43 replies to this topic

[Manta again]

After a long stint away from the club my wife has decided that she can no longer put up with these modern boring cars. Especially when its a PT Cruiser and keeps breaking down(4 fan belts in 6 months and dont ask how much it costs to replace the alternator). So with great joy it is time to resurrect our beloved Manta A which according to the tax disc was last mobile in June 2005. During its long hibernation I have been starting the old girl and moving her about to stop everything from siezing up. Which was working fine until 18 months ago I put the keys somewhere safe and didn't find them again until dec 2010. Here's how she looked on saturday morning.



After a lot of pushing and shoving I managed to get her into the daylight for the first time since 2005.





The 18 months of standing without movement hasn't done the brakes any favours!



After a bit of work I managed to get the pads out and clean up the discs enough just so that I can get the car to move about easier. Whilst there I had a good look at the ball joints and track rod ends to check there condition. The rubber boot on each track rod had a split in it. No problem I have been buying up spares on ebay when ever there was something worth having. It would be a simple job to put the new ones on!! Removal was pure Haynes text book stuff. However when I tried putting the new track rod on the passenger side it was really difficult to start and after one turn it would stick. On close inspection of the thread on the end of the steering knuckle it became apparent that the last time this was track rod was replaced the monkey responsible had managed to cross thread it! Never mind I have a replacement steering knuckle (ebay again) only to fit these you to remove the steering rack in order to be able to bend back the tabs on the locking ring. More time required to carry out the work.



Other work that needs to be carried out before going for the MOT is some welding to the swan neck on the drivers side and a small blister on the floor pan next to the sill. One possibly 2 headlamps need replacing the silvering has gone rusty. One of the screws holding down the distributor cap has rouded out (sh*t) making it tricky to checks point etc. Has anyone tried the Accu spark system on their Manta? Might go for that if it works but £30 seems cheap for an electronic system! The cylinder head could do with converting to an unleaded head. Oh and clean the inside yuk!!





When funds and time allow I want to replace the exhaust system with a stainless system, upgrade the brakes. I'm sure I will find plenty of things to keep me busy with. My wife (I love her so much) wants us to get another A so we can use that for when the existing one is not on the road. Would be interested in A with straight engine in it, could be the only way I'll have the opportunity to own a TE2800 even if it was a replica.

[stradacab]

Good to see her breaking cover after all this time. Doesn't sound like you need to do a ;lot of welding and it looks like that was a good car before it was put away. A good weekend with polish and elbow grease should see it looking great!

[garymanc]

that looks very nice and a understanding wife,you have it made

[Manta again]

She had a major restoration in 2002, loads of new panels in all the places they rot plus a full respray. Amazingly there is some sign of the old tin worm coming back worst bit is bottom of the A post where it meets the front wing. But I agree some elbow grease will see her shine once more.

[johnboy]

Has anyone tried the Accu spark system on their Manta? Might go for that if it works but £30 seems cheap for an electronic system!


Hi there, i fitted an accu spark electronic kit to my manta A a couple of weeks ago, bought it direct from the accu spark web site, kit number 16, £29.00 i think, advertised on the bay as well, dead easy to fit and the car is running spot on   
  

[rayman]

Nice looking A great to see more and more of them  

[Manta again]

Thanks for the feedback johnboy   . Will give the Accu spark a try once I've got her running.

All this work on our standard A has re-kindled the desire to do something with my own A that has become something of a still born baby. The original intention was to have a V8 track day car a lot of time,money and effort went into sorting out the body and running gear but I never got to the end. I started the project in 1995!!!! During my last stint in the OMOC I discovered that in Europe they did something called a TE2800 This would be much more suited to what I'm doing in my life now. Any way here are some picks of where I got to with my A before I stopped.






The shell is in great condition I could just do with another A as a donor for interior or if possible find an A with a straight 6 already in her . The arches on the TE2800 are available from Opel GT in the USA but shipping is the same cost as the arches, unless anyone on the forum knows of a supplier closer to the UK?

For now must focus on getting the standard A back on the road, but its good to have dreams.

[mantaray]

Just noticed that you have modified the front suspention,have you any more pics of how you did it. please.
Does moving the antiroll bar to the front make any real difference to how the car handles, what are the benifits of doing this mod.

Welcome back BTW, the club must be doing something right, there have been a few old member rejoin the ranks over this last few months.

[Manta again]

Hi Mantaray. The work was done along time ago. In order to fit the V8 far enough back and down the original anti roll bar/ lower rear arm are in the way. I have seen a number of other solutions A owners have used to overcome this problem which must work OK as their cars are still working. As the car was meant to be for track use I wanted something with plenty of adjustment. My idea was to remove the bar altogether and replace it with Ford Grp A compression strut, these are infinately adjustable so that you can alter the suspension alignment. The anti roll bar fitted to the front was again a Ford Grp A part which is suppied in different tube wall thickness's to vary roll stiffness, also they can cut to length to suit each application. All the joints are rose jointed. I even had special shims made up as both the anti roll bar and compression strut bolt up through where the rubber bush used to sit in the lower arm.

Will try and get some other photos loaded so you can have a look may even be open to offers  on the front setup if I can find another A.

[johnboy]

Hi again, like those rims on the back of the car, what where they from originally or what make, size, you wouldn't be selling them would you??

