paulmanta Posted May 30, 2006 Author Share Posted May 30, 2006 The air flow throught the sill and rest of the shell should still take care of venting, also there are 3 little oval holes in the rear panel which seem to help venting. I have also put a new headlining in the car which has perforations like the GTE ones, that should contribute as well, besides i drive everywhere with the window open anyway. I have always been here, I have always looked out from behind these eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 Going well Paul nice work any pics [] http://www.mantamagic.com OMOC N,Ireland Rep id="blue"> OMOC 5706 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted June 17, 2006 Author Share Posted June 17, 2006 Well it is obvious from the fact that it is mid june the car is not likely to be at this years Billing, but it may well see the road this year. I have had a couple of bits of luck with finding parts and am now looking at options for re-building the 2.4 frontera motor i pulled from a hulk at the scrappy. Just waiting on some other bits to turn up now, New front wings, 2.2 wiring loom, and a genuine front spoiler, also a LOT of rubber from Dr Manta. Will blast some pics your way soon Robbie if you dont mind putting them up for me. [][] I have always been here, I have always looked out from behind these eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 Got a bit more to report now, the major work on the rear axle is done, it now has all new bushes and arms, also new bearings, GTE back plates and drums to go on, I have sand blasted all the removable bits and painted them gloss black and have also waxed all the invisible bits, next on the list is some new shocks. The front suspension is all in bits and awaiting re-assembly with new bushes and rack/rack boots. The main body is almost there but need the new front wings fitted propery and the spoiler bonding on, Most of the parts have been sourced and i am waiting to get a bit of funding in to make a last push to get it finished. Will get some pics up when the rear axle is in place and the car is rolling again. ----All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be--- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted August 20, 2006 Author Share Posted August 20, 2006 Well....Spurred on by the sheer amount of work that got done on the Moonmonkey Manta i thought i had better actually do something to my own project instead of look at it every day and occasionally bang my head on the passengers side wheel (its on a two post ramp) So, with it up in the air i decided to take a bit of a look at the two front jacking points and chassis rails around these areas, i had noticed a bit of swelling to the rails and i could see the area around the spot welds was looking strained, no holes yet but some were trying to happen. I decided to remove the jacking points at the front so i could get to the outer legs better, this took ages but i managed to get them off ok and they are not utterly destroyed. The whole thing took a good few hours of grinding and drilling though. Next was to use the 3 inch grinder and cuttig wheel and open up the chassis legs to see the amount of internal grot, once i had started this it was clear i was going to have to remove large chunks of the outer chassis skin so i could clean up and rust proof the inner skin, Which was holed in two places, incredibly the outer skin was unbroken the rust was inside eating its way out. I now have a car that looks like its halfway through surgery and i need to get some nice thick plateing metal on monday to butt weld back in, i am aiming for an invisible repair so i am likely to be busy for a while yet. As for photos i am going to take some later and will try and e-mail them to Robbie or maybe even Moonmonkey to put up on here. ( i am not so good on the computer and cant figure it all out) -----With every mistake we must surely be learning----- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted August 28, 2006 Author Share Posted August 28, 2006 Fear the progress !!!! I have now totally finished the rear suspension and axle set up, it is all shiny and new looking, all brake pipes replaced and polished. its looking good enough to put on the car. Just waiting for the new rear shocks and then thats where it is going. Next up was the front suspension, and after a lot of dismantling of 3 full front suspension clips plus the other spare bits i have now got a full set of near perfect front suspension components, minimal rust, good bushes and not bent/cracked. I have now sand blasted most of these bits and done them with zinc primer, the finish is going to be as good as the rear axle which i am happy about, i have new poly bushes for most of it but still need a couple of anti roll bar end and centre rubbers. Pics when i wrestle the camera of the wife. -----Under neon loneliness everlasting nothingness----- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted October 22, 2006 Author Share Posted October 22, 2006 And back to the top !!! I have finished the front suspension, i sand blasted every part and it took ages, almost two whole saturdays work to get back to bare metal with no rust. The upper wishbones were junk, as were the lower arms, i have managed to get two very good lower arms from