Project Domes shonky autos - Manta progress!

[Noel Tidybeard]

please just make it like new and standard

[dome]

22 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

please just make it like new and standard

Nope, sorry! You want @sutty2006s thread and his lovely Manta B. This is going to be a modern take on an early Manta 400. 

[sutty2006]

On 4/30/2021 at 10:05 AM, cort1977 said:

 the hatch looks a bag of shite in my uneducated opinion.

 

Yes very uneducated indeed. ha.

 

As for Domes new motor, very well bought sir. I spotted it on the fan page myself. Its a shame to 400R it, every man and his mig welder seams to be making a 400R, but at the same time, go for it. Id be getting it road worthy and use it for 12months before setting too and fully stripping it. I bought my B in 2008 and every year since ive been saying "it'll be on the road next year!" lol. Good luck with it, and if theres anything you need to know about it give me a shout!

[cort1977]

38 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

Yes very uneducated indeed. ha.

That does look very good admittedly. 

[dome]

1 hour ago, sutty2006 said:

As for Domes new motor, very well bought sir. I spotted it on the fan page myself. Its a shame to 400R it, every man and his mig welder seams to be making a 400R, but at the same time, go for it. Id be getting it road worthy and use it for 12months before setting too and fully stripping it. I bought my B in 2008 and every year since ive been saying "it'll be on the road next year!" lol. Good luck with it, and if theres anything you need to know about it give me a shout!

Thanks! 

Yes I know the 400 replica has been done to death but to me growing up that was THE Manta. I grew up in the SW of Scotland and my introduction to motorsport was rallying-I was hooked on the big (to me at that time) Mantas drifting through the forest. 
A clean B is a wonderful thing in it's own right but it's not the Manta I dreamed of as a kid. 
Hopefully putting a modern twist on it will make mine a bit different but at the end of the day I'm only doing this to please one person and that's me!
I'd love to do the 5 stud conversion to really confuse the anoraks but that costs a grand these days 😬

[sutty2006]

Yes, thats the one thing that stands out a mile to me, being that of a wax anorak jacket type, 4 stud wheels lol. Fair play to you, and i dont blame you for doing it. They look the dogs bollocks. Did you see that genuine 400 up for sale for offers over 75k? First thing I said to the wife was "can I have 75k?" she said "no, piss off buying more cars"....... Righto!

[tooSavvy]

"..I'd love to do the 5 stud conversion to really confuse the anoraks but that costs a grand these days 😬."

There has GOT to be a 'widget ring/cobble-up' 4 >>to>>5stud on Fleebayy......

https://japwestmods.co.uk/shop/jdm-brands/gktech/gktech-4-to-5-lug-wheel-adapters/

...... Kinda lyke?

[dome]

39 minutes ago, tooSavvy said:

"..I'd love to do the 5 stud conversion to really confuse the anoraks but that costs a grand these days 😬."

There has GOT to be a 'widget ring/cobble-up' 4 >>to>>5stud on Fleebayy......

https://japwestmods.co.uk/shop/jdm-brands/gktech/gktech-4-to-5-lug-wheel-adapters/

...... Kinda lyke?

That's an interesting thought, I'd never thought of that.

In theory something like this would work 

https://www.classic-vw.co.uk/4x100---5x120-pcd-adapters-20mm-12609-p.asp

I'll look into these, good shout!

[omegod]

What is involved in the 5 stud swap ?

[dome]

1 hour ago, omegod said:

What is involved in the 5 stud swap ?

I've had conflicting reports but Opel Commodore rear half shafts were mentioned. The grand I mentioned was for new half shafts and front hubs from europe

[dome]

Gave it a wash, it was filthy!

Have some pics. It's better than I was expecting.

[Matty]

Easy this Manta restoration. Quick hoover out and I'd say thats ready for 12 months test 😁

[Fraz]

21 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Gearchange just looks plain weird- surely it's not factree to have to force your hand into your passenger's crutch area when selecting reverse? 

Tbh that’s what I’m looking forward to @dome

[big_al_granvia]

she isnt that bad, seen a lot worse in the 90's

[Honey Badger]

She's a grand looking thing, brings back memories of seeing Mantas being ragged round the car park outside Kettering corn exchange in the early 90s.

 

Honda F20c out of a S2000 as an engine swap? 240 hp as standard. I'd imagine they are expensive and quite hard to get hold of.

[cort16]

taxed worse 😃

[dome]

32 minutes ago, Honey Badger said:

She's a grand looking thing, brings back memories of seeing Mantas being ragged round the car park outside Kettering corn exchange in the early 90s.

 

Honda F20c out of a S2000 as an engine swap? 240 hp as standard. I'd imagine they are expensive and quite hard to get hold of.

That was on the original shopping list, it's the guts of £3k for an engine though. 

Off to the scrappy to look at a Mk3 MX-5 tomorrow, I want to do some measuring. It's the front runner in the new engine choice. 

[dome]

32 minutes ago, cort16 said:

taxed worse 😃

So have I, several times in the 90s!

