73 manta restoration saga

[neuropel]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Go with a 'cornering' pattern if possible, the range and width is the most useful I've encountered for brisk driving on backroads, especially in deer country. Bob

Thanks for the tip Bob - any specific recommendations? These minibrute housings that Gene mentioned sound good, but I have no idea if there's a 5 3/4" light available in the pattern you mention.

Todd

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by neuropel Thanks for the tip Bob - any specific recommendations? These minibrute housings that Gene mentioned sound good, but I have no idea if there's a 5 3/4" light available in the pattern you mention. Todd

I have limited experience with 'small' lights. In this case, bigger is better because a larger reflector will have a better pattern and light output than a similar smaller reflector, even with the same wattage bulb. But in general a cornering beam is a European 'thing', so check with the Euro brands such as Bosch, Hella, Cibie, etc. I have some Hella 4000 cornering beams that outright rock, I almost never used the driving beams in fact. Trouble is those things are admittedly huge.

I also like the Lightforce lights, and have owned a few sets of them. They have 140 mm, 170 mm, and the massive 240 mm versions. The 140's are about 5.59" in diameter, and the 170's are 6.6" in diameter. The 240's are 9.72"! The real neat things about them is the lens' are Lexan and shatterproof, there are lens covers that have various patterns available as well as colors, and they also have a variable focus feature...think 'mag lite' adjustments. You can adjust them to be a spot on the horizon or a broad, close pattern. In conjunction with the reflectors they can be a driving light, a cornering light, or a fog light in a matter of minutes. Being all plastic, they are extremely lightweight too. Not cheap (Australian made), but worth it IMO.
I bought mine from Central 4WD in the past.

Bob

[RallyBob]

The other place to check is in your neck of the woods, more or less. I'm talking about Susquehanna Motorsports. The owner, Ken, is a long time rally guy, and no one knows the importance of performance lighting like a bunch of crazys who drive through the woods at night at 80 mph! They are a big Hella dealer and really good guys, they will give you their recommendations based on your needs, not just your checkbook.

Bob

[Paul]

Todd,

I presume these lights are for your Manta. If so, I'll describe my light set up. I'm using Cibie H4s for the low beams and Cibie H1's for the high beams, but the way I aim them is somewhat as Bob describes. The high beams are pointed just slightly higher than the lows but instead of straight down the road, just off the road on the right and about the middle of the oncoming lane on the left.

The low beams all by themselves, on high, will light up road signs at better than 1,000 feet. The high beams then light up the sides of the road and corners for excellent high speed night time driving...

There are several wattage bulbs available for both the H-4s and H-1s. In this configuration I usually go to a little brighter h-4 (low/high) and use standard wattage H-1s (high only)..

Actually,.... in this set-up you can make do with only the H4s in the low/high and a good sealed beam as the high beam

[neuropel]

I'm simply looking for driving/fog lamps that will accent the front of a stock manta to give it a more rallye-like appearance - AND provide additional high quality lighting that might help me avoid hitting a deer on PA backroads where I live. By Rallye-like, I mean something closer in size to the stock manta fog lamps versus the monster lights I see on some cars. As it is now, anytime I see lights on my southern horizon I know Gene is out in his wagon (I'm in PA, he's in GA).

Todd

[Paul]

Originally Posted by neuropel As it is now, anytime I see lights on my southern horizon I know Gene is out in his wagon (I'm in PA, he's in GA). Todd

I hear Gene is having a custom chrome light bar fabricated for his wagon so he can get MORE driving lights mounted......

Todd and you thought the term "Southern Lights" was an solar/atmospheric condition... and all this time it was Gene and his driving lights.......LMAO

[Rionart]

Todd,
Another idea to consider is changing out your high beams for the KC daylighter 150W sealed beam. You will have to install relays and some extra wiring, but the output is awesome.
Here is my gold Manta with this conversion (and Halogen outer beams)
http://www.opelgt.com/photos/showpho...ser/11123/sl/r
HTH,Rob.

[blitz74]

Originally Posted by neuropel I'm simply looking for driving/fog lamps that will accent the front of a stock manta to give it a more rallye-like appearance - AND provide additional high quality lighting ... By Rallye-like, I mean something closer in size to the stock manta fog lamps versus the monster lights I see on some cars.

This is exactly what I'm looking for too. I'm thinking about the lights mainly because they would look good on the front of the car. The extra lighting is just an added benefit. Don't forget that my car is a 73 and has the small bumpers. Here's a pic of what I'm looking for.

[jordan]

Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't those just the stock rallye lights?

[BQS4]

I think ya'll are just jealous that I have more lights than ya'll
Seriously, my opinion is, you can't have enough light for whatever driving conditions you may encounter.
Here's a pic of the CIBIE Oscar series L-R
Super Oscar, Oscar (which is what I'm running) and Mini-Brutes.
The other pic is of the Mini-Brute with the "bubble" protector from danielsternlighting.com

[blitz74]

Originally Posted by jordan Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't those just the stock rallye lights?

Yeah, but that's what I want! And I don't know where to get 'em or what the alternatives are.

