Leaderboard

Must look sometime! Original OEM, but would imagine they would change with availability. Early manta, GTE, and later exclusives may have all had different manufacturers, as cars and shock technology progressed.

From having a trawl through some old posts on here, it appears that the original OEM shocks were Bilstein B4's (gas).

Just need the exhaust not ripped off when going out of the driveway ( eventually,hopefully,maybe)

Pretty much mate, yes. They are just a stud on a larger head(washer/hex, seem to be various styles but all are basically same thing). They are cast into the rubber, but over time as they are ferrous, water ,wicks up the sides and the starts the corrosion process. Same thing on the GTE hockey sticks too. Such a shame they did not use galvanised studs, but at the time if manufacture, life was ~10 years max. You can cut them out and rebound new ones back in. Need something like Sikaflex522 and a retained stud. https://www.hall-fast.com/bighead-mild-steel-male-threaded-studs-m6-x-50-213528 https://gbr.sika.com/en/industry/transportation/sealants/adhesive-sealants/sikaflex-522.html

Your VIN plate looked a bit weird to me, Russelsheim and VIN number says made in Antwerp? So I checked it out and yes this Manta was made in Antwerp for the German market. Body looks rather good, as usually the B1 Manta's are better than the B2's. Do you have the original German "Fahrzeugbrief"? Succes with the restoration👍

Okay so no car in the garage, it’s away having a rebuilt auto box fitted, so been busy stripping and cleaning up the spare axle…..

Some of these panels are so poorly made, or they’re a copy of a copy, you end up having to modify them anyway. A good starting point for a diyer but a fabricator would easily knock one up.

just out of curiosity . on such a simple panel (that is hidden anyway) why would anyone buy a panel especially at that price rather then making one up themselves. originality ? perfection ? just curious.

rear springs do indeed look physically wrong.but may well be ok once fitted. (at least rear springs can be fitted in 5 mins !) comparing them to non gte stdsprings thou,they had the last coil as half thickness piece as std issue .were std gte springs the same ? ive never ever seen any aftermarket rear springs that are the same. BUT that was always an issue with the original springs even back in the day when they were nearly new.the car would sit level and drive nice with just a driver or 2 people but with 4 in and some luggage the back would become VERY low. thats why i always like the rear end of any car to sit higher at the back when empty.

Those rear springs look wrong for GTE. Bet they jack the rear up past original height, rem GTE is lower than std from factory. Seen way too many cars had spring replaced lately looking like a highlux 😂

It’s amazing how a small job grows arm’s and leg’s, I felt after changing the damper’s that there was too much colour combinations going on and the red just clashed with the yellow and blue so I have started to rub down and re paint the brake drums yellow to match and I’ll tackle the front brake callipers at the weekend,