Powder coating wheels

Posted by Monday, 28 March 2011

I recently had a set of wheels powder coated for my everyday car. In the past I have used companies as far afield as Birmingham for the service, but this time opted to pay a little more for local service and chose Willow Powder Coating in South London.
Their service was very good, they can blast and powder coat a wheel within a week and normal surface rust doesn't seem to be a problem. For my everyday car I chose Gloss Ford Diamond White for a rally look; but Silk finish silver, Silk/Matt black or many other colours shouldn't pose a problem.
Expect to pay around £50 per wheel and remember to deliver them stripped of tyres, balancing weights and valves, etc.

Powder coating - Before & After

If you want to do a classic Opel or Vauxhall Rostyle wheel, you may get best value by choosing a Matt Black finish and spraying the silver sections yourself. Powder coat takes paint well providing you lightly key the surface by sanding it with 600 or 1000 grade wet'n'dry sandpaper. If you don't have a paint factors nearby, you can buy wet'n'dry sandpaper at a reasonable price from Screwfix, they also stock production paper.

In the past I have used Hammerite Silver Smoothrite paint to excellent effect, I have also had good results from the range of industrial paints available by through CPC Farnell, such as their excellent "Steel Wheels" paint from CarPlan. The last set of Opel Rostyle wheels I had powder coated was around a decade ago, they still look good today and that is with storage outside in all elements.

If you want the best finish for your original Opel or Vauxhall wheels I cannot recommend the benefits of powder coating highly enough, which outshines and outlasts the original finish.

Sold - Opel Manta A series coupe - £450

Posted by Tuesday, 15 March 2011

As mentioned in the New Season Kick Off post I have two cars to sell, word must have got out, because one has already gone before I even had the chance to list it here.
It was a 1973 Opel Manta A series coupe in rare Cosmos Blue.

The car came to me following an accident as a stripped out shell, I had the front and rear valences replaced and the shell resprayed. I then spent a pleasant few weeks re-assembling it, taking the opportunity to install the wiring loom from the SR model. This meant I could install the rev counter and desirable supplementary gauges fitted on the SR.
The interior was in a charming light blue vinyl and just needed a little cleaning up.

August 2010 - Scrubbed up well

Unfortunately I never got the engine to run reliably and after a checkered early start fell out of love with the car and it became neglected. It has been rescued by long term Manta enthusiast Steve Godfrey and is returning to Oxfordshire where it has lived for most of its life.

Hungarian Opel Rekord C series with noisy back axle

Posted by Saturday, 5 March 2011

Mirsad Joldic from Hungary is looking for rear axle bearings for his Opel Rekord C Series, sadly I have nothing left to suit. However I forwarded on the mail to Anthony Drosos in Greece who was able to list these pattern parts alternatives:

1604212-1604290 (SET 35X67X22.5)
FLENNOR - FR291191
FAG - 713 6446 20
OPTIMAL - 202202
SKF - VKBA992
SNR - R153.08
TIMKEN - TKR 8538
TRISCAN - 8530 24204
QUINTON HAZZEL - QWB 280
CORTECO - 19017488
AUTEX - 805467

Anthony Drosos has plenty of other parts for classic Opels, you can mail him or follow the link on the side bar to contact him through Facebook.

Opel Rekord, powerful, safe and economical

Sold - Wheel Arch trim Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1 or Opel Manta B series

Posted by Thursday, 3 March 2011 , ,

Steven Fordham contacted me recently, he had spotted I had a trim listed for the Opel Manta B series, he owns a Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, which is to all intents the same vehicle.

The only significant difference between a the Cavalier and the Manta is that the Manta has air slots in the front panel; 2 on the early models and 4 on the later ones. There were slight differences to the interior trim detailing too. All Mk1 Vauxhall Cavaliers were fitted with the distinctive aerodynamic "droop snoot" front panels, even the humble 2 and 4 door saloon variants; unlike the equivalent Opel Asconas which received traditional looking bluff fronted radiator grills.

Both vehicles were sold side by side at Vauxhall dealers in the UK during the 70's and 80's. But when the front wheel drive Cavalier Mk2 was introduced there was no coupe option offering. Vauxhall fans had to wait for the introduction of the Vauxhall Calibra in 1989 for that privilege.

Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1 "It's an Opel!"

For Sale - Trim for Opel Kadett C series Trim

Posted by Monday, 28 February 2011 ,

Alastair Macaulay owns a fine brace of Opel Kadett C series coupes. One is a stripped out, highly modified, speed machine; the other he wants to keep completely original.
Last year I was able to find him some brightwork trim, mostly side strips and wheel arch mouldings.

In recent weeks I was able to find a couple more Opel Kadett mouldings and a door weatherstrip for him.

