Hi To All

[manta81]

being 51 ,I owned a manta in 1982 it was one of the nicest cars I had back in the 8os it was a 1978 berlinetta coupe sr in white according to the hpi its still about not scrapped yet ela 78t .

ive been looking for a coupe for sometime and recently found one which was in a workshop bought from a friend. its the last of the older b shape 1981 coupe in orange with manual box, no sunroof which is great, also its got black plastic bumpers and the body mouldings seem to be non existent unsure if the later manta had them.

I want to restore it although this is my trade anyhow im looking for many parts for it, ie, alloy wheels, all the chrome like the side mouldings and chrome bumpers and a good front valance . luckily all of the body panels are amazing and rust free even the arches .

for anyone that does know me they can see my progress on my facebook page

Classic Cars For Sale by C M Classic & Sports Car Restoration

I will in the months to come be updating pictures of the rebuild as I go and their also you will find cars that ive either restored and bought and sold .

the manta will be done as a shell up rebuild but im not intending to paint floor as the last car I did I will keep it simple yet perfect . colour im yet to decide I do tend to pick none original colours but I do try and pick a opel colour of that period .

any help with parts would be appreciated clive

[1900SR]

Welcome to the forum, I'm not a million miles from you in Sutton Bridge. Can't really help with the parts though, not got much for the B. Must say the black plastic bumpered Mantas are very rare, they didn't sell many at all.

[MarkB1]

Hi Clive, welcome to the club. You'll find a lot of help getting what you need. One thing, the late b series did actually have plastic bumpers not chrome.

My 1982 Berlinetta had black plastic bumpers and a body moulding along the swage line.

Dave Smith has a 1982 Coupe so take a look at his car it's standard and immaculate.

Hope this helps.

Mark

[manta81]

many thanks guys yes I thought the manta b last of the old shape had a upgrade with all black but I think at some point the mouldings on the swage have been removed . I will try and get the vin and reg of it and do some checks .

I assume that the vin will tell me a lot , when I restored a 1966 mustang I know from the vin it told you everything even where it was made.

if anyone needs to make contact im on facebook

Edited June 12, 2014 by manta81

[MANTAMAN]

Hi Clive, welcome to the Manta forum.

The features of your car are probably how it left the facrtory, the Black plastic bumpers where fitted to all the last pre-facelift Manta B's, the absence of side srtips could be correct, some 70's Manta's never has them, GT/J for instance and often at the end of a model production run supply of certain parts dry up and are not fitted, all the very last Manta's didn't have sound proofing over the pedalbox because Opel had run out of it and wasn't going to make a new batch for a few cars.

The VIN will tell you the paint code and trim code, but specifically what was on the the car when it left the factory will be hard if not immpossible to establish.

[Jack]

Hello Clive and welcome to the Manta club!

I'm currently still after my first Manta and can't wait when I find mine. When you are looking for parts on your Car you can't ask a more friendly bunch in my experience. I'm sure I will be needing help and advice about my Manta when I get it because I have never restored a Car before, never gas welded either so these are all skills that I can learn through simply owning a Manta.

It's nice to know that your old Manta has not been scrapped, all of the Mantas that have been in my family have all been scrapped I think apart from one. Hopefully not all but none of the six my godfather has owned are still on the road apart from his last one which still is. And my fathers Blue Hatchback never made it past 2004.

Best of luck with your restoration, hope it turns out as you want it.

Jack.

[1900SR]

Be interested to see pics of the Manta, sounds like it might be a GT/J if it's not got side strips or alloys. If it is then it will be one of only a small handfull left.

[manta81]

hi all, thanks for the replys yes its a 1981 gtj reg ews819w orange with purple interior and rostyles front and rear spoiler and 2.0 1979 engine. pictures are on my facebook page look for clive moss and you should find link .its very solid wings were off in inspect and as yet no rot. may well restore it to its correct colour as I think that when done someone may want a manta coupe which is like you say rare and correct.

codes a533 055

chassis

5805216555

regards clive ps I would like to pop into the manta meet at billing

Edited June 13, 2014 by manta81

[smiffy220]

Hi Clive, that would be a very rare car as an original orange GT/J. It wouldn't have the side mouldings, effectively it was the base model, and the black bumpers are correct for that year.

