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Since the VBO meeting, i haven’t had time to use the Opel much. Just a couple of runs out to Compton Abbas Airfield to see the Spitfires. This week is the last week that they will be there so if the weather is dry and sunny tomorrow I will be taking a little trip out to see them. Then I think its time to tackle a couple of jobs that I have had on my list for a while.    

CIH Cam and Ignition Timing  Originally Posted by GTJIM . . . Timing the cam is one of Opels little endearing foibles! Even the Factory Service Manuals cam be misleading as the drawing of the engine is actually WRONG in some of them – nice huh! Fortunately the picture of the crankshaft keyway position and the text is correct. The keyway in the crankshaftMUST face upwards and #4 cylinder be at Top Dead Centre with the camshaft turned so that the valves for #4 cylinder are closed ( the cut outs in the cam for access to the head bolts will be in the correct position as this setting). Once the cam wheel is…

When i went to have the car tuned it was clear that there were a few issues with the manifold not seating properly so i took it off and had the face machined flat and while i was there i thought it would be a good idea to get the manifold painted at the same time. I was going to just get a can of high temp paint and do it but as usual, after a bit of reading up on the best paint i came across quite a few reviews for POR15 High Temp Heat-Resistant Paint that were very…

Its been a busy weekend on the car this bank holiday. Its was nice to have a sunny bank holiday as it gave me lots of time on the car. Now a have a date to aim for its full steam ahead. So: first job was to check all bolts and nuts to make sure they were torqued up ok, adjusted front wheel bearing, filled up the diff oil, gearbox oil, changed the wheel studs on the back (but only did one side as i could only find 7 studs, there must be one hiding in that safe place!!) connected…

I have taken the decision to take the Opel up to a proper tuning company in Northampton (Northampton Motorsport) to do the initial start-up and then all being ok the set up so the car is ready to be run in. Then all being ok i can then head back up for the full tune-up. That is planned in fro the start of October so i now have just over a month to do the last final setup on the cam, fill up with break-in oil, check that everything is all tightened up properly and get the brakes and clutch…

A massive thank you to Thomas at Edelschmiede for locating me a very had to find oil pressure adaptor for the Manta A. I had been searching for ages for one of these and he found a brand new one 🙂               and while is was arranging with Thomas the delivery i had a quick look on his site http://www.edelschmiede.com/shop/ just in case there was anything i needed. What am i talking about, just in case!! £100 later and i had lots of new parts on my list for Thomas to send as well. If…

So after a little vacation for the Opel its now back but in our new home. A better garage and a nice flat drive. So it will soon be time to get back working on the Opel. Im planning on having her ready for a proper tune-up in the spring, lets see how we get on 🙂

I have always hated the clutch cable crossing over the engine on the a series and wanted to get rid of it and fit a hydraulic clutch, but have found it hard to find any info on someone fitting one. So i did a google and looked at other cars using the wilwood pull cylinder to get some ideas. I decided on an external slave cylinder as its such a pain to drop the 5 speed gearbox on the A if i did have issues. So a plan was hatched. i decided a bracked that bolted to the engine and…

Finally after months of waiting for CJS enginerring in ferndown (not speedy engineers) they have managed to finish the adapters to fit my wilwood calipers! So any hopes of getting the manta running for the summer are long gone! They do look spot on, so now its off to the cars temp home this weekend for a test fit. All i need then are the correct bolts and a couple of 90 degree goodridge fittings and then i should be able to test the brakes!!