Purchasing an Ascona (1900)

[ghcoe]

Been a while since I have owned a Opel. I ran Manta's for many years and sold my last one about 10 years ago. Had to change jobs a few months ago and now I am looking at purchasing another for commuter service. Possibly looking at a 1975 1900 2dr and was wondering if there were anything I need to look for before a purchase. I will have to travel 500 miles for the pick up so obviously I will want to be asking the right questions before I make a trip. I am familiar with the Manta's inside and out and have looked at 1900's and they seemed very familiar in design. I know some of the quirks that the Manta's had such as the battery tray issue and rust in the front sub frame. Do the 1900's have these problems too? Any other info would be great also. Thanks, George.

[BQS4]

Originally Posted by ghcoe Been a while since I have owned a Opel. I ran Manta's for many years and sold my last one about 10 years ago. Had to change jobs a few months ago and now I am looking at purchasing another for commuter service. Possibly looking at a 1975 1900 2dr and was wondering if there were anything I need to look for before a purchase. I will have to travel 500 miles for the pick up so obviously I will want to be asking the right questions before I make a trip. I am familiar with the Manta's inside and out and have looked at 1900's and they seemed very familiar in design. I know some of the quirks that the Manta's had such as the battery tray issue and rust in the front sub frame. Do the 1900's have these problems too? Any other info would be great also. Thanks, George.

You're correct in that the Manta and the Ascona are similar, they also share the exact same problems, so, you know what you need to look for when you get there. Good luck and keep us posted.

[blancojp]

Don't be too afraid of the rust on the Ascona, mine was a bit rusty but was repaired easily. The trouble areas I found were the battery box, driver's side jacking point and floor, trunk floor and lower rear quaters. Overall it was easy to repair using Mustang II sheet metal and now my car is solid once again.

Pay specific attention to the jacking points since they are attached to the frame and most body shops will not touch this area.

[ghcoe]

Originally Posted by blancojp Pay especific attention to the jacking points since they are attached to the frame and most body shops will not touch this area.

If the jacking points are bad should I look else where or are they easily repaired. I have a little welding experience and I now some people that are better than me. Or is it pretty extensive?


I talked to the people last night and they were away from the car for the next week. Sounds like she is selling it for her brother and did not know much about the vehicle except she said it needed everything fixed. I have access to a running motor and other mechanical parts but no body parts. This is a fuel injected unit. Are there common easy fix problems with these cars. I know that I was picking up manta's cheap because the cam's were going out, and some had no power because the vacuum secondary's went out and people did not know what was wrong with them.



Also I noticed that the Ascona was used a lot for rallying back in the day. Do not see any of the early manta's used. Were these a stronger body or lighter? Or was it just a class thing? I know that the Manta was designed to compete for sales against the Ford Capri. Well thanks for the info. Hope to be driving a Opel some time this spring. I am looking at a 75 Opel Manta this afternoon. It has just been sitting in a field for some time now so I thougt it would not hurt to do some door knocking. George.

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by ghcoe If the jacking points are bad should I look else where or are they easily repaired. I have a little welding experience and I now some people that are better than me. Or is it pretty extensive?

They're not too tough to do, depending on how crazy you get with them. I tend to go overboard, but even then it's not so bad.

Also I noticed that the Ascona was used a lot for rallying back in the day. Do not see any of the early manta's used. Were these a stronger body or lighter? Or was it just a class thing?

The Manta and Ascona share the exact same chassis. Floorpan is the same, wheelbase is the same, track width the same. All the mechanicals interchange. Even some of the body work is essentially the same...the rocker panels, lower rear quarters and rear wheel arches interchange in fact. Doors are identical except the door glass is different and the Ascona has a window frame...the Manta is frameless. But for example you could take an Ascona door, cut off the window frame, and put it on a Manta.

The reason the Ascona was more popular as a rallycar was mostly the front overhang on the Manta. It's longer, therefore more prone to front crash damage while jumping, plus the Manta's front/rear bias was almost 2% worse than the Ascona. As a result of the extra sheetmetal up front, the Ascona was in fact a bit lighter than a Manta. So the better balance and less weight made the decision to rally the Ascona an easy choice for Opel. The Manta was arguably a better road racing car due to aerodynamics however.

[74Opel1900]

Let's see some pictures once you get the car.

[BQS4]

Originally Posted by RallyBob I tend to go overboard, but even then it's not so bad.

Uhhh, that's kinda an understatment for you Bob

[ghcoe]

Talked to the seller again last Tuesday. She asked me if I was going to part or fix it up. I said I wanted to make it a runner and she was happy. Seems she is the second owner and it was her first car. It was bought in 1982. She parked 11 years ago when she went back east. I will be talking to them Sunday where I can ask them questions on the phone while they are there with the car. So here is hoping all goes well. George.

[74Opel1900]

I hope it all works out and you get the car restored. Good luck.

[ghcoe]

Well looks like it is a done deal. Talked with the people while they were there and was able to talk them through the rough stuff, frame rails, jack points, floor boards, battery box trunk. Sounds like it is salvageable. My only concerned is with front damage. Hope it is not to deep. Hard to tell in the photo's just how bad it is. Have to travel 500 miles to pick it up next Saturday. Going to be a quick trip. For $300.00 I figure in a worst case scenario it will be worth that in parts. George

[Gary Sullivan]

Same color and year as the 75 I'm working on in my garage just now!!!! Gee!!!
From your pix, that front damage could be relatively superficial. I've seen some Ascona's where the body panel alignment is much worse and the bumpers are way out of whack. From the look of the driver side carpet I suspect you're battery box and front left frame rail need attention. (Somebody said it here on the site recently "It's just metal...it can be fixed").

