Remanufactured Panels - B series Battery Tray Repair Panel (RHD)

[Sutty2006]

I wouldn’t drop this, I’d be pressing it on. A great thing for actual members to make use of their membership by getting panels at a slightly discounted rate. 

[paulmanta]

I'm not on any other platform so I have no idea who Dave is or what he's up to. 

Morally it seems right to support the club, it's a kind of support it or lose it deal at this stage in the manta game,  lets face it, the numbers are dwindling and it's not going to get better. 

Club officers work for free and spend their free time doing things like this so to be "beaten" to it" by a private individual who will possibly be making money out of it is a bit crappy. 

 

As an aside, I have a brand new boot floor for a coupe that could be copied if this still all goes ahead. 

Edited July 18, 2021 by paulmanta

[Sutty2006]

And surely we could come to some arrangement where the club buys a healthy stock of the panels and keeps them for future members. I know logistics and storage is key in that one, but I have enough room in my lockup to put some racking and can store larger items.

[Danny D114BCW]

1 hour ago, paulmanta said:

I'm not on any other platform so I have no idea who Dave is or what he's up to. 

Morally it seems right to support the club, it's a kind of support it or lose it deal at this stage in the manta game,  lets face it, the numbers are dwindling and it's not going to get better. 

Club officers work for free and spend their free time doing things like this so to be "beaten" to it" by a private individual who will possibly be making money out of it is a bit crappy. 

 

As an aside, I have a brand new boot floor for a coupe that could be copied if this still all goes ahead. 

That would be a good panel 

[Irmscher Man]

On 18/07/2021 at 10:04, paulmanta said:

I'm not on any other platform so I have no idea who Dave is or what he's up to. 

Morally it seems right to support the club, it's a kind of support it or lose it deal at this stage in the manta game,  lets face it, the numbers are dwindling and it's not going to get better. 

Club officers work for free and spend their free time doing things like this so to be "beaten" to it" by a private individual who will possibly be making money out of it is a bit crappy. 

 

As an aside, I have a brand new boot floor for a coupe that could be copied if this still all goes ahead. 

Thanks Paul….and everyone else that has supported the progress. I’ve just been getting a little frustrated with the speed that Expressed Panels are working at as we are completely in their hands now. They have our panels, they have made samples and have priced up the items (as per the three posts about battery tray, a series front panel and coupe rear panel.) I’m getting nothing back from them at the moment, so need to keep chasing them.

I did specifically ask Dave not to tread on the clubs toes on this one, as it would make sense if we all worked on different panels, and then we would all get the benefit. He decided to ignore that request and start speaking to folks about what parts they wanted. He isn’t a club member so doesn’t really have anything invested in our process or the success of our scheme. He is not using the same supplier as us, and will not be offering them at cost price or with any discount to OMOC members. All proceeds will end up…..well…..not in the club account helping to make more panels/parts. I could have happily funded a venture like this myself and made a few quid for myself……I didn’t think that was particularly ethical though.

 

[Irmscher Man]

Bit of an update, I spoke to Express today and the reason they have been so slow at getting thing off the ground is they are moving to new premises….quite a big job as they have two industrial panel presses, obviously these are massive bits of equipment. They are building a new facility for hand finishing the panels too, which will speed up the whole process. I think they have been victims of their own success, as so many people have been buying panels during lockdown down, they need more capacity and staff to keep up.

On the Battery tray front, the original part they have has been chemically dipped and prepared for tooling, so almost ready to use. I explained the situation and he is going to put this part at the front of the queue when they open up again. I will be speaking with them again again later on in the week.

 

[Jessopia74]

Thanks for update.

I sympathise with their dilemma about premises move.  it's going to take them a while to move and then get caught up, so the bits are on the horizon I guess, but we just need to be a little more patient.

[Irmscher Man]

Just to let you know that I had a good chat with Dave last night and have established that he is more focussed on making repair panels (his obvious background is with the Chevettes/ Kadetts). He has been interested in branching out into making other repair panels however and I'm aware he has been chatting to a few people from the OMOC. I have known Dave for quite a few years (in fact, I gave him a hand when they were setting up the Chev and Kad group), so that has been an advantage.

The OMOC scheme is concentrating on hard to find panels that will aid restorations (as that is the core ethos of the club - "Preserve and Promote the Opel Manta"). The Battery tray repair panel has been in the pipeline for over 2 years now, so we are ploughing on with that one.  Dave has looked into the feasibility of getting these made up by his manufacturer, so if the existing option with Expressed Panels doesn't start to show progress soon, Dave and I can pick this up and kick off the process with them. They seem to have a much faster turn around time, (although that wouldn't be hard). From what Dave tells me, this manufacturer use Zintec steel so the panels are more likely to keep in storage for longer than the mild steel ones. He has agreed that we wont compete on the manufacture/supply of parts, as that would be counter productive to both of us.

I'm still chasing up Expressed Panels on this one however, so the good news is that we now have two avenues open to us.

