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Mike's Manta.


Mike.
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Dash and wiring looms now being installed  today,

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Rear fog light fitted, just a small detail but adds to the character of the back of the Manta, 

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Wax oil is going to be applied today, wheels will be put back on and raised on a four poster ramp for this job,

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Front number plate fitted,

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rear number plate fitted, she’s starting to come together nicely now, it’s all the small jobs that seem to make a difference,

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Friday is the target finish date with the bodyshop, I’m all organised for collection on Friday with a trailer, I’m hoping the weather is favourable. 

Edited by Mike.
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yep! getting there, looking sharp! would you have fitted a fog light, or two, one each side,  to the reflector section of rear lights. although its not standard, but what is?

they were not designed with a fog light, and fogs are only needed for uk, i think? 

just interested, some like maxing out the lights of a manta and deleting add ons, ariels, fogs, mudflap, exterior mirrors, etc.

cant wait to see this car completed. 

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Hi evo03,

the rear fog light for me is just one of those odd things that make the rear of the Manta special for me, you just wouldn’t see an add on like this with any other make, I’m going to stick with the one .... I like it. 

decals will be fitted Friday morning, for me that is another exciting step, that will finish  off the paintwork and add the final touches to the exterior. 

The rear quarter glass was temporarily fitted today as well, both of them had one metal tab which had fallen off, so the bodyshop used some metal to glass adhesive to reattach the tabs and I sourced some new reprotec rubber b pillar inserts to cushion and locate the tabs into.

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I’m sure these will be used in the sunny days,

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The new rubbers for b pillar,

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I still need to fit headliner then window and door rubbers, so these will need to come out again, just fitted in so it’s easier to take home this weekend.

Edited by Mike.
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It's looking spot-on! This is going to be a cracker once completed!

Amazing the difference the plates make! Will look even better once the decals are fitted. 

I always liked the opening side windows as well! Great if you have dogs! I agree with you re the single foglight! Keep it standard! 

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A busy Friday on the Manta, Brian the local sign writer fitted the Manta GT/E decals and engine bay sticker,

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A bit of detail for the engine bay,

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Manta ready to come home, bodyshop has completed all the work required to bring her up to spec, making her like new again, 

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That’s me on the right picking up my Manta from Gray and Adams bodyshop in Fraserburgh this afternoon, Darren the bodyshop manager and Ross. The team have went above and beyond, their attention to detail has been brilliant, 475 hours labour has went into this part of the bodywork alone, panel prep, alignment, guide coat, sanding and spraying, to be honest the finished job has way exceeded my expectations, absolutely delighted with the results,

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back home in my garage now, I’m keen to start finishing off the small jobs still to do,

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the decals really finished Off the exterior,

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I’m going to enjoy the rest of the build, probably towards the end of the year I envisage for completion,

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Edited by Mike.
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This weekend I ran in the wiring loom to the back lights, number plate and the wire to the fuel sender. I then renewed both braided fuel pipes exiting the bottom of the fuel tank and fitted it in the boot, along with the rubber grommet on the filler neck. I also fitted a new fuel pump underneath the rear of the Manta.

 I bought a car cover last year and I’ve always been keen to get it fitted as they made it especially for the Manta GT/E coupe from a temple they have, trust us it will fit exactly they said, true enough it certainly hugs all the curves. Its softshell material on top with microfibre inside, Opel blitz embroidered on the bonnet, machine washable, there is pockets for the door mirrors but I will be a while yet before I get round to fitting these, I have just tucked these in for now,

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Edited by Mike.
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I ordered a new headliner from east Kent trim supplies, they cut the new one from the pattern of the old liner. It’s taken me four evenings to fit it, firstly I placed the rods into the pockets and hung it up, measuring carefully to centre it side to side. I couldn’t go wrong front to back as the exposed roll bar on b pillar inside was my starting point. Then I used a small convector heater to soften the material and I was able to use 3M contact adhesive and pull out the creases on the roll bar and tack into place. Then I finished off the back, then onto the front. After it was all fitted I put contact adhesive around the sunroof waited till it dried then stuck the liner to the sunroof surround without creasing, then cut out the excess, folded the overlaps into sunroof channels, fitted rubber covers then sunroof,

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Next was on to the rear quarter cards, seatbelts, rubbers and bronze glass,

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still got sun visors and rear view mirror to fit, I’ll leave that for tomorrow.

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Looks great Mike, you must be well happy to get her home, like i mentioned before the details on finishing makes the difference between an A or B restoration, yours looks A+!

Where did you get the cover from and is water proof or more like an internal dust cover?