Do you know what you want to do with it yet? Do you want to make a driver out of it, or are you going to show it or are you planning on doing "something outside the box"?

Good luck with it George.

[ghcoe]

Originally Posted by Gary Sullivan Same color and year as the 75 I'm working on in my garage just now!!!! Gee!!! From your pix, that front damage could be relatively superficial. I've seen some Ascona's where the body panel alignment is much worse and the bumpers are way out of whack. From the look of the driver side carpet I suspect you're battery box and front left frame rail need attention. (Somebody said it here on the site recently "It's just metal...it can be fixed"). Do you know what you want to do with it yet? Do you want to make a driver out of it, or are you going to show it or are you planning on doing "something outside the box"? Good luck with it George.

They looked under the car for me and did not find any missing metal on the frame rail but did see some cracking. The floor boards were complete but did have some soft spots. The battery box had what they said was a galvanized pan in it, but it still managed to rot some in one of the corners, but not on the bottom. Sounds like it saved the fuse box some. I hope it is solid enough to do a POR-15 treatment on it and call it good.

I think it is going to get a period rally look. Hopefully I can get the fuel injection system up and running. Supposedly it ran when it was parked.
George.

[tomking]

Charles Goin has a battery box kit to fix that area. It is new sheet metal formed to fit. I would go that route instead of por 15. I agree the damage to the front is readily fixable. If you are good underneath, then you made a good deal.

[ghcoe]

Originally Posted by tomking Charles Goin has a battery box kit to fix that area. It is new sheet metal formed to fit. I would go that route instead of por 15. I agree the damage to the front is readily fixable. If you are good underneath, then you made a good deal.

Thanks for the encouraging words on the damage. I will look into the replacement battery box once I get it back and am able to assess the damage.

Is there a someone who makes the frame rail covers here, if I should need them, or are they only available from Germany?

George

[BQS4]

Originally Posted by ghcoe Is there a someone who makes the frame rail covers here, if I should need them, or are they only available from Germany? George

George;
Only in Germany can you get the frame rail pieces, unless you're RallyBob, then you can make your own.

[ghcoe]

Seems like I can find a lot of Manta's and GT's for sale but no 1900's. Are these cars getting hard to find? Or did they not import as many as the other two?

[Sparky73]

Originally Posted by ghcoe Seems like I can find a lot of Manta's and GT's for sale but no 1900's. Are these cars getting hard to find? Or did they not import as many as the other two?

Both, in my opinion.

[74Opel1900]

My thinking has been this. Back in the 70's which would mostly likely sell? I would think the GT and Manta more so than the 1900 (Ascona). Then which would most likely be well cared for since the 70's? Asconas are more likely to get trashed, be uncared for and generally just left to waste in my opinion. They don't look as fancy at the GT or Manta so most people just write them off. Then I thought on top of all that, that the Ascona is probably the least likely to be restored. Asconas have very little value to most car collectors. I have a feeling that will change as they become more rare.

[RallyBob]

Combined, they sold more 2 dr/4 dr Ascona's and Ascona wagons than Manta's most years. But remembering my tenure with C & R back in the 1980's stripping Opels out, they tended to be abused and neglected more than GT's and Manta's. Perhaps because they were considered more utilitarian? Just a thought, and probably why there are fewer survivors.

[BQS4]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Combined, they sold more 2 dr/4 dr Ascona's and Ascona wagons than Manta's most years. But remembering my tenure with C & R back in the 1980's stripping Opels out, they tended to be abused and neglected more than GT's and Manta's. Perhaps because they were considered more utilitarian? Just a thought, and probably why there are fewer survivors.

Well, I have 3 survivors in my driveway...

[ghcoe]

I was just wondering rallybob, how many people know what the "Project 1450" is in reference to? I always thought that would be a cool sticker to put on my Manta years ago. Figured though that no one would know what I was taking about.



Heading out Saturday to acquire a Opel. George

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by ghcoe I was just wondering rallybob, how many people know what the "Project 1450" is in reference to? I always thought that would be a cool sticker to put on my Manta years ago. Figured though that no one would know what I was taking about.

A few have asked me, most haven't (most probably don't care!).

'Project 1450' was the name given by GM for the Manta/Ascona A development program, FWIW.

[azopelnut]

Hey Bob
As usual your work is impressive. The jack points look like a combination of sheet metal, square tubing and round tubing....can you elaborate?

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by azopelnut The jack points look like a combination of sheet metal, square tubing and round tubing....can you elaborate?

No, I think you covered it fairly well right there!

[ghcoe]

Originally Posted by RallyBob A few have asked me, most haven't (most probably don't care!). 'Project 1450' was the name given by GM for the Manta/Ascona A development program, FWIW.

So was I the first to know what it meant without asking then?

Think the new car might get a sticker!

Heading out tomorrow to pick it up. Hope it just needs a fuel system flush and fluid change to get it to run. Only has 110,000 miles on it. Should still have some life left as long as it was not abused too severly.