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Stradacabs SR Berlinetta Hatchback- EJO


stradacab
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I bought EJO back in May of 2012 (I think, might have been 2013) from a deceased estate. The story goes that it was bought new from Pedestal Garages in High Wycombe by a doctor who eventually retired to Devon taking the Manta and an Austin Healey Sprite although his final daily drive was a BMW 1 Series. Long story short, followinh his death his brtother retained the low mileage BMW and disposed of the other two cars to a chap in Devon.

From what I can gather he kept the Austin Healey himself, MOT'd and flipped the Manta. It was advertised on eBay for about a grand which was, back then, too much money, I think it was re advertised at about 750 just as I was coming back from a long weekend in Cornwall with the family and, as it was not far off the journey home, just going for a look wasn't going to hurt anybody was it? 

Unusually it was ordered with no radio so it had the cubby hole storage tray in place of the unit. The only thing he did very wisely spend his money on was Ziebart rust protection. As a result the car had survived better that most, it had had some previous welding on the foot well boxes that was better than MOT standard and some repairs to the rear wheel arch. It has had quite a bit of good local repair so it was obviously invested in and cared for. There was no history (all chucked out when the house was cleared) but he had spent money on the body so I don't think it wouldn't have wanted for scheduled maintenance in its life.  I am guessing that as he got older his aim became less accurate because it had a clunk in the back, the front valence was hit and the front bumper bent. The car was finally laid up and became tired and looked shabby- this didn't help sell it in the ads.

What I found was a car that drove very tight with light controls and "all there" despite its state. They say that you get the customer on the test drive so a deal was done (650 I think?) and me and Dave drove down the following weekend and drove it back.

When I bought it, it had a new MOT, new battery and 4 new budget tyres, probably to get it to pass, but needed some care and detailing.

Jobs included:-

Some entertainment- I fitted a period Clarion radio cassette.

The front valence was rotten and accident damaged so I replaced that and tidied up the original wings so I could refit them. The front inner wings and the nose cone around the headlamps were holed so they were cut and welded. I also painted and fitted a chin spoiler

The rear bumper frame was changed and I did the best job I could to hit the damaged rear panel straight and repainted it

The ATS wheels were sandblasted and repainted and, apart from a massive clean, an oil change and general check over I drove it around for the show season that year. It took a year off and then appeared at the Bristol classic car show in 2015. It drives like a good low mileage original Manta should and has survived very well probably due in part to the fact that's its a pre facelift hatch. In the summer it was brilliant fun

Fast forward to now and a change of circumstances means that I will no longer have a company car on January 3rd. I play bass guitar in a band and my "fleet" consists of a Manta Coupe, an Ascona saloon and a Saab 9-3 convertible (which in the wife's really). I didn't want to go out an spend loads on another car in the hope that my next job might have a company car so the only thing I own that I can possibly get my band gear in is the SR hatch which lead me to thinking, "I wonder if you can use a 36 year old car as a practical daily drive in the winter?" Well, an MOT and 120 quids worth of road tax later, and I'm going to find out!

After 1 week those little things that didn't matter for the odd potter in the summer become annoying or downright uncomfortable. First off, the fuel gauge never work in the bottom half of the tank, fine in the summer but making multiple journeys you lose track and I didn't fancy filling up from a can on the motorway in the pitch dark so a spare sender was fitted to correct that. Next job was the tailgate struts. A new set has been acquired from SGS to stop my brains being bashed out. Two litres of anti-freeze (oil change still to do) and both headlamps overhauled. They are as good as you are probably going to get an a 36 year old car (lighting has come a long way) but I have secured a set of Hella Comet 500 Driving lamps to boost the candles at the front.

Another important job is the heater. I don't thin I had ever noticed that it didn't work but you do when its 4 degrees outside! The matrix is good, still need to find out what is going on there. I will also be fitting a set of seat heaters to supplement the weedy heater anyway. Lastly, so far, I have fitted an ice warning lamp that illuminates when the temp drops to below 4 degrees. For now the lamps, heater, seats and ice alert complete my "winter pack" to make it a more comfy place to be in January.

Regards the tatty cosmetics, I know that the bubbling front wings and the rusty rear wheel arch will deteriorate very quickly living in the wet, but I had planned to weld and replace anyway so that will force my hand in the summer.

As bought, dirty, nasty wheels, black valence (50% plastic padding)

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At Billing that year, the different shades of paint look at their worst here but its clean, refurbed wheels, valence and back in caring hands

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Various bits

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I will keep you updated with how I get on.........

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Looking forward to hearing how it fairs in everyday traffic, My old MK2 Golf GTi that i sold 4 months ago did it comfortably that was 28 years old.

I dont know why i cant see the pics tho, I love a silver B hatch.

 

 

Forgot to say, i used to knock around at Pedestal garage in High Wycombe when i was very much younger as my mates Dad was a partner and salesman there and another good friend Rob, was a mechanic there also, they all used to run Kadett c coupes back in the day, i only used to live a few miles away from there. Had many a fond memory of the workshops out the back, its only a small garage and it still exists today selling second hand cars.

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the second image, the 'Billing' picture must have been taken friday morning because Rob is still in a vertical position.

 If you can do work on a car yourself it is perfectly possible to run an old car everyday all year, the only thing that can defeat you is availability of spares, you can't wait two months scouring ebay and putting out wanted adds when you need the your car on the road, but that is where the wifes car comes in.... or would that discussion spoil Christmas ?

