231 replies to this topic

[mickappy]

right the time has finally come to start my 400 rt project.
idea is to have a show car with a differance,the donor car( a 1800 b reg coupe 37000 miles) which i bought from a man in
liverpool who had it dry stored for 10 years. ive had it in storage for 3 years 3 months,
over the years while its been in storage ive been collecting parts for the build,
new 400 kit- bonnet
newly built c20let
revolution wheels
rollcage
suspenion
power steering
+ something that will make it a tad differant   but i`ll keep that secret for now(due to the fact that we dont know if we can pull it off)
im wanting to do most of the work myself rather than the cheque book job. will need lots of advice along the way im sure

here goes
the 1st week.
pulled car out of storage



crack on stripping to shell

floors are excellent

inner wings and a posts are perfect.

engine out


wiring harness out and labled

stuban chassis bolt burnt off

basically its a bare shell now sat on my spits.
really happy with the condition so far, nothing major to report, both sill have been replaced at some point,
now for peace of mind im going to take em off and pop 2 new ones on and make sure theres nothing nastey in there.
dont trust these quick garage repairs

maybe we should of emptied the car b4 we spun it:))
next job strip underseal of for shot blasting.  
did i mention i want this done for august 2012? im wanting to use this as my wedding car

Edited by mickappy, 05 August 2011 - 11:47 AM.

[robah]

Good Luck with the new project Mick

Looks like a very good shell to start with, which is a bonus

[garymanc]

looks a good car to start with,what coulor are you painting it.
should get you to the church on time when its done

[couperman]

Looks like the most fun you could have in 1 day Mick, Good Luck!

GAZ

[StevieH]

Sounds like a good build project ,I'm always a sucker for a 400 kitted manta  
Looks a really good shell to base the project on too .
good luck and keep the photo's coming thick and fast  

[taylorblue5]

Where's the rust Mick? Ha, not a true Manta without the rust, ul need to paint it on to stop us all bein green. lol. Looks like uv got all the toys to do the job anyway dude. Keep us posted.

[mickappy]

no other colour but white for me gary:)   yes im very lucky with very little rust.
lets see what its like when its been blasted

im off to devon now for a weeks hols so they will be no progress for 7 days.

[manta3000]

def a bonus having good donor,mines away getting blasted, wondering how much metal will be left
u not getting the underseal to come off with the blasting?
think urs will be done +roaded before mine
good luck

[mickappy]

am going to take it of b4 blasting, comes of easy with a bit of heat, now the sound deadening on the inside is a differant matter:)

what sort of blasting is it getting? sand or glass?

[manta3000]

hi
im sure its fine sand/grit?
bloke does a lot of  classic car work,he"s doing a e-type,couple of old alfas,and  a few other classics the now
just getting underseal blasted off same time,dont have luxury of spit,
colin

[Devil Fish]

I got a feeling this is going to be EPIC!

all the best with it Mick

Daz

[mickappy]

back off hols this morning:~) right in to the workshop...
we dummy fitted a lambo hinge just to see what it looked like n fit like.
now most people wont like these on here:) but it is a show car and i like to be a tad differant.
we made it fit in a way to get a view how they would look, im in two minds weather to fit these now.
mainly because id have to loose the hinges on the  A pillers.. and once there gone! theres no goin back:(
i dont think i could take the cutter to em.. what u guy think? stay or go? they do work well and also open like a normal door if wanted.


opinions please

also got the new 400 kit out of hiding to see how it fit.
not too bad really, was expecting worse..


hoping to take both sills and jacking points off next, all seems ok but i want to be sure.
mantas do seem to rust from the inside out.

[monzta]

Looks absolutely great ! Love the lambo doors, and the bodykit especially the rally light pod

Could i ask for some info regarding your jig ? Looks pretty simple but also kind of "skinny" ...? Does it hold up allright ?

[Christ]

A rally car with lambo doors
TBH they've been done to death on show cars

But at least they're pillarless doors unlike a lot and it's your car, so if you like it do it.........

and I've alsways been curious to see it done to a manta.
How much cutting about of the wing is required to fit round that hinge??

Edited by Christ, 13 August 2011 - 07:20 PM.

[mickappy]

monzta, on 13 August 2011 - 06:52 PM, said:

Looks absolutely great ! Love the lambo doors, and the bodykit especially the rally light pod

Could i ask for some info regarding your jig ? Looks pretty simple but also kind of "skinny" ...? Does it hold up allright ?

jigs good for about a ton, going to put some wheels on it too. we built an astra mk1 on it (EVERYTHING BUT ENGINE AND BOX ) and had no probs,

Christ, on 13 August 2011 - 07:18 PM, said:

A rally car with lambo doors
TBH they've been done to death on show cars

But at least they're pillarless doors unlike a lot and it's your car, so if you like it do it.........

and I've alsways been curious to see it done to a manta.
How much cutting about of the wing is required to fit round that hinge??

yup never seen it done to a manta. 75% going for normal doors at the min.
can be hiden under wing quite well with a bit of chopping of wing

Edited by mickappy, 13 August 2011 - 07:34 PM.

[Exclusive Opel]

Sure I have a photo with a Manta fitted with lambo doors somewhere or you could always go down this route Link  

[mickappy]

right the doors are going to be normal, just can not cut the a pillers as there perfect, maybe if i do another
after this i will use them. there going on the shelf

gullwing doors    i know its a bad idea when the link provided takes you to barry boys.. lol
so back on with the work. off to chop some sill off:)

[mickappy]

as i suspected. old sill left under new sills,


going to get all this chopped out b4 it goes for blasting.
this is pretty much the worse of the rust, (what we can see that is).
also cut the outer skin off the chassis leg as it was starting to bubble, really glad we did this. easy repair now will last years.
really solid on the inner skin,

going to pop the other sill and the jacking point off next,

[opel2000]

I thought about doing Lambo doors on my old V8, there were a few things that put me off, one of which was a poseur at Billing driving around with his doors Lambo'd and they were wobbling around like fook as if they were about to fall off, can't remember the other reasons though  

Damn good to see you are starting with a good shell in the first place, look forward to seeing this progress Mick.  

[mickappy]

cheers mate, its good not to have months of welding to do,
door back to normal now, had to have a try tho.

will be needing some more of your work too clive for this build. will be in touch
when needed.