Scaring yourself and providing free entertainment...

[MrVXT]

Back in the late 70s, during those know-it-all late teen years, one of my more mechanically adept friends and I decided we'd apply our extra smarts and commit suspension surgery on my stock '74 Manta. I'd had excellent success with the car in our local club autocross and TSD rally series and felt this was the natural progression to improving my abilites and increasing the "fun factor" of driving competitively.

My friend, Steve, lived on the local military base with his folks and we were headed through a driving rain to the base "craft shop" where they kept all the Really Neat Tools we needed to lower the springs (shocks were planned later, since you can cut springs for "free" with loaner tools). Like all military bases in the late 1970s, real Military Police were still used to provide rather strict traffic monitoring and enforcement.

Leaving the base family housing we headed across the complex to the craft shop. Traffic violations, particularly for dependants, usually meant that base driving priviledges would be revoked as well as getting unusually hefty fines and several stern lectures from uniformed officials. So we were proceeding along right at the posted limit. Being the VERY smart teenager that I was, I tried to demonstrate to Steve just how well the Manta cornered in the rain on Michelin radials and took the sweeping right-hand turn lane without any braking...

INSTANT oversteer! The Manta turned-in "on a dime" and the rear broke loose in spectacular fashion and I spun INTO the corner down a slight embankment and across an expanse of grass. When I hit the grass I downshifted, countersteered (wildly) and managed to catch it on one of the several full 360-degree spins, straighten the car going the right direction aimed at the right road and back up onto the blacktop...just as I barely missed the front bumper of an olive drab colored, blue gumballed Ford Maverick with the ominous banner "MILITARY POLICE" across the doors. Inside, the two GIs were laughing like they'd just seen one of Ringling's Clown Cars...I looked over at Steve, expecting SOME sympathy and he's rolling all over the seat laughing too!

The remainder of the trip to the craft shop went by without further incident or amusement for our troops. When I stopped shaking and we finally got started on the project we discovered that with ALL the tools they had, the base craft shop lacked any tool we could use to anchor the top strut on the shock absorbers to release the top nut holding them on the car.

Opel -1, Bob - 0.

bob

[automata3.0turbo]

Seems like your Manta was a little apprehensive about facing suspension surgery. Maybe I need to re-think modifying my GT to accept coil-overs...

[MrVXT]

Apprehension wasn't in the car's (or my) nature at the time. The spring project was one of a series of mods and all the others had no mishaps involved. The Manta did have some odd behavior when it came to rain and paved roads, though. All my other cars would spin in the direction of centrifugal force to the outside of corners. NOT the Manta, both times we spun in the rain like that, it dove into the corner, one time with 'no harm, no foul' and the other we tapped an illegally parked car. I can't blame the Addco swaybars, they weren't on the car for the springs fiasco.

bob

[DennisGardiner]

Scary, Yes. One night I was late getting my girl friend home back in 1986. And her Dad was never pleased when I got her home past 11 p.m.
So, what to do... 20 miles to go... with less than 15 minutes... and me on a back road, and facing city traffic and residential.
Of course, I'm 18, the Mantas 12 (girl friend just turned 18), Addco bars front and rear, 13x6 Enkeis with 205 60 13's Fulda tires, KYB shocks, a 3/4 race cam... My Mission was clear.
Drive Fast!! But wait, did I forget to mention that this was the San francisco bay area after a long hot summer with no rain,... and it just started to rain. The first rain of the season!!
No problem, I'm on the expressway now doing 70+ mph, uh oh, traffic light turned red. No problem hit the brakes and let the Metal Masters grab.
And we'll stop with no problems. Right? Nope, sorry. The speedo quickly went straight to zero! Laid on the horn and went through the light while red. No accident no foul. Oh, yes the girl friend, was talking up to this point. But no more, I actually found out how to make a girl stop talking. That was what happened next. With the manta still sliding forward, straight as a arrow, I let up on the brake s and..... and..... an immediate 360 followed by two more of the same. The car slowed down to 30 35 or so, straightened up going the same directions as the road and still in the same lane!!!!
So, now what? I know, hit the gas and act as if you planned it! Right! Well the girl friend stopped talking the entire way home, and just sat there still with both eyes shut.
I got her home about 1 minute late.