For sale - Opel Kadett C series Trim

For Sale - Opel Kadett B series Brightwork and Trim

Posted by Saturday, 26 February 2011 ,

Kim Kullberg hails from Finland and keeps a collection of no fewer than 6 Opel Kadett B series. He spotted the bodywork list at markkinnon.com where a selection of wheel arch trims are listed for the Kadett B.

The level of detailing that went into the design of brightwork on classic cars has become a lost art. Since the 1980s cars have evolved into ever simpler, flowing, organic designs, which of course is a whole lot cheaper too.
Although this type of stainless steel trim is prone to stone damage, denting, retains mud which can lead to corrosion; when pristine it is a thing of great beauty.

Car brightwork - a thing of beauty

Sold - Opel Manta A series Inner Wing Repair Pieces

Posted by Wednesday, 23 February 2011 ,

The Opel Manta A series is probably one of the two best looking models Opel produced; the other being the original Opel GT sports car.
If the bodywork had been made of fibreglass, aluminium or stainless steel, it would have been a distinct improvement though.
The Manta body shell is a typical GM monocoque design but is more complex than its contemporaries and hides rust well, which is not a good thing.

Mick and Caroll are busy rebuilding their Manta A series and have been able to source replacement inner wings from a German company. Not included were the braces which mount to the outside of the inner wings and can be quite a rust trap.
I had a single pair of repair sections left in stock, these were sold under the Veng brand here in the UK up until the late 1990s. Unusually for pattern parts the finish is very good, with an attractive spray painted finish. Much better than the usual dipped matt black paint.

Veng branded inner wing braces - nice finish

Sold - Opel Manta A series Gear Lever Gaiter Mounting Plate

Posted by Monday, 21 February 2011 ,

Mick James is converting his Opel Manta A series from an auto gearbox to manual. The automatic gearbox is quite effective on the Manta A, but does not suit the sporty nature of the vehicle and is also somewhat inefficient. All of which leads to reduced miles per gallon. The manual conversion provides an ideal opportunity to fit the excellent 5 speed gearbox fitted to the later versions of the Manta B series.

Mick was able to source a flywheel, clutch, gearbox and prop shaft easily enough but got stumped for a clutch pedal, pedal box and manual gearbox centre console. Most recently he discovered that he needed the plate that mounts to the top of the transmission tunnel and provides a fixing for the gear lever gaiter.

Luckily I have a well stocked box of salvaged parts and was able to oblige.

Mounting plate, not sexy but very useful.

Sold - Opel Manta B series Indicator Switch - £15

Posted by Sunday, 21 November 2010 , ,

An  Indicator Switch for the Opel Manta B series Indicator Switch in good good used condition which came from a 1984 Opel Manta. £15 plus delivery.

For Sale - Opel Manta B series Indicator Switch - £15

Sold - Opel Manta A & B series Posters - £15

Posted by Saturday, 20 November 2010 , ,

On offer are two very rare and special posters; the first of these features the German prototype Manta A series turbo. It is a lovely high gloss quality print and measures 56 cm by 56 cm.


For sale - Opel Manta A series poster

The second features the early Manta B series in a stunning Haynes Manual style cutaway drawing. Finished in high gloss quality print and measuring 60 cm by 60 cm.

For sale - Opel Manta B series poster

Each poster is priced at £15, which includes delivery to a UK address, with easy payment by PayPal.

Original posters and sales brochures for classic GM vehicles are not exactly plentiful in the UK, stocks are very limited and I will not be replacing them, so don't hang about if this is what you need for your man (or woman) cave.


 Updates:

28/12/15 - Opel Manta B series poster sold
23/01/16 - Opel Manta A series poster sold

When your competitor starts driving one of these-start worrying.

Posted by

It's spot the Opel time again...

In 1961, de Havilland began working on a revolutionary small business jet, the DH.125 Jet Dragon, intended to replace the piston engined de Havilland Dove business aircraft and light transport. The DH.125 design was for a low-winged monoplane with a pressurised fuselage accommodating two pilots and six passengers. It was powered by two Bristol Siddeley Viper turbojets mounted on the rear fuselage. The slightly swept wing employed large slotted flaps and airbrakes to allow operation from small airfields. The first of two prototypes flew on 13 August 1962, with the second following on 12 December that year.[1] The first production aircraft, longer and with a greater wingspan than the two prototypes, flew on 12 February 1963, with the first delivery to a customer on 10 September 1964.[2][3]

The aircraft went through many designation changes during its service life. Hawker Siddeley had bought de Havilland the year before project start, but the old legacy brand and the "DH" designation was used throughout development. After the jet achieved full production, the name was finally changed to "HS.125".

