Oh my God, what the hell have I bought yet again!?
- Thread starter Lopéz
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Cool project, I dont think Ive ever seen an F reg Manta either!
They aren't strut tops
Eighties for the win.
*n
Haha, damper mounts would be the correct term I suppose
It doesn't polish up very well but it's a lot better than it was:
Now I just need a foglight (Mantas only ever had bolt-on foglights and mine is missing)
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Soldato
Those bump-strips so need to go!
I believe on the late year models they are clipped on to rivets (like a 205 GTI has) so no way am I going to try and remove them, it will look atrocious.
I actually prefer Mantas with no skirts, no bump strips, no big bumpers, just small chrome ones. So why I ended up with one like this I don't know
EDIT
Yep just peeled one back and checked, riveted trim clips that the plastic moulding fits over the top of, shedloads of work to remove and would require a full respray. Not happening!
I actually prefer Mantas with no skirts, no bump strips, no big bumpers, just small chrome ones. So why I ended up with one like this I don't know
EDIT
Yep just peeled one back and checked, riveted trim clips that the plastic moulding fits over the top of, shedloads of work to remove and would require a full respray. Not happening!
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Soldato
Yeah they are riveted, if you remove the moulding it will look like someone's gone down the side of the car with a nail gun on half power, would be a bit of work smoothing it down after and spraying but would look so much cleaner but looking at pics I think they actually suit the hatch a lot better than if they were on a coupé 
Hugely exciting update.
1) My Manta has no fog lamp. How it passed the MOT is a mystery, but I don't want it to fail the next one. Unfortunately the Manta never had a built in fog lamp, just a cheap afterthought bolted onto the bottom of the bumper which looks immensely crap.
So I bought a 24-LED bulb to fit into one of the reverse lamps. These are really bright and are clear when the power is off. I disconnected the reverse lamp wiring (which doesn't work anyway) and fitted the new LED bulb, then wired it to the existing fog lamp wiring which was still there.
Hey presto:
2) The dashboard lighting is awful beyond belief, thanks to the 2 tiny bulbs that shine down on the clocks (no posh backlighting here)
So I bought a pack of LED replacements on ebay (various colours) these are the blue ones:
So at least now I can see how fast I'm not going at night.
1) My Manta has no fog lamp. How it passed the MOT is a mystery, but I don't want it to fail the next one. Unfortunately the Manta never had a built in fog lamp, just a cheap afterthought bolted onto the bottom of the bumper which looks immensely crap.
So I bought a 24-LED bulb to fit into one of the reverse lamps. These are really bright and are clear when the power is off. I disconnected the reverse lamp wiring (which doesn't work anyway) and fitted the new LED bulb, then wired it to the existing fog lamp wiring which was still there.
Hey presto:
2) The dashboard lighting is awful beyond belief, thanks to the 2 tiny bulbs that shine down on the clocks (no posh backlighting here)
So I bought a pack of LED replacements on ebay (various colours) these are the blue ones:
So at least now I can see how fast I'm not going at night.
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Soldato
I remember the joy of discovering a car I'd just bought had no dashboard lights. I drove around for ages with a small torch cable tied to an air vent before I finaly plucked up enough courage to take the dash apart.
Soldato
Those dials look awesome now.
God, you're making me soo jealous
Loved my Manta, so im keeping an eye on this thread. Can't believe how much I want another one now
When I was 18 my Fiesta had such poor dashboard lights I couldn't see how fast I was going, ever. I used to be so paranoid driving it at night incase I got busted for speeding.
If that was the case now I wouldn't really give a crap
I just like the colour 
Soldato
Random bump. On saturday whilst sat in the beer garden very similar Manta came blasting past. Same wheels, colour, rear hatch and was making some real progress on the back roads. Sounded really nice too
Wasn't you was it?
Wasn't you was it?
Unless it was Saturday lunchtime somewhere between Ashby and Castle Gresley, no
Rain is cocking up my plans today.
I removed the rear bumper to paint it - there is no shine in the paint at all, so 4 bolts later and off she came. Rear valance is amazingly solid!
Resprayed:
Then as I was lacquering it disaster struck - wind blew the garage door it was resting on, and it slammed down on to the gravel driveway. Lovely! So now I have a shiny bumper absolutely plastered in grit.
Once it's dry it will all have to get sanded back and start again.....
Rain is cocking up my plans today.
I removed the rear bumper to paint it - there is no shine in the paint at all, so 4 bolts later and off she came. Rear valance is amazingly solid!
Resprayed:
Then as I was lacquering it disaster struck - wind blew the garage door it was resting on, and it slammed down on to the gravel driveway. Lovely! So now I have a shiny bumper absolutely plastered in grit.
Once it's dry it will all have to get sanded back and start again.....
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Never seen a Manta? Kids these days.... 
Took advantage of more good weather today and cracked on with the old preventative rust treatment.
Did the other sill (not as nice as the other side, but still very good) and a spot of rust that had grown up on the top of the sill itself.
First, Nitromors the affected area:
Then rub away all the shrivelled paint:
Apply DeOx Gel:
Remove with a wire brush and clean the area up, then apply a few coats of Hydrate80 to stabilise the area:
Looks like this when dried:
That's not very pretty though, so it got lots and lots of coats of stonechip black:
Then some top coat (this is actually the wrong colour, a Volvo shade, but my local dealer haven't got Monaco blue in stock and it's a very close match:
And finally some lacquer:
Hopefully that will at least slow down the progress of any MOT-failing rot Side skirt can now go back on with stainless fastners to match the other side.
Took advantage of more good weather today and cracked on with the old preventative rust treatment.
Did the other sill (not as nice as the other side, but still very good) and a spot of rust that had grown up on the top of the sill itself.
First, Nitromors the affected area:
Then rub away all the shrivelled paint:
Apply DeOx Gel:
Remove with a wire brush and clean the area up, then apply a few coats of Hydrate80 to stabilise the area:
Looks like this when dried:
That's not very pretty though, so it got lots and lots of coats of stonechip black:
Then some top coat (this is actually the wrong colour, a Volvo shade, but my local dealer haven't got Monaco blue in stock and it's a very close match:
And finally some lacquer:
Hopefully that will at least slow down the progress of any MOT-failing rot
Side skirt can now go back on with stainless fastners to match the other side.
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