1987 Opel Manta

[sutty2006]

This is my pride and joy. The car I have owned the longest (as I used to swap cars alot in the past). I bought it in March 2007 as a Donor car for another which was rotten. I would have been a fool to cut this up, and decided to rebuild it instead. Bought for a mere £200 with no engine and gearbox.

As it came to me in 2007





I took the 1.8 ohc engine out of the rotten exclusive I had, and put it in this one.



Began to build it back up. All of the parts required were in Boxes.



It got sprayed fordson major blue in the barn I was renting, so I had to buff the paintwork up. Turned out the paint was quite thin The splitter was off a golf VR6, and being a hater of VAG.... I threw it away eventually



I did all nessesary work to get it on the road.



In 2008 I put black wheels with silver lip on. Prefered these to white, and began prep for paint.





Then it was hit with the same colour again. Carmine red.







My 2nd Billing (2008) first time I took my own car, won 2nd in its class.





Loved the Billing experiance (and havent missed one since). I started towing the caravan down there.



Which became hard work with the 1.8 engine.

[sutty2006]

So I rebuilt a 2.0 OHC Sri 130 engine. Fitted it with the 32/36 weber carb from the 1.8 and a 1.1 fiesta KnN filter.. which resulted in 124bhp. 54 up on the 1.8. Made towing the van effortless.



Only it didnt quite fit, so I cut a hole in an old bonnet and poked the filter through (last minute before billing 2010).





It didnt look too out of place with a black centre in the bonnet.



The hole in the bonnet provided a good air supply to the carb (in dry weather) and in 2010 I bought a personalised plate.



I did my first trip to Holland in....errr....2011 I think. Cant quite remember. But I needed to cover the carb, so we made a backwards scoop, to keep it dry.



In 2012 I got bored with the 2.0 8V engine and looked at potential engine swaps. I bought this hideous contraption.



Which had this lump sat in the engine bay.

[sutty2006]

Im not affraid of the grinder.



Pulled the engine out. The money I made from selling corsa parts payed for the car itself. So the engine was free.



Out with the 8valve again.



Most expensive conversion part was the rear wheel drive manifold. Made from marine grade steel from Retropower.



Looks nice in there, doesnt it





I had to buy an Injection Fuel tank, which I picked up from Canterbury (500 mile round trip)



Painted and fitted



Finally fitted and running. All this done the week before the Billing weekend, 2013. I had an exhaust custom made on the Wednesday morning. The MOT was done wednesday afternoon but it failed on emissions and horn inop. Wednesday night I put it right, ICV and knock sensor plugs were wrong way round. Thursday morning it was retested and passed, and thursday afternoon I took it to Billing.



I still had issues with air intake fouling the bonnet (by which time i had fitted the original back on). I fitted a power cap to no avail.



The only cure was to fit a Rover V8 engine mount on the o/s to lower the engine a fraction to give sufficiant clearance.

Then Last year (2014) I took the plunge and drove it to Holland with the new engine. I averaged 26mpg weather flat out at 120 or cruising at 60. Made no odds. Im now looking for a lambda sensor.

Dover



Sat between her Dutch cousins



And thats the story thus far. Thanks for looking!

[ilovedmymantas]

Lovely job you've done there mate

Is it just me or do the two black ones look wider ?

[TurboDan]

Great work and a nice write up

[vauxhallnutter]

Hats off to you for keeping this fine car on the road, lots of great work carried out and a credit to you. I go to Billing every year so i will look out for you this year and come and say hello.

[Cavalier342]

Finally, someone who has proper sense and sacrificed a corsa with an oversized engine to put that engine in a proper Opel! My hat off to you Sir! Very good project, looks fantastic. Proper classic.

[Robsey]

Very nice...
Looks a bit tricky with everything up against the bulkhead / firewall.
But well organised and laid out in that engine bay.

I seem to recal many rear wheel drive Vauxhalls and Opels being a bit of a cow to service due to all the dizzy stuff under scuttle panel - the joys eh?.

