The Mantalorian Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Hi, just thought I would say hello as a newbie to the forum. I bought a 1984 GTE Coupe during Covid and that has been keeping me busy. It was without an engine when I got it so that has also been on the "to do" list. Hopefully I have found a really good one now, so fingers corssed i can get the thing back on the road this year. I will have to post some pictures when i have wokred out how to do it! I see there is a guide somewhere, so i will do some homework. 🙂 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike. Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Hi and welcome, The Manta is an easy enough car to strip and re build as long as the parts are all there and present, I probably spent more time sourcing missing parts than I would like to admit. Sounds like you’re making great progress 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Welcome! Excellent user name btw 😎 look forwards to see some pictures, but to upload into the forums you need to be a member. But good news web membership is very good value and worth joining as there are member only areas , especially if you want to be searching for technical help good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-400 Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Hi, welcome over here. Succes with the restoration, we are waiting for pics👍. To upload them I use Imgur, still free. As Jess wrote joining a web-membership gives you a source of info about everything 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1200bandit Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Hi and welcome,l have spent over 2 years doing mine on the road last year ,not much time to use it even though l got made redundant ( it’s a very good thing) You can start a project page so everyone can see what you have accomplished 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Pounsett Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Welcome @The Mantalorian and ditto on the name and location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantalorian Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 Thanks for the warm welcome! I'll look into joining up as a web member as it looks as though there will be some parts I will need along the way and also some advice. I've had a few Vauxhall/Opels over the years, including 6 Mantas, Calibras, Chevettes, Cavaliers, Carltons etc and I've been looking forward to getting this Manta done and hopefully I can enjoy it this summer. This one is going to be a keeper though, as it really is a nice car. I have gone back to a bare shell and stripped the car when I first got it. It was surprisingly rust free for a Manta, with only a few small repairs required but the main chassis swan necks were fine, inner wings were perfect, the sills and jacking points all good too. I think I lucked out as the car was really low mileage (less than 20k) and had been in a heated garage of a friend of mine for most of its life. The paint was bad, so I decided to strip it back and see what horrors lay beneath, and apart from some minor rust on the base of the C pillars, some surprise filler and a couple of dings to sort out on the rear quarters it wasn't too bad at all. Some Manta Coupes seem to have this same problem and I've seen a few with dents that have been caused by things inside the boot flying about, as the dents are from the inside! So I have a rebuilt CIH waiting for me and then I just need to decide whether I stick with the original Injection or go for Throttle bodies. This is a subtly modified car (it will have the interior trimmed out in Alcantara and a few other bits) so I am not aiming to keep it original by any means. I've been there and I really fancy building a car for me to enjoy now. Has anyone had any experience of the Jenvey Heritage Throttle Bodies? I'm still not decided if this is a genius idea or whether it is a waste of time. On a modified car, seeing the throttle bodies is half the fun eh so I'm not sure that making it look really retro is the way I am going to go. All help and ideas are useful at this point! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutty2006 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Welcome along! I bought my B series at the beginning of the first economic recession in 2008. I still haven’t got it back on the road! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srmrally Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Welcome to the world of mantas hope you get some info on your throttle bodies as i had wounderd about that same convertion but so far only a thought not actually done anything about it yet as doing body work first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 TBs have been done a couple of times. The ECU & head to choose will play a large part in how well they will perform, as will engine capacity. There are gains to be made from a ported GTE head, go with a cut down(to 4 cyl) Monza GSE inlet and aftermarket ECU would be an option and has good bhp potential, with a semi OEM look. Heritage of course have the look of the webers, so are very period. @ANDY ABBOTT has done them and had fully mapped setup for ignition/fuel too so can probably offer better advice on the setup of ITBs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantalorian Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 Hi Again, I have just joined up as a web member .....I think the FOMO thing got to me in the end and I just needed to see what everyone else was up to! Hurray! I can upload some pics, which I must admit I found really easy! I thought it would be good