Oh my God, what the hell have I bought yet again!?

[Lopéz]

Can't possibly say what it is. But here are a couple of clue pictures.

All I will say is, it cost a lot more than any car I have ever bought before, and is a in much better condition than I have ever bought before.
It is also a model of car I have never owned before.

Come on detectives, get detecting

 

[Lopéz]

My insurance just went up by 30p a month

 

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There are wrong answers and right answers in this thread.

Some people are good at recognising rare-ish colours.

 

[Lopéz]

Wrong Manta Adam.

Flat-6, IainB and Penski are right - it's a Manta GT/E Exclusive

I like it

 

[Lopéz]

To answer a few points.

Yes, it's an Exclusive, they were an end of line special (hardly "Exclusive" given that virtually all of them in the last 2 years of production were Exclusives!)

You don't get any kit - no PAS, no electric windows, no central locking

Yes it's a hatch. This was my big compromise point. I'd love a notchback, I really do prefer them. But I need a hatchback. This is why I was looking for either a Chevette or a Manta rather than the original plan of getting a Viva (saloon). So a hatch it was.

Yes the paint is a little dull. It's had a quick blowover a couple of years ago and whoever did it didn't really do it brilliantly - no real lustre to the paint and a few areas where you can see sanding marks. But I didn't buy it for the paint I bought it for the shell - never been welded, rock solid chassis rails - lovely stuff.

And yes I finally broke the £1000 barrier. Really took some doing!

agw_01 it reminds you of a Mk1 Cavalier because it is one.

Been out for a drive tonight - it goes alright (the 1.8 needs working really hard and they're very very thrashy engines) stops well, corners in a flat and robust manner, slides in the wet, grips in the dry. Just what I wanted it to do. So much more positive than a Capri!

Oh and the Volvo is not sold, Kate might use it for a while until her insurance payout is sorted, or I might just flog it.

Anyway - short term plans are to clean it and take some decent pics inside and out, sort out some tunes and stop the highly annoying exhaust knocking against the body with some heavy duty mounts.

XE? Never say never.

 

[Lopéz]

how come kate has an insurance payout and has to use the vulva??

has something happened to the 180/200sx?

Written off by uninsured driver

 

[Lopéz]

Leon, it looks like a complete heap of crap

Just up your street, congratulations

You'd hate it.

No electric anything.
Loads of wind noise because the pillarless doors never seal very well. Dim instrument lighting.
Rough, coarse engine.

At least I can hand on heart say it's in very good condition, bar the rushed paint job. Might try some wet sanding and polishing on a hidden area like the rear valance to see how it buffs up, but the roof is the worst bit and just needs more paint on it to be honest.

Phate, I can't believe you have never heard of a Manta! LOL. I'll bring it to the next RR and you can all admire your lack of reflections in the paint

With regards to the Volvo I think I'll just replace the exhaust as it's blowing quite loudly now and pop it up for sale for some random figure. It still has MOT til' next Feb so it's got to be worth a few hundred to somebody.

 

[Lopéz]

Thanks for the comments, I was expecting more

from most of you.

Short term plans:

Polish it properly

Car holds good oil presure but has an intermittent sticking tappet which is very embarrassing - but it comes and goes so I may just tolerate it for the mean time.

Exhaust knocks the body which is so annoying it's untrue, so I will be getting her on ramps to try and sort that this weekend.

Otherwise there are no defects that instantly need rectifying. [TW]Fox will be stunned to hear it even has Goodyears - okay so not Eagle F1's, but they are ideally suited to the car (Eagle GT+4)

Long term plans:

Fit an XE engine. This really is a relatively easy conversion, as I already have most of the correct parts (if memory serves the block itself is the same) so it makes sense to do the conversion. If I want originality it can easily be put back as it was.

 

[Lopéz]

To make an XE RWD you neeeeed....

The sump, pick-up pipe et cetera from a Manta 1800...

Aaaaannnd something to sort out the dizzy drive because it'll be an 'interferance fit' with the bulkhead.

XEs cost a pretty penny if you're not lucky so for cheap powaaahhh, grab a 2.0 8v from a Cav SRI, fit with a decent fannymould and bike carbs then enjoy 150bhp and lovely lovely low-down usable torque.

*n

Well the sump and pick up pipe I already have, 'cos it's a 1.8

As for the distributor, remember I have one of these:

Which is what you need to do this:

You still need to trim a very small area from the flange on the bulkhead to clear a water pipe though (IIRC)

I know what you mean about XE lumps. One day you get a whole Calibra for £150, the next people wanting £500 for the engine on it's own so the 8v route is always an option.

