167 replies to this topic

[stradacab]

Spent two hours prepping the new nose cone and carefully removing the remnants of the car it was cut from. Again, the cone will also need some tidying before I can fit it.

At least the car looks like a Manta now, this is the first time it has had the right front end on it since at least 1993.

Obviously it is only offered up and gripped on presently, I reckon a week of fettling, prepping and aligning will be needed to get it bang on before welding.

[paulmanta]

You can almost see it smile now it has its proper face back on !

I am not fond of the blank nose style, even a Mk1 cav looks a bit bland with no slots. I think the two slot pictured above is better than the later 4 slots if I am honest.

[mantadog]

Much nicer with nostrils, amazing what a little  face lift can do for looks!!!

[stradacab]

Well, what did I say? about a week of fettling and prep before fitting? I reckon I wasn't too far off.

Have been out there every night this week and am averaging about two repair plates a night. The nose cone was SH when it went on the car it came off- now it's s being fitted to it's third car. Obviously the GT/J is on its third cone now so you can imagine the combination of rust, sealer, braize annd chisel marks on the mating flanges...

I decided the only way to do it properly was to cut the faces off the cone and make new ones. I have also let in repair plates for the inner wing flanges and tried to straighten the inner wings with a hammer and dolly to remove the ripples.

I have about 4 more plates to do before fitting, at least it will be strong and will keep the use of sealer to a minimum





You can see the state of the unrepaired bit at the bottom here



And thats how it's come out at the side and the bottom on the finished one (I have to dress the weld nearest the chassis leg yet)

[stradacab]

OK, I need some advice, this has been bugging me all week and I wanted your thoughts..

As we know the car was involved in a front ender in the late 80's early 90's, certainly before Giles bought it in '93.

There is a horrid kink in the leg ahead of the subframe mounting. I've measured and checked hundreds of times agains another car and the legs are square, in line and the nose cone lines up with the bonnet shut lines perfectly. I don't want to change the leg- a bit out of my league (and it might end up further out of line than the current one on there!!)

Do you reckon it will be OK to leave it like this and carry on as planned?

[paulmanta]

Treat it like a rust hole and cut it out, a nice clean straight patch will sort that out and make it stronger.

That would bug me just knowing it was there.

[opel2000]

Heck, that is a nasty crease, can be a common sight to see these from a light front ender, but that is definately the worse crease i've seen..... As per Paulmanta, cut it out and put some strength back in there, although this is a crumple zone of the Manta, if you did have a bump this area would disentegrate  a bit too easily if not repaired.

[Christ]

^^^^^^^
Was thinking the same as clive re being in a crash with it in that condition.

How does your ARB sit relative to the spring either side? Mine used to sit a lot closer to one than the other and can only put it down to a small crease in the chassis leg.

[paulmanta]

James,  Looking at the photos of the inner wings in the post somewhere above, the pic of the passengers side inner wing seems to show the top side of that crease, if I look closely I think I can make out the line under the yellowish wire.

If I buy a Manta its one of the areas I look at for signs of a front ender as lots of people miss it when they do crash repair.

It needs pulling out when you cut the crease out from the leg or its going to look like its crumpled when viewed from above. It is only tiny but it will show up in your bonnet shut lines if you dont do it now but make sure the dimensions are spot on or you will have what I had with the A series and the bonnet will touch on one side but be gapped the other. I had to cut the whole nose off to sort that.  You already have the nose off !

You might get away with just slicing the leg crease at its lowest point all along the crease and pulling the leg forward with a ratchet strap until that top crease goes and then dressing the crease and welding it again.

Weld a big plate or ring on the top of the chassis leg to fix the strap on, you can always grind it off later.

Remember to work out the exact angle it got pushed back and pull it the opposite way.

Its not too bad, that wall of text above reads worse than it is.

[stradacab]

Thanks for all your advice, I've decided to scrap the car..........




Only joking!!!   It'll take more than that to beat me!! If we're going to do this it's got to be done right, especially factoring in the crumple zones like Clive pointed out.

I have spoken to Master Automotive and they have a 8 point body jig in their workshop and all the correct dimensions. When it was originally repaired it obviously wasn't done properly so I have decided to leave the nose cone and wings off, pull the engine and they will jig it before refitting the nose cone.

So I need to get on with all the other welding.....even though the "first" job I planned will be the very last, I'm glad I found it now. I've been a bit depressed about hitting such a big snag so early but I feel re-enthused about the whole thing now.

Edited by stradacab, 30 May 2011 - 03:29 PM.

[stradacab]

It doesn't feel like I've done much on it this week, but I just remembered that I did the brakes on the Ascona Thursday and the windscreen on Saturday, so I have been "Opeling", just not so much on the GT/J.

I have finished welding up the nose cone, mainly repairing the flanges, welding up some un needed trim clip holes and derusting. As it isn't going to be fitted yet I've moved back to the "a" pillars to start work there now.

[stradacab]

Offside "A" post and scuttle repair











Only about 2 more years of this fiddly welding crap to go!

[monzta]

stradacab, on 08 June 2011 - 10:05 PM, said:

Only about 2 more years of this fiddly welding crap to go!

Look at the bright side, when you are done with the car you will be a Jedi Master Welder

[mickappy]

good work, all worth it in the end mate.

[Devil Fish]

monzta, on 08 June 2011 - 10:35 PM, said:

Look at the bright side, when you are done with the car you will be a Jedi Master Welder

    he already is!

[stradacab]

Devil Fish, on 09 June 2011 - 12:00 PM, said:

    he already is!

More like a Jedi idiot!
.
.

This car has rusty bits I've never come across before, and lots of bits everywhere, just look at the state of this pedal box!



So more cutting and quite a bit of effort tonight to make a new plate that is strong, watertight and tidy (especially as when the soundprofing is on no-one will ever see it again!!) I must be mad.









Just have to finish the side bit of it tomorrow and move on to the next disaster area!
(Your weld-thru primer is excellent by the way Darren, do you have any more?)

Edited by stradacab, 09 June 2011 - 11:08 PM.

[monzta]

What! ? I have never EVER seen a Manta rust at that location, that is simply just weird!?

Well, it is bound to be good once finished, you really are doing a great job on the looks of things, hope that i can do it just half as good on my A series. Haven´t welded on a car in 3-4 years by now

[Devil Fish]

no sorry, left it all in your garage...don't think it was massively expensive though (was an ebay job iirc)

rusty pedal box... can't wait to see what else has rusted on this... windscreen rubber? Rear quater glass?

place your bets now.

[stradacab]

I hope that I have found all of the major bits. The car in now practically all stripped, if it is there I should have seen it. There is no trim or sound deadening etc for it to hide under, but you never know!!

[PassMeTheGun]

My GT/J 400R has rusted through the top of the pedal box as well, I thought it was normal!