When Hawker Siddeley Aircraft merged with the British Aircraft Corporation to form British Aerospace in 1977, the name changed to BAe 125. Then, when British Aerospace sold its Business Jets Division to Raytheon in 1993, the jet acquired the name Raytheon Hawker. The fuselage, wings and tail-fin are to this day fully assembled and partially equipped (primary and secondary flight controls) in Airbus UK's Broughton plant, on the outskirts of Chester, sub-assemblies are produced in Airbus UK's Buckley (Bwcle in Welsh) site. All these assembled components are then shipped to Wichita, Kansas in the United States, to where final assembly was transferred in 1996.

Over 1,000 aircraft have been built. Read more...

Opel Manta B GT/e fuel injection central processing unit (Brain)

Posted by Friday, 19 November 2010

The cpu or central processing unit for a fuel injected Manta B. Used condition. £20 plus delivery.


An engine control unit (ECU), also known as power-train control module (PCM), or engine control module (ECM) is a type of electronic control unit that determines the amount of fuel, ignition timing and other parameters an internal combustion engine needs to keep running. It does this by reading values from multidimensional performance maps (so called LUTs), using input values (e.g. engine speed) calculated from signals coming from sensor devices monitoring the engine. Before ECU's, air/fuel mixture, ignition timing, and idle speed were directly controlled by mechanical and pneumatic sensors and actuators. One of the very first attempts to use such a unitized and automated "ECU" device to manage multiple engine control functions simultaneously was created by BMW in 1939, for their BMW 801 14-cylinder aviation engine, and known as the Kommandogerät, operated only by a single throttle lever.

Read more here

For Sale - Opel Manta B GT/e Ignition Coil Pack

Posted by Thursday, 18 November 2010 ,

On offer is this used Opel Manta B GT/e Ignition Coil Pack. Please note that the Manta B was in production from 1975 right through to 1987, there is a common miconception that the faclifted Manta B from 1981 onwards was called the Manta C, this is simply not true.

This item is available for £15 plus delivery. It came off a 2.0 litre Manta B GT/E from around 1984.



An ignition coil (also called a spark coil) is an induction coil in an automobile's ignition system which transforms the battery's 12 volts (6 volts in some older vehicles) to the thousands of volts (20 to 30 thousand volts or more) needed to spark the spark plugs. Some coils have an internal resistor to reduce the voltage and some rely on a resistor wire or an external resistor to reduce the voltage from the cars 12 volt wiring flowing into the coil. The wire which goes from the ignition coil to the distributor and the wires which go from the distributor to each of the spark plugs are called spark plug wires or high tension leads.
This specific form of the autotransformer, together with the contact breaker and a capacitor (still referred to in automobile parlance by its old name of "condensor"), converts low voltage from a battery into the high voltage required by spark plugs in an internal combustion engine.
Read more here

Sold - Rostyle Wheels for Opel Manta A series - £10 each

Posted by Tuesday, 16 November 2010 , , , ,

The Opel Manta A series SR and Berlinetta models were fitted with these 13" x 5.5j wheels. Unlike later models these wheels had just 4 slots. In the American market narrower 5j wheels were fitted, possibly to accommodate the local penchant for cross-ply tyres.

This is the last set of four I have they probably don't look too good, but I have seen similar wheels come up a treat after a professional blasting and powder coat; (I had mine finished in silk black, then masked off and sprayed the silver highlights myself. This gave as near an original finish as possible and they have lasted over 10 years outside without degradation).
The cost would be just £10 per wheel, sadly all the really nice ones sold out back in August.

There is a company advertising wheel delivery on eBay for delivery at £30 see here If you know of any better delivery deals let me know!



Here's the story of the Rostyle wheel, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Rostyle wheels are a notable design of wheels for cars made by the British firm of Rubery Owen, a diversified industrial company which made many car parts. The wheels had an unusual pressed steel form to imitate the few ribs of mag wheels at the time, but were painted black (or perhaps body color) and aluminium. They were designed to do without hubcaps or wheel covers, and were especially popular during the 1960s and 70s.

The firms MG and Rover, amongst other British sporty cars in the 1960s often specified these wheels as original equipment instead of ones made of light alloy (aluminium or magnesium) or wire wheels. Rostyle also made chromium plated wheels for Jensen, Rover and, famously, the Ford Cortina 1600E, originally designed for Ford Chairman Len Crossland's wife. Painted Rostyle wheels were also the only wheel option on the Range Rover for many years following its introduction. These 16-inch Rostyles where used on the Range Rover until 1986 when they were replaced by alloy wheels. The Rostyles then became optional fitment to the short wheelbase Land Rover (the wheels were not strong enough for use on the long wheelbase models). The Land Rover maintained its optional Rostyle wheels until 1995, becoming the last vehicle to offer them from new.

