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My Friend Ken's Manta Rallye

794 Views 19 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Nitromancer
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Hi folks.

My friend Ken, in his youth, bought a brand-new 1971 Opel Manta Rallye in Jade Mist. He drove it for a while, then moved on to other cars.

After he sold his orange Manta Rallye a few years ago, I thought he would be done with Opels for good.

Then I saw a jade green Manta for sale online, about a year ago. Same year as the first one he had, and a Rallye to boot. He posted on the for sale ad, but the car was already sold.

Then, about 2 weeks ago, I saw a familiar car for sale on Facebook marketplace. It was the same Manta!

I sent the ad to Ken, and he and the seller discussed the price and transport of the car. And he bought it!

This thread is where I'll post pictures and updates of any work I do on Ken's car.
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Looks to be in very nice shape!
Looks good, I haven't seen too many in that color.
that is awesome! I am thinking I saw this car for sale on one of the FB opel sites as well if it's the same car. it had been sitting in a garage since the late 1970s and wasn't running. it was same color and had those same wheels. The color is very unusual so likely the car. It looks awesome. I had seriously considered buying it but couldn't get seller to respond at a certain point.
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So today I pulled the ignition lock off the steering column and pulled the wheels off to check the brakes! Lock is going to a locksmith.
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That looks like a really great car
It is! I wish it were my car.
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So I'm looking for an ignition switch and a cable that goes into the back of the seat to recline it when you pull the lever for Ken's Manta. I put a wanted ad up. If anyone has these parts please reply.
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So Ken took the ignition lock to a locksmith to fix. The locksmith inserted the key, and it turned freely! Ken had a spare key cut while he was there, though. It appears the only damage to the lock mechanism is the steering lock doesn't pop up with the key off, but Ken can live with that.

Yesterday we picked up the wheels with tires that Ken had mounted, and picked up a few bolts for the lock including one to replace the tear away bolt that was slotted.

Today, I installed the lock on the column. Someone previously shimmed the top hinged part with a folded piece of sandpaper, probably because they couldn't tighten the slotted tear away bolt very well. The Allen bolt we bought yesterday tightened up the lock to the column with no slop and no sandpaper.

I then put the wheels on the car, and we tackled the leaky oil pump cover, I scraped off the old rock-hard gasket and sanded the cover with some 2000 grit. It's not perfect but much better. The cover was disassembled and flushed with brakleen, then I reassembled the oil pump with a fresh gasket.

We also checked out the front Rallye lights which still need more work, but I was tired and decided to call it a day.
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Hi folks. Jade Mist.
When I was a teen in the 70's, that was my family's 2nd Opel, a Manta...same color. We just called it "Green". 😁
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When I was a teen in the 70's, that was my family's 2nd Opel, a Manta...same color. We just called it "Green". 😁
'70s Opels could be had in shades of green other than Jade Mist. Signal Green is one of them, I know GTs had the option of a dark green and chartreuse as well.
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Worked on replacing the old gear oil and transmission pan gasket.

Dropped the pan, scraped off the old gasket, peened the holes in the pan, then cleaned the pan and reassembled.

Bonus: a picture of Ken with his original Manta Rallye!


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I think this is the same car.
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I think this is the same car.
Yep! I remember those pictures from the old Facebook ad! Was this your car?
Yep! I remember those pictures from the old Facebook ad! Was this your car?
No I had seen it pop up and had a couple conversations with the owner and then he stopped responding. If I recall it had sat in a garage since the late 70s or early 80s and wasn't running and he was asking whether it was best to pay someone to get it driveable before selling or not.
I remember that FB ad, it was a long way away from me but I did talk to the owner on the phone. I said transportation would ad a lot to the cost of me getting it. He said he was getting offers of $8,000 and I told him that was more than I paid for my bitsa that was turn key with new tires - I told him that was a good offer and he should take it.
I remember that FB ad, it was a long way away from me but I did talk to the owner on the phone. I said transportation would ad a lot to the cost of me getting it. He said he was getting offers of $8,000 and I told him that was more than I paid for my bitsa that was turn key with new tires - I told him that was a good offer and he should take it.
Yes he told me he was getting a lot of offers close to 10k. I asked if he had more pics of the other side and interior. I think he sent them to me and then stopped responding. He probably sold it then. Looking at Ken's garage I think I remember Ken's previous Manta that he sold. Is this it?

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I like the orange Rallye but don’t know anything about it.
They both look like great cars.
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