Cavalier mk2 - another blue giffermobile.

[4wheeledstool]

I haven't - it would no doubt be a little ridiculous! 

[Bren]

Brilliant work. GM were more rust resistant than ford's of the same era.

[4wheeledstool]

Finished stripping this side on Saturday - seen here just before the underside of the battery tray was done. 

Ready to clean and treat. 

Treated on Sunday evening. 

Today I took the front end off the spit and propped it up on large axle stands in preparation for welding the front valance on. Quick trial fit. 

Painted both sides of the front valance strengthener plug weld areas with weld through primer, then removed the rollover spit upright to make the job of welding it on easier. 

Should hopefully be welding the valance on some time this week.

[4wheeledstool]

Most of the available time this afternoon (not a lot!) was spent getting the valance in the correct position relative to the wings. It was then plug welded on. 

Next time I'll get that tidied up, then efforts will be made to get it reattached to the spit.

[4wheeledstool]

Got the front valance tidied up a bit this afternoon. 

No time for this for a couple of days now, but a selection of bits of metal have been rounded up to enable the spit to be attached next time. 

[4wheeledstool]

Somehow I've mislaid the box section I intended to use, but I did find some larger diameter stuff. Unfortunately it didn't fit, but after a bit of adjustment, it became a perfectly sized solution. 

After a load of faffing about measuring and drilling holes, its back on there again. 

I've ordered up some epoxy mastic to coat the underside - a quick measure up + calculation suggests that the amount ordered should be enough. 

The lower section of the bulkhead was then treated with Hydrate 80.

With that done, I spent the rest of the day excersising my other cars.

[4wheeledstool]

You may have noticed that one part of the engine bay has not received much attention yet - this afternoon that has changed! 

There's no rust on the upper part of the bulkhead, so the plan is to clean it back to the e-coat with thinners, then it can be epoxy primed with the rest of the engine bay at some point in the future. 

[4wheeledstool]

Time is in short supply for this at the moment - it got really busy at work recently! This week I've managed to finish up the cleaning of the bulkhead. 

While I wait for my paint for the underside to turn up, attention has been turned to the wings. They looked pretty decent when I collected them some monrhs ago, but on closer inspection a little work was required to the drivers side one. The arch lip at the very top of the arch was a little thin and frilly - it was built back up with weld and then ground roughly to shape. I'll finish shaping it when it gets prepared for paint. 

Lower down near where the wing meets the front valance, I noticed a couple of random holes that had been wobbled up at some point in history. The filler was wire wheeled off, and the holes welded up and ground back. 

Little jobs, but two less to do now.

[Christine]

Have you done the rear upper spring seats yet.  I think the cav  and Astra are similar ,and I want to see  what it entails.....!  Is it double skinned  under the  top hat?

[4wheeledstool]

16 minutes ago, Christine said:

Have you done the rear upper spring seats yet.  I think the cav  and Astra are similar ,and I want to see  what it entails.....!  Is it double skinned  under the  top hat?

I have - starting at the top of page 11. It is indeed double skinned. 

[Christine]

Doh how did I miss that ? Thanks. It looks difficult ....

[4wheeledstool]

After my chores were done this morning, I got the underside scotched in preparation for some paint. 

This preparation was prompted by a parcel arriving on Friday. 

Epoxy mastic for the underside, Deox gel for rusty bodywork, and more Hydrate80 as there's pretty much nowt left the bottle I've been using.

[4wheeledstool]

Got the back end and underside of the floor coated today. 

Due to its inky blackness, it doesn't make a good picture! Once the front inner wings/chassis legs are painted, I can get the seam sealer out.

[Christine]

I welded up the MK3 Astra spring seats today.. it is slightly different to the cavalier .  Once the disc part is drilled off ,and the chassis top hat  cut , the re-enforing under that . is just a  3mm  angled bar . As luck would have it , it was still sound !  

[4wheeledstool]

Working 12 hours a day at the moment - obviously not much time going spare, but I did get a few hours in on Sunday. The lower bulkhead, inner wings, chassis legs and the frontal parts of the engine bay were all scotched, cleaned and hit with the epoxy mastic. 

I'd better get some seam sealer for the next session! (no idea when that'll be  ) 

[dollywobbler]

Just brilliant stuff. It's coming along. You'd better start looking for the Mk3 you'll be restoring next.

[stuboy]

30 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

Just brilliant stuff. It's coming along. You'd better start looking for the Mk3 you'll be restoring next.

a nice gsi be good to do

[adw1977]

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

a nice gsi be good to do

No, it should be a bottom of the range "Envoy" with either the 1.4 petrol or the naturally aspirated 1.7 diesel engine!

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 9/23/2019 at 11:59 PM, adw1977 said:

No, it should be a bottom of the range "Envoy" with either the 1.4 petrol or the naturally aspirated 1.7 diesel engine!

...or a 2.0i L 4x4

[New POD]

4 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

...or a 2.0i L 4x4

G reg in