My first Opel

[gsposse44]

My new car finally arrived from California. I purchased a light blue 1974 Opel Manta Luxus. It is an automatic with 46,000 original miles. I was lucky to also obtain all the paper trails (orginal bill of sale, all service records and a clean title). It was in storage from 1995-2008. In 2008 the po put on approximately 400 miles. I'm going to post alot of pictures so you all can give me your expertise on its condition and what I should be attending to first. Give me all the good, bad, and ugly.

[BQS4]

Well, so far so good. The body looks straight, and, just from the pics, rust free, except from the surface rust. The first areas of concern, are the battery box, and the the front jack point on the driver's side. The battery box has the fuse box right under it, and needs to be intact, or sealed to prevent water and all from toasting the fuse box.

[Aardvaark]

Congrats on aquiring your first Opel, and a Manta at that!
Sure looks like a good fined!
And welcome to the sight!

[gsposse44]

Here are some more pics of my Manta. I will have it up on the lift in my garage on Saturday for undercar pics. Thanks! Chris

[opelnut10]

Originally Posted by gsposse44 Here are some more pics of my Manta. I will have it up on the lift in my garage on Saturday for undercar pics. Thanks! Chris

Looks like a pretty straight car, from the looks of photo #4 (rust and water stains on kick panel) I would say that the brattery box has a rust problem. That is nothing unusal with these cars or Asconas. Simple fix is to cut out rusted metal and replace, rustproof the new metal and paint to match. Once the repair is done you will need to check the fuse panel and address any issues. Replace the battery with an Optima gel cell to prevent battry acid from working on the new repair.

[BQS4]

Looking at the door panels, it's a Luxus model, but, the emblem on the deck lid is not there.

[Phoenix]

I did not realize that Luxus' had carpet in the trunk area but A)I've not seen a lot of Luxus' and B) not seen a lot of trunks.

Looks like a very nice car. Been a while since I've seen one of those steering wheels in that good of condition. And noticed that you have an uncut dash which is becoming a rarity.

[gsposse44]

Finally had time to check out the Manta on my garage lift. The first 3 pics are of a hose that has frayed and come unplugged. Any ideas to what this hose is for??? It starts up under the inside rear wheel wheel near the gas cap. The last picture is a round silver object underneath the air filter/carb. Is this the fuel filter??? Any help would be greatly appreciated. More pics to come. Thanks again, Chris

[gsposse44]

Here's a few more undercar pics. Hope everything looks good to you all.
Chris More to come...

[tomking]

Originally Posted by gsposse44 Finally had time to check out the Manta on my garage lift. The first 3 pics are of a hose that has frayed and come unplugged. Any ideas to what this hose is for??? It starts up under the inside rear wheel wheel near the gas cap. The last picture is a round silver object underneath the air filter/carb. Is this the fuel filter??? Any help would be greatly appreciated. More pics to come. Thanks again, Chris

The hose is the fuel tank vent or fuel return line.

[gsposse44]

Thanks for all the help so far! Here are a few engine area pics. More to come, Chris

[BQS4]

It's definitely a Luxus model, as it has the underhood light. Only the Luxus models had those.

[Aardvaark]

Egads! Those appear to be the original shocks!
Time for some good ones.
I bought my '75 manta two years ago with 38,000 miles and two of the
OE shocks were leaking.

[timemachine]

Originally Posted by Aardvaark Egads! Those appear to be the original shocks! Time for some good ones. I bought my '75 manta two years ago with 38,000 miles and two of the OE shocks were leaking.

Hey Mark,

Those shocks come with a 50-year warranty! Mine are still fine, guess my car was never driven through a gully.

Chris, I tried to answer your fuse box question in a PM. Lots of good folks to help you here.

Jim

[gsposse44]

Originally Posted by BQS4 Looking at the door panels, it's a Luxus model, but, the emblem on the deck lid is not there.

I am definitely missing the Luxus emblem for my deck lid. Have to keep an eye out for a replacement. thanks! chris

[gsposse44]

Originally Posted by Aardvaark Egads! Those appear to be the original shocks! Time for some good ones. I bought my '75 manta two years ago with 38,000 miles and two of the OE shocks were leaking.

I knew that these looked pretty old, didn't realize that they were the originals. Maybe I should donate them to the Opel Museum. I'll have to replace them next week when I work on putting on the new fuel hoses.
thanks! chris

[Aardvaark]

Originally Posted by gsposse44 I knew that these looked pretty old, didn't realize that they were the originals. Maybe I should donate them to the Opel Museum. I'll have to replace them next week when I work on putting on the new fuel hoses. thanks! chris

Ha! I saved my originals too after I threw new Koni's on my Manta this last spring.
My plan is to paint them Koni Red and sell them to some sucker
on ebay in the Koni Boxes as new Koni Reds!

[jlthunder]

Originally Posted by gsposse44 I am definitely missing the Luxus emblem for my deck lid. Have to keep an eye out for a replacement. thanks! chris

The Luxus badge is metal with a sticky back. No holes are drilled into the fenders or trunk. It probably just fell off over time. I'm sure one will turn up either here or evilbay. Nice Car. I had a '74 Luxus, silver with red interior. Rust ate that car up since it was originally from CT.

We need to get you a chrome locking cap as they were standard on the Luxus along with the 4 spoke wheels. Get a '74 Brochure and you will see what is standard on the Luxus.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by jlthunder We need to get you a chrome locking cap as they were standard on the Luxus along with the 4 spoke wheels. Get a '74 Brochure and you will see what is standard on the Luxus.

Good luck with that.

[tomking]

I dont think the Chrome cap was standard on 1973 Luxus??

[jlthunder]

Originally Posted by tomking I dont think the Chrome cap was standard on 1973 Luxus??

This one is a '74. Big Bumpers.

They do show up on Ebay and there are some Manta owners here that have spares.

[RallyBob]

None of my Luxus' (Luxi?) have had a chrome cap. I suspect it was optional. I've had one blue '73 and three blue '74's, all had the painted caps to match the body.

[gsposse44]

Originally Posted by jlthunder The Luxus badge is metal with a sticky back. No holes are drilled into the fenders or trunk. It probably just fell off over time. I'm sure one will turn up either here or evilbay. Nice Car. I had a '74 Luxus, silver with red interior. Rust ate that car up since it was originally from CT. We need to get you a chrome locking cap as they were standard on the Luxus along with the 4 spoke wheels. Get a '74 Brochure and you will see what is standard on the Luxus.

I was able to find/purchase NOS Robert Shaw chrome gas cap and chrome radiator cap. I'd love to find 2 more original 4 spoke wheels with caps for the rear of. I am also missing the cigarette lighter. I see that some have vinyl tops, was that an option?
chris

[Aardvaark]

Standard on all US Luxus was the same body colored cap used on all Manta and Ascona. Some dealers probably put chrome on to pad the price though.

In my 1974 showroom brocure and also the multi page magazine insert, the Luxus is shown
with the standard painted cap. Unless there is another 1974 brochure I've yet to see.
I was in the showrooms many times back in the day including 1974 and grabbed evrything opel I could lay my hands on.

[tomking]

Here you go:
1974 OPEL MANTA - Fuel Filler Cap [Original]:eBay Motors (item 180422430878 end time Nov-19-09 10:47:57 PST)