 

[Lopéz]

Just took it out for a blast. It absolutely needs an XE engine. If Kate thinks it needs more power then it must do!

And as mine is carb fed (it's a GT Exclusive not a GTE Exclusive) that means bike carbs or conversion to injection, which I don't think I can be arsed with.

 

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Love it looks mint. Any interior shots?

It has the GTE interior with Recaros:

Irmscher wheel - with or without the pad? I think I prefer without

Original sills

 

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It's got some grotty spots on the inner wings, I'll nip out and get a couple of pics. But even there it's solid

 

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Okay 2 really boring posts coming up - a structural walkthrough of the shell:

Sill - original - never plated - solid:

Rear chassis rail and spring hanger:

Front end of sill and chassis outrigger:

Battery tray (well chuffed about this)

Strut top & inner wing:

Passenger side headlamp bowl & inner wing:

Worst rust on the car. Driver side headlamp bowl. I've bashed this to hell with a screwdriver and it will NOT go through. This and the opposite side are getting stripped, DeOx'd, Hydrate80'd and repainted tomorrow or next weekend.

Bulkhead:

Crossmember:

 

[Lopéz]

Driver side boot corner:

Passenger side boot corner:

Rear 3/4 pockets:

Those of you who like new cars can wake up now

 

[Lopéz]

whats so great about XE engine?

As Wicksta points out - readily available (in those hugely sought after Cavaliers and Calibras ), makes good power, and very easy to fit to my particular car. Along with the Cosworth probably one of the best known and supported 16v tuner engines of it's era I'd say?

 

[Lopéz]

Cheers

This car has got a weird history.

Some years it has covered less than 300 miles between MOT's

It was donated to a motor club at one point and auctioned for charity.

I've sent some emails to see what I can find out. Very interesting (for me, anyway!)

 

[Lopéz]

Gotta love the ID crisis it has too.

In 1988 you could only buy 2 models of Opel Manta:

Opel Manta GT Exclusive (1.8 carb engine, all hatchback, checked interior, no side skirts, steel wheels)

or

Opel Manta GT/E Exclusive (2.0 injection, all coupé, grey recaro interior, side skirts, alloys)

Confusingly, mine has been retro-fitted with the skirts, alloys and interior from a GT/E so it looks like a GT/E except for the fact that it's a hatch so that means it can't possibly be a GT/E as they never made them that shape and that age.

Confusing innit?

 

[Lopéz]

haven't checked this out but in theory at least, if a C20XE engine fits, a C20LET should also?

it's the same block as far as i know.. LET with the phase2 kit being good for what, 225bhp?

Yeah but I've never been a huge fan of turbo power, I'd rather have the noise and grunt of an N/A engine

Well, my Dad always said it was easier to keep a nice car nice than make a bad car nice. So I'll be undertaking a minor series of jobs to keep any vulnerable spots on the car in good condition.

Project 1: The sills

Sills on Mantas rot spectacularly. Mine are solid but obviously 20 years of road abuse take their toll and there are blemishes and blisters along them as you'd expect.

So take one side sill:

Remove the self tapping screws and cut along the seams, freeing the skirt. Remove skirt and marvel at grime:

Clean up with sponge and water, and lightly key the surface with a Scotchbrite pad:

Nitromors round any corroded areas:

Coat corroded areas with Bilt Hamber DeOx Gel to remove corrosion:

Paint clean metal areas with Bilt Hamber Hydrate80 stabiliser/primer:

That will be ready to receive a good coat of stonechip black tomorrow, followed by top coat. Then the side skirt can go back on with new stainless screws and washers to replace the old rusty ones.

To lift the mood following that grotty job I ordered replacement decals for the car. These are in the correct red - I will be dropping the "E" from Manta GT/E as mine is just a GT.

Also picked up some period underbonnet DTV decals which I couldn't resist

 

[Lopéz]

I have an orginal 'Blydenstein Tuned' sticker somewhere, fella. If I can find it, its yours.

*n

Cheers, Bigears - period for the win.

Nice early start this morning - sills now have a good coat of stonechip black ready for topcoat and then the sill covers can go back on.

 

[Lopéz]

Sill now painted body colour over the stonechip:

A blast of lacquer later and we will be ready to refit the sill.


Waiting for paint to dry - so on with the correct decals. When new, the Exclusive had red stickers (no actual metal/plastic badges) so on they go.

First off, clean up the front grille where the sticker will sit

One Opel badge:

Then the boot, which has a small black badge at the moment:

Bye bye old, hello new:

The Manta came with a variety of stickers in various sizes over the years, as mine is a GT I dropped the "E" at the end