Rear Axle Removal & Undercarriage Detailing - Opel Manta A Suspension Upgrade [EP. 2]

[@georgeg.5763]

Fun cars I have one on Hemmings and a second in parts to go with.

[@428eliminator3]

Looking good! Nothing gets them cleaner by doing some good old rag work while laying on your back. Oh, hey grab some of those cheap Harbor Freight moving blankets and use them to lay on while doing that stuff, they'll keep your fresh painted stuff from getting scrapped up while going back together too.

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

Thanks Mike, that’s a good idea!

[@opelr13]

Nice looking Manta!

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

Thanks!

[@Calibran]

Great job, keep it up man!

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

Thank you!

[@CauedeMattos]

Great job man! The car structure is in near mint condition, rare find. Greetings from Brasil, keep up the good job!

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

Thank you! I feel very lucky that it’s in such good shape.

[@marinzimmerman3936]

you are a chill dude,love your vids1

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

I appreciate it!

[@why_wait]

My car is covered in waxoyl underseal so it's not as easy to clean and check under the car but when I take the springs out I will be painting or under sealing everything that needs it

[@calbackk]

Just found you now this evening. Good work, good Manta, and good WEATHER that enables you to do it all out in the open. The latter something I can only dream of. I love your systematic approach, very nice to watch. Greetings from Sweden. PS: I just started to wonder: Where has this car spent it´s life and managed to remain in such good condition underneath?

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

Thank you! Yes that's true, the weather is usually pretty nice here in California (and that's the answer to your last question). Sometimes I'm annoyed that I only have a slanted driveway to work in, but I can't really complain!

[@Manta400]

Looking good, if you need something, we have a lot parts in the Netherlands.

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

Thanks! That's good to know. Do you have a website or something?

[@Manta400]

@@AndrewDoesCarStuff in KZbin i can't put a URL, but if you search for the word achterasrevisie or viadanny you will find it. The company belongs to my son.

[@dirk9379]

Great

[@davidnorton573]

I had a 74 that I drove for about a decade, do miss that car. Couple of comments; I don't think I would have dropped the trailing arms right away. The springs are in front of the axle, the jack is on the axle, so it would have been much more controlled to leave those arms on, lower the axle, pull the springs out, then take off the arms. Also, that is not the original transmission, the original has an iron case and is separate from the bell housing (I had trouble with pressure plates warping, spent a fair amount of time under mine). What did you do, install a 5 speed? One final comment; you have some rust bubbling fender next to the spare tire storage. That is such a nice example that maybe you should address it at some point.

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

Hi David, good observations! I think you're right that I should have left the trailing arms attached for a more controlled lowering. I'll probably do something like that when it comes time to reinstall. And yes it's a 5-speed Getrag 240 transmission, from a later Manta B from the 80's. I had it out recently to replace some seals and the throwout bearing (did a video of it). It works great, but is a tight fit in the tunnel. And on the rust, ironically that area was already patched when we did the resto about 13 years ago, but obviously it's having issues there again. Probably a leaky trunk, which I'll be looking to address. One thing at a time!

[@why_wait]

Nice manta - even tho registered in 73 it was built in 70-72 there's a few features that changed in 73 that aren't on your car

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

Interesting, what features are you thinking of? '73 was the only year of the thin rubber strips on the skinny bumpers (in the US anyway). Also I've noticed several pieces that are stamped "73" during this project.

[@why_wait]

@@AndrewDoesCarStuff the bonnet with a single hole for the windscreen is an early one 70-72, the lack of full b posts is 70-72, if you can show me a picture of the dash that also changed - I think maybe there's a bit of an overlap especially with USA cars late 72 early 73 might be possible too I guess

[@why_wait]

@@AndrewDoesCarStuff I wouldn't be surprised if they had the new upgrades on the American cars first because of shipping they might want the new upgrades to be on the cars at the same time

[@why_wait]

@@AndrewDoesCarStuff I need to change the rear springs on my manta and was a bit concerned about doing the fronts myself because I think a spring compressor is required for the fronts - I don't really want to take the whole control arm off but you said you had a special tool to take the shocks off - where do you get that from ? Thanks 👍

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

@@why_wait I didn't know about the different hoods, interesting! My dash is the earlier style with only the center air vents, no vents on the outer corners.

[@martinnielsen3592]

Where do you buy your spare parts? I have been looking for some of the same parts 😊

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

Almost everything came from Opel GT Source and Opels Unlimited. The shocks were a special order from Neuspeed, and the springs came from KAW in Germany.

[@why_wait]

The spring seats and bushes where do you get them from ?

[@AndrewDoesCarStuff]

I'm in the USA so I only have two real options here - Opel GT Source and Opels Unlimited. If you're elsewhere in the world, especially Europe, you have more options like Dr. Manta, ATZ, Edelschmeide, and others.

[@chrisi599]

☹️ pr໐๓໐Ş๓