Producing Manta Sheet Metal

[Sportwagon75]

Charles - What more can be said?? The patches look outstanding!! I'll contact you off-thread for a good time to start this project. Wife and digital camera return Saturday. Please understand...these cannot all be welded up in one day. It may take several days to complete the welding. (I use TIG, not MIG) That said...I will photo document the entire process. -Scott

[GoinManta]

Thanks, I know welding them up won't be quick. But checking the dryfit and how well the patches weld to the sheetmetal will be easy to figure out fairly quickly. Which is all I really need to confirm the guage, etc..

I will be sending a prototype to Kieth as well for him to do it without "supervision" so I can get a unbiased opinon of the forming.

All said beginning of the week after next and we should have the final down to be able to go ahead with production.

BTW.. I hope to use proceeds from this sheetmetal production to pay for the 74-75 Manta/Ascona Front Bumper Molds and the Vents.

Charles

[GoinManta]

Barring any major revelations by Keith or Scott when they fit thier prototypes, these are the final versions (Actually the final versions will have a few of the "Slits" removed, because they are unnecessary.)

Without furthuer ado...

Step 1 - Firewall

1 - The shape it will be sent as
2 - Two tabs will be pre-bent
3 - Hand form the lip
4 - Be sure to add a step in it for the frame rail.
5 - Bolt and secure to the firewal to ensure proper alignment for the Brake Booster.

[GoinManta]

Step 2 - Rail Cover

1 - As shipped
2 - After forming
3 - Form S shape of rail top
4 - Form recess in fender
5 - Final postioning

[GoinManta]

Step 3 - Fender Cover

1 - As Shipped
2 - Form Left Side and dry fit
3 - Form bottom and dry fit
4 - Form Fender to Rail Cover Patch
5 - Form Fender to Rail Cover Patch

[GoinManta]

Final Assembly (Battery Box needs no hand forming)

1 - Rail cover laid in position, notice upper corner how it has a tag to fit in the corner

2 - Fender laid over rail cover, and adjusted for best fit

3 - Firewall, Rail and Fender Cover

4 - Insert battery box (1)

5 - Insert battery box (2)

It's designed that the rail patch does not need to be used if you don't need it there.

So that's it.. I will wait for Kieth to get his prototype, and see how Scott does with his before I produce them. Hopefully I will be producing them in the next week or so.

What do you all think, easy enough?

I hope to have this kit in Gil and Todds catalogs for all Opel owners to be able to know about it. Hope I can save a few Mantas from the trash heap.

Final costs look to be:

$80 for the Complete set

or

$50 for just the Battery Box
$25 for just Firewall patch
$30 for just the Fender/Rail patch

Paint grip primed metal will be what the final product is made of.

Charles

[Rionart]

Just had a look at the booster reinforcing plate....
Next time you look at your Manta Charles, look at the 3 clipnuts just inboard of the plate, where you have scalloped it to clear.
The holes for thes nuts are square/oblong, and tend to crack out of the corners due to the bulkhead flexing.
If I remember correctly the worst offender is the top inboard one....

[GoinManta]

Ah... those.

I haven't seen the firewall damage get that bad before. I guess I could add it, but wouldn't the area already covered pretty much stiffen that area enough?

So you have a car with that area cleared out? So you can take a picture? I will try to see if I can clean that area on my car better as well.

Charles

[kwilford]

Charles,

The battery box repair kit came in today. We're leaving for the Tacoma Opel meeting in the morning, so I will take it with me to show around. And I'm scheduled to start on the SportWagon battery box install when I get back (no more work! Woo hoo!!!)

[Sportwagon75]

Well...the time has finally arrived. Let the patchwork begin. I bought this Ascona last year because I couldn't stand to see a good car go to the crusher. It has a mere 45,000 original miles. My intention was to put as little money into it as possible just to make it roadworthy as a daily driver. Accordingly...I had planned to simply patch the holes in the firewall and battery box with some heavy gauge fiberglass and be done with it. Looking at the holes...some folks might say, "why bother?" But ironically the frame rails and jack pads are nearly pristine. And once I got it running...I realized the car is a real keeper so I figured I'd do it right. Then when Charles came along with these prototype repair panels for Manta/Ascona firewall and battery box areas...I figured I'd give it a go. The attached photos are the 'before' pix. As the repair work progresses...I'll post photos of my work. As you can see, I've cut out all the rusted sheet metal and used various sanders and grinders to prep the edges so I can weld to bare metal. I've cut, trimmed and shaped the repair patches that Charles provided and I'm ready to start welding. I must say that, for a first draft, these patches are very well fitted for the areas they're intended to fix. At this point, I'm waiting for the POR15 I ordered to arrive so I can paint some of the areas beneath the patches before starting to weld. Within the next few days I'll begin posting new pix of the repair as it progresses. -Scott

[GoinManta]

The Kits are complete. I have had 10 sets made up.

$95 each (includes shipping).

If you want a kit there will be 5 available, you can paypal me or send a check to :

Charles Goin
13000 Ashtree Road
Midlothian, VA 23114

I am pretty sure I know who pre-ordered the kits. But because of my computer failure a month back I dont have record. SO email me or I will email you to confirm.

Thanks

[GoinManta]

First off I hope everyone got thier kits they ordered (I have a few left, 3 I think)

I just posted to my Gallery (Click the link below Bens Manta), of the install of the kit so far. It's going in really good. That's saying something because as anyone on the list that knows good welding when they see it, will defiantely agree my welding isnt good, it's more modern art, BAD modern Art..

I first learned to weld about a month ago when I started this project. The only teacher I had was me.. scary I know. Actually I am finding the welding pretty easy. So to answer the question, can "I install your kit?", my answer would be yes.. I am using a cheap $125 used Craftsman MIG welder I got of Ebay, and a lot of grinder discs for my Angle Grinder

Anyway, I know Scott will be posting his pictures soon (I am sure of which the welding and detail on teh pictures will surpass mine). I just wanted to show where I was with the project more than anything else.

Charles

[GoinManta]

Just made a new batch of these kits. Retail is $89, but I am going to sell 10 sets at only $59, a 30% discount to get them out of my garage. I won't make this offer again.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=4539677747

Not to mention I need some cash to finish the Manta project.. seems a new car came intot he picture and can give you a guess as to where the downpayment came from..

Charles

[Sportwagon75]

Well...all of the repair sections I got from Charles have been welded in. At this point I'm in the process of smoothing and finishing and preparing for POR-15 and paint. I'll be posting photos of the entire job from beginning to end on a new thread...but I've included a couple photos here with 3 of the 4 patches welded in and the battery box just prior to welding. If I had these repair patches 20 years ago...I can think of at least 4 cars that would have been saved from the crusher. Welding in these galvanized prototypes was a real challenge but the newer ones are not galvanized and I'm definitely buying another kit for my project Sportwagon!!! Thanks Charles.

[GoinManta]

Well as I mentioned, the pictures of the kit I installed show th way it would look by someone with little welding talent to speak of doing it with a cheap MIG welder..

These pics on the other hand show how professional it can look in the hands of someone with welding talent and a nice TIG setup

Charles

[Rionart]

I wish I could weld like that....hard to even see where the welds are!!!

[GoinManta]

Definately.. a much different look than say my welding

[Rionart]

Scott,
Is the yellow car an automatic?.....or did you have to remove the clutch cable bracket for access?

[Sportwagon75]

The car is automatic. When I get around to posting all the pix...you'll see that I cut out the hole and welded in the adapter for the clutch cable. This car will be my daily driver and I'd rather eat worms than drive an automatic.