paul691 Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 (edited) I have been working on my Manta on and off for the past 6, almost 7, years. I think its time I posted a thread in the projects section. Its way overdue. I'll go right back to the beginning..... Introduction and a little history (2006): I bought my Manta in 2006 on ebay for £2200. The car had a Carlton 3.0 straight 6 (12v) engine fitted and just had the 400 kit fitted & painted. Some work needed to be finished on the engine and also the bonnet had been modified to give clearance on the engine and needed finishing. I had the car stored at my work while I was working on it. It was winter time and after a few nights of frost the engine wouldnt start, it was seized, I couldnt even get it to turn over with attempted bump starts. So I decided I'd swap the engine for a 3.0 24v and soon after I was the proud owner of a MOT failure Carlton GSI. In the meantime I had bought some different wheels and was swapping them over to sell the ones on the car when I noticed some small bubbling on the left hand chassis leg. I got a screw diver and soon after the small bubble turned into this: Then I knew this car would be off the road for a while. So I stripped the Carlton, Stored the engine and made a profit on the other parts. I started removing the Manta interior and got it on stands and started stripping the engine out to see what I had to work with. I soon started to find more rust, floor pans, left and right chassis leg, A pillar, boot floor & rear arches. Some of the rust had been covered up by the body shop who fitted the kit and I doubted if the owner actually knew how bad it was. It was difficult working on the car outside and I got very little done, the car spent almost 12 months under cover. Edited September 2, 2013 by paul691 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 (edited) Refurb (2006/07). As it was winter I started to refurbish what I removed. Front axle was first. Sand blasted, painted and poly bushed with Apex spring. (This axel is now on my v8 as I want only zinced and powder coated axle on my project). Edited September 2, 2013 by paul691 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 (edited) During this time I started buying up spares and new parts, including: Rot free doors GM Left hand leg Dr. Manta parts: repair panels for sill & jacking points, bolts Quaife quick rack Suspension Replacement boot lid Trevor Lewis 400 bonnet 2007, A new home for me and my Manta. I moved home in September of '07 and had a garage built as a new home for the Manta. Edited September 2, 2013 by paul691 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 2008. I got the car up on some high axle stands ready for its restoration. RH Sill Replacement. The first of my panels to replace. I cut out the old sill to find this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novasportc550 Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Nice looking manta there. Will enjoy the rebuild Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 (edited) 2008 Continued. Repairs to inner sill: Sill fitted: Edited September 2, 2013 by paul691 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Shame the body shop wasted time putting a nice coat of paint on a car that needed restoration. You are taking your time but at least it's getting the care it deserves. Please keep us updated, it's gonna be a good one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymanc Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 good to see your still cracking on with your projects , i collected some seats from you for another member a few years back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upk Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Ha ha! It's good to know its not only me who gets sidetracked during a project, however at the moment you have the time record on me!! I have been on this forum so long I now get dejavu regularly. Sure I've seen those big blue garage doors on here before?? Good to see you got your mojo back, that makes 2 of us, but I reckon I may be a bit nearer the finish!! Keep the progress reports coming. Kev 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 Ha ha! It's good to know its not only me who gets sidetracked during a project, however at the moment you have the time record on me!! I have been on this forum so long I now get dejavu regularly. Sure I've seen those big blue garage doors on here before?? Good to see you got your mojo back, that makes 2 of us, but I reckon I may be a bit nearer the finish!! Keep the progress reports coming. Kev Yeah you would have seen those pictures years back. I think I posted asking about repairing the legs. I've got loads of updates and pics to post on here yet. I'll post some more after work today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Fish Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Excellent! Keep up the good work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robah Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Looking good there, I have had mine since 2005 (off the road ). I recently lost my mojo, and finally gave it to someone to finish off. I have no garage and always finding excuses on why not to finish. I envy all that can carry on even when the chips are down. Looking forward to watching this thread build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 In 2009 & 2010 I didnt do much with the car at all. I had bought a second Manta with a Rover v8. I had been playing with that a bit too much (I feel another project thread coming on....). 2011, Repairs to A-Pillar and floor & arch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 2011 Chassis leg replacement. Time for a big job. first off I manufactured a jig before I did any cutting. this way I could keep all the bolt holes where they needed to be and support the front of the car better. Next I cut out the old leg. Fitting the new leg: The job was easy enough. As i had a GM chassis leg as a replacement it fitted perfect. No reworking needed. Lots of plug welds and grinding off. I have also decided to stitch weld everything now, so that seam sealer has to come off. I would never attempt this job without some kind of jig to keep everything rigid during welding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Abbott Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Nice work Did the jig sell? What did I bring over to you that day a while ago as I can't for the life of me remember? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 Now that the right side of the car was nearing completion I started to move to the rear. I had a bit of time off between jobs and managed to make a bit of progress quite quickly on the rear. The back panel had some rough repairs on the bottoms. Rust was covered with filler and some untidy repair patches on the boot floor. 2012. Spare wheel well & rear panel. General condition of the car, removal of back panel & spare wheel well and replacement: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 Nice work Did the jig sell? What did I bring over to you that day a while ago as I can't for the life of me remember? Jig sold, Hopefully it will be used to get another Manta back on the road. I honestly can remember what it was. did you come to mine then? Something I bought from you? Or was I selling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta again Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Great work so far. Like James said what a waste of money having a bodyshop do all that work to a car thats need restoration. Looks like she's in good hands now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 4, 2013 Author Share Posted September 4, 2013 2013. I'm almost up to date with this thread now. I was working away from home again most of 2013. I returned home from work and holidays in July and got quite a bit done on the left had of the car. My work took me to Germany this year and on my return home (in my van) I stopped off at Dr Manta and spent 700 Euros with him. I bought some body panels from him including the A pillar, chassis leg for the left hand (with reinforcing) & rear lower quarters. First job though was the sill. Condition was a bit worse than the right hand, especially the inner sill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 4, 2013 Author Share Posted September 4, 2013 (edited) Repairs: New parts fabricated, welded and seam sealed. Painted in epoxy primer: Ready for welding: Edited September 4, 2013 by paul691 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 4, 2013 Author Share Posted September 4, 2013 I should also mention, in 2012 I made a frame with castors for the car to sit on so I can move it around my garage as needed. It makes life so much easier and the car is higher off the floor than it was on axle stands. You can just about see the frame in some of those last pics. I'll get a picture of it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 5, 2013 Author Share Posted September 5, 2013 Next job, Dr Manta chassis leg (with reinforcings). Heres a few pictures of the general condition of the original leg: I did a rough cut out of an old patch repair on the floor to reveal this: Cut at the front end of the leg: I picked up this kit from Dr Manta on my drive home from Germany earlier this year. It seems very well made but I had to trim the reinforcing to get a perfect fit. Inner half of the leg ready for welding: And outer half welded: Rear portion of the leg fitted: Setting up the jacking point: Plug welds smoothed off , seam stitch welded and jig finally removed: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 5, 2013 Author Share Posted September 5, 2013 Oh, Pictures of the frame the car now sits on: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 5, 2013 Author Share Posted September 5, 2013 A Pillar repair: Same kind of repair as I did on the right side, but this time I used a Dr Manta panel. I had to rework the panel a bit as some of the bends were not sharp enough and did not match the original panel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul691 Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 Im back home from working away and I have a few days to work on the car. My new floor pans arrived at home while I was away, so I got cracking with the left hand floor. This weekends progress: Welded up and left chassis leg is now fully stitch welded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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