Manta again Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 After a long stint away from the club my wife has decided that she can no longer put up with these modern boring cars. Especially when its a PT Cruiser and keeps breaking down(4 fan belts in 6 months and dont ask how much it costs to replace the alternator). So with great joy it is time to resurrect our beloved Manta A which according to the tax disc was last mobile in June 2005. During its long hibernation I have been starting the old girl and moving her about to stop everything from siezing up. Which was working fine until 18 months ago I put the keys somewhere safe and didn't find them again until dec 2010. Here's how she looked on saturday morning. After a lot of pushing and shoving I managed to get her into the daylight for the first time since 2005. The 18 months of standing without movement hasn't done the brakes any favours! After a bit of work I managed to get the pads out and clean up the discs enough just so that I can get the car to move about easier. Whilst there I had a good look at the ball joints and track rod ends to check there condition. The rubber boot on each track rod had a split in it. No problem I have been buying up spares on ebay when ever there was something worth having. It would be a simple job to put the new ones on!! Removal was pure Haynes text book stuff. However when I tried putting the new track rod on the passenger side it was really difficult to start and after one turn it would stick. On close inspection of the thread on the end of the steering knuckle it became apparent that the last time this was track rod was replaced the monkey responsible had managed to cross thread it! Never mind I have a replacement steering knuckle (ebay again) only to fit these you to remove the steering rack in order to be able to bend back the tabs on the locking ring. More time required to carry out the work. Other work that needs to be carried out before going for the MOT is some welding to the swan neck on the drivers side and a small blister on the floor pan next to the sill. One possibly 2 headlamps need replacing the silvering has gone rusty. One of the screws holding down the distributor cap has rouded out (sh*t) making it tricky to checks point etc. Has anyone tried the Accu spark system on their Manta? Might go for that if it works but £30 seems cheap for an electronic system! The cylinder head could do with converting to an unleaded head. Oh and clean the inside yuk!! When funds and time allow I want to replace the exhaust system with a stainless system, upgrade the brakes. I'm sure I will find plenty of things to keep me busy with. My wife (I love her so much) wants us to get another A so we can use that for when the existing one is not on the road. Would be interested in A with straight engine in it, could be the only way I'll have the opportunity to own a TE2800 even if it was a replica. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Good to see her breaking cover after all this time. Doesn't sound like you need to do a ;lot of welding and it looks like that was a good car before it was put away. A good weekend with polish and elbow grease should see it looking great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymanc Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 that looks very nice and a understanding wife,you have it made Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 She had a major restoration in 2002, loads of new panels in all the places they rot plus a full respray. Amazingly there is some sign of the old tin worm coming back worst bit is bottom of the A post where it meets the front wing. But I agree some elbow grease will see her shine once more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Has anyone tried the Accu spark system on their Manta? Might go for that if it works but £30 seems cheap for an electronic system! Hi there, i fitted an accu spark electronic kit to my manta A a couple of weeks ago, bought it direct from the accu spark web site, kit number 16, £29.00 i think, advertised on the bay as well, dead easy to fit and the car is running spot on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayman Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Nice looking A great to see more and more of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Thanks for the feedback johnboy . Will give the Accu spark a try once I've got her running. All this work on our standard A has re-kindled the desire to do something with my own A that has become something of a still born baby. The original intention was to have a V8 track day car a lot of time,money and effort went into sorting out the body and running gear but I never got to the end. I started the project in 1995!!!! During my last stint in the OMOC I discovered that in Europe they did something called a TE2800 This would be much more suited to what I'm doing in my life now. Any way here are some picks of where I got to with my A before I stopped. The shell is in great condition I could just do with another A as a donor for interior or if possible find an A with a straight 6 already in her . The arches on the TE2800 are available from Opel GT in the USA but shipping is the same cost as the arches, unless anyone on the forum knows of a supplier closer to the UK? For now must focus on getting the standard A back on the road, but its good to have dreams. