My '74 Manta (rally project) and me

[BennyTheKopp]

Hi, I bought a Manta a few years back. After driving and maintaining it for a year or so the belt broke on a trip and it sat for a while. I just finished some intense school and now have an awesome stable job. I bought a Mitsubishi Evo 10 for most of my driving.

The Manta is undergoing an extensive rebuild/change. I am building the car as a "rally" car, but it is more or less going to be built to be a crap ton of fun with wheels. There are not many rally events in southern California. I know this will make some purists cringe, but the plan is to put a Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3-16 motor in the car with a few suprises. Reworked suspension. The car is in process of being flared, debadged (welding in the holes), and repainted. I am doing all the work myself and putting myself on a monthly budget so it will take a bit to get it all done, but I think a few people might find the car and the build interesting at the least. I will post up a thread with lots of pictures detailing the build when I have more time. I am still looking for what exactly I want to do about suspension, any suggestions would be appreciated.

I am also working on a '67 Volvo 122 that I sold to a friend because I don't need a million projects.

[Aardvaark]

Sounds interesting. Good luck and post pictures of you progress. Many of us love to follow Opel projects!

[blitz74]

Cool, good to see another Manta owner in my neck of the beach. I'm in Santa Barbara... although my Manta is in Montana at the moment, lol. I have one more year of school to go up there, then I'll probably be driving the Manta down here in the spring of '10. I went the stock restoration route, for the most part, with a few exceptions. Anyways good luck with your car and have fun with it!