Mike's Manta.

[Mike.]

I've been looking for a manta gt/e coupe for approximately 10 years now and finally this week I've been able to locate and transport a 1985 gt/e coupe up to Scotland. My search over the years has taken me as far as Boulton, Sheffield and Magerfelt in Ireland as there is very few manta's for sale in my area so being prepared to travel for the right one was the only way, I did feel I had missed a few good opportunities looking back, but at the time the deal or car must not have been right. The manta is just home and I have not had a chance to look over it yet. Initially it looks quite solid although I have ordered both driver and passenger floor pans as I know they are needing attention. This weekend I will check out the chassis legs and if they need work I will address this at the same time. I intend to restore the car thourally to original specification, and hope to get advice on the restoration from the club members. I'm sure as I dig further into the project some surprises will await! I will post pictures as I progress. Here she is tucked away in the garage, I'm building up to a full fresh coat of original white paint, I'll go by the vin plate coding. 

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[Kevin Abbott]

Welcome to the club, good luck with it

[GerryC400]

Solid looking motor Mike, I am a fan of white, Polar or Glacier on a manta. It looks a nice project, am I right thinking its a non sunroof car?

[Mike.]

On a 85 gt/e I think when original it would have been a non sunroof but you know fashion in the 80's was different and the same with cars. Some owner in the past put in a glass sunroof, now it's fitted I can't do anything about it but it is in excellent condition, works and seals very well and the roof skin is in excellent condition so I have a good condition roof and sunroof so it really does not bother me I'm quite happy there is no rust issues with the roof that was always a worry for me. I'll post pictures of it. What's your take on the roof. 

Paint code on vin E452 is this polar or glacier?

Would this Sunday afternoon be ok to pick up headlight seals?

thanks.

 

Edited February 13, 2018 by Mike.
Paint coding

[®evo03]

Nice looking car, looks promising, was this advertised on here? 

[robah]

Welcome to Manta ownership, I bought mine from Grangemouth in 2005 for peanuts compared to todays prices but the shell was rotten.

I wish I could have kept the sunroof on mine, but had the chance of a good solid roof skin with the rest of the work required and opted for the change. I suppose like the rest of the car if it's looked after and the drain channels are kept clean it should stay solid.

Are your plans to keep it standard and return it to the original rear boot spoiler or make a hybrid GTE?

[®evo03]

If your glass sunroof has a black frame, you could get it colour coded, and cover the glass in white perforated vinyl. 

Fair play for holding out, and finding a great base, it looks like it will polish up well, with a machine polish.

[Mike.]

The glass sunroof is white glass With white surround and glass is stamped Saint  Gobain. I would like to change to original GT/E spoiler. Yes I did find and buy the car from a fellow club member who was very helpful and a really nice lad and Aberdeen vehicle transport delivered my car for me again they were really helpful.

 Kit off, wings off and front lights off today just surveying the work that will need to be done. 

[GerryC400]

Your on a roll Mike, good stuff, your welcome to come out morning or late afternoon / evening. Me and my wife are going out for a bit in the afternoon. I had a decent run in the v8 manta today, done about 50 miles in it, un expected nice day today, a cruisey  day, I got a new hobby stopping at filling stations now!!  Taking it to Ricky Gaulds next Friday for a rolling road set up , I have taken it as far as I can setup wise for being an amateur at home. 

The sunroof is nice to keep in the manta I think, After market ones were better option than the factory fitted sunroof, Your roof will be fine. I repaired rot on my 400 R in 2002 / 3 little blisters have started around 3 years ago, I avoid taking it out in the wet as much as I can because of this. It does get wet from time to time which cant be helped. I been thinking about a rothmans replica for some time now , with the roof needing attention and I just finished rebuilding a redtop for it, got all the bits to do the engine conversion s, so I might take the plunge in the next while ,will see.

I assume you got a headlight conversion in your car as its got the 400 spoiler.  Are you going to take it back to standard GTE spec with square lights?  Its all part of the fun , making choices. My brother in law had a C plate gte with twin headlight conversion and the lip spoiler on the boot in Polar white, he put a lovely opel decal along the bottom of the door at the time it ran onto the quarter in front of the rear wheel, that was the car he always regretted selling . I wished I could have afforded it at the time. Making up for it now though ..........

