opel mantas alive & kicking.

manta mad

.
is their any other manta oweners or fans out their that would like to keep
them alive & driving in ireland.
if so is any one willing to help put up a decent web site ? have a look at a few pics of mine & tell me if they should stay hidden of the roads. :cool:
ps- if i could ever get my hands on those (b******ds) who broke in to my house & stole my safe with all the sets of keys in it, ( cant write it here can i) :mad: hope they suffer, badly.

IrishRover

Yeah, I've always admired the Manta. Post up some pics please. I used to live near someone who had a "his 'n' her's" pair of Mantas.

Do you like the Monzas as well? I used to think they looked great. Haven't seen one on Irish roads in years of course.

I have a pic of an Opel GT somewhere as well, I'll look for it later.

Bastards who took your keys alright. Have you sourced replacement locks / barrels for your cars?

Silvera

Hi manta mad - welcome to the forum !

I'm also a big Manta fan, and have been since I was a 'nipper

I've owned two in the past - a 1976 1.6 Coupe and 1986 GTE Coupe.
.........and I plan on owning another in the future !

An Irish site would be brilliant.
Are you involved/connected with the Opel 'heads' in the Cork area ?
I believe they were looking to establish an Opel RWD Club some years back.


Silvera.

P.S. - Where are your pics ?


Some Manta pics to enjoy ........

manta mad

,
cant get the pics to load up together , balls must be doing something wrong
ill keep at it,

manta mad

getting the hang of this pc lark now,
green manta is 1978 2.0 litre berlinetta,red one is 1986 gte exclusive,could,nt
get the girls to pose like you did silvera, some time soon i hope
havent heard of anyone in cork.
most of the irish mantas left here have being cut up or desacrated for rallying
or this bloody drifting thing :eek:

manta mad

irish rover , the opel monza is a big brute, thirsty & troublesum yoke.

i got replacement set of barrels & keys in england from a guy called graham edwards of only opels
no these bloody pics wont load for me .
:mad: help

Silvera

Great pics manta mad ! ......keep 'em coming please !!

The red Manta is super! .......is it yours? Tell us more ?
How did you get a non-sunroof GTE ?
(Sunroof rust being a major late-Manta problem)

I see that the green Manta has been updated with a fuel injection system - most pre-c.1982 Manta's had carburettors, yes ?

I was never a big fan of the Mk1 Manta, but that bronze one in your pic looks great!

How about establishing an 'Opel Manta Club Ireland' website ?

(P.S. - I can provide you with some Manta contact details in the Republic if you need them. PM me for details if required.)


Silvera

manta mad

all five of these are mine . the red one is 1986 gte exclusive 2.0 litre,green one is 1978 berlinetta with a 86 2.0 litre gte engine fitted ,it a rocket to go for an oldie. silver one is 1984 gte 2.0 litre which some brain dead idiot
keyed it along drivers side :mad:
brown one is 1973 manta a series 1.9 berlinetta with only 53.000 miles on it , a lovley car to drive.
the yellow one is an 1980 2.0 litre sr which im about to replace all the bushes& shocks & is the only irish car among them ,.
iv spent about 6 year on these and a few bob also(just ask the wife) :rolleyes: i have a fella in england that can get me almost any car in any condition or parts if any one needs help let me know.
ill post a few pics of the a series later.
any one notice when you go in to a garage with an old car the way a mecanic or a store man says they dont do those cars any more,so much for after sales. :rolleyes:

Squirrel

@IrishRover

Monza for sale for 1600

mike65

There's a Monza in Fermoy if I recall right.

I was'nt a fan of the squared off Manta but the A series is nice.

Mike.

manta mad

1973 opel manta 1.9 berlinetta only 53.000 miles on it, what do ye"s think,
not many of these fellas on irish roads . :cool:
anyone know who dos interiors for cars in the south?

Silvera

Nice collection ....now I see why you chose your nickname !

The green model looks in exceptionally original condition/spec.

dubtom

Hey very nice collection. The shed has to be admired also. I'd give my back teeth for a shed like that. :eek:

MercMad

Nice cars all of them !

