Paul Barrett Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 theyd be the rostylers from PYC then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 theyd be the rostylers from PYC then? No, they will be the ones that Dave took off his white SR that he replaced with PYC's! You didn't think he'd sell me the good ones did you?? They do need a refurb but have good tyres. I've never heard a good word about stencil kits so it will be fiddly masking when we get to that point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted September 22, 2013 Author Share Posted September 22, 2013 Just sent Eckhard a load of money for the two chassis leg repair sections. I will keep you updated with what turns up! UPK used them on his GTE resto and they looked pretty damn good. I hope it works as well for me. The legs are the last big push now....., 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggressor Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Thanks for the kind words guys! Mantadoc- No way is it scratch made!! I can cut, bend and hit metal with a hammer but I was 22 years old last time I used a wheeling machine!! Cut off the old car and grafted in, that's all I'm afraid. GT/J rarer than an genuine 400? probably. More desirable... probably not! "How many left" website is unreliable cause it used the entry from the V5, so even if you look up Manta GT/J for '80-'82 that might not include ones down as something else. I know of Al's old yellow one, passmethegun's white one (which is now a 400r)that red one that sold on ebay and was latterly being touted round at Billing last year for resto (Darren wouldn't let me buy it), Alex's one, that grey one at the beginning of this thread and the other (was it Ian Goacher's) pine green one I saw at Billing in 2006. So that's 7 I know of in total. Would love to know what else is out there- say another 7 in hiding?? 14 left in the country is my best guess... Tonights effort. i think i will need this on mine did you make them yorself james? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 Yeah, downward lip on the rear to meet the wheel envelope, upward fold to meet the inner frame (which you can see) and then shape the fold and ramp where the under seat area falls away. It looks good, but it isn't that hard to do with patience, probably took me an hour to shape it. I eventually lengthened it to go under the cross member which I cut out to get access then welded back in. If yours is this bad then you are unlucky cause they don't normally go this bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted September 29, 2013 Author Share Posted September 29, 2013 A delivery from Germany Very nicely whacked-out by Eckhard Looking forward to fitting these, they look like they will be an excellent fit And pretty much all of the underside is complete, stripped to bare metal and in two coats of Hydrate 80 prior to primer and stonechip See, I have been busy, just really lazy at updating the thread. Sorry!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 wow! where you bought? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 http://forums.mantaclub.org/topic/25517-chassis-leg-replacements/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novasportc550 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Some nice work there...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opel2000 Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Blimey James, hope this doesn't come across as being out of place, but thought that one of the first areas attacked would have been the chassis rails, hmmm but then again thinking back through the thread there wasn't a lot in the earlier stages to weld them too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Fish Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 getting the Manta bug again Clive? Hope all is good bud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 Blimey James, hope this doesn't come across as being out of place, but thought that one of the first areas attacked would have been the chassis rails, hmmm but then again thinking back through the thread there wasn't a lot in the earlier stages to weld them too Clive, good to see you on the forum! Hopefully you will be around more, great to have some of the legends on here from when I joined up in 2006. I wasn't that systematic with the welding, I just started from the outside and worked in, with the shell getting lighter and lighter as it was stripped until it went up on the spit and I found myself at the chassis legs. Here's the latest. I have built up Eckhards replacement sections. Fist thing I discovered was that the inners were well and truly rotten too(probably could have worked that out if I had thought about it) so I bought the inners from Eckhard too. Double postage but you only do this once so it has to be right I suppose. Once again, the quality of the fabrication is second to none so I'm not too upset. So you lay the two outer over the inner, trim the excess to leave a 2 mm gap between the sides and weld up the middle. Remember you are going to grind the weld flush so you want metal in the gap, not on top. Then you slip the inner from the outer and prime both parts. Then put them together and plug weld down each side This was by biggest dilemma, I was worried about the integrity of the structure cutting this part away, I considered welding and bracing it, especially as the load from the spit goes down this structure. Having ponderd it I decided that the shell was as light as it will ever be, and if I turned it upside down I could brace the wing rails with a jack and spread the load across there to prevent any sag. So, that done, deep breath and.......Cut! And here is the built leg roughly offered up 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 very, very, very good work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 Some progress on this side. Leg has been welded in, new jacking point with the tube from the old one salvaged so the jack fits. New tabs to retain the fuel pipe attached and the brake pipe bracket back on. One of those jobs that you can sum up in a sentence yet takes about two months to do properly. Very slow job to get the butt welds perfect and remember the subframe mount holes have to be in exactly the right place too! A coat of Hydrate 80 prior to seam sealing and painting. Now I have the joy of doing it all again on the other side! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Barrett Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 nice work, keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novasportc550 Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Looking sweet..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 Because the new leg didn't quite meet the old part of the floor runner I had to decide whether to let in a 100mm piece of section (easy) or whether to cut the remainder of it off and replace complete (more bloody work!) You can guess what I did. I have two good runners salvaged from a shell so this will negate having to use aftermarket repair sections too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 And there it is butt welded in and ground off flush with a coat of hydrate 80 on it I have to say I am at project low ebb at the moment. It's slow going and hard work coupled with wind, rain, dark nights but looking at this leg now I'm feeling quite proud of the job, it's the first total replacement I've undertaken so the end result has given me a bit of a lift 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Barrett Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 A cracking job well done! Yeah it is crap outside, I feel the same until I get my arse out to the workshop and get going, struggle to put the tools down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 beautiful. Good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 I went up to Retropower with Darren today, it's hard not to feel a bit inspired when you see the quality of the work on their stunning Manta and Ascona projects (not to mention Ford, Porsche, Audi, Datsun, Jaguar) I went out to finish cutting the outer legs to butt together but found myself "in the zone" so ended up welding it all up too. It is important to get some nice penetration through the gap in the two sides otherwise you lose strength when you grind the outside flat Now ready to weld inner and outer together again and then chop the second rusty leg off the car 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapierdave Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I knew Retro Power would inspire you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 Second leg all built now. Started to cut the car but had to stop at nine due to noise! This one came together a lot quicker second time around. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Fish Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 you have a bike now? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 Quick progress report on this weeks activity. Hacked the remains of the old leg off and have started to prepare the flanges ready for the new one. More thin metal this side meant I have had to take a lot more away here. You can see I am letting a piece into the very bottom of the bulkhead first, but ran out of gas on Thursday night. I am yet to cut the inner sill so I can get the jack point in properly, and the metal at the back by the floor runner needs to come out too. If I fit the leg next I can turn the car on its side and build the floor back on from above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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