to show the only couple of areas of rust on the body shell. It is a 1985 GT/E, and has had a bit of a charmed life as it has been indoors from new. I will post some pics of the underside when I can, as that is crazy and hasn't needed any work doing, other than repainting. There was a very small bit of surface rust on the near side C pillar, which turned out to be nothing at all once it was sanded back. Most of the work has been done on the rear quarters, as they had a few minor dents. Why didn't Opel put a boot liner in the coupes eh! I think I may try and cobble something up when it gets done, to try and preserve the paintwork a bit. The shell is pretty much done now, I am just rebuilding the front/rear axles and get them looking nice and then I can put the engine and box back in by fitting it onto the front axle and doing it factory stylee. Hope you like the project. I'll post some more pics in a bit. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 Welcome to the OMOC 🍻 Good progress there, you could even start a project thread now to keep a long term record specific to your car. It’s great to go back through sintines to remind you how far you have got. And ofc upload lots of pics that you have taken but not been able to share 😎 https://mantaclub.org/forums/forum/40-your-project/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantalorian Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 24 minutes ago, Jessopia74 said: Welcome to the OMOC 🍻 Good progress there, you could even start a project thread now to keep a long term record specific to your car. It’s great to go back through sintines to remind you how far you have got. And ofc upload lots of pics that you have taken but not been able to share 😎 https://mantaclub.org/forums/forum/40-your-project/ I like the idea of a project thread, might help me keep on top of things too - good call! I'm not that organised to take lots of photos when I am working on something, so that might spur me on to document things a bit better. Oh - and I've also realised now I am a web member that I can personalise my signature, so I had a play around at lunchtime today and made a new one. 🙂 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 4 hours ago, The Mantalorian said: I like the idea of a project thread, might help me keep on top of things too - good call! I'm not that organised to take lots of photos when I am working on something, so that might spur me on to document things a bit better. Oh - and I've also realised now I am a web member that I can personalise my signature, so I had a play around at lunchtime today and made a new one. 🙂 We are all pretty bad at taking pics in reality, some more than others. But even the odd random does help to creat a log of how its progression is going. You ahead of me on the signature thing 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutty2006 Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 13 hours ago, Jessopia74 said: We are all pretty bad at taking pics in reality, some more than others. But even the odd random does help to creat a log of how its progression is going. You ahead of me on the signature thing 🤣 It’s a shame signatures are only visible on computer rather than the mobile version as I can’t see them 🤣 I can’t even see my own haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 3 hours ago, Sutty2006 said: It’s a shame signatures are only visible on computer rather than the mobile version as I can’t see them 🤣 I can’t even see my own haha I see them on iPad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Pounsett Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 Welcome @The Mantalorian. I’m happy to just see photos of how you’re getting on. Looks like a good one 🎖️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantalorian Posted July 2 Author Share Posted July 2 Well, I've been busy with the front end recently. The front cross member is now in the workshop and is being refreshed. It looks as though I may be able to get away without having to replace any of the bushes (as they are all in remarkably good condition - it is a 20k mile car). So, everything is apart and is getting cleaned and repainted. I have recently just found a new 2.0E Brake Master Cylinder, so to go along with the repainted Servo, that will look nice. I spent ages the other night cleaning out the brake fluid reservoir - they are a bugger to clean due to all the baffling inside! I will post some pics up when I get home. So a question - I was originally going to get the cross member / wishbones etc all powder coated but my mate in the know tells me that this is not a good option. What have others used for painting chassis parts? Obv it needs to be quite hard wearing and not chip too easily - which is the downside with powder coating I guess. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 Shot blast/fully clean and machine enamel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 im with you on the arm bushes. originals are verygood quality and long lasting. new non oem ones ( and most newer cars these days ) not so good !. so definately keep the originals if they look and feel good which im sure they will. only excepton is the front anti roll bar end rubbers (and bolt) which tend to fail .if yours are good then all the better. its not as if any dismantling is required to change them as and when required later. this same argument goes for replacement balljoints and boots. dont ever replace the originals unless they are faulty. modern (boots especially ) dont last long. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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