I used to work for an Opel dealer back in the late 80's early 90's ! Had fun in a lot of those cars, the last of the Manta B's were just ending production !

Those Manta A's are really great looking cars, a friend of mine put a V8 Rover engine on one !

manta mad

@ silvera.
a few pics of the green manta.
yes its in very good nick for an old car.the body is perfect, engine is out of an 86 gte & purrs like a randy tiger inside is immaculate.

@mercmad,
as a fella who worked on mantas , can you tell me how to keep the heaters working,(winters coming) :eek:
i heard you can use vw polo heater matrix instead of the origanal one, do you know?

Silvera

Thanks for the pics manta mad.

That's a really nice original Manta!
I'd reckon from the pics that it is (what I would call) 'an honest car' (i.e. original spec (except door mirrors and engine!;)) ......and has not been trashed or bashed).

I owned a '78 yellow coupe back in the 1990's. It's engine had a squealing camshaft (i.e. it needed a new/recon engine) but the bodywork was extremely solid - it even had it's original yellow paintwork underneath the wheelarches and floor!
I bought it for £150 with the intentional of restoring it. However a house move a few years later saw me selling it to my cousin for the same price (well at least I saved it from the rallying boyo's ).
I believe my cousin still has it in storage ........I might just try and buy it back in a few years when I have my own workshop to restore/store it ! :cool:


Have a look at these Manta site - might give you some tips re the heater matrix ?! ........

www.btinternet.com/~steven.spiers/index.htm
(Northern Ireland site. This site has a Yahoo Group site for asking questions/giving advice)

www.opelmanta.4mg.com/page2.htm (UK site)

Silvera.

MercMad

as a fella who worked on mantas , can you tell me how to keep the heaters working,(winters coming)
i heard you can use vw polo heater matrix instead of the origanal one, do you know?

...........sorry, dont know ! What's wrong ? Do the motors go or does the matrix leak ?

manta mad

@ merc mad

its the motors they keep dieing or the fan rim falls of the houseing


@ silvera

help save a manta today,
go on buy the manta back of your cousin, i have a 83 2.0 litre engine in good condition + a few more parts, (& space)
that would be a nice project to work on, bring back the memorys , all good ones id hope.( would he be interested in selling it) :rolleyes:
is it an origanal irish car ?

IrishRover

Hey cheers for the Monza, it looks really nice.
Unfortunately I have absolutely no spare money right now though, so can't buy anything at the moment. I might look into getting one at some stage later though.

Just wondering how much the styling of the earlier Manta was based on the Ford Mustang by the way.

kahaya

A gorgeous collection.

I'm hoping to get a Manta myself someday, have been looking at ebay in the UK every now and then. Definately thinking of fixing it up myself. I've been a life-long Opel fan, drive a 04 Astra SXI and it's one of my dreams to get my hands on a Manta.

Any tips on what type of one to look for etc.

manta mad

@ kahaya

the best ones to go for are pre 86, they are better put together than the late ones.
after that im afraid opel just threw the rest of them together with what they had left over
start saving your money now for next year & go to billing for the vboa club meet,theirs bound to be a few club cars for sale :cool:

manta mad

IrishRover wrote:

Hey cheers for the Monza, it looks really nice.
Unfortunately I have absolutely no spare money right now though, so can't buy anything at the moment. I might look into getting one at some stage later though.

Just wondering how much the styling of the earlier Manta was based on the Ford Mustang by the way.

@ irish rover
opel fanatics will cringe if they see that quote:eek:
ford s had nothing to do with that styling, it was a man called chuck jones from gm europe when he went back to the usa , it was styled from a cross between a buick & opel gt. just like the b series

Silvera

Any updates or new pics re your Manta 'fleet', manta mad ?


