MrCarlos Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Hello All, New member here - Just got all the membership stuff through so I feel entitled to post now! My name is Carl, I live near to Wigan, and this is my car - B623 RWW The car is a 1984 GT/E Coupe in Anthracite, early model with no sunroof with a 20XE16v Astra GTE engine and a pile of other mods. I arrive here after 17 years of Manta (and variants!) ownership as a result of my New Years resolution - DO SOMETHING WITH THE MANTA. I built my current Manta in '96, and ran it until '98 when it went in the garage following an MOT fail - and there it stayed until last week, getting rustier and more scratched by bikes etc. Now the time has come to do something, get it running, get the rust sorted, get it on the road. First move was to join the club - I've been lurking on this forum for months, but this is my first post[8D] Anyway - here's the car as it emerged; Engine bay shots; She needs a whole lot of work - and I'm here for encouragement, inspiration, parts and advice! Mechanically the coil pack / ignition module seems to have packed in - does anyone have a spare lying around I could buy? With that and a new battery the car should run, so long as the engine's survived the long sleep. Body wise there is a lot more to do.........here's some pix; Near side skirt Offside rear arch Rear Valance And then there are some horrors underneath (why it came off the road in the first place) Offside chassis rail Nearside chassis rail Nearside chassis rail underside Nearside chassis rail - section I replaced 10 years ago Looking at things positively - the rest of the underside is solid, I did major repairs when I built the car - new inner/outer wings , new inner/outer sills, new floors, new front valance, repairs around and behind the lights. Pleasingly 10 years on this is all still perfect. The chassis rails forward of the rear engine bay area are solid too.I'm not shy with a welder/grinder - so all these repairs are quite within my ability. I want to do right by the car though, so I'd be very interested in some repair sections for the chassis rails - I think I read on here they would be available before long - one reason I pulled the car out of the garage! I've put so many pix on because there's been nothing I've enjoyed more than ogling other peoples Manta's on here! Here's a few more once I'd cleared the crap off it; So, looking forward to getting to know you all - and if anyone can help with that ignition module & coil I'd be eternally grateful - it'll be a huge boost to hear the thing running again..... Carl [] 1984 "B" Coupe Red Top 16v - B623RWW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunman Posted January 21, 2006 Author Share Posted January 21, 2006 Hi carl and welcome. I have a gte coupe same age and currently have it stripped down doing some welding. They doo tend to rot a bit![] Cant help with the bits you need but hope you get it sorted out soon. I'm coming to terms with the fact that mine just wont be ready for billing[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCarlos Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Hi there, I've enjoyed reading about the work you've done on your car - inspiring stuff, reminded me that I can do that sort of thing too! Carl[] 1984 "C" Coupe Red Top 16v - B623RWW Free me!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Oooh its def worth sorting out the underside cos youv got one with no sunroof! I am green with envy... [xx(] --<>-- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Mmmmmmmmmmm nice wheels. Put a wanted ad in the Classified section. You'll be surprised at the response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutts Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 There a quite a few mantas in the wigan area just keep your eyes and ears open. Get up to the Boddington arms pub meet first friday in the month its just off the M6 J31 A59 follow Clithroe signs up the dual carrage way bare left at the main traffic lights and its about half a mile on the left big pub big car park cheap grub (buy on get one free)and loads of manta talk. (manta quiz next one) OMOC 5231 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaMad Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Yep, nice alloys but best to loose that roof rack[] David OMOC Member 420 http://www.mantamad.fsnet.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 not keen on the wheels but I love that colour. Kinda blends in with the tarmac though. Pete M OMOC 5885 E555KHY(Red Exclusive Coupe): current E544NUW(White GTE Hatch): gone, but not forgotten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opel2000 Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Hi Carlos welcome to the forum, (about all I seem to type lately) Always wanted a Manta the colour of yours, always wondered what the Manta would look like with blades on too, but I think they may just be similar to the TSW Blades you have their, could be wrong, and usually am. Chassis rail sections, Er, yes, thats, me that's supposed to be looking into making these. Just haven't got time at the moment though, well not until i knock my day job on the head, which may be very soon, as I've just about finished getting everything stripped down rebuilt and wired up and running in my factory unit. V8 'B' series Manta coupe. SEH 'B' series Manta Coupe. CIH 'B' series Manta heatch (daily drive) soon to be turbo'd. http://www.customsolutions.me.uk Any day now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCarlos Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Thanks for the welcome everyone! I've always liked the colour - when I went looking for a basis for the project the combination of the colour and there being no sunroof was a real winner[] The wheels have always divided opinion - personally I love them, but many others don't agree. I bought them from a guy who had abandoned his BMW 3-Series project, and he had advertised them as TSW Blades, but they aren't really - made by some company called ETA actually. Hope you can get round to making some of those chassis rails soon Clive, my car really does need them to do a proper job of repair. I COULD probably patch it up enough to get through an MOT, but I'd just be plating over the rust to store up more problems for later on, and I don't want to do that[] I've still no luck with the coil pack - and the classified section appears to be locked[?] Carlos[] 1984 "C" Coupe Red Top 16v - B623RWW Free me!