Invalid carriage blue Mk1 Cavalier

[4wheeledstool]

I've used the poly disks myself and have had mixed results depending on brand. I've got 3 Abracs disks so I shall comment upon them when used. I bought some from Frosts and they didn't live up to their claim of using one to strip some full fat American car.

I have 3 of the Abracs ones, but I've not tried them yet. Should be using them over the weekend.

 

Didn't have much time to spend on this today - life got in the way - I thought I'd treat myself to another nasty job!

The plastic weather sheets were stuck to the doors with some incredibly sticky putty type stuff. Seems to be a factory thing as the car in the Haynes manual sports the same look.

 

Before

 

 

After

 

 

Boring stuff, but its something else that's ready to go back on.

[purplebargeken]

It'd be good to hear what you reckon to them.

[Spottedlaurel]

Great to see your hard work on this. There's a lovely 2dr that I see at local shows:

 

1980 Vauxhall Cavalier 1600L 2dr by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Then there was another one the same colour and spec as yours, apparently now on SORN:

 

1980 Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1 1600GL by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Odd to see a decent trim level like GL didn't have head-rests even by 1980.

 

After a few months in a rough Manta 'A' I looked at buying a Cavalier 2000 GLS in 1992. From memory it was under £1k and it had a plush interior and vinyl roof offset by the rather bright green paintwork. I liked how the Manta drove and I imagine the Cavalier would have felt much the same, with a solid, planted feel which rather contrasted with the FWD Sunny I got instead.

[4wheeledstool]

Cheers!

 

Odd to see a decent trim level like GL didn't have head-rests even by 1980.

At least the 1980 car got a passenger side mirror!

[RedSparrow]

I generally dislike Vauxhalls, but these and Chevettes are really stylish.

 

Lovely car you have there

[4wheeledstool]

I generally dislike Vauxhalls, but these and Chevettes are really stylish.

 

Lovely car you have there

Thank you kindly!

 

This morning was spent collecting more parts from the old boy's hoard.

 

 

Finally finished the driver side rear wheel tub this afternoon - the wire wheel seems to be best for rubber sealant and waxoil, the poly abrasive discs are by far the best for paint removal.

 

[4wheeledstool]

Had a go at the drivers side front inner wing, theres not a lot more I can do now until the engine/running gear come out. This was a good excuse to go and play with my other chod!

 

 

Not bad at all!

[4wheeledstool]

Having time off it today - back on it soon!

 

[4wheeledstool]

The other side now matches

 

 

Still no sign of the welding bloke yet, the time has come to empty the engine bay.

[purplebargeken]

Excellent

[4wheeledstool]

Opened the bonnet, and started out with this.

 

 

Took me a short while to work out that the wiper motor needs to be removed before the mechanism will come out.

 

 

After unpicking the loom, then removing the rubber shrouds from all the bulkhead stuff, I was left with this.

 

 

The rubber of the covers has become a bit brittle, and was a pig to remove without tearing it. Heating/ventilation stuff will come out next, hopefully followed closely by the engine and gearbox. Busy weekend ahead!

[AnthonyG]

Nice to see one of these getting the love they deserve - well done!

 

Back in the day they were considered better than the MK4 Cortina and certainly were finished to a higher standard, strange in a way that so few have survived. But then there are barely any mk4s left either!

[4wheeledstool]

Nice to see one of these getting the love they deserve - well done!

Cheers!

 

The heater stuff is all out now.

 

 

The pile of parts to clean and/or paint is getting bigger. Looking forward to that

 

 

Just need to disconnect the fuel lines, speedo cable and clutch cable, then I should be whipping the engine and box/boat anchor out.

[purplebargeken]

You iz old Voxhall God. Many respetcs.

 

Cracking progress, can't wait to see more. Hint!

[4wheeledstool]

You iz old Voxhall God. Many respetcs.

 

Cracking progress, can't wait to see more. Hint!

Ha! I don't know about that! Here's some more goings on anyhow.