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  • 4 weeks later...

A quick update, I do like a coffee in the car in the morning and got to thinking about getting a cup holder for the manta so I could enjoy my morning beverage without fear of scalding my b*lls.

My search took me through a load of crappy tat that wouldn't suit the car so I found another piece of tat on eBay that, at 14 quid, was obviously going to be shonky but could have had some potential as it did the cup holder job, provided an armrest and extra storage all in one go

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Armrest-Centre-Console-Universal-/270865174431?hash=item3f10d28f9f:g:X9MAAOSwT~9Wk2eC

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So, I stripped it back to bits and started by gently sanding down and finishing all the rough edges on the moulded plastic so it didn't cut you when you handled it/ was nice to touch. Second job was to remove the black vinyl and cheap foam that covered it. I originally used this as a template for recovering but came up with a better way of sewing it at a later point. Next was to shift the cup holders. It had a single one at the front which was really cr*p and a better one at the rear that held two (pointless) cups. I transplanted the rear to the front then cut and glued a piece of MDF to fill the hole at the back. Lastly I had to glue two pieces of MDF to cover the cup holder inside as it was a different shape. This meant ditching the moulded flocked inside tray (that was, you guessed it, rubbish anyway) and I covered inside with automotive black carpet.

The floor mounts were binned and I came up with a sandwich of MDF that I shaped to fit into the rear of the console and then bolted through the rear of the original console and spacer underneath into the transmission tunnel . This gave me a firm plinth to screw down on when fitting. In the console I had to move the bottom plate as far forward as possible so the armrest mounted far back enough without foiling your left arm when changing gear

Next I sourced the best colour match blue vinyl I could find and a piece of blue upholstery velour. Made up a new pattern for both, cut and sewed the bottom cover (running stitch) and then sewed and recovered the top rest with the velour (backstitch). I did it by hand but could have machined it for speed. I covered the base with a nice quality upholstery foam and then slid on the new cover and glued it all in place. The cup holder was lubricated with damping grease to give it a "feel" and I have ordered a 65mm circular rubber mat to sit in the bottom.

Sorry about the lack of photo's, it wasn't supposed to be a "how to" but Dave said I should share it on here,] I can take some more but this is a quick after snap.

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So now I have a nice solid cup holder (or 2 if you slide it out all the way) and a comfy place to rest my are and the extra storage is always handy in the middle.

You could go mad if you wanted (but I restrained myself this time) it could have power run to it so you could charge a phone, you could run an aux input to the radio for plugging in your iPod and you could even use it to mount some switches (but that would mean losing the cup holder)   

Budget wise it was 15 for the console, I had the foam, 5.50 for Half a meter of vinyl and about a fiver for the velour (half a meter of both so I have enough to probably do another two!) some thread and 8 quid of MDF. Coach bolts and screws were in stock. The most expensive thing that I get for free was my time, I reckon it was about 14 hours including thinking and trialling time plus I could have saved two hours if I had machine sewed.                                                                                                            

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On 21/01/2017 at 23:10, stradacab said:

and a comfy place to rest my are

 if your "are" was up there you'd never reach the pedals !

 Joking aside, this is top work, not satisfied with what you could get you have almost created your own version, well done.

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Today I got round to mounting the auxiliary lamps. 

Hella Comet 500's. Still available but about sixty quid for a set. No way I was paying that so I picked up a second hand but as new set on gumtree for 25 quid plus a few quid postage. That's more like it!

Obviously nothing is simple, the black bumpers have a cover over the bar itself which gives a 9mm gap between the two parts. That means making up a 9mm spacer to fit between the two layers which, in turn, requires removing the bumper and splitting the two parts to slip the spacer in (and that doesn't include making them) Then, the bolt the secures the lamp is too short so I had to make two new ones from some M10 coach bolts and then put it all back again.

As a result I didn't even get to start with wiring but that will be a quick job

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I think they look OK, I have used these before and they make a massive difference to the driving beam on these old weedy headlights 

Edited by stradacab
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  • 1 month later...

I'm delighted with the Hella Comets. I had forgotten just how big a difference these make. I cant say I'm totally in love with the look but practicality wins over cosmetics and the safety whilst driving at night is worthwhile.

I am very reluctant to tempt fate so |I wont go into detail on reliability. |It has been my daily drive taking me to Cardiff, Newport, Taunton, Bath and Cheltenham as well as doing the school run twice a day. Its a bit tiring as its not the sort of car you can drive for two hours and get out feeling the same as when you got in, the 4 gears, wind noise and seats  will remind you that this is a 37 year old car. I absolutely love driving the thing and every journey is a pleasure. The only downside is you have to allow a few extra minutes for your jurney because people will want to talk to you about the car. \bearing in mind it gets used every day I would say at least twice a week someone will stop[ and chat about the car and want to know what it is or to tell you about the one they owned back in the day. Don't drive a Manta if you are shy and retiring

I found some 10mm bumper tape so I fitted it today just to break up the black bumpers a bit

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Edited by stradacab
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Got to love a silver B hatch. It looks lovely, My first Manta was a silver B hatch back in 1984 CYX 882V, only 4 years old when i bought it at age 20, Thought it was the dogs danglies back then,  Still got a real soft spot for them now.

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  • 1 month later...

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