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Very late GT/E hatch. Barn stored 18 years


Danny D114BCW
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1 minute ago, The General said:

Jesus! Is that exclusive picture recent? Please say you are going to sort her out? What happened?

I bought it smashed hat hard the roof was kinked.  Re-shelled (legally) with an 84 shell from non-crashed turbo car (RVS broke) that popped it's lump.

It got ran into on my parents yard before it even saw the road again.

It got ran into from behind and repair botched (2" wide seam sealer on rear panel joins on the outside and no rear fog light - unroadworthy) by the local dealer, and every time it went in for rectification they damaged more other stuff. 

Before that was all sorted out it got stolen and stripped, so I bought it back and bought A10WLY for parts to rebuild it and had to put up with a one fag burn interior istead of the stolen perfect ones and Lucas headlights instead of the perfect CIBIEs.

And then in April '99 I got hit head on my side of the road that went 50/50.

I saved the Engine, interior, windows, new rear panel, bumper, lights, etc and rear axle.

I put the rear panel on J reg as it had only been on F few months and 2 weeks after Martin painted it, I was 5th car back in a line of traffic, light goes green and BUMP. WOman behind me had stopped in time but when the light went green she put her car in gear and drove into me (her words) without waiting for he cars to move.

 

So no, I didn't fix F836XWW that time as it was a bad luck magnet and as rusty as any other '84 car in 1999.  Even it's last remaining panel got taken out on another car!

 

More A10WLY (88 E on it's own)

a10wlys1.jpg

a10wlys2.jpg

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13 minutes ago, Monaco Blue said:

Blimey! You don't (or didn't) have much luck back then. 

Out of interest, how did you end up with a J plate Manta? 

It was for sale for over a year in Manta Magic.  It was an absolute shed.  I said to my mate I bought it for the rear plate and because it had no sunroof.  I haven't changed the root skin, pillars and the scuttle panels at bottom of both screens - but all but the roof skin have been welded.

Last car for sale in December 1998 Manta Magic

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New stuff landing now. Mirrors & new fuel pump have landed. Rear infill and new back box on there're way, rear bumper maybe sorted and the tank is having a full restoration so will be nice and new! 

 

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

Edited by Danny D114BCW
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55 minutes ago, mantadoc said:

If only there was a way to put those mirrors on normal mounts to save drilling door skins

You could try Guerilla glue. If the advert is anything to go by you should be able to stick the wheels to the hubs with out using wheel nuts !

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On 2/5/2017 at 14:26, Monaco Blue said:

This 1 owner 87E Plate GT/E Hatch in Platinum has a grey interior. I'd have thought that would have been a prime candidate to have had the beige interior.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OPEL-MANTA-GTE-2-0L-A-VERY-RARE-1-OWNER-CAR-FROM-NEW-/122337874298?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

The letter above from Vauxhall re Manta numbers is an interesting read! The GT/E Exclusive Hatch's outsold the coupe's albeit just.

 

 

I think the Chicago brown interior was an option on certain colours for the 1987 model year. My platinum hatch had the brown, but I've seen other Platinum cars with grey as above.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tank back and has been all cleaned out, new breathers and welded up as it was perforated in places. Now to fit it and get it starting on the key. 

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

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  • 2 months later...

So it has been sat waiting but work has finally started. Unfortunately the car hasn't started! Which is a whole other issue (currently unknown) 

 whilst it has been quite work wise on this car I have been sorting out a 16v coupe and an exclusive coupe restoration along with getting parts for this hatch which I have now, just need the exclusive rear bumper aluminium brackets now that fit on the sides. 

Anyway, at the weekend me and Carl attacked the hatch and was happy with how good it was underneath (it needs welding but nothing you wouldn't expect to find) the fuel lines have been replaced front to back with copper, all new clips and breather pipes on the tank along with new pump and filter......oh and reconditioned tank! 

