Froggy Posted October 12 Share Posted October 12 So thought i best start a thread will post as i go but wont be much happening for the rest of the year. Managed to pick up some more bits of the puzzle today from a great chap shaun. Also received my arch repair panels from ebay anyone else had them turn up warped ? Also ordered the club repair panels last week so waiting on them arriving. Will add a few pics of everything Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted October 12 Share Posted October 12 Great to see you starting a project thread, awesome. Time scale is irrelevant tbh, it’s not even about money as such, somethings just take time time (procurement or the right part as an example). Repair panels are usually bad, they need to be stitched in then blended into the existing. Main thing is they get you the repaired edge, rather than a finished panel as such. Always going to be a limitation of a copy. Get it in, then fix it as part of the bodywork. Back in our cars days, the panels of some cars/makes was notorious for rippling out of the factory. Just a word of warning,The club shop is historically slow at times due to how it is run by volunteers and to add a level of confusion it’s separate to the club such . So if you are waiting on some part/panel etc to make progress, then bang a wanted add up. As you have already found there are ppl out there that parts that can help. VGL and looking forward to pics as and when you can 😎 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted October 13 Share Posted October 13 I have got a few rear arch repair panels, all good. Got them for stock a few years back, and alot better condition. I wonder why they are so bad recently. I cut mine 12mm above the arch step out. Then use a home made bead roller, and step it behind original quarter. Adds more strength, and removes the fear of weld through. Great project, looking well. Great to see another get saved. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Pounsett Posted October 14 Share Posted October 14 Hopefully you won’t need all of the arch repair panels anyway and the worst bits will be cut off. 🤞 Progress may not be as slow as you think - chatting to people on here helps keep your enthusiasm up. You’ll get credit for your successes and help and advice on things not going so well and solutions to any problems you encounter. I’m looking forward to following your progress. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggy Posted October 15 Author Share Posted October 15 18 hours ago, Jonathan Pounsett said: Hopefully you won’t need all of the arch repair panels anyway and the worst bits will be cut off. 🤞 Progress may not be as slow as you think - chatting to people on here helps keep your enthusiasm up. You’ll get credit for your successes and help and advice on things not going so well and solutions to any problems you encounter. I’m looking forward to following your progress. Its been untouched for about 3 year now 🤣 i can weld but the floorpans and swan necks put me off. Have found a welder that will do it after a few letting me down. Hes busy welding a mk2 golf gti atm then when thats done there will be a switch about in the workshop and hopefully the welding can start on the manta before xmas fingers crossed. Would like to have a painted rolling shell at least by this time next year but will see how it goes. To many toys and other projects and with working away every week its not the easiest finding the time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted October 15 Share Posted October 15 It is difficult to find someone that is capable and willing to do the fab/welding work. Would be even further for you that was for me in Hull, but as I am in a similar position with working away pretty much 60% of the year my time is best spent on other tasks, so I have sent most of the larger work off to Adrian Thomas @ A.C.Autowerks in South Wales is extremely good and is very experienced with Opels. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggy Posted October 15 Author Share Posted October 15 23 minutes ago, Jessopia74 said: It is difficult to find someone that is capable and willing to do the fab/welding work. Would be even further for you that was for me in Hull, but as I am in a similar position with working away pretty much 60% of the year my time is best spent on other tasks, so I have sent most of the larger work off to Adrian Thomas @ A.C.Autowerks in South Wales is extremely good and is very experienced with Opels. Yeah did have a chat with him but a local rest garage gave me a quote so was gonna go with them as could keep an eye on the process but few horror storys came out about his work so canceled it and forgot about it for a few month. The boy thats gonna do it for me is a cracking lad and will come to my workshop to do it so saves taking the car anywhere. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted October 15 Share Posted October 15 1 hour ago, Froggy said: Yeah did have a chat with him but a local rest garage gave me a quote so was gonna go with them as could keep an eye on the process but few horror storys came out about his work so canceled it and forgot about it for a few month. The boy thats gonna do it for me is a cracking lad and will come to my workshop to do it so saves taking the car anywhere. Plenty of advice available for the chap thats doing it on here/FB too about how to brace the shell for when he pulls the chasis leg off for replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted October 15 Share Posted October 15 this is the thing with keeping our cars on the road . once all the (apparent ) welding is done then you are ok for a while BUT these cars ( and most from this era and older) like to rust for fun so each year you may find extra small bits that need doing .especially if you are going to use the car all year round although winter storage doesnt always do any favours ! this is why you realy need a welder yourself and it saves you relying on other people plus at garage rates its not cheap these days . you could find a small section of sill for example that needs cutting out and replacing which you could do in a couple of hours yourself for free that may be a £200 job elsewhere ! the idea realy ( or my personal one ) is every year inspect thoroughly and repair anything found immediately. that way you dont get any unwelcome suprises and you know the car inside out which helps with reliability as well as mot tests . 