Lopez
East Midlands
Posts: 867
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Apr 19, 2008 16:58:58 GMT
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Since Christmas I've been looking for a Viva, Chevette, or Manta - in no particular order of preference. I soon ruled out the Viva as I realised for what I need a hatchback is essential, so narrowed my search to Chevette hatches and Manta hatches. Most of the cars I saw advertised were either immaculate time warp jobs that were worth thousands, grotty "found this on my dead Nans lawn" £250 welding fodder, or nice clean cars that had been laid up for a while and suddenly emerged with the sellers seeing nothing but flashing dollar signs. Very little middle-of-the-road good honest solid daily driver material. I had just about given up hope of finding something when I stumbled across this car advertised locally. A bit of haggling over the asking price and we both had a deal we were happy with. Now I've got a Manta It's very very solid, never welded. Paint is a bit dull, it's had a cheap blowover a couple of years ago and the finish isn't great (I can see sanding marks through the paint in some places and the "shine" is virtually non existant in places) but it doesn't really bother me. Drives fine, the 1.8 8v is a thrashy old thing so II might look for XE power soon as it's a bit slow for my liking really. Drives tight, rides well, very happy with it once I've sorted the exhaust knocking the body Here are some pics (sorry the first 2 are a bit dark) GTE Exclusive interior which is really nice: With or without the pad? Original sills: Rear chassis rail: Front of sill and chassis rail: Battery tray: Inner wing & strut top: Headlamp bowl: Other headlamp bowl & worst rust on the car but couldn't perforate it with a screwdriver: Bulkhead: Crossmember: Boot corners: Rear 3/4 valance pockets: Really happy with it!
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Last Edit: Sept 17, 2011 16:13:08 GMT by Lopez
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Apr 19, 2008 17:10:49 GMT
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Blimey! That is in very respectable condition, surprised that its still got its twin headlamps as well as its sills and I really like the "Exclusive" interior very tasty. I owned a GTE hatch for three months and loved the thing, getting shot of it was a big mistake.
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Lopez
East Midlands
Posts: 867
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Apr 19, 2008 17:19:26 GMT
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Well the last-but-one owner was apparently a bit of a Manta-man, so I think it's a "bitsa" - I don't think the skirts are original and I know the interior isn't.
Found some interesting stuff in the history, apparently it was given to a car club and sold for charity (I'm assuming it was left in a will!?)
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Siert
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,105
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Apr 19, 2008 19:08:53 GMT
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I know very little about German cars but I thought typically German manufacturers would use the letter E where for Einspritzung, which is injection, not exclusive. Or am I just completely wrong???
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Lopez
East Midlands
Posts: 867
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Apr 19, 2008 19:40:51 GMT
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You're right about the naming, but: It isn't a GT/E Exclusive (2.0 Injection coupe) it's a GT Exclusive (1.8 carb hatch) All 1988 Mantas are "Exclusive" models (ironic!) Confusingly, my car has GT/E sideskirts and GT/E interior, so it LOOKS like a GT/E but it isn't because it's a 1.8 carb!
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Last Edit: Apr 19, 2008 19:47:30 GMT by Lopez
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,937
Club RR Member Number: 71
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I'm hoping 80mojo - "Graham" - can shed some light on teh history as he's very involved with the manta club
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y282
Part of things
Posts: 122
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youre REALLY lucky with the structural condition of that mate!
i'd leave the pad off the steering wheel and if they're only stuck on i'd ditch the rubbing strips halfway up the bodywork. lovely looking car tho.
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24v cosworth capri, M3 evo coupe , cbr900rrn, cb750f2n
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Lopez
East Midlands
Posts: 867
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I'm hoping 80mojo - "Graham" - can shed some light on teh history as he's very involved with the manta club Ah that would be fantastic if he could! Between August 2001 and March 2003 it only covered 167 miles I've emailed both the garage that used to work on it and the club that sold it for charity to see if either can tell me anything about it. I love cars with an interesting past.
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tri
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,572
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Apr 20, 2008 11:07:40 GMT
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I love that interior! Seriously clean. I'd leave the cover on personally - although it looks ace without, it also looks like a deadly weapon - wouldn't wanna headbutt that
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I forgot how to retro...
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biggbn
Part of things
Posts: 137
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Apr 20, 2008 16:48:15 GMT
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one of my favourite cars..id love another......well done bro..
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the pump don't work cos the vandals stole the handle
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Lopez
East Midlands
Posts: 867
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Apr 25, 2008 19:00:50 GMT
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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
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Last Edit: Jan 12, 2010 18:27:19 GMT by Lopez
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Apr 25, 2008 22:35:17 GMT
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Impressively rot free sills you have there!
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That is hot. It'll be so much hotter with a red top in it too.
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Lopez
East Midlands
Posts: 867
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Apr 26, 2008 10:15:06 GMT
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Cheers Finishing off the sill today. 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
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Last Edit: Jan 12, 2010 18:28:03 GMT by Lopez
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Lopez
East Midlands
Posts: 867
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Apr 26, 2008 12:50:28 GMT
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All stickered up and given a quick wash: 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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Last Edit: Jan 12, 2010 18:28:37 GMT by Lopez
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Apr 26, 2008 15:02:45 GMT
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I must say I do like the look of your Manta, the red stickers are a neat touch.
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street
Posted a lot
6.2 ft/lbs of talk
Posts: 4,662
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Apr 26, 2008 19:03:21 GMT
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That looks absolutely gorgeous! A very, very clean example, and good on you for maintaining its condition. It would be all to easy to leave it alone and not bother seeing whats behind the bodykit on the sills but by making the effort you've preserved it for many years to come
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,926
Club RR Member Number: 174
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Apr 27, 2008 11:38:48 GMT
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I love Mantas yours looks absolutely stunning.
Matt
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Lopez
East Midlands
Posts: 867
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Apr 29, 2008 20:11:22 GMT
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Cheers guys 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 curse word. 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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Last Edit: Jan 12, 2010 18:28:58 GMT by Lopez
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Apr 29, 2008 20:28:27 GMT
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Crikey. Missed thus one. Very nice. Very neat fog light mod and the dash is very cool!
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1986 Citroen 2CV Dolly Other things. Check out my Blog for the latest! www.hubnut.org
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