Mines a year older, but is the SR Berlinetta model so does have the side mouldings, albeit getting hold of another set of these would be really hard. I would suggest, as it's your car so do what you want with it, that you leave it standard, keep the original colour and restore it to what it should be. It would be a very rare car indeed.

As MarkB1 said earlier, I was very lucky in finding my original B back in 2009, and it is totally original also. Mine is believed to be the only Pistachio Green SRB coupe left, and yours would probably be equally as rare. Is there any other orange GT/J's about does anyone know, I've never seen one!

Dave

[manta81]

with the chassis numbers surely you can get all the info from that does anyone have the opel archives?

it seems pretty unmolested and the colour is original and there does seem to be boot spoiler and front spoiler and rostyles fitted. black bumpers, trim is a purple colour and with a clean is pretty mint.

original sterio, after this has come to light im going to restore it to original spec.

clive

[1900SR]

Any archives are held in Germany by Opel Classic in Russelsheim. Not sure how you'd get access to them though.

[Scribe of Lincoln]

Sounds like an original GT/J to me - lucky man!

Hope you keep it original with the Rostyles and original Orange Colour - a very rare Manta B indeed.

Glad to see it's living in Lincolnshire too!!

[spiney_norman]

+1 for keeping it original, there are very few GT/J Mantas left. Stradacab has a bit of a fetish for them as well, I'm sure he'll be along soon demanding pictures and dribbling onto his keyboard!

[manta81]

the chap I got it from is a Bedford Vauxhall collector took some persuading to get him to let it go! he has in his collection and I know hes selling some as hes moving his cars and restricted for room, a mk1cavalier in amazing condition, also another later manta hatch hes buying off me a Bedford ca 1958, hes already bought off me two Vauxhall victors 101 saloons, and a victor fb estate 1963.

I do happen to get a few Vauxhalls as this is my main business selling classic cars but I have a soft spot for the manta and yes I now reaslise that they only made three colours and this is the the yellow ochre version not with black interior though its black and purple .

clive

[cousinj]

If it helps that isn't yellow ochre. Flame red I seem to remember it being called although orange to the eye. If its original paint it may still come back to life with some attention the paint was very strong and was a stunning col our. And might be worth a try on a small area just so you can see.I doubt modern paint can match the original for gloss and depth. Good luck with the restoration. John

[manta81]

I don't do bodge ups the paint is beyond and as the body needs restoration rust areas etc , the cars going to get the clive moss special and that's a strip down to shell, leave dash in and remove all interior, suspension and blast everything back. once its done its being sold what price I don't know what ever some ones willing to spend on it.

don't know if anyone realises I restore for a living. sometimes I have just done areas to body but when and car has marks rust spots all over its just as quick to repaint. im trying to find the paint im off to paint shop tomorrow with the code and will let you know I think im right , theres only three colours made on this car and its not red its more orange , defo not green!

cheers

[spiney_norman]

Think there were four colours available for the GT/J. Orange, Yellow Ochre, Pine Green or Polar White!

[MANTAMAN]

I've seen a broucher with a GT/J in Grey !!! perhaps might have been available only in europe or more likely a strange non-standard colour used by the marketing department.

[manta81]

I got the info from this site perhaps the facts are not right then?

http://www.mantaclub.org/archive/manta_b_early_coupe.htm

[manta81]

mind you if you read the link it says in 81 all standard colours as the car was re introduced?

[1900SR]

Paint code 533 is Mandarin Red, which as others said was more of an orange, so it looks like that's the colour of your one Clive.

[MANTAMAN]

I was at Santa Pod today, Retro Show, good show, the V8 register were there with a couple of Manta's, got talking to the owner of one, Two slot that started as a GT/J, it had been repainted red, an original period GM colour but he showed me an area of the boot that was the original colour, Pale lime Green, so this is another colour for a GT/J though this one could be unique, this Manta was registered in 1982, very late for a two slot, so this might have rolled down the production line in green and the only trim they had left was GT/J, here's a photo ot -

The Rover 3.6L sits in there a treat, and it doesn't weigh much more than a CIH

not alot to give the game away except the twin pipes

this is one of neatest fog lamp instillations i've seen, it's an Austin Metro item and it is fitted to the rear bumper steel channel.

Oh in case your thinking it's a shame a rare GT/J has been converted, when he aquired this Manta it was just another down at heal example that needed restoring.