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The cover is from Specialised covers, mine is the prestige plus. This one is an indoor cover as my Manta will always be garaged. I bought it to keep the dust off and to save dampness during winter months. It’s soft shell on top with microfibre inside, breathable and Machine washable. They embroidered the Opel blitz badge on the front, I had to source the internet to get the correct logo then forward it to them in an e mail, it adds a touch of detail. It’s amazing when you go looking how much the Opel logo has changed over the years, I wanted to keep it the same as the blitz on the nosecone of the Manta. It fits quite tight which I like. It will also protect it in the garage from scuffs and scratches from people passing by. Two minutes takes it off or puts it on. There is external waterproof options if you wanted.

Edited by Mike.
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Another productive day spent assembling the Manta trim,

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both door mirrors fitted,

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The passenger door originally came with a blank, but I had chosen to fit a mirror to the passenger side purely for ease of reversing into spaces, garage etc,

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both latch and lock assemblies fitted,

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Door shut adjusted on both sides,

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Finished off the headliner by fitting both sun visors, rear view mirror and courtesy light,

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Vectra b battery tray works well with original manta retaining bracket,

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Finished off the day by adding new switches to the A pillars,

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Edited by Mike.
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Great work Mike, it’s really coming along fast.

You said last week that you thought you would finish around the end of the year - at this rate it will be the end of June!

I bet fitting the door handles made you sweat a bit from worrying about the paint.

Did you add any tape or similar to act as protection?

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22 hours ago, bris jas said:

Where did you get the cover from and is water proof or more like an internal dust cover?

Only worth while external cover is one of these. 

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It was a manta living under there, awaiting restoration, its a curtain sider off a 40ft lorry. Wouldnt cover a painted car with it, but..... look at it like this, i would rather have a bone dry car than a rot box after a couple of years. And this cover was 100% waterproof, after 31days solid rain! 

A2366BDD-5CA5-43DE-A9DD-8EB3F194CE17.thumb.jpeg.494f513794c923ef41a58f239ee1e79d.jpeg

But this is such a good idea for indoors

Edited by ®evo03
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The headliner was a bit of a nightmare to fit if I’m honest, I took four nights to fit, slow going, just to make sure all creases were out and it wasn’t stretched too much, perseverance got me through in the end. The door catch assembly’s took forever to fit as well, I started on the drivers door but couldn’t get the lock to work, I moved on to the passenger side to see how it fitted and it worked first time, but I noticed one rod was in a different location, I removed a rod from the driver side and adjusted it so it was the same set up as the passenger side and it worked spot on. The rod must have been put in the wrong place after it was removed for storage. It’s always a bonus to have another side for comparison. I would agree a bit of nerves when trying to close the doors for the first time. Just double checking everything before I moved on to the next stage.

Petrol tank concealing card, boot liner, spare wheel and jack set fitted tonight,

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Edited by Mike.
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Heater box inside engine bay fitted in evenings this week, along with some radiator hoses, I have had the heater running on the bench and have confirmed it works well both in high and low settings, I ran in the window washer jet hoses and the under bonnet light, is there a mercury filled glass bulb on this one, just beside the spade connectors, how does this work? The bulb that is in has blown so I will get a replacement soon,

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heater pipes also fitted into and under dashboard,

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still some cabling to run in so lower dash and glovebox will be fitted at a later point. The wiring looms in the engine bay is another area I will need to spend some time on, tidying it up, hopefully this coming weekend.

Edited by Mike.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Today’s big job was to get the front and rear screens fitted, in preparation i laid the rubber seals out in the sun to warm up and soften a little,

Two weeks ago I contacted Auto Windscreens and they were able to supply a brand new bronze tint front screen with blue sun-strip, here the front screen is being fitted with the rubber then the string wrapped round to pull it in,

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Bronze tint front screen fitted,

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I was able to give the lad a lift in and a help when required,

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Original rear bronze screen all prepared ready for installation,

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It’s always a relief when both are in and fitted, what a difference it makes, just another step closer to the finish line,

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Front bronze screen details,

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Edited by Mike.
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Hi Mike, thanks for the details. The original bronce screen of the "400" was twice repaired by "Carglass" in Belgium but both repairs went back into the damaged situation. Normally they give live-long guarantee but when I said them about my case they just said those old screens are not available anymore...

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Hi H-400,

when I spoke with Auto Windscreens there was no issue at all ordering a new one, and requesting bronze glass and blue sun-strip, the only thing they stipulated was a two week waiting time to get one made. I was glad this morning to see the new one in the back of the van!

so new ones are definitely available.

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27 minutes ago, Mike. said:

Hi H-400,

when I spoke with Auto Windscreens there was no issue at all ordering a new one, and requesting bronze glass and blue sun-strip, the only thing they stipulated was a two week waiting time to get one made. I was glad this morning to see the new one in the back of the van!

so new ones are definitely available.

Do you mind me asking how much the screen was? I have a good clear one but ideally want the correct screen for a black GTE which I think would have a bronze Sun strip? 

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