[Bren]

Lush. W reg is too new for autoshite.

[dome]

6 minutes ago, Bren said:

Lush. W reg is too new for autoshite.

Looks like it was built in 1979 from initial stripping down. Must've sat around for a while waiting for someone to buy it- registered March 81.  Poor thing

[dome]

Well, time to find out what this thing is hiding. I started by pulling the interior out to see what I could find. 

Back seat. Nice and blue

Boot carpet.

Boot carpet out and a bit of a poke. Hmm, not great but I've seen worse. 

 

Onto the cabin.

Should probably not use the fire extinguisher going by the date on it...

How many mats does one car need?

Passenger seat out

And drivers seat out.

 

I could then get the carpets out and see what it had to hide.

I had a poke at the usual Manta rot points- jacking points on the front and inner wing/bulkhead-these were the MOT fails form the latest test.

It didn't take long til it was looking like this.

 

Passengers side, looking forward.

And the drivers side which has been repaired* by covering it in filler...

Jacking point repair sections are still available new. I did think about replacing them with box section for strength (they run out from the main chassis rails) as I'll never use the factory jack but it does look like a complex piece so it might be best to keep it original.

 

I'll need to find out if repair panels are available for the inner arches or if I'm going to have to manufacture something.

Plan for the minute is to stop poking at rust and keep it looking relatively car like for the time being as it sits in the drive.

I've ordered a rotisserie to make repairs easier so I'll carry on stripping out the dash and wiring loom and then get on to getting the running gear out of it ready to get it on the spit. 

Oh and I'm off to look at a rusty Mk3 MX-5 tonight as a possible engine donor-2.0 16v with 160bhp and a 6 speed box would be a good starting point.

[tooSavvy]

"..Plan for the minute is to stop poking at rust and keep it looking relatively car like for the time being as it sits in the drive.."

Ha! We have street parked nails about here looking worse than that.... A FixItAgainTony I see fairly often has a very rusty/bald 'get you home' spacesaver on the front.... No Shame, some people.

*smattering of EasternEuro plates, too...

This is gunna BGR8     

[Dave_Q]

Not actually too bad is it, some of that iron has barely oxided at all

[Jim Bell]

Ideal car for someone recovering from Trench Foot. 

Lovely draft in to dry off all your little piggies through there.  

[dome]

Hit a small* pothole with the Kangoo. Was doing under 40mph but it was a helluva bang. 

Bother.

I'll try and claim it through the council buy I expect they'll do everything the can to avoid paying out. 

 

[Split_Pin]

Shite thats infuriating, I hope the suspension is OK. Stuart will surely have a wheel and tyre kicking about?

[dome]

8 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Shite thats infuriating, I hope the suspension is OK. Stuart will surely have a wheel and tyre kicking about?

Yeah, he's got some alloys kicking about and I've ordered a new Rainsport. Will need to check the suspension in case there's any damage.

[cort16]

On 5/10/2021 at 9:45 AM, dome said:

Well, time to find out what this thing is hiding. I started by pulling the interior out to see what I could find. 

Back seat. Nice and blue

Boot carpet.

Boot carpet out and a bit of a poke. Hmm, not great but I've seen worse. 

 

Onto the cabin.

Should probably not use the fire extinguisher going by the date on it...

How many mats does one car need?

Passenger seat out

And drivers seat out.

 

I could then get the carpets out and see what it had to hide.

I had a poke at the usual Manta rot points- jacking points on the front and inner wing/bulkhead-these were the MOT fails form the latest test.

It didn't take long til it was looking like this.

 

Passengers side, looking forward.

And the drivers side which has been repaired* by covering it in filler...

Jacking point repair sections are still available new. I did think about replacing them with box section for strength (they run out from the main chassis rails) as I'll never use the factory jack but it does look like a complex piece so it might be best to keep it original.

 

I'll need to find out if repair panels are available for the inner arches or if I'm going to have to manufacture something.

Plan for the minute is to stop poking at rust and keep it looking relatively car like for the time being as it sits in the drive.

I've ordered a rotisserie to make repairs easier so I'll carry on stripping out the dash and wiring loom and then get on to getting the running gear out of it ready to get it on the spit. 

Oh and I'm off to look at a rusty Mk3 MX-5 tonight as a possible engine donor-2.0 16v with 160bhp and a 6 speed box would be a good starting point.

it's always nice to see your bulkhead not connected to anything. I always judge the severity of the rot by how big a cat could climb through the hole following the famous kitten Peugeot 604 picture.

I think you're at an american curl heading for an exotic short tail

[dome]

3 hours ago, cort16 said:

it's always nice to see your bulkhead not connected to anything. I always judge the severity of the rot by how big a cat could climb through the hole following the famous kitten Peugeot 604 picture.

I think you're at an american curl heading for an exotic short tail

Interesting comparison. Considering in the 90s the Mantas I bought were"Fat lion who ate all the antelopes" on that scale I'll take that.

[sutty2006]

Manta manta manta manta!!!