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantaray Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Just noticed that you have modified the front suspention,have you any more pics of how you did it. please. Does moving the antiroll bar to the front make any real difference to how the car handles, what are the benifits of doing this mod. Welcome back BTW, the club must be doing something right, there have been a few old member rejoin the ranks over this last few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hi Mantaray. The work was done along time ago. In order to fit the V8 far enough back and down the original anti roll bar/ lower rear arm are in the way. I have seen a number of other solutions A owners have used to overcome this problem which must work OK as their cars are still working. As the car was meant to be for track use I wanted something with plenty of adjustment. My idea was to remove the bar altogether and replace it with Ford Grp A compression strut, these are infinately adjustable so that you can alter the suspension alignment. The anti roll bar fitted to the front was again a Ford Grp A part which is suppied in different tube wall thickness's to vary roll stiffness, also they can cut to length to suit each application. All the joints are rose jointed. I even had special shims made up as both the anti roll bar and compression strut bolt up through where the rubber bush used to sit in the lower arm. Will try and get some other photos loaded so you can have a look may even be open to offers on the front setup if I can find another A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hi again, like those rims on the back of the car, what where they from originally or what make, size, you wouldn't be selling them would you?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hi Johnboy. If I remmber correctly they are 8x16 Compomotive MO's with zero offset (needed to fill the arch). Unless your running a car with added arches they will stick out past the original arch by about 30mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 OK Thanks for that, running standard arches so no good for mine then, been looking at mx5 wheels and similar but no luck yet, got 17x 7.5 tsw on mine but getting arch contact on the front on lock and it looks a bit over tyred to be honest, will keep looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 The shell is in great condition I could just do with another A as a donor for interior or if possible find an A with a straight 6 already in her . The arches on the TE2800 are available from Opel GT in the USA but shipping is the same cost as the arches, unless anyone on the forum knows of a supplier closer to the UK? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hi Johan. Lovely car, makes me quite jealous .Dont suppose you know the details for the supplier in germany or maybe you just fancy selling your fab motor to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'll give you a pm with the mail adres of my contact person in germany. Russ Brough that owns a Manta A DOT Broadspeed Turbo has maked a TE2800 replica with the parts of this supplier. I'm not selling only collecting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 I was asked for some pics of the front suspension of my track car so here they are. I remmember know that Ford sierra's have a very similar front suspension setup to the A which is why I used the Grp A components. In the first photo the 2 rose joints are used to form the drop link from the end of the anti roll bar and are bolted through onto the end of the compression strut. In the 3rd pic you can see the threaded adjustment so that the suspension angle can be adjusted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantamike Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 (edited) nice work to see the A being brought back to life Track car is a minter too , What kind of wheels are on there? Edited March 11, 2011 by mantamike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Hi Mantamike, thank you for your kind words. the wheels on the track car are 8x16 compomotive MO's with zero offset and 215/40/16 tyres. These just about fill the arches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo16n Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 After a long stint away from the club my wife has decided that she can no longer put up with these modern boring cars. Especially when its a PT Cruiser and keeps breaking down(4 fan belts in 6 months and dont ask how much it costs to replace the alternator). So with great joy it is time to resurrect our beloved Manta A which according to the tax disc was last mobile in June 2005. During its long hibernation I have been starting the old girl and moving her about to stop everything from siezing up. Which was working fine until 18 months ago I put the keys somewhere safe and didn't find them again until dec 2010. Here's how she looked on saturday morning. After a lot of pushing and shoving I managed to get her into the daylight for the first time since 2005. The 18 months of standing without movement hasn't done the brakes any favours! After a bit of work I managed to get the pads out and clean up the discs enough just so that I can get the car to move about easier. Whilst there I had a good look at the ball joints and track rod ends to check there condition. The rubber boot on each track rod had a split in it. No problem I have been buying up spares on ebay when ever there was something worth having. It would be a simple job to put the new ones on!! Removal was pure Haynes text book stuff. However when I tried putting the new track rod on the passenger side it was really difficult to start and after one turn it would stick. On close inspection of the thread on the end of the steering knuckle it became apparent that the last time this was track rod was replaced the monkey responsible had managed to cross thread it! Never mind I have a replacement steering knuckle (ebay again) only to fit these you to remove the steering rack in order to be able to bend back the tabs on the locking ring. More time required to carry out the work. Other work that needs to be carried out before going for the MOT is some welding to the swan neck on the drivers side and a small