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Hi Carl, The classified section should still work. Click on the link below the yellow 'Opel Manta' badge in the top right of the page and go from there. Or try on http://www.migweb.co.uk . If you can't wait for Clive, you can always have a go at making your own chassis rail sections from a sheet of decent steel plate (3mm perhaps) which can be cut to shape with a HSS blade in a jigsaw. It's slow, and you really need a cutting compound (Rocol or similar) to lubricate the blade, but it will work. (Ear defenders and goggles would be good too). If you make up cardboard templates for each side of each rail, and cut the bottom of the rail as a straight strip, you should be able to weld them up okay. Each rail is then two sides and a bottom, plus the holes with a tube between them for the suspension bolt. The steel suppliers can usually cut your sheet into strips of the right width to save you lugging a 2m x 1m monster about. I'm lucky in that I've not had to do rails as challenging as yours, but the above is how I'd do them if I had to. Good luck! Cheers, Joe. Help me Kenneth. I'm carrying a heavy load and I don't want to spill it on the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opel2000 Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 May have that coil/ignition bit for you, as I've just stripped down my old Calibra, but need to email someone who is interested in the injection loom and stuff first. As for the chassis rails, i know I can make them but have a backlog of work to get through since a prolonged move into this factory unit. What holds me up with enquiries and future products is dealing with paying customers as they always take priority. BTW thought they were copies (blades) was just being polite there. V8 'B' series Manta coupe. SEH 'B' series Manta Coupe. CIH 'B' series Manta heatch (daily drive) soon to be turbo'd. http://www.customsolutions.me.uk Any day now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Welcome to the hot bed of the club!! The Northwest is set to be the biggest area in the club with over 10% of its membership already reciding here,It's contagious. Iam your Area rep and just happen to work in Wigan!!. The best thing for you to do is draw up a list of what you need for the car then get up to the pub meet and i'm sure all the guys there will have everything you need. I know of at least 5 members in the Wigan area so your not on your own. You could bring your membership with you to the meet and i'll send it on for you. If you want a chat about anything 01772 813773 or ianandann.online@virgin.net. Look forward to seeing you. OMOC 3677 North West Area Rep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCarlos Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Cool, glad there are others in the Wigan area[] So that would be Friday 3rd Feb for the next pub meet then? I've already got the membership stuff through thanks - didn't feel right posting ISO parts until I'd joined up properly! Clive if you do have the coil/ignition module available that would be great [8D] Clive - do you think it's likely that you might have some repair sections for the chassis rails available in the next couple of months? I ask because I have a weeks worth of annual leave to take before the end of March, and want to use that to do the welding work to the car. If they aren't going to be ready by then I'll set my stall out to fabricate my own (deep breath) - it will be a test of my skills for sure! Carlos[] 1984 "C" Coupe Red Top 16v - B623RWW OMOC Member#5937 Free me!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantaray Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Hi there. If you are desparet to get rails, you could try: Dr Manta http://www.dr-manta.de or Opel Classic Parts http://www.opel-classicparts.com both in Germany. Chris Membership Sec. http://www.mantacentral.co.uk ......................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCarlos Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Thanks for that Chris, just had a look at the DrManta site at the repair sections they do; These look well priced, but a bit flimsy - like they are just the outer skin - so I'd still have to fabricate the internals to give the strength needed? Has anybody fitted these with success? Carlos[] 1984 "C" Coupe Red Top 16v - B623RWW OMOC Member#5937 Free me!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opel2000 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Recently recieved an email telling me how sh1te these sections from Dr. Manta actually are, apparently they are useless (so I've been told) hoping to have something made by the end of Feb, if not sooner. Oh and I'm afraid the coil part/ignition bit has been spoken for along with the rest of the loom, sorry mate. V8 'B' series Manta coupe. SEH 'B' series Manta Coupe. CIH 'B' series Manta heatch (daily drive) soon to be turbo'd. http://www.customsolutions.me.uk Any day now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autoscum101 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Hi Carl, like the car. I've got a B'reg coupe just the same, red though - also with no sunroof (thank f**k!) [] Those photos of the chassis rails brought back painful memories [V], i had to console myself after and pretend it was all just a bad dream... [] Terrible car for rusting away though, you said you've already done a lot of welding in the other areas before? Good stuff if its still all rust free after that length of time. Hopefully mine will hold out well too! Take it easy, Tom 1984 GT/E Coupe, 1978 Cavalier, 1972 Firenza. OMOC # 5875 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCarlos Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Hi Clive - no problem with the ignition bit, I'll find one somewhere[8D] And great news with the chassis rail manufacture - if you can do some by then I'd be really grateful! Carlos[] 1984 "C" Coupe Red Top 16v - B623RWW OMOC Member#5937 Free me!