The wheels do look better dark on that red body...
White wheels should only be for the white GTE's.
Anthracite grey metallic alloys would be sweet too.

[sutty2006]

Hats off to you for keeping this fine car on the road, lots of great work carried out and a credit to you. I go to Billing every year so i will look out for you this year and come and say hello.

Please do, theres always beer in my caravan fridge

Lovely job you've done there mate

Is it just me or do the two black ones look wider ?

Cheers, the two black ones are slightly further forward in that picture



A quick list of other modifications done over time

- Vectra B front calipers with carlton 2.2 vented disks.
- Fully poly bushed rear axle (and made a start on the front)
- GTE interior
- GTE side skirts and quad headlights
- Exclusive leather steering wheel

They're only little bits and bobs, but i dont want to go too far. I like Resto Mods, to make old cars feel more modern to drive. I have a digital clock fitted where the old anolog clock sits. Alfa Romeo 166 dash vents. And with fitting the injection system makes the car feel more modern to drive, along with ample power to fend off the saxos and clios.

Very nice...
Looks a bit tricky with everything up against the bulkhead / firewall.
But well organized and laid out in that engine bay.

I seem to recal many rear wheel drive Vauxhalls and Opels being a bit of a cow to service due to all the dizzy stuff under scuttle panel - the joys eh?.

The wheels do look better dark on that red body...
White wheels should only be for the white GTE's.
Anthracite grey metallic alloys would be sweet too.

You're right. Its so tightly squeezed in that ive had to hammer the bulkhead down a fraction so the rear coolant hose doesn't chaff through. The bonus with this engine on Dispack is I could retain the heater box and matrix without the need for the rear distributor. Things are a little tight against the brake servo, which is a royal pain in the arse. ICV is located under the inlet and is only accessible from underneith.... good if you've got a ramp but in my case I dont anymore. (ICV has failed 3 times so far).

Plans for this year are to change the interior from grey, to black. I have a full set of calibra leather seats for the front, which Im trying to find a decent reasonably priced retrimmer to re-do the leather.

[sutty2006]

Finally, someone who has proper sense and sacrificed a corsa with an oversized engine to put that engine in a proper Opel! My hat off to you Sir! Very good project, looks fantastic. Proper classic.

The corsa was a Dog. It nearly torque steered me into a field on the track up to my garage. It was a weapon. Ive done society a favor and saved a spotty student teenager from instant death by taking it off the road.

[Cavalier342]

Credit where credit's due!

[Chip Pan Dan]

nice, love that manifold

[Lowrider Dave]

Fantastic work, lovely car and a credit it to you.

[vauxhallnutter]

Hats off to you for keeping this fine car on the road, lots of great work carried out and a credit to you. I go to Billing every year so i will look out for you this year and come and say hello.

Please do, theres always beer in my caravan fridge

I will see you there then! You doing any other shows this year like Enfield?

[sutty2006]

Ive never heard of Enfield.

Will be doing a few local shows and might do the Dutch manta club show again this year. My local shows are Weston Park transport show, Trentham gardens transport show (fathers day) and a few other small local shows. I usually do the German classic car show at Haigh Hall up north, and the VBOA show is a definate as always

[vauxhallnutter]

Ive never heard of Enfield.

Will be doing a few local shows and might do the Dutch manta club show again this year. My local shows are Weston Park transport show, Trentham gardens transport show (fathers day) and a few other small local shows. I usually do the German classic car show at Haigh Hall up north, and the VBOA show is a definate as always

Its the Enfield Pageant of Motoring, its just off the A10 on the way to central London but suprisingly when you are in your tent or caravan you dont hear a thing. Its on for 3 days and only costs something like 30 quid to camp for 4 nights.
More info here: http://www.whitewebbsmuseum.co.uk/html/ ... geant.html

[Envoy CDX]

I like the look of that

[Mikebmth]

A testiment to your hard work, what a stunning ride...

I personally loved the saloon version on the Manta Exclusive when I was younger and would still love a Manta one day, so old school cool...