Cavalier mk2 - another blue giffermobile.

[4wheeledstool]

Boring but necessary stuff today - gave all the under bonnet stuff a quick clean and started boxing it all up to go into storage.

 

 

 

Once all that is taken care of, I'll be getting the grinder back out again.

 

A few bargainous eBay purchases arrived this week - steering rod ends, and the two front engine/gearbox mounts.

 

 

It's always a relief when the bits you need are available at a reasonable price.

[4wheeledstool]

Decided against more grinder action for now - this morning I fancied taking off the rear undercarriage.

 

 

Good news was that everything came apart as it was supposed to - bleed nips + pipe unions included. The bad news is that the chassis legs need repairing where the spring plates are located. The spring plates have been replaced at some point (not very nicely!) and I'm guessing that they were pigeon shitted on over questionable metal. I'll get some pics of the pox another time - but heres one of the stripped rear end gubbins.

 

 

The pile of pieces requiring cleaning and painting is coming on nicely.

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Great to see a mk2 getting some proper love and attention. R.e. the rear legs - I assumed that was a mk3 Cav specific issue. My first mk3 GSi saloon failled its MOT at around 13 years old with crispy rear chassis legs, and mk3's are generally notorious for it. Looks like mk2's weren't exempt either! 

[Skizzer]

Great that you’re cracking on with this, even though it makes me feel bad about not just getting the fuck on with it like you do.

[M'coli]

Good work! I have a driver's side full sill sitting in the garage if you haven't already got one.

[4wheeledstool]

Great to see a mk2 getting some proper love and attention. R.e. the rear legs - I assumed that was a mk3 Cav specific issue. My first mk3 GSi saloon failled its MOT at around 13 years old with crispy rear chassis legs, and mk3's are generally notorious for it. Looks like mk2's weren't exempt either!

 

  

Cheers! I'm pretty sure the rear chassis architecture is the same as the mk3 - people have fitted mk3 beams to mk2s for one reason or another.

Good work! I have a driver's side full sill sitting in the garage if you haven't already got one.

Many thanks! I'm sorted for replacement sills, although I may be in touch if I make a balls of it!

 

This morning was all about fuel system removal. The tank, fuel lines + pump/filter/pressure reg came out first. (Not particularly easy to remove the tank when the body is only 8 inches off the deck!)

 

 

The brake lines undid without drama - they're in really good condition so theres a fair chance they'll be reused.

 

 

Heres a shot of one of the ruined spring plates - I reckon these will repair as it only appears to be rotten in the flat part directly above where the spring sits. Time will tell!

 

 

Whoever replaced those ^^^ could probably do with welding lessons!

[4wheeledstool]

Gear shift mechanism was whipped out after work this afternoon - it was very brown due to a liberal coating of underbody wax type stuff. Thinners and a cloth saw it looking loads better though

 

 

A bit more help is gonna be required to pretty up the fuel pump/regulator/filter arrangement removed yesterday.

 

 

The gearchange mech was the last item to be removed from the underside - now it's bare, I just need to get the sills sorted before it can go up on the spit.

[stuboy]

love the stripdown, is it a 5 speeder?

[4wheeledstool]

love the stripdown, is it a 5 speeder?

It is!

[4wheeledstool]

I got the majority of the nearside outer sill cut off this afternoon. The box section between the inner and outer sills is a lot more complete on this side, so now I know exactly what I'm aiming for when I reconstruct these structures before putting the replacement outer sills on. I suspect that a lot of people ignore these strengthening structures in an "out of sight, out of mind" style - its a lot more work to do it right after all.

 

 

 

Obviously I need to remove the rest of the outer sill before cracking on with it, but I'm gonna be struggling to find the time for it for a couple of weeks so progress will now be slowed.

[Burnside]

The inner sill look's better than my MK3 Cav did before they were both replaced!

 

I don't know if this of use but on the MK3 the sunroof drainage pipes go down the A post and straight into the sills. So a friend who replaced the nearside sill, modified mine so they both drain out through the inner front wings behind the arch liners instead.

 

Could be a worthwhile modification if the MK2 is the same.

 

Can't think how else to word seeing the updates other than I'm loving it.