Went to fire it up and nothing! It turns out no fuel is getting to the pump let alone the engine, so with time shifting on and the fact Carl accidentally broke the sender unit we admitted defeat otherwise I would of set fire to it! Let's see if we can get it running Wednesday evening which will then let me get on with the welding then mot/shakedown before paint. Watch this space! 

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

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So last night me and Carl had another go at getting the car started. The problem we had was the fact that fuel wasn't getting to the pickup pipe in the tank. After removing the tank and comparing it to another one we found that there was nothing wrong, the issue seemed to be the fact that two petrol cans in a tank that has been totally dry isn't enough to bring it up to a level to fill the swirl pot therefore allowing the pickup pipe to do its thing. Such a simple issue but we had to make sure everything was right. 

Any way it was fuel system rebuilt, battery on, prime the fuel system and BANG! it was alive after all these years!, it was running a little lumpy but drove around the yard like it had done it yesterday! 

As we parked it around the back the lumpy engine settled down after 10 minutes so runs like a dream, gearbox is tight and just a nice original hatchback, you can tell its not been messed with and I doubt the interior has ever been touched or removed!! 

Next on the list is a full service followed by a bit of welding and all the brakes going through. Then MOT and shake down. Mods to go on and then off to paint (that's the plan anyway which lets face it, wont probably happen like that!)

Sorry about the picture quality, they are stills from a video. Dan.

 

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

 

Edited by Danny D114BCW
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30 minutes ago, Monaco Blue said:

Excellent news! You must have been well chuffed when it fired up!

I noticed from the video, that it looked to be a bit of a tight squeeze reversing out of your unit!

I do like the look of this GTE. Perhaps one to keep?

 

Many Mantas have been through those doors, we can do i with our eyes shut now haha its not that tight more the angle. 

Erm it will be for sale at some point i think but its going to be done nice and right, i will use it for a bit then who knows!? i like the fact its steel grey and the brown interior is 'special' but i am kind of liking it for the rare factor. 

Bits going on it are lowering springs, quads, exclusive rear bumper and infill along with englemann mirrors. Can cope with two original cars. 

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1 hour ago, TheRealExile said:

Same here :lol: need to change my fuel pipes first mind - guessing if they are rusty outside then the inside will be corroded too.

It's best to do it anyway, we do it in copper pipe, one piece front to back then it can be forgotten about then. 

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3 hours ago, Danny D114BCW said:

Many Mantas have been through those doors, we can do i with our eyes shut now haha its not that tight more the angle. 

Erm it will be for sale at some point i think but its going to be done nice and right, i will use it for a bit then who knows!? i like the fact its steel grey and the brown interior is 'special' but i am kind of liking it for the rare factor. 

Bits going on it are lowering springs, quads, exclusive rear bumper and infill along with englemann mirrors. Can cope with two original cars. 

Yes, I suspected it was more the angle you were reversing out at.

That all sounds like sensible mods. The hatches always look good lowered. You are definitely coming around to liking that 'special' interior!! :D

Looking forward to seeing more photos as you progress.

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5 hours ago, Monaco Blue said:

Yes, I suspected it was more the angle you were reversing out at.

That all sounds like sensible mods. The hatches always look good lowered. You are definitely coming around to liking that 'special' interior!! :D

Looking forward to seeing more photos as you progress.

Liking? More living with haha. Embracing the brown, it's rare so will be a selling point in time. 

4 hours ago, TheRealExile said:

What diameter do I need to buy and how much will do the job? cheers, Terry

Off the top of my head I think you need about 6/7 meters to do both feed and return. Well worth doing. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well the car has had a service today, (oil and filter to do next week) and found that all four spark plugs were less than finger tight! Anyway new leads, cap and rotar arm along with everything else and it drives really well. 

MOT Monday (it will fail) then it's out with the welder, panels and nicer bits to put on! Then paint in June. 

Edited by Danny D114BCW
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