They were made in Britain, as well as under license in Germany and Argentina. The Rostyle wheels had a metal label in the center with the emblem of the car company on it. Today, special masks must be made to paint the wheels of restored cars to resemble the original.
Max Sinclair, the sales manager for Rubery Owen in the 1960 to 1980 period has stated that "We changed the face of motoring, and Mag wheels followed us as their reliability improved."

Gabriel Adjustable Shock Absorbers for Opel Mata A series

Posted by Thursday, 28 October 2010

Today I sent out a set of Gabriel shock absorbers for the Opel Manta A series, they are rather ancient and came off a club members project some decades ago.

You compress them fully and give them a twist to change the setting from fast road to extra fast road and finally race damping. I tried them for a while and they would do the job for a track day car but might be a bit harsh for the road.



Gabriel Adjustable Shocks - a bit harsh for road use

Gabriel shocks are still produced in the USA. This is the company's history.

In 1900, Claude Foster, a pioneer in the automotive parts industry, founded a company in Cleveland, Ohio, that was named after its first product, Gabriel horns for horse-driven carriages. Foster later developed the first shock absorbing device, the “Snubber,” for which he was granted the first U.S. patent for a direct acting shock absorber in 1907.
The company continued to prosper in the suspension business and sold direct acting shock absorbers to both the OEM and replacement markets.
In the early 1960’s the Maremont Corporation purchased the Gabriel Company and started construction of a new shock absorber manufacturing operation in Pulaski, Tennessee. The Cleveland operation was closed and the new Pulaski operation became a modern facility producing all of Gabriel’s shock absorber requirements.
A second production and distribution facility was opened in Chickasha, Oklahoma, in the early 1970’s, and the Pulaski operation was phased out and transitioned to a new world-class facility in Queretaro, Mexico, in 2001. In addition to the Oklahoma and Mexico manufacturing and distribution centers, a corporate headquarters is located in Brentwood, Tennessee.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s the Gabriel name became synonymous with technology-advanced products such as Hijackers and Striders. In 1978, Gabriel introduced the first gas charged shock absorber developed and produced in the U.S. Struts were added to the product line in the early 1980’s and the company became a strong competitor worldwide.

During the 1970’s and 1980’s strong consumer advertising programs led Gabriel to market share equal to the only other major U.S. shock supplier in the U.S. Throughout the 1990’s and into the 2000’s, Gabriel has become the standard for service in the replacement markets and continues to expand on a global basis.

For Sale - Brake Slave Cylinder Manta & Ascona A & poss. Rekord NOS

Posted by Tuesday, 17 August 2010 , , , , , , , ,

I have used these on my Manta A and have to say that they performed very well. Bendix is not a name I associate with brake components but I think a lot of these parts all come from the same bin and just end up in different packaging.


A few to clear so now on eBay, stop me and buy one.

For Sale - Opel Ascona A series Badge

Posted by Sunday, 15 August 2010 ,

Opel Ascona, the saloon car that gave rise to the Manta Coupes and later outlived them in front wheel drive guise.

Sold - Vintage or Classic AA Badges - £5

Posted by Saturday, 14 August 2010 ,

A used 1960s AA Grill Badge design to be mounted on the front grill with the screws provided.

The chrome is in good condition for its age and polishes up beautifully. Some very slight pitting is visible right up close, but no rust. The yellow part is stonechipped and could do with removing and repainting, a 30 minute job.
Screws and fixings present and working.

The serial number is 7B48512 which dates this as 1960-61 see http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/aa.htm


Also a 70's - 80's era badge; to me this badge is as much of the era as Raleigh Choppers  or Terry and June  and reminds me so much of  trips to the sea side during the long hot summer of 1976

Manta Manta der Film

Posted by Saturday, 7 August 2010

Sold - Lucas 5712 Sealed Beam Headlamps - £10

Posted by Friday, 6 August 2010 ,

Lucas 5712 Sealed Beam Headlamps, I came across these an eternity ago with the usual Opel spec Bosch and Hella items.
These were never OEM parts at Opel but found there way onto many British classic cars including the Vauxhall equivalents of the Opel range.
For example; Cresta PC Viscount 1965-72, Firenza 1971-75, Magnum 1973-76, Ventora FD 1967-72, Ventora FE 1972-76.




What are the advantages of sealed beam units?

Reflector Will Not Rust.... no more MOT failures due to low light output or poor beam spread.
Glass doesn't get dirty or mist up on the inside.... where you can't clean it.
Earth connection is on a spade connector.... doesn't depend on a lamp making good contact with the reflector body.
Rubber sealing boot not required.... no hidden gremlins with the electrical connections.

Having failed to find any takers in the Opel sphere, I put them on eBay.

They have been selling like hot cakes!

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