[Mike.]

I do want to fit a standard GT/E spoiler, but I'm away to take off the 3 piece soon and evaluate the damage regarding panels and holes and if it's easy repaired then standard will be going back on, I think original is best, although I really like the 3 piece! i did get the quad lights with it all wrapped up in bubble wrap and they are a must in my opinion it's the only change I'm going to make, but I want to keep the square lights just in case I want to revert back, they seem in good condition.

the wife and I will do some shopping in Inverurie this afternoon         ( looking for tools for the manta ) I'll  pop over to yours late afternoon 

thanks again.

 

[Mike.]

Just fitted my passenger door mirror I collected from GerryC400 today as a swap for my passenger door mirror blank. The car looks more balanced now. Looked at my quad lights tonight and they are the metal framed backs with flat fronted Lucas glass. Thanks for the help and advice 

[Mike.]

New floor pans arrived today. Hopefully fitting them soon.

[GerryC400]

That's half way through your week off  mike, keep the big push going . You got a lot done so far. Your enthusiasm and energy, spot on.

[Mike.]

Just got the old girl started and running, water pump sounds a bit dry but apart from that all good. I'm now confident I can take the engine out now for my welding and restoration.

[Mike.]

Pictures of my sunroof, all cleaned and wd40'd and the rubber seals scrubbed and treated. The condition of my roof is excellent, no dreaded rust at all to deal with here which was always my biggest concern, floorpans, sills etc I feel will still be a lot of work but easier to repair than a roof.

just awaiting arrival of my rollover jig, hopefully be this week then engine out running gear off then up on jig for welding.

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Good for the sunny days we get in Scotland,

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Edited May 5, 2018 by Mike.
Edited

[Mike.]

Engine out tonight. This now leaves gear box and running gear but that will be another nights work.

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The 2.0 cih 8v engine removed and away to get a complete strip down and rebuild,

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Edited April 25, 2018 by Mike.
Edited

[Mike.]

Manta b rollover jig arrived today, it comes flat and I need to weld it together or there was the option to buy ready made, but I chose to save a few pounds and opted flat pack. 

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Edited May 19, 2018 by Mike.
Photo.

[Mike.]

Gear box out tonight and rollover jig welded up.

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[®evo03]

How did you find removing the engine and leaving gearbox behind?

Would you try to refit engine with gearbox in car, or both together, or as factory fitted them, car body up, engine box and front suspension under?

[garymanc]

46 minutes ago, ®evo03 said:

How did you find removing the engine and leaving gearbox behind?

Would you try to refit engine with gearbox in car, or both together, or as factory fitted them, car body up, engine box and front suspension under?

easy enough if you get it at the correct angle , not as easy putting it back in though 

[Mike.]

The engine split from bell housing really easy and the gear box came out below the car, just jacked it up. My garage height is 2.4 metres from floor to roof truss so I'm hoping I have enough room to turn car on jig, will soon find out.

[®evo03]

Yeh, CIHs are not too bad, except 4 the bulky sump!

xe redtops are curse words all over the friggin place!! Especially the winged sump.

Opel had it sussed from the beginning

[garymanc]

4 hours ago, ®evo03 said:

Yeh, CIHs are not too bad, except 4 the bulky sump!

xe redtops are curse words all over the friggin place!! Especially the winged sump.

Opel had it sussed from the beginning

sure are , i did mine on my flagged drive with gravel in between  and had to move some flags over a few inches to get the hoist in 

[Mike.]

I have been struggling to remove the heater box from the engine bay, as I want to tidy up the battery tray and paint the engine bay when the engine is out. I have visited this issue about four nights and always retreated for the night defeated but instead of getting frustrated and ending up breaking something I spent a little time trying to look for hidden fixings as everything visable was out. I eventually found four bolts two in the dash space where the stereo would go and two were hidden behind the ashtray once removed the heater box came out easily. Just shows you how the hours stack up on such a little job, just as well my time is free!

[®evo03]

You could always ask here, we have all been there before, i could probably do this blindfolded, armed with an 8mm spanner and starhead.