 

Nobody else turned up today, so everything was done on my back The exhaust took a while to remove without damaging it, but was a lot easier than it could have been. To my surprise, the 6 downpipe to manifold bolts just wound straight out - I thought it was gonna be a proper pain in the posterior! I'd borrowed a mate's engine crane, just in case the ramp wasn't an option, and armed with my trusty old seat belts (veterans of many similar operations) I got stuck in.

 

 

 

It was a bit awkward on my own, trying to be in two places at once, but a little improvisation saw the job done with ease. Behold - the mighty lump!

 

 

I now have a load more paint, seam sealer and muck to remove! Yay!

 

[Skizzer]

Great stuff.

 

I hope you're doing a better job than I usually do of keeping records of where all the bits should go

 

What are your cleaning materials of choice, by the way?

[4wheeledstool]

The cleaning agent that is part of the POR15 paint process is hard to beat - it used to be called "Marine Clean" but its called something else now. Once you've ripped into it with a wire wheel/poly abrasive disc there's only really dust to remove. The engine is so caked in oily crud though, that a good spaffing with the afore mentioned product will be necessary, just to be able to see what I'm looking at!

[4wheeledstool]

The rocker cover gasket has been royally pissing out oil for a long time by the looks of things. The rear end of the engine, and all of the gearbox is absolutely plastered with engine oil and crap. I scraped some of it off earlier, and it has preserved the bellhousing beautifully - it'll clean up really nicely!

 

 

The engine will get a good clean and paint, and a load of new gaskets and seals - just got to motivate myself for a proper cleaning session!

 

 

Proper filth!

[4wheeledstool]

Another rank job done - probably won't go to town on it until its time to go back in, as it'll no doubt get dusty in the coming months!

 

 

 

Engine probably next for the treatment, unless I can think of something else to postpone it!

[4wheeledstool]

Postponement came in the form of daft busyness at work! I did manage to tidy up in there today though - two carrier bags full of stuff that used to be stuck to the car were swept up off the floor!

 

 

Good news - tame welder should be working his magic soon!

[ShiteRider]

Enjoyable thread, keep up the good work.

It's good to see something other than an old ford or mg recieve some love.

[4wheeledstool]

Enjoyable thread, keep up the good work.

It's good to see something other than an old ford or mg recieve some love.

Cheers!

 

Still struggling to find the time to spend on this, but did manage an hour or so today - just the braking stuff and suspension/cross member to come off, then the front end is fully stripped.

 

 

Weldings will hopefully happen at the weekend, then I can finish the stripdown.

[4wheeledstool]

I managed to grab another couple of hours on this today - got the front doors off, and removed the locking/handle/door catch mechanisms. I would have been screwed without the trusty hinge pin removal tool borrowed off my mate Dave!

 

 

 

Apologies for the piss poor updates - there should be some decent progress soon, just got to clear the backlog of rubbish stuff to do elsewhere first!

[purplebargeken]

This really is going to be a stunner

[4wheeledstool]

Another couple of hours spent on this today, front suspension/steering gubbins removed in one piece. Just the brake lines and servo to come out of here now.

 

 

 

 

I cracked off all the nuts and bolts while it was all still attached to the car, so hopefully it won't be too much trouble to strip it all down

 

Still no sign of any welding yet

[mercrocker]

Blimey, this is going all the way is it not?   Going to be so nice when its done.   I still reckon these were the best company motors we had back in the day, far nicer than Cortinas.  Late 70s high-water mark (not to be confused with tidemark of course!).

[Asimo]

Seeing a monocoque bodyshell in the buff (so to speak) like this, it looks both less intimidating and more interesting. Easier to appreciate what a lot of engineering goes into the 'shell.

 

Epic, and thanks for sharing the fun.

[vulgalour]

This really is still very amazing.

[Cavcraft]

If anyone complains about Autoshite again, send them to this thread. Brilliant stuff and very addictive reading. 

[4wheeledstool]

Many thanks for the pleasant comments!

I'm struggling to find a spring compressor that will work on this set up. Does anyone have any suggestions? - I'm thinking of cobbling something together out of threaded bar, big nuts (!) Box section bar and a prayer.