a club member and i bought two brand new upper arms from Opel Spares Greece, all four of these new parts were also blasted and the whole lot zinc primed, then etch primed, and finally sprayed gloss black. After a couple of weeks to allow the paint to go hard i put all the new bushes in and yesterday fitted the whole lot back together, complete with fully re-built steering rack and new rack boots, all new ball joints and shocks, also put a set of 2.2 carlton discs and calibra 16v calipers on it with Green stuff pads and goodridge braided hoses. I have also been welding complete new sections into the chassis legs, these were not too bad with only slight swelling no holes, but i thought that while i had the suspension off now was the best time to remove the outer skin, treat the inner skin and replace the outer, an easy sentance to type but that area alone has soaked up about 20 to 25 solid hours of work. Next up is getting the correct jacking points and repairing the two front floor sections above the jacking points. -----9 287 051/052----- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Did you manage a solution with the handbrake cable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Seems like you have been working your nuts of Paul , really good to see the progress, the rear axle looks the mutts nutts, Pauls axle http://www.mantamagic.com OMOC N,Ireland Rep id="blue"> OMOC 5706 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted October 22, 2006 Author Share Posted October 22, 2006 Thanks for that Robbie, the axle is now on the car, the front axle is almost on the car, just got to order two more bushes from Drmanta and then it will be fitted, actually i may fit it anyway as the two bushes i need are the anit roll bar bushes that go in the lower arms, i could put them in after. The GTE handbrake cable is about 5 inches too long for the car so i have got another new cable from my suppliers (2 actually) and am sending them both to Speedy cables to be shortened, that will sort that problem out. -----9 287 051/052----- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 The front axle is now back on the car, Yay. Got the anti roll bar bushes from Dr Manta and popped them in thursday night, then touched in all the little bits in the paint and put the shock absorbers up in their holes in the springs, dropped the car on to the complete clip and it all went on perfectly. Got to take it all out again to put the engine and box on it all but that is a job for after the spray job. Also got the new passengers side front jacking point welded on and a chunk of new floorpan made up and tacked in, ran out of time yesterday so will have to weld it in monday night now. -----The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. And you have burned so very very brightly----- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted November 19, 2006 Author Share Posted November 19, 2006 More to report from the A series garage. I have now finished the priming of the front wings and boot lid, the doors are next just as soon as i can fit the wings and line the panel gaps up, I don't want to take the doors off till those gaps are perfect. On the interior front I have managed to get hold of a quantity of Blitz cloth to retrim the seat centres a-la i200. Also getting some nice black velour to go with it so the seats will be as new, The front seats I am using came from a 924 wide bodied Porsche, similar to Robbies seats in his white car. these are a similar design to the Recaro seats and have a removable centre section so I can re-trim the inner to match the blitz stripes in the rear seat. I should be able to get the shell sprayed between Christmas and the New year, so once that is done then it will all be going back together. -----People, don't you understand The child needs a helping hand Or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day----- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 Did you manage the invisible repair on the front Paul ? I'd like to able to do that kinda thing if/when I start mine. OMOC 5885 Hope for the best, expect the worst. How to post Images Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted November 19, 2006 Author Share Posted November 19, 2006 All the welding that has been done to the car is now utterly invisible, the chassis legs despite being 60% new look like they have never been touched, the jacking points are the only area that look slightly different from factory due to the fact they are new reproduction items not originals. I will try to get some more pics up but want to try and save the full unveiling for Billing. -----People, don't you understand The child needs a helping hand Or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day----- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 Paul the work seems perfect, by the looks of it you will have the best restored A series around, nice one [] http://www.mantamagic.com OMOC N,Ireland Rep The New OMOC Northern and Southern Ireland Forum http://www.vxopel.com/phpBB/ id="blue"> OMOC 5706 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 is there a way to check ensure you haven't compromised the weld with too much grinding, is that just something you get from experience ? OMOC 5885 Hope for the best, expect the