20 replies to this topic

[mantaray]

1979 Manta B series,

Well had this sitting around for a few months, but moved it from my mothers to my garage today.

It need a bit of work:

chassie legs ( only to be expected )
Passenger foot well
Both sills
and a good tidy.

Started to drop the engine and sub frame, but as expected the chassie to sub frame bolts are solid, so it will be out with the cutter tomorrow.

I want to put it back to original so I'm looking for a few bits:

2 slot front end
Front & rear bumpers
driver front seat (black vellor with Head rest)
P/side full sill


A couple of pics.

[welder]

Looks good mate, they still turn up from time to time

[smiffy220]

Good luck with the project and finding the right bits Chris. Be nice to see this back looking original again. Think I saw a set of 5 ATS alloys on fleabay the other day too in case you need some.

Dave

[Robbie]

Good to see another one getting sorted

[mantaray]

Front sub frame,engine & box now removed. Rear axel nearly out will drop it in the morning.

Having now been able to have a good look at the underside it's not as good as it looks. Both front floor pans need replacing, drivers side has been repaired but old rot not cut out so needs to be done again.

Now the question, to do the job properly I need to get new froor sections from P S Autotiele £200 aprox or do I just make my own floor sections ? As I do not plan on keeping the car once finished, i need to take into account how much it is going to cost agenst how much it is likely to sell for.

[mantaray]

When removing the rear wheels I found some loverly wheel spacers.





Engine and sub frame removed.





Passenger side inner arch.



Drivers side inner rail.





Floor looks OK, but the old floor has not been cut out.

[pat]

love those spacers , had a set of those on the back of my first car mk1 cav 2dr saloon

[mantaray]

Rear Axel has now been removed, and I'v got the car up on the roll over. Not a pritty sight.




Starting at the drivers side inner wing:

























N/S Sill just pulled away with no force at all !



To do the job right, I'm going to need a lot of new pannels. so far My list is:

2 x jacking points (Eur 90)
Pair of rear wheel arch repair sections (Eur 50)
Pair of rear corner repair sections (Eur 80)
N/S sill (Eur 23)
Rear valance (Eur 34)
Pair of floor pan (Eur 200)
Pair of chassie rails (Eur 50)

That's a total of 527 eur + postage (£450)

and thats before I even start. Once you add other expences like paint,brake lines,seat, bumpers ect I can see this costing atleast £2000 to get it any way close to sorted.

Is it worth doing ? Don't know, I'm going to sleep on it for a few days before I make my mind up.

[plumster]

Yep, I imagine this is one to sleep on, 2 grand in bits & 100s of hours work to get something with a value of maybe 5 or 6k.

But, do you do it for the love of doing it? Probably.

Custom cars & Rod's cost £millions to build & millions of hours to do, but end up for sale at a fraction of the price because the builder has a new project in mind.

I hope you do save it & good luck if you decide to have a go, you will indeed be a brave man.

[Julian]

IMO I doubt if you will break even on this one, I have scrapped better cars.But to do it as a hobby is a different thing altogether. I've just finished building a model of the German Battleship Bismarck, and that has cost me over 700 quid plus hundreds of hours over a period of two years, but if I put it up for sale I'd be lucky to get £200.00 for it, I enjoyed the hobby though!! Like you say it's make your mind up time!!

[deanosabby]

Go for it,
My bill on my 78 Cav coupe is going to be coming in about £3200 by the time it is done mind you though I aint doing it.

[1900SR]

If you're doing it to make a profit, then it's not likely to work. As you know the B1 cars are the poor relation when it comes to desirability, and hence value. If you're going to do it as a showcase for your skills then go for it.

[mantaray]

Thanks all for your words of wisdom.

You are spot on Steve. That the way I am starting to think, do the car, use it for next years shows and try and get it in a mag, to generate some publisity for my business and showcase my skills, then sell it on to fund the next project.

I have been offered a rear panel, Jacking points and wheel arch repair sections already and I have sorted a good price for the postage of the other panels from PS Autotiele in Germany. So at the moment I am tending towards going ahead with it.

But I would like to get it media blasted if I do go ahead so thats adding even more cost.

[Toni]

definately the right decision - your own mobile advert Good luck

[MANTAMAN]

You've got a proper project with that one Chris, though if anyone can do this Manta it'll be you.

Now what to do with it, as i see it there are two options, go for a full restoration which would involve replacing the rotten bodywork with replacement panels to retain the originality which would cost loads meaning you'd never recover the cost if you sold it but it would be a good show case for your talents.

Alternatively make a mildly modified Manta, for this it wouldn't matter if underside repairs to the shell were made from fabricated sections thus cutting the cost. perhaps turn this Manta out looking outwardly similar to a standard B but 'modernised and improved' even going as far as a 16 valve engine. Old Skool Cool with modern performance, that might sell for more than it cost to repair.

[mantaray]

Well I did a bit more poking around today, got the shot blaster out and cleaned up a bit of the boot floor, not good. i also looked under the vinal roof and again not good.

So i have now deceided that it is not worth repairing and I am going to brake it. If anyone needs any parts let me know before it goes to the big scrap yard in the sky.

[xecoupe]

Julian, on 02 August 2010 - 02:30 PM, said:

IMO I doubt if you will break even on this one, I have scrapped better cars.But to do it as a hobby is a different thing altogether. I've just finished building a model of the German Battleship Bismarck, and that has cost me over 700 quid plus hundreds of hours over a period of two years, but if I put it up for sale I'd be lucky to get £200.00 for it, I enjoyed the hobby though!! Like you say it's make your mind up time!!

hi Julian if you have any pics of the Bismark i would love to see them

[Julian]

[quote name='xecoupe' timestamp='1281268428' post='186269']
hi Julian if you have any pics of the Bismark i would love to see them
[/quote]


[quote name='xecoupe' timestamp='1281268428' post='186269']
hi Julian if you have any pics of the Bismark i would love to see them
I don't think I'd better put any more on, after all this is a forum for cars, and not German battleships The model is just over a metre long, and contains 2,800 parts, even the paint is counted as a part. I have not glued the deck down, I have just screwed it down so that I still have the option to make it a RC Model. I completed it, after just over two years, a month ago, so I haven;t made a display case for it yet, as I did with the Titanic, that also took two years to build, Sice I retired I have often wondered how the hell I had time to go to work

Can these pics be removed now please, they have served their purpose.

Edited by Julian, 10 August 2010 - 07:14 PM.

[Shug]

I could really do with the M9 bolts that bolt the manifolds to the head if you are breaking it.

[mantaray]

M9 bolts are yours I'll sort them out and post them up to you.