[4wheeledstool]

The inner sill look's better than my MK3 Cav did before they were both replaced!

I don't know if this of use but on the MK3 the sunroof drainage pipes go down the A post and straight into the sills. So a friend who replaced the nearside sill, modified mine so they both drain out through the inner front wings behind the arch liners instead.

Could be a worthwhile modification if the MK2 is the same.

Can't think how else to word seeing the updates other than I'm loving it.

Glad you're enjoying the thread! I've not spotted the sunroof drains in the sill area, I think the rear ones exit through the boot floor - no idea about the front ones. I'll have a good look, and reroute if necessary!

Been to see a man about a mahoosive bottle of gas this afternoon - it's arrival should coincide with my return to fettling this heap in a couple of weeks.

[4wheeledstool]

Managed to get an afternoon on this today - first up was a small repair to the offside inner wing where it had rotted around a splash guard fixing hole. (finishing the dregs of my welding gas) I forgot to take the "before" pic, but heres the "after" one.

 

 

The remainder of today's session saw me cutting out the rotten section of the inner wing behind the offside headlamp. (where the previous owner had effected a filler sandwich "repair" in the past) Once cut out, a paper template was fashioned, which was then transferred to a piece of the old front valance that wasn't rusty. It doesn't look much in the pic, but the shape required has mild curves going in different directions, and it took a fair while to tease it into a shape that fitted nicely. With no gas left at present, I left the piece wedged in its hole - I'll clean everything up and weld it in at a later date.

 

 

 

Not looking forward to removing all that underbody sealant - grim times ahead!

[Tamworthbay]

Heat and white spirit does the trick but it’s a shitty job whichever way you do it.

[Scruffy Bodger]

I saw an awesome way of removing that stuff the other week, they used dry ice. It just bloody flaked off!

[New POD]

Great to see a mk2 getting some proper love and attention. R.e. the rear legs - I assumed that was a mk3 Cav specific issue. My first mk3 GSi saloon failled its MOT at around 13 years old with crispy rear chassis legs, and mk3's are generally notorious for it. Looks like mk2's weren't exempt either!

GSI had IRS and not a beam, unlike the mk3 V6 which has a beam with 5 studs and rear discs, and location points that are identical to a mk2. A few people on mk2cav.com seem to have done that particular swap. My only swap was fitting mk3 GSI front brakes to a mk2 1.8 SRI. They just fit under a 14 inch alloy.

[4wheeledstool]

Whilst waiting for my huge bottle of gas, I've been spending a little time getting the outer sills to fit nicely. It's a bit of a faff having to put it on and take it off many times to adjust/trim it, but it's worth it to get it to look right. I still need to repair the middle sills, but need to know the final position of the outers before I can do that. A lot more time needs to go in before I can weld any of it up, but when there sills are finished I can start on the spit.

Pic of outer sill trial fitted to cheer up an otherwise dull post.

 

[anonymous user]

I'm another one who had missed this thread, but will have to keep up now I've found it

[4wheeledstool]

Been back at this again recently - weldings have begun! The offside inner wing piece went in first - surprisingly awkward to finish - but a little filler at a later date will see it looking ok. (It'll be hidden by the headlight, but would still bug me if it wasn't finished nicely.)

 

 

I discovered a rusty hole under where the back seat goes.

 

 

No need for much finesse here, all the pox was cut out, and a piece was let in to fill the hole, including a plug weld to the chassis leg as was there beforehand. I've lost my pic of the welded repair, but do have one of the seam sealed result.

 

 

When repairing the outer skin of the inner sill, I struggled to find a good setting to weld the thin sheet with a bead, so ended up joining the dots to avoid burning through in random places.

 

 

Both inner sills, and inner sill ends now sorted.

 

 

Next on the to do list is the middle sill structures - I'll be cracking on with these this coming week.

[4wheeledstool]

I didn't get nearly as much done as I was hoping this week, but progress is progress. I finished up the middle sill repair to the nearside.

 

 

 

The outer sill is tacked on now, I'll hopefully get that fully welded this week. In other news, a nice shiny new petrol tank arrived from Germany the other day.

