull, brand new, Opel servo/cyl (year/ model unknown) from an auto jumble for £15, the problem is the servo is so large in diameter, that the bonnet will no close, when positioned as in your car.

I do agree, that a vinyl roof can distract from the flowing lines of the A. I aim to spray the whole car in colour, then if its say yellow and turns out to be too 'in ya face' will add a vinyl roof to tone it down.

Have had another close look at your Manta photo's.....sure is a gem[^]

Mal...OMOC #6022 malalsal@aol.com Start your Manta restoration today........ before it's too late!

[Dan W]

Paul, that car is a real beaut,remmeber it at Billing. If i was going to mod an 'A' that's exactly how i'd want it. Credit it to you sir!

OMOC #4590

Release the hounds!!

[paul1393]

To Dan, glad you like the car and thanks for your comments.

It's taken a while to get the car to this stage. The encouragement I get from comments like yours helps keep up my interest in the project and is gratefully received. Thanks again.

Paul Holtom omoc #412

[paul1393]

Below are some photos of the Commodore 5 stud front hub conversion.

As the steering arms are lower than the Manta ones the rack has been lowered on the suspension cross member. The A series top ball joint fits the Commodore stub axles but the lower ball joint had to be changed for a Manta B/Commodore B one. Some of the later Commodore Bs had a lower ball joint that was unique to that Model.

The brackets for the Willwood calipers were custom made.

Edited March 3, 2011 by paul1393

[MANTAMAN]

What struck me on seeing these hubs is the steering arm is detachable,rather than lowering the rack and possible having steering column lenght/clearance issues perhaps it would have been possible to get an engineering machine shop to make new bolt on steering arms to the required dimensions.

There is also a possible issue with Ackerman angles,which is the the steering arm position in relation to the wheel base,coming off a long car like a Commodore this is probably incorrect for the A series,something else that could have been corrected by new fabricated steering arms.

I've got piles of all sorts of Manta parts,i might even have something you need!

surplus parts bought,whole cars considerd. M/B 07947 640505

OMOC Member number 2658F

Ian Virco,area rep,Beds Herts and North Bucks.

[paul1393]

Ian, you are right on both counts! However moving the rack forward and lower also gave me more room for the custom build headers. There was very little room between the starter motor and steering column for a good sized four branch.

If you look closely at the photo showing the track rod end you will see a small cut out in the back plate behind the disc. The reason for this is to allow the steering arms to sit closer to the discs to restore the Ackermann.

Using fishing line two lines were projected crossing over through the center of the diff and then through the lower ball joints, the steering arms were then heated cherry red and bent to put the track rod ends in the correct position.....in line with the fishing line. Remember the Commodore uses a drag link not a rack and the steering arms are located behind the suspension cross member in-board of the lower ball joints.

The problem that I did encounter was - in a reverse turn the tyres would scuff the road and come in contact with the lower front panel and wheel arch lip. I put this down to an increase in castor angle caused by lowering the anti-roll bar/track control arm to give clearance for the V8 bell housing. I think this has moved the lower control arms forward slightly. I have re-shimmed the upper control arms further forward to compensate, this seems to have sorted the problem...however I think there is still room for improvement!

Paul H omoc # 412

[paul1393]

Edited March 3, 2011 by paul1393