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggy Posted October 15 Author Share Posted October 15 14 minutes ago, cam.in.head said: this is the thing with keeping our cars on the road . once all the (apparent ) welding is done then you are ok for a while BUT these cars ( and most from this era and older) like to rust for fun so each year you may find extra small bits that need doing .especially if you are going to use the car all year round although winter storage doesnt always do any favours ! this is why you realy need a welder yourself and it saves you relying on other people plus at garage rates its not cheap these days . you could find a small section of sill for example that needs cutting out and replacing which you could do in a couple of hours yourself for free that may be a £200 job elsewhere ! the idea realy ( or my personal one ) is every year inspect thoroughly and repair anything found immediately. that way you dont get any unwelcome suprises and you know the car inside out which helps with reliability as well as mot tests . Shouldnt need much as about everything is getting replaced 🤣 but i know what you mean. I can weld to a decent standard just never done anything as big got some welding to do on my 72 viva but will be tackling all that myself 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted October 15 Share Posted October 15 thats great . i also have a 74 viva ! pretty original in the main . still on original sills and inner wings ! im glad you can do your own welding because it saves on waiting for other people and other assosiated problems and beleive me there will be other bits that crop up over the years . even if you think youve got them all ! plus the expense and finished quality ! my mate sent his firenza off for new floor pans fitting at a so called "expert" he was changed a fortune and the car came back with lapped repairs and 10 ton of underseal ! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Pounsett Posted October 15 Share Posted October 15 53 minutes ago, cam.in.head said: thats great . i also have a 74 viva ! pretty original in the main . still on original sills and inner wings ! im glad you can do your own welding because it saves on waiting for other people and other assosiated problems and beleive me there will be other bits that crop up over the years . even if you think youve got them all ! plus the expense and finished quality ! my mate sent his firenza off for new floor pans fitting at a so called "expert" he was changed a fortune and the car came back with lapped repairs and 10 ton of underseal ! Don’t mention “experts”! Mine also came back with lapped repairs but I had 10 ton of lead loading that I had to pay the body shop to remove. Handy if you’re nearby @Froggyso you can keep an eye on progress and quality. I hope you won’t have to but you can also say STOP if you’re not happy with something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted October 15 Share Posted October 15 i told my mate to tell them to let us go look once all the welding was done but he didnt . when it came back you could tell it was lapped but was covered in underseal so hard to tell how well it was actually done. also they had used the entire floor panels supplied rather than what was actually needed and made no effort to improve any swage lines and to be honest i dont think they tied it down to the chassis very well either . he paid a fortune too ! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutty2006 Posted October 16 Share Posted October 16 I too have had to re weld and secure some patches done to the underside of my B. That was done years ago by two blokes in a shed up near Manchester. Not to mention Seat holes in the wrong places, and the rear panel not in the right place. That’ll be a fun one to put right! 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted October 16 Share Posted October 16 The worst welding I have ever seen in my life was found on the multiple patches on the swan necks and A posts on my black coupe after it came back from Dipping. Its an art to be constantly that bad at welding. I'll dig a picture out lol 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealExile Posted October 16 Share Posted October 16 I recall the year I wanted to learn how to weld, had my car in to Kwik Fit for tyres and shocks( I was young and didn't know better) the bloke noticed it had a good few bits needed and said he could do it cash in hand, took it to the MOT place and he shook his head and said 'sorry lad rules have changed the weld has to be on the outside' he'd only gone and patched the floor pans on the inside, the liberal coat of bitumen had done nothing to hide the sharp edges of the holes. 2 days later I got the call that my car had set on fire so badly that they evacuated the garage, front end was all burnt out, they reckoned he must have mixed the bitumen with thinners so as soon as they started it caught fire, now thinking back perhaps this is my lack of knowledge but I'd want something clean to weld to, anyway it put me right off letting so called experts do my welding. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted October 16 Share Posted October 16 this sadly nowadays seem to apply to "experts" in many fields nowadays . weve experienced loads over the years . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted October 16 Share Posted October 16 26 minutes ago, cam.in.head said: this sadly nowadays seem to apply to "experts" in many fields nowadays . we've experienced loads over the years . Agree, bigs them up, so it must be true, experts, gurus, and champions. I fear for the future. 😎 I always try my hardest to bend the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggy Posted October 16 Author Share Posted October 16 Boys thats doing the welding has started the golf thats in the workshop already and cant fault any of his work. Its not gonna be the exact same as how it left the factory but will be done to a decent standard and solid and thats the main thing. Anything needing done over time i should be able to do myself but with the amount needing done and the bits that need done would rather someone with experience done it. As for the viva il crack on and get it done once the ramp is free from the golf getting welded. Not enough days in a weekend to get jobs done. And the phone never stops for other people wanting jobs done before i even touch my own cars 🤦🏼♂️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted October 16 Share Posted October 16 i regularly watch a youtube channel called yorkshire car restoration. they have done arches on a manta b too ! great inspiration and techniques 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggy Posted November 14 Author Share Posted November 14 No further progress on the manta bar collecting more parts. Viva rally car is needing done first for an event im entering next year. Will upload a few progress pictures as i go if anyone is interested Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted November 14 Share Posted November 14 Absolutely ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted November 14 Share Posted November 14 Looks a mint shell, for a rally car. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggy Posted November 14 Author Share Posted November 14 3 hours ago, ®evo03 said: Looks a mint shell, for a rally car. 👍 Think its slightly twisted but it will do the job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggy Posted November 14 Author Share Posted November 14 Well drivers side is solid once again forgot to take before pictures 🤦🏼♂️ inner and outer sill repaired chunk of floor pan replaced and extra bracing welded in for the roll cage. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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