1974 A Series Opel Manta Blog

The Opel Project blog has been setup to record the rebuild of my 1974 A Series Opel Manta.
OPEL
1974 A Series Opel Manta Blog
OPEL

1974 A Series Opel MantaFeatured

My 1974 A Series Opel Manta. It’s been a long project and there are still a few little modifications I want to do in the future,. Now running a 2.0l+ CIH engine on full OMEX 600 engine management with Webcon throttle bodies. Everything is custom-made or adapted, from the full 2.5″ stainless steel exhaust, Wilwood racing callipers, Cosworth rear callipers, Hydraulic clutch, Chevy S10 clutch kit and lots more.. Read on for full details of the rebuild and hopefully one-day pictures of her out on the road in Germany!

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Exhaust

A little exhaust upgrade

It’s been a while since i did anything on the Opel as I have been busy with my new project, the restoration of a 1997 Fiat Cinquecento Sporting Abarth (www.abarthproject.co.uk). And it turns out its very hard to find parts for it! But I did get some time to do a little bit on the Opel as I have 3 or 4 things I want to do before spring and one of those is to turn the Rage backbox I have into a repackable one. I know how I want to do it so the first step was to cut…

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Travel

Enjoying the Opel

As we have had some nice weather recently and after she drove so well to Brans Hatch the other weekend, im just going to drive and enjoy the Opel until the winter comes along and then i might do a couple of little bits on her that are more annoying me than functional. I need to sort the dipstick as its a bit lose and i would like to make the rear silencer re-packable as its getting a bit nosier as i think the packing must be degrading, but until then im just going to enjoy some drives in her….

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Travel

American Speedfest 10

It was time for a little trip in the Opel this weekend as i have not done that many long journeys in her since the Vauxhall meet last year! So it was off to Brands Hatch for the American Speedfest! The weather was great for the drive up and on the way back it ws even nicer so i took a slightly longer route and went on a few A roads as the Opel drives so nice on these! and its a bit more fun than motorway driving! Here’s to the next big trip!!  

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Fuel tank

Fuel tank filler hose problem (Solved!)

Ever since i had the Opel back on the road there as been a problem that if you took a left-hand bend quickly there was a real smell of fuel. Initially, i thought it was to do with the breather hose maybe letting fuel vapor out as you do get a bit of a slosh and you can then see some fule sitting in the pipe but after swapping it for some proper stuff from a go-carting supplier with some nice hose clips it was still there but i could never work out what was causing it as i could…

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Bodywork

A year on and how is the Opel doing?

Well, it’s been a year now since the Opel properly went back on the road. So how is it doing? It still puts a smile on my face every time i take her out for a drive. Apart from the previous alternator issue she has been running well. The bodywork? Well considering its never an easy job painting a car in a small garage i have to say the paint is still looking spot on! the bits that i knew i had spot on are still looking great and the places that i knew could be an issue like the…

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Electrical

A little bit of rewiring!

I decided i should do a little bit of rewiring to see if it would help to solve the mystery of the alternator not charging as since adding the new regulator it seems much better but not back to its normal reliable state. I decided to get some new terminals and fit these to all the connections so I could get rid of all the old hotchpotch ones! and while I was there I fitted some new battery clamps. I will have to do some run-outs new to see what the charging is like.

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Travel

Classic Cars on the Quay

There is a great little car meet on Christchurch Quay on Sundays in the summer. Its a mix of all sorts of classics and this is the 3rd one I have been to (4th Sept) and weather being ok I will go to the last one of the year on the 25th Sept. Now the roads are a bit quieter I will be trying to use the Opel as much as I can over the Autumn and on good days in the winter.    

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Electrical

Alternator

As the alternator was not happy on the way to Northampton and back it thought it was best to take it off, check all connections and pull the regulator to make sure the brushes were not worn out. Did that, all looked ok, popped it back together and put it back on the car. Got the tester out and fired the car up and guess what, yep you guessed it, its all working fine now!! Why is it electrical stuff does that! Took her for a run this morning to get a coffee and she was running spot on and…

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Travel

VBO 2022 at Sywell Airfield

Wow, Sunday was a long day and the longest trip so far in the Opel since the rebuild! 150 miles up and 150 back to the VBO at Sywell. It was a great day and Sywell is a great place and has an amazing bar!! All in all the Opel ran well. There was a slight issue that part way up I noticed the battery volt gauge was only just reading above 11v and seemed to move around a bit on the 11v but never seemed to be charging where it should be but the car was running fine, temperature…

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OPEL

Enjoying the Opel

Its so nice now i can just roll the Opel out and go for a drive 🙂 I took her out for a run today and when I got back gave he a quick wash and that was all that needed doing 🙂 I have a small adjustment to do on the exhaust as it sometimes knocks on the gearbox cross-member bolt but that can wait until the weather is not so got, while its sunny I’m just going to drive her as much as I can!!

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