worst. How to post Images Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted November 19, 2006 Author Share Posted November 19, 2006 If you weld it so you are sure there is good penetration then grinding flat will not really hurt the strength, if you weld too fast or with not enough power then you might have problems, my welder was playing up a bit and the first run i did was not so good, when i ground it flat i could see the line of the edge of the panel, luckily this was on the inner skin of the leg and i could look in the car and see the inside of the leg through the hole where the floor should be and see that there was no penetration at all through the steel, so i upped the amps on the welder and did it again, ok now. Another tip is to not butt the metal hard together, leave a small gap, that way the pool of weld forms the join between the plates and you will get a better weld, this takes practise as the thinner metal has a tendency to melt away and make holes. Practise on the bench with a few bits of new sheet steel, then when you can join them up with out holes/falling apart etc get yourself some old steel cut from a car, preferably a bit rusty, then try welding patches to that, its more realistic to the type of metal you will be stitching to on the manta and good practise, try welding without taking the paint off too, that will teach you more about panel prep and clean metal in 30 seconds than any book can. -----People, don't you understand The child needs a helping hand Or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day----- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted November 19, 2006 Author Share Posted November 19, 2006 I am also seriously thinking about getting a TiG welder for doing chassis repairs, it is much neater and requires less grinding after. I do not use solid grinding disks, i use flexy discs of around 24 grit, much softer on the metal, and easier to get right first time. (or the plasma cutter if it is a right shed) When cutting out the bad section i use 1mm cutting discs on my air tool, its a finer cut so straighter. -----People, don't you understand The child needs a helping hand Or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day----- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted February 17, 2007 Author Share Posted February 17, 2007 Well, I need my arse kicked for leaving it so long between working on the A series. I finally got round to finishing the chassis legs and floorpans today, next on the agenda was trying to make up the mounts for the BMW dogleg gearbox which is going on a Monza bellhousing and frontera 2.4 engine. managed to get the clutch sorted and also the selector linkage, next big hassle is how to fit a speedo drive, its got a blanking plug in the casting where the drive goes so i took the output flange off and noticed that there is no drive ring for a speedo unit...great, now to bother some BMW garages to find out if the cars that this box came in ever ran mechanical speedos, this sound expensive already. ---paulnewport "at" breathe.com--- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta Mal Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Hi Paul, That's great news your back on the case...... we all need a kick start sometimes, after a break from working on the Manta build [^] Sounds interesting what your working on there, would be nice to see some photo's of the repair work and mechanical items.[] Mal.....OMOC #6022 Start your Manta restoration today........ before it's too late! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 I reckon I need the name of that osteopath of yours Paul. Are you back (no pun intended) to normal now? How many 'A's have you got by the way? Cheers, Joe. Please log into this site from the Home page folks. It helps to keep it as the first Manta site listed on Google. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted February 17, 2007 Author Share Posted February 17, 2007 The osteopath is very good but 3 X Voltarol 75mg rapid a day are even better, i still have a knacked back but cant feel it now !! I am trying not to lift much and have had a mate helping all day. ---paulnewport "at" breathe.com--- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
entwistlecymru Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Paul, if you want to find out about modding Getrags don't bother with BMW. Try the turbobricks.com forum. Plenty of info on all the Getrag boxes there OMOC #5826..... 79 SRB coupe - 'interesting project', 79 Cav saloon - 16v sleeper FOR SALE, Yakshimash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Pics man, pics! [] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OMOC #5988 hmackay at opel-manta.com I hae a few guid reasons for drinkin’ And yin juist entered ma heid If a man canna’ drink while he’s livin’ Hoo the Hell can he drink when he’s deid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 Cheers for that chris, I found that site and had a good look, they know their stuff on there !! i am off to GM6 in a bit to look at a 265 box Derek has up there to see if i can swap the rear ends over to convert to Monza prop and speedo. ---paulnewport "at" breathe.com--- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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