BTW, The Manta my cousin has (which I sold to him in the mid-1990's) is an original Irish reg (XKI ---). One of these days I will make him an offer for it

manta mad

hello silvera.

no pics just yet, been busy with one though:rolleyes:
my last job is closing down had to leave back company transit,
so i put my silver gte on the road after afew years in storage.
had to change the english reg(vrt office dont let you away with any thing do they)they charged 515,(calibra only 315):(
just getting afew running problems sorted now. heater packed up now , hope its not a gasket.
im gone back to panel beating & spraying
fella im working for were building a proper spray booth to take artics & trailers. after christmas we will be taking cars so anyone looking for their classic car to be sprayed its what we will be looking for. so you know where to head for:D

barryi200

hi folks

im a bit of a retro man (mantas & escorts) too myself....came across this post....said id register and say hi.....have 5 mantas myself.... the cream of my crop is my i200... pics are available on http://www.manta400.netfirms.com/motorsport/Our_Cars/our_cars.html

Where are you from manta mad

manta mad

hello barry i200.

im from wicklow not far from baltinglass.
the manta 400 site is great.im a regular visitor.
hope to get a manta site started myself if i can get time .:)

post a few pics here please

barryi200

i wud if i knew how!!!!

Silvera

How to post pics -

1. When making a reply to a thread, click on the 'Manage Attachments' box below

2. A new window will open up.
Click on 'Browse' and select a picture from your computer's picture file.

3. Click 'Upload', and when the picture has sucessfully uploaded (usually in a few secs/1 min), click 'Close Window'.

4. Hey presto - Picture attached to your reply !

Silvera.

barryi200

Silvera wrote:

How to post pics -

1. When making a reply to a thread, click on the 'Manage Attachments' box below

2. A new window will open up.
Click on 'Browse' and select a picture from your computer's picture file.

3. Click 'Upload', and when the picture has sucessfully uploaded (usually in a few secs/1 min), click 'Close Window'.

4. Hey presto - Picture attached to your reply !

Silvera.

LOL i can manage that!!!!! the pics are too big to attach!!!! how do you resize them down....so they can become attached

mike65

Use www.photobucket.com if the pix you upload are "too big" they'll be automaticaly resized!

Mike.

Silvera

barryi200 wrote:

LOL i can manage that!!!!! the pics are too big to attach!!!! how do you resize them down....so they can become attached

Well why didn't you say that earlier ! ....we're not mind readers ya know :rolleyes:

barryi200

right here goes folks......hope this works.....:)

barryi200

getting the hang of this!!!!! lol

barryi200

A few pics of real arse out action.....what id do to get my hands on one of these babies....that i300 is the business...

MercMad

Nice cars indeed !

Did you guys evcer see the video "Manta Magic" .......all the Opel dealers used to have them playing in their showroom in the late 80's !

Class action there !

barryi200

MercMad wrote:

Nice cars indeed !

Did you guys evcer see the video "Manta Magic" .......all the Opel dealers used to have them playing in their showroom in the late 80's !

Class action there !

ya have it...dont think much of it to tell you the truth...

MercMad

Really ?

I must have mixed up the name ! We had one years ago that we literally ran 'till it wore out .........24/7/365 we played it !

Definitely a good 'un and I thought that was the name on it............its the only name I remember now !

manta mad

what do ye think ?

heres a picture of a new opel, with it named astra but pictures of the new astra have been released.
this is supposed to be the new manta,
as opel & its sources wont comment on this picture i gusses we will have to wait for a while & see if the manta will be reborn.

Silvera

I saw that pic about six months ago........it's supposed to be the 'new' Manta :rolleyes:

For me, the original is always the best!;)

junkyard

The're starting to look like Peugeot's now! They way car manufacturer's are heading all car's will look the same and the only option will be the badge.:)

manta mad

hello fellas,

just when i was getting all those little niggly problems sorted out
i found a bit of the dreaded rust bug:eek:

so now total strip down of my manta:(
have a good look around all your panels this winter & keep the rust bug away .
theirs a few nights late back in work to bring this baby back to show room condition. but its all worth it in the end , id hope:)

Silvera

Is that a 'new' Manta or one of your current cars ?

manta mad

hello silvera.

its one of my current cars, havent bought any new ones yet:rolleyes:

ill spend a while getting this gte done right, i want to bring it back to showroom condition
i have my eye on a 1973 manta a in england that needs a little bit of work,
so i might be selling my own a series manta.
ill see what happens



(old opels never die:cool: )