blister on the floor pan next to the sill. One possibly 2 headlamps need replacing the silvering has gone rusty. One of the screws holding down the distributor cap has rouded out (sh*t) making it tricky to checks point etc. Has anyone tried the Accu spark system on their Manta? Might go for that if it works but £30 seems cheap for an electronic system! The cylinder head could do with converting to an unleaded head. Oh and clean the inside yuk!! When funds and time allow I want to replace the exhaust system with a stainless system, upgrade the brakes. I'm sure I will find plenty of things to keep me busy with. My wife (I love her so much) wants us to get another A so we can use that for when the existing one is not on the road. Would be interested in A with straight engine in it, could be the only way I'll have the opportunity to own a TE2800 even if it was a replica. Why don't you use a distributor off of a Manta gte instead ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Cheers turbo16N hadn't thought about using the GTE stuff if I come across one I'll give it a go. First job for getting the A back on the road is complete. So with two new steering knuckles and track rod ends means the old girl should steer like new. Next job to start is addressing the rust. Now I'm not going to pretend that the amount of rust to sort out is anywhere near the level some of you guys have had to deal with on your projects, but experience tells me whilst it only looks small the actual area effected could be considerably larger. Guess I'll find out tomorrow Need to change the headlamps as the silvering has gone the first problem is undoing the tiny screws that hold the sealed unit it the beam adjuster unit.Soaked them in wd40 give them ago tomorrow failing that I'll have to find away to cut the screws off. In the back of the garage I found a front grill that I had prep'd for the track car might use it on Eileens A. What do you think old grill new grill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manta88 Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Good luck with the projects, i hope it's not got the tin worm like my a has. http://forums.mantaclub.org/topic/25864-manta-1972-sr-auto-project/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 A manta with tin worm surely not Ok so there is more rot than first appeared. It runs down from the top of the swan neck to an inch past the jacking point, but lets look on the up side its only on the driver side. So this means that I'm going to have to remove the front sub frame /engine assembly in order to solve the problem. Bring it on I'm not beaten yet. The PT cruiser is buggered the mantas fighting back, who needs a car when you can walk So I embarked on the process of getting the car ready to remove the front subframe. This would prove a good opportunity to carryout any work that might need doing to the engine/gearbox. So I conducted all the pre-flight checks today before starting her up just to make sure everything is OK. SHE RAN SHE LIVES Why is there water pouring on the floor in the passenger footwell With the cold spell this winter the heater matrix has given up the ghost Never mind just happen to have a spare from the track day car thats been dry stored. Ah well at least the heater matrix will be easier to replace when I can stand in the engine bay So more work to do,oh I think I'll have a look at the clearance for this little beasty maybe its time to turn up the heat from 1.9. Carb,cam, exhaust somebody wake me up before I've spent all the dosh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantadog Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 much meaner look decromed !!! i like it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 A huge thank you to whoever it was that posted about using Triumph Stag headlights. .I ordered a complete set of 4 lamps incl all bulbs paid £70 on ebay for the lot arrived within 2 days all fit perfectly (everso slight difference with wire arrangement). This is exactly why having a club where people are prepared to share information is just priceless. Just for comparisson opel lights on ebay when around are nearly £40 each Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted March 19, 2011 Author Share Posted March 19, 2011 Todays work could be described as a 'bit of a pigs ear' . All will become clear in the photos. Decidied that before removing the front subfame and engine assembly that I would fit the recently purchased brake upgrade kit (thanks Andy)as I had to drain down the brake fluid any way. The kit is the standard set of parts ie vented discs and Volvo 4 pot calipers. All cleaned up ready to go. Changing the parts over is really a matter of just undoing a few bolts here and there. Got to the four star headed bolts on the back of the front hub, first cracked off no problem. The next 2 rounded clean out . Anyone out there know how to get these bolts out now . Ok don't panic I'll just have to keep with the standard brake setup until I can figure this one out. Then in removing the fixed pipe work from the flexible hose the real pigs ear, Ok tail, happened. It has been some time since I used the brake pipe flaring kit but after a bit of effort the deed was done. So most of the day was spent just getting the car back to the state it was in before I started. Oh OK plus 10cm of new brake pipe. The best thing to do I decided was just to get some bits ready for tomorrows mission. Got the heater matrix out of the track car all cleaned up, pressure tested and ready to go. Heres a pic of the car with her new 'eyes' in. Hope tomorrows work moves her forward more than todays. If anyone has removed the rounded out bolts from the back of the hub please share your enlightenment with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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