 

 

[Felly Magic]

I think GM missed a trick not following on from the mk1 Cav coupe and should have done a sporty 3 door mk2 using the Chevrolet Monza shell

[4wheeledstool]

Nearside sill now welded on.

 

 

Incredibly time consuming welding one spot at a time, then filling the gaps in - seen here half way through welding.

 

 

It would be difficult to grind back the welds with the doors on, so I'll finish it up once the doors come off. (Whenever that may be - the rear doors need to stay on to do the rear arches!)

[M'coli]

 

Cheers! I'm pretty sure the rear chassis architecture is the same as the mk3 - people have fitted mk3 beams to mk2s for one reason or another.

Many thanks! I'm sorted for replacement sills, although I may be in touch if I make a balls of it!

 

This morning was all about fuel system removal. The tank, fuel lines + pump/filter/pressure reg came out first. (Not particularly easy to remove the tank when the body is only 8 inches off the deck!)

 

IMG_20190303_142407.jpg

 

The brake lines undid without drama - they're in really good condition so theres a fair chance they'll be reused.

 

IMG_20190303_145258.jpg

 

Heres a shot of one of the ruined spring plates - I reckon these will repair as it only appears to be rotten in the flat part directly above where the spring sits. Time will tell!

 

IMG_20190303_153623.jpg

 

Whoever replaced those ^^^ could probably do with welding lessons!

Mine did something similar, it was gubbed fairly -some shots of said gubbedness.

After a bit of angle grinder action, the chassis leg looked like this:

[Sudsprint]

It's three in the morning and I am awake with toothache - but this is a brilliant thread!!

[Captain Mainwaring]

Just caught up with this thread, and boy am I glad you're doing another resto! And a MK2 Cav to boot!

T'was one of these that earned me my first clip round the ear when I volunteered to help my dad clean his, and took a yard brush to the bonnet.   

Really enjoyed the MK1 thread and this is looking like it'll be more of the same, your thoroughness and attention to detail is something to behold!

Keep up the excellent work! 

[4wheeledstool]

Just caught up with this thread, and boy am I glad you're doing another resto! And a MK2 Cav to boot!

T'was one of these that earned me my first clip round the ear when I volunteered to help my dad clean his, and took a yard brush to the bonnet.

Really enjoyed the MK1 thread and this is looking like it'll be more of the same, your thoroughness and attention to detail is something to behold!

Keep up the excellent work!

 

Many thanks! This thing is gonna be more than twice the amount of work than the mk1 was - it really should have been fragged a long time ago!

 

More stuff done today - the middle sill on the offside was completed today. I had to replace a lot more on this side as the rot had spread further.

 

 

The eight hour session ended after the offside outer sill was welded on.

 

 

I really need to remove the doors to finish up the sills, but I need the back doors in position to do the arch repairs. I'll see how easily they come off before deciding what happens next.

[4wheeledstool]

I got the front doors off today - the hinge pins took such a clobbering to get out that one of them has cracked.

 

 

It's no biggie, as suitable pins are available on eBay. With the front doors off, I could complete the welding of the sills - just the joy of grinding back the welds to do before I can call the sills finished.

[4wheeledstool]

As you may have spotted further up the thread, all the reference points for the inner rear valance/inner rear quarters/inner rear arches are now fresh air. I need to fit the outer panels in a quick release style so I can use them as reference points for fabricating the inner panels. I made a start doing this today by cutting down the replacement rear valance, and used cleco fasteners to hold it in place.

 

 

Next job on the list is to trim the panel to a good fit, then start remaking the inner valance panel so theres something to weld the outer to at the bottom edge.

[Ohdearme]

Excellent thread and a GL i to boot! My second car was a red 1.8 MK2 (D679MRH iirc) bought with an £1100 loan at a reasonable* 13.9% APR (slippery slope, kids).

Fond memories of buzzing along at Vmax with the needle wobbling around an indicated 116...

[4wheeledstool]

The straight part of the inner rear valance bottom now exists again. There's a world of pain waiting for me in the curved ends where they meet the inner lower rear quarters, but I'll wait until it's on the spit before tackling those. After a quick blast of zinc primer to stop it rusting before it gets painted, it looks like this...