[Manta again]

Hi Johnboy. If I remmber correctly they are 8x16 Compomotive MO's with zero offset (needed to fill the arch). Unless your running a car with added arches they will stick out past the original arch by about 30mm

[johnboy]

OK Thanks for that, running standard arches so no good for mine then, been looking at mx5 wheels and similar but no luck yet, got 17x 7.5 tsw on mine but getting arch contact on the front on lock and it looks a bit over tyred to be honest, will keep looking

[Johan]

The shell is in great condition I could just do with another A as a donor for interior or if possible find an A with a straight 6 already in her . The arches on the TE2800 are available from Opel GT in the USA but shipping is the same cost as the arches, unless anyone on the forum knows of a supplier closer to the UK?

[/quote]

Hi, there is a supplier in germany that has the compleet set. Bonnnet, frond spoiler,
compleet wings with arches on it and arches for on the back.

I own a original TE2800 number 57 of the 79 made.

[Manta again]

Hi Johan. Lovely car, makes me quite jealous .Dont suppose you know the details for the supplier in germany or maybe you just fancy selling your fab motor to me

[Johan]

I'll give you a pm with the mail adres of my contact person in germany. Russ Brough that
owns a Manta A DOT Broadspeed Turbo has maked a TE2800 replica with the parts of this
supplier. I'm not selling only collecting  

[Manta again]

I was asked for some pics of the front suspension of my track car so here they are.





I remmember know that Ford sierra's have a very similar front suspension setup to the A which is why I used the Grp A components. In the first photo the 2 rose joints are used to form the drop link from the end of the anti roll bar and are bolted through onto the end of the compression strut. In the 3rd pic you can see the threaded adjustment so that the suspension angle can be adjusted.

[mantamike]

nice work to see the A being brought back to life

Track car is a minter too , What kind of wheels are on there?

Edited by mantamike, 11 March 2011 - 08:03 PM.

[Manta again]

Hi Mantamike, thank you for your kind words. the wheels on the track car are 8x16 compomotive MO's with zero offset and 215/40/16 tyres. These just about fill the arches.   

[turbo16n]

Manta again, on 07 March 2011 - 11:11 PM, said:

After a long stint away from the club my wife has decided that she can no longer put up with these modern boring cars. Especially when its a PT Cruiser and keeps breaking down(4 fan belts in 6 months and dont ask how much it costs to replace the alternator). So with great joy it is time to resurrect our beloved Manta A which according to the tax disc was last mobile in June 2005. During its long hibernation I have been starting the old girl and moving her about to stop everything from siezing up. Which was working fine until 18 months ago I put the keys somewhere safe and didn't find them again until dec 2010. Here's how she looked on saturday morning.



After a lot of pushing and shoving I managed to get her into the daylight for the first time since 2005.





The 18 months of standing without movement hasn't done the brakes any favours!



After a bit of work I managed to get the pads out and clean up the discs enough just so that I can get the car to move about easier. Whilst there I had a good look at the ball joints and track rod ends to check there condition. The rubber boot on each track rod had a split in it. No problem I have been buying up spares on ebay when ever there was something worth having. It would be a simple job to put the new ones on!! Removal was pure Haynes text book stuff. However when I tried putting the new track rod on the passenger side it was really difficult to start and after one turn it would stick. On close inspection of the thread on the end of the steering knuckle it became apparent that the last time this was track rod was replaced the monkey responsible had managed to cross thread it! Never mind I have a replacement steering knuckle (ebay again) only to fit these you to remove the steering rack in order to be able to bend back the tabs on the locking ring. More time required to carry out the work.



Other work that needs to be carried out before going for the MOT is some welding to the swan neck on the drivers side and a small blister on the floor pan next to the sill. One possibly 2 headlamps need replacing the silvering has gone rusty. One of the screws holding down the distributor cap has rouded out (sh*t) making it tricky to checks point etc. Has anyone tried the Accu spark system on their Manta? Might go for that if it works but £30 seems cheap for an electronic system! The cylinder head could do with converting to an unleaded head. Oh and clean the inside yuk!!





When funds and time allow I want to replace the exhaust system with a stainless system, upgrade the brakes. I'm sure I will find plenty of things to keep me busy with. My wife (I love her so much) wants us to get another A so we can use that for when the existing one is not on the road. Would be interested in A with straight engine in it, could be the only way I'll have the opportunity to own a TE2800 even if it was a replica.

Why don't you use a distributor off of a Manta gte instead ?

[Manta again]

Cheers turbo16N hadn't thought about using the GTE stuff if I come across one I'll give it a go.

First job for getting the A back on the road is complete. So with two new steering knuckles and track rod ends means the old girl should steer like new.

Next job to start is addressing the rust. Now I'm not going to pretend that the amount of rust to sort out is anywhere near the level some of you guys have had to deal with on your projects, but experience tells me whilst it only looks small the actual area effected could be considerably larger. Guess I'll find out tomorrow





Need to change the headlamps as the silvering has gone the first problem is undoing the tiny screws that hold the sealed unit it the beam adjuster unit.Soaked them in wd40 give them ago tomorrow failing that I'll have to find away to cut the screws off.

In the back of the garage I found a front grill that I had prep'd for the track car might use it on Eileens A. What do you think

old grill


new grill