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCarlos Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Hi Tom, Glad you like the car - if it wasn't for it having no sunroof I'd never have done all the other work, which was very extensive[}] Somewhere I have a full photo set of the old work, took me and a buddy 3 months of all our spare time to do, along with the engine conversion work. I was fortunate to be able to get a lot of new panels then - the wings, front valance and sills were all available ex stock at the local panel shop back then. I'm chuffed to bits it's all still solid, well not just solid but it looks just the same as when I primed, painted and undersealed it! I think it helped that we cut and cut and cut until we found no more rust in all the areas we did. At that point the rails weren't that bad, they'd been patched before and didn't seem to need doing - although after 2 years on the road they had split like in the photos here - and the MOT tester (also a friend & fellow Manta owner) told me to re-shell the car. Didn't want to do that, and had no time to do the chassis rails properly at that point, so it went in the garage "until next summer". 8 years later it's come out! I'll find the old photos and put them up on this thread - should make interesting viewing! Carlos[] 1984 "C" Coupe Red Top 16v - B623RWW OMOC Member#5937 Free me!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCarlos Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Well, just back from my first pub meet (hello all!) flushed with more enthusiasm....thought I'd post all the old photos I've scanned. So, if you're sitting comfortably, then we'll begin with the B623RWW history lesson[] Here's the car as I bought it in spring '96 from a guy who'd started to do the 16v conversion, then abandoned it. Now superficially it looks good, and that 16v lump looks installed, but it wasn't, it was just plonked in the bay and kinda wired in a bit - still had the Astra sump on it for a start - spot the missing gearlever, and the gearbox in the boot (when he found it didn't mate to the engine......) The body was nice looking on top, but you know the score with Mantas, I just thought I'd take the wing & side skirt off for a look...... And then took the interior out and chipped off all that black crap.... So we set to cutting the rot out & welding nice new steel in...... Away went a good chunk of chassis rail too..... And here it is going back in...... All done on the nearside floor[8D] Here's the nearside inner wing before & after Then onto the offside, outer sill cut off Going back together..... Offside inner wing before During (**** photo, sorry!) And after... And under the washer bottle too And now to the offside floor....before Cutting it all out, and making it good, Nearside valance done, Offside valance repairs (thought I'd replaced the valance on this car, but it seems not looking at these old shots!) Front end coming together.... All finished on MOT morning, early summer 1996 THE MOT!!!!!!!!! (that's me on the right with Warren my buddy who helped build the car) And this is what the car looked like when it came off the road in 1998... OK, that's the history over, now to get the thing running again! More updates next week with luck! Carlos[] 1984 "C" Coupe Red Top 16v - B623RWW OMOC Member#5937 Free me!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opel2000 Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 OMG[:0][:0][:0] Quite a bad one then really, well done on getting it sorted. That looks like a nice bit of welding you've done there, just hope there isn't too much work for you around the chassis rail areas now. V8 'B' series Manta coupe. SEH 'B' series Manta Coupe. CIH 'B' series Manta hatch (daily drive) soon to be turbo'd. http://www.customsolutions.me.uk perhaps one day then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Have to agree with Clive, as I was scrolling down the pictures, the repairs looked nicely done and handy welding http://www.mantamagic.com OMOC N,Ireland Rep id="blue"> OMOC 5706 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Hi Carl, I like the colour and the wheels....sounds like your halfway there if you done the work before. I have just finished my chassie rails. I must admit I didnt throw myself at it although I made a point of keeping at it reguarly. I cut shapes from 3mm plate and just worked at one side of a rail at a time removed both skins all the way.....glad to see it should last 10 years though.Look forward to seeing progress.[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCarlos Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Right - we have some progress! This beautiful machine has been broken up for the engine parts I needed; With the result that the car is now a runner! Sounds wicked & such a boost to know that the engine is OK after the 8 year layup......... All the fluids still look fresh too - even the homebrew cooling system still works without any leaks - only needed a pint topup too. Next job is the big stripdown, engine, box, interior, front crossmember, rear axle, the lot. Then following the example of Robbie & Gunman it's strip the body of all the crap & see what we've got - I'm damn certain a lot of welding will ensue. Still - I've got my new magic self darkening welding mask which should make life easier all round. I'll keep you all updated[] Carlos[] 1984 "C" Coupe Red Top 16v - B623RWW OMOC Member#5937 Free me!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.