mantaray Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Well a new project begins: Some of you may remember a few months ago, a yellow Manta A that was on Ebay. Well Kev Finny (Mantai200) won it and it is now in my garage for the complete restoration to begin. This is what the car looked like when Kev and I went down to London to pic it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2908642343 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Good luck with the strip down and rebuild Chris, this will certainly be a thread to follow to show how it should be done...... John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantaray Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 Got the car in my garage on Friday night and started to strip it, after about 8 hours work it is now up on my roll over cradle, and ready for the weldathone to start. Enjoy the pics . As we expected the Manta is in really bad state and a lot worse than we first thought, but that’s Manta’s for you. Passenger side: Drivers side: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upk Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Brings back memories of my A series resto, looking forward to following this one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Barrett Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 bless it, looks very sorry for itself, a lot worse than mine i have to say but all the same areas 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantaray Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 just a couple more pics: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Barrett Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 its so good working with a spit! wish id done my past projects like it, also wish id of took my engine out the way you have, still im a newcomer to manta ownership Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1393 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Chris I've sent you a PM. Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantai200 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 As Chris has said, we spent approx 8 hours stripping the car to a shell ( I left Chris' house at 03:00 on Saturday morning ), what a late night but well worth it to finally see some work being done on my manta. We carried on stripping the car on Saturday evening and had a good poke around. When I bought the car, I knew it needed lower rear quarters, rear arches, lower rear valence, front outer wings and floor pans. I sourced the above panels within a week but could do with a reasonable second hand lower front valence as I can't afford a new one. The plan is to restore the shell, repaint it and basically keep it standard, for now,, as I have a tendancy to modify my A's. The time frame for this project is almost as tight as an overhauling one,lol, but it will be worth it and I can't wait to drive a manta again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midasmesh Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 All the best Chris and Kev look forward to following this topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
costasa Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Good luck in the project it will be a pleasure follow this topic i have a lot to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickB Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 (edited) Really looking forward to following this project. I am currently restoring my A which I am pleased to say is not as bad as this one looks, which is just as well for me as I am a novice. It will be good to see this coming along. Mick Edited January 25, 2010 by MickB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith1200 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 (edited) WoW! I was hiding under the covers there!!! Gee and I moan about rubbing doon 'light' rust tae. Going by the work done on the exclusive coupe, this one is in 'safe hands'. Looking forward to updates Keith Edited January 26, 2010 by keith1200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantaray Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 Up date. Sorry we have not been on for a while, time just flies when your having fun. Well there have been a few changes since I last posted. We have to admit that the yellow shell has beaten us. But only because, we have managed to find another shell in much better condition. The rear end is solid, but it does need both rear arches and n/s rear corner. N/s sill need a small repair and another small repair to the n/s front inner wing. The worst thing on the n/s is that the door hinges have been cut and so need replacing (at least part of the yellow car will live on.) The n/s chassie rail is excellent only needing a small repair, not seen one as good as this for a long time. So as you can see, once we had this new shell the fate of the yellow shell was doomed. The yellow shell has not gone to wast tho, we have cut all the good panels out to keep for spares and Kev wants to make a trailer out of the rear end. Bit more done today. N/S rear is now all welded, had to fabrecate both front and rear sections of inner arch and rear section of sill. Inside of boot still needs a little work but almost there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1393 Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Hi Chris& Kev, Good to see the blue shell has helped you out and the repairs have started so quickly. Best of luck with the project! will look forward to the updates. Cheers, Paul Holtom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantaray Posted February 20, 2010 Author Share Posted February 20, 2010 Hi paul, when you said it was a good shell, you wern't joking Not seen one as good as this in a long time. need to get the car done, as I have a customer car waiting to come in , in a few weeks, and I've just sorted out a new company project car, so I need the space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon p Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Blimey Chris, you're not hanging about!! puts mt Manta prgress to shame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsi marc Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Wow that blue shell looks less rotten than my 1985 manta b, hard to believe of a car of that age, your not messing about with the repairs either keep up the good work,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
costasa Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Great work, i will try to learn with this project. Good luck Costa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantaray Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 Finished of the inner n/s rear corner and spare wheel well. Kev sorted out the welding that was needed to the n/s inner front wing and bottom of A post. o/s inner wing box section was totally shot, so I had a go at making up a new box section. Made up a card template. After transferring shape to sheet of steel, started to bend. Not too bad a fit. All welded in, primed and seam sealed n/s door hinges replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsi marc Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 hi your not messing about with this project are u, its gonna be mot,d by march!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith1200 Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Nice bit of work there. I was going to say that replacement A pillars are available from Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantaray Posted March 28, 2010 Author Share Posted March 28, 2010 Sorry Ive not up dated for a while, but been away on holiday and just had too much work on. Anyway, all the welding is now finished and we are on to the body prep. Although the drivers side looked good, we found that the sill had been repaired by just welding a new one over all the old rot, so off it all came so the job could be done properly. This was down to kev as I was on holiday. With all the welding now finished Kev was a happy man. He even managed to get his partner Ruth, in on the act, painting a high Zink primer on the new metal before a new coat of under seal. And so this weekend we started to prep the body for paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Barrett Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 lightning speed resto like it! that drivers side looks gone quite far in with the rot, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
costasa Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 Great Work and the welding looks very good. Hope to learn to weld to put my manta in is best shape. Good luck and keep the good work Cheers Costa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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