BQS4- are the Oscar series lights the same size as the headlights? And how do you go about mounting them on the manta's front valence (or do they attach to the underside of the bumper)?

[4speed]

Here are the 6 inches Hella fog lights. These were the original lights that Opel used.

eBay Motors: Hella Fog Lamp Clear 6inch Single- VW Porsche (item 130093021043 end time Jun-19-07 16:08:38 PDT)

(You can compare with the image that I've posted last page)

This seller has more NOS Hella fog lights, but they are 7inches and in yellow.

eBay Motors: NOS Hella Fog Lamp 7inch with og Box Single- VW Porsche (item 130093015167 end time Jun-19-07 15:45:01 PDT)

And these are the ones that I've bought:
eBay: Hella VW Käfer Porsche Opel MB flache Nebelscheinwerfer (item 230099688205 end time Mar-13-07 09:45:00 PDT)

[BQS4]

Originally Posted by blitz74 Yeah, but that's what I want! And I don't know where to get 'em or what the alternatives are. BQS4- are the Oscar series lights the same size as the headlights? And how do you go about mounting them on the manta's front valence (or do they attach to the underside of the bumper)?

Blitz74;
The "Mini-Brutes" (which is the smallest of the three) uses an actual 5 3/4 inch headlight (sealed beam or not) as a lense. The pic with the side view has a CIBIE 5 3/4" H4 beam we pulled off AUTOMOD's shelf just to see if the "bubble" worked. So you can get "trick" with the Mini-Brutes and use 5 3/4" hi/lo beams or just straight H4 hi beams. But, as for the mounting, the 71-73 Rallyes (or Mantas for that fact) used a pad system that corrected the angle of the lower valence panel to allow the light to be straight down and face straight forward. The 74-75 big bumper cars did not have any lights, (there was no 75 Rallye, not in the US), but, I made a simple "L" bracket the uses the bolts that mount the big bumpers to their "shocks". For above bumper lights, the bracket comes out just under the black plastic filler strip between the body and the bumper. You cut a tiny hole in this filler strip and insert the light bolt through, into the L bracket and tighten/aim. Very clean and the least amount of holes. If you want to switch back, it's just a means of getting anothe filler strip or a little bit of that vinyl repair stuff. As for under bumper mount, same thing without the filler strip, just bolt/aim light. I'll provide pics tonight of what I'm talking about, but, these brackets can be made by cavemen (are there any cavemen in this group!?!?) So, the brackets are easily done by anyone, it's just a simple piece of aluminum or stainless steel bar stock.

[blitz74]

cool, mounting doesn't sound too bad. now the only thing left is how to wire them. do they go on with the high beams, or do they have a seperate switch? as you can tell, i know nothing about lights. thanks for the help guys.

[David McCollam]

In some, if not all states, it is illegal to have driving lights operating in conjunction with high beams. The typical setup wired in with statndard headlights, turns off the driving lights when the high beams are activiated. The Opel driving light circuit is similar. It has a separate relay and switch for the dash. It goes in the socket to the left of the fuel/temp cluster in your instrument panel.

Dave

[neuropel]

I thought it was the case that fog lamps were to come on with low beams, and driving lights with high beams?

[soybean]

That's correct, and Davids statement is as well. That was how mine is wired up and it was done in 74. I didn't have enough sense to mount mine like Gene, I bored holes in the top of the bumper. Still didn't look bad, at least to me at the time. She needs restoration badly now. Jarrell

[ddoyle]

Hey Todd, here is what I have tried with my Manta here in Oregon, land of FOG! Stock opel fog lights, mine were orig and only come on with the low beams, not much help. Next some KC Hi Lighter housings with some Bosch 5 3/4 clear fog lamps(from a Euro mercedes), good lighting for fog/rain, but just looked too big. Next up, some Hella cats eye dichronic fog lamps, look purple when off, very good, close to the original size. But I felt the look did not fit the car. These were all mounted in the orig fog lamp location, under the bumper. Swapped out the low beam headlights for the Hella flat lense Euro hi-low beam units, great lighting, and dont need fog lamps anymore! Hi beams are sealed beam halogen units. Currently have nothing under the bumper. Plan is to replace the high beams with the Hella euro hi beam units. I have found Aircraft landing lights that will fit in the original fog light housings, they are a sealed beam clear lens and BRIGHT! Talk about laws, in Or it is illegal to run any auxilliary with the low beams, all the newer stuff running around with the low beams on and the fog lights on too, lawbreakers! Also cant have more than 4 lights on at once to the front, so hi/lo, high beam, driving lights on is a no go.

Dan

[blitz74]

Well I'm back from summer, and the Manta's been painted! I went with an original Opel color: Signal Yellow. It looks a bit lighter than I thought it was going to be, but I'm pretty happy with how it looks. It needs to cure for a couple months before it gets buffed, then the stripes will go on.

Today's work included undercoating the inside of the bumpers with POR 15 to prevent rust (there was already surface rust), stripping parts off the old block, cleaning them and getting ready to put the new engine together, and prepping some interior pieces for paint.

Here's some pics. It was hard to get any good ones because of the lighting but it gives you an idea of what the color looks like.