[Danny D114BCW]

Can we just tell Express panels to jog on? they sound a total shower of shite. You have done everything apart from go and press the things yourself! 

[mepbowles]

From what I've seen, Dave doesn't make much on the panels but feedback is good. The zintec is a nice touch. If Express are being such an issue, is there not a solution to be found with Dave and his supplier. Or would that be stepping on his toes?

[Irmscher Man]

Bit of an update as I spoke to Expressed panels today. The battery tray is next to go into production and they hope to have the first items available within the next few weeks. Production starts on Saturday, so I will check in with them again next week and see how things are going. 

[Jessopia74]

Great stuff Paul

[Irmscher Man]

Manta B Battery Repair Panels - UPDATE

 

For all those of you that showed an interest in the remanufactured Manta B Battery Tray repair panels. I have spoken with Mike, the MD of Expressed Steel Panels today and he has confirmed that the initial run of 20 panels has been pressed and is now ready to go into finishing.

We are in discussion about whether to have the battery retaining lug as a separate item, so that you can locate it wherever you wish...and use a larger battery (or delete the part entirely).

Note -  I will be sending emails out to you individually in the near future with further details on how to pay etc. Various payment methods can be accepted (Paypal / bank transfer etc / Credit card etc)

[Jessopia74]

Its been a while( we all know how much Covid has messed us all up here, no criticism), but it great to see things starting to move along 👍

[Irmscher Man]

Manta B Battery Tray Repair Panel - UPDATE 11th Oct '21

Further news from the manufacturers this morning, and the first batch of 20 Battery trays are pressed and are being prepared today, so we will be in a position to start taking orders for these imminently.

 

I would like to make ordering them as simple as possible, so we will contact everyone who expressed an interest with order details.

We will accept payment via Paypal or direct Bank Transfer, (which would be preferable as it would save the club some funds as we wont have to pay the 2.9% transaction fee)

 

Cost per item is £114.14 +VAT (£136.99)- and club members will get a 10% discount (£123.30). I'm not sure of shipping costs yet, as we haven't had them weighed and obviously, this will be dependant on where they are being sent.  They should be ready for shipping by next week with any luck, but will keep you all posted.

 

As you can see, the Battery Clamp is not fixed, so you can use the locating points to fix this as per the original, or move or delete it to your requirements. The Captive nut is also not fitted so will need to be sorted as part of fitment. This has helped to keep finishing costs down.

[Jessopia74]

Replied 🍻

[Irmscher Man]

15 hours ago, Jessopia74 said:

Replied 🍻

Cheers - emails sent out with next steps etc.

[mantasrme]

Thats a lot longer panel than i was expecting and will certainly cover all the rust i have ever seen in that area. But mainly it gives the option of fitting the full panel and not having to make a join along the flat section that could be an issue down the line.

I suppose it would also be useful when converting from left hand drive to right hand drive

[Irmscher Man]

On 12/10/2021 at 12:37, mantasrme said:

Thats a lot longer panel than i was expecting and will certainly cover all the rust i have ever seen in that area. But mainly it gives the option of fitting the full panel and not having to make a join along the flat section that could be an issue down the line.

I suppose it would also be useful when converting from left hand drive to right hand drive

Yes, it’s a good size isn’t it! We wanted the repair panel to be a good quality item that wasn’t going to be a ball ache to fit. As the centre part of the shelf on top of the bulkhead is quite visible in the engine bay, it should work quite well. No point doing half a job eh!

[Sutty2006]

Ive had some emails paul, but how do we order? Club shop says out of stock. Last email was for address to get a postage quote......

 

[Irmscher Man]

13 hours ago, Sutty2006 said:

Ive had some emails paul, but how do we order? Club shop says out of stock. Last email was for address to get a postage quote......

 

I’m in the process of supplying postage details to the suppliers, just waiting on the last few to confirm and you will get your email with how to pay. Hopefully won’t take too long.

Don’t worry about the website, I just put that up there ready to sell any surplus, which is looking unlikely as they are nearly all spoken for. 

[Sutty2006]

Thanks Paul 👍

[Irmscher Man]

UPDATE  - Emails have gone out to everyone today who has ordered one of these panels. This will give details for payments.

Once the money comes in, the panels will be shipped straight out to you.

 

Many thanks to everyone who has supported this scheme. We can press on with looking at the Coupe back panel next, which will hopefully be repair panels (lower section) and full section.

Cheers,

Paul.

[Sutty2006]

Mine arrived this morning. Excellent service. Well done Paul. 
 

time to get the heater box back out and get cutting. Any one know where the little bracket is supposed to go? 

[Irmscher Man]

Glad you are pleased with it Steve. The little bracket goes at the rear of where the battery sits, allowing the base of the battery to secured. We decided not to have these fitted, as it allows you to move it back to fit a bigger battery, or locate the battery in the boot and keep the panel clean. There are two locating marks on the panel for original fitment.