1985 Opel Manta 16V and '09 BMW E92

[retropower]

Hi Chris! An odd one this.... I wouldn't normally go for this kind of look, but I love it! Remember seeing it before a few years ago, but the new touches have taken it to a new level. The spoiler works really well. The whole 'mad max' look has been executed perfectly, which is not easy to achieve without making the car look rubbish!!

Also, Nat just took a look at the pics and almost thought he used to own it... Very similar plate to a Black GTE he owned 14/15 years ago. He thinks his was C247FCP... Certainly C***FCP.

Keep up the good work and hopefully see you and the car soon.

[ChrisT]

Cheers for that mate.
It'll be taxed and back on the road again next week so might make it down to an east midlands pub meet at some point.......
That's as long as I don't kill it on the rolling road next month.

[ChrisT]

So, after about a year of filling and flatting (seems like it anyway) it's done......







Yes, it looked better in steel but it wasn't a good enough finish to leave as was, needed a bit of filler work.

Took it for a good run round this afternoon for and hour or so, using various roads and the engine fault hasn't shown up. Not saying replacing the crank sensor has fixed it but so far it's been OK

Only problem I did find was the speedo cable isn't connected behind the dash - either forgot or it fell off. Not easy to refit with the dash in place but got to be quicker than taking all the instrument binnacle off again

[Sinky]

love it!

[hongkongphooey]

Looks ten millionty times better than with the bgw now

[ChrisT]

ten millionty, that's quite a lot
yeah, could be right though.

Been thinking today, what this car needs is the nitrous system putting back in - it doesn't get used in the SX (and it's plenty powerful without it)
But that means running all the wiring/lines etc just as I've got it all clean and tidy. I like the simpleness of just carbs and it's relatively quick as is.
But I built the engine to take nitrous and it's fun
Can't decide......

Whatever I do I need to replace the rings on no.4 piston first.
and get it mapped properly.

[hongkongphooey]

I've gone off the whole nitrous thing....it makes your car feel slow when it runs out!

[ChrisT]

yeah, probably wouldn't bother with it if I didn't have the kit here not really being used.
made a start on the nitrous bottle brackets this week, more on that later......

So, went on a rolling road day today - know the engine's not quite right (low comp on no.4 cylinder - rings probably) but put it on anyway.......



Not a bad result



The benefit of a quick release front bumper - shame the sideskirts weren't, they were very close to catching getting it on the rollers.


Intermittent fault returned briefly on the way home - been fine for the 40+ mile trip there and most of the way home but started missing, not as bad as before, managed to keep driving and after a few miles it cleared up

[daveaston]

Wow! This car gets the Black Metal seal of approval ;D

[hongkongphooey]

^ lol.



Not a bad torque spread either....over 150 for 3k rpms of the rev range

[Fungus]

Awesome work man! in the first pic on page 9 it looks like the spoiler extends all the way to the window end of the boot, or is it just me?

[ChrisT]

No, it's just you
See what you mean though - does look like it extends all the way

Mar 21, 2010 1:32:56 GMT daveaston said:

Wow! This car gets the Black Metal seal of approval ;D

Thanks, FPMSL at the picture ;D
and a slight coincidence - my garage rent has just been put up to £6.66!

Mar 21, 2010 12:09:46 GMT hongkongphooey said:

Not a bad torque spread either....over 150 for 3k rpms of the rev range

Yeah, and both curves are a lot smoother than I expected

Video of the cars at the rolling road day (manta is 3.50 onwards)

[ChrisT]

Making a start on re-installing the nitrous, original bottle bracket was a bit weedy looking so made something more in keeping with the car........





replaced the clock with a pressure gauge....



Also made a bracket for the solenoids but wasn't worth a photo.

Trying to keep the subtle/minimal look in the engine bay so instead of the blue and red nitrous/fuel lines (it a WON kit) I'll be using black ones.
although red/black would work.....
distribution block turned up today, was expecting it to be blue but it's black so well happy about that ;D

[hongkongphooey]

That bottle bracket is made with 100% win!

[ChrisT]

Nitrous is now about installed, wiring took the longest routing it out the way to keep it hidden. Just need to rebuild the purge solenoid (leaking), connect up the fuel solenoid (need some hose finishers) and mount the progressive controller in the glovebox......





Happy with the black lines, doesn't stand out too much, think I'll spray the solenoids black to match.


Also bought some 'crystal' headlamp units - flattish lenses with beam marking on the reflector, to replace the sealed beams....



Not quite the straight swap I thought they'd be - had to cut out a bit of the mounting frame for the lowered positioned sidelight and extend the wiring but it looks a lot better and much better light output.
Broke one of the lenses at some point though

[william47]

hi chris are these head lights expensive

[ChrisT]

No mate, I paid £55 for all 4
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230454172416
But they are a bit flimsy, as said above, cracked one lens without realizing and the backs are plastic - oh and technically not legal either, as they're not E-marked

[ChrisT]

Free weekend (g/f out Saturday and working today) so instead of doing something useful like undersealing the SX or stuff around the house I went and bought this Thursday......



Stripped it down yesterday...



Moved the seat back about 4", added 2" to the forks, widened/raised the handlebars (only temp measure until I get some proper ones) and moved the rear mudguard closer to the tyre.....



Stripped it all down again today and sprayed most of it black and now have this....










Still needs a bit more work doing and the paint's a bit dodgy in places (not a fan of Hammerite)
But it goes with the Manta quite well - got a roof rack, all I need is to make up a bracket to hold the bike on there and I'm ready to hit the shows (Y)

[ChrisT]

[Chris™]

Badass! Love it, such an orthadox way to mod a manta and it work so very well! ;D Been thinking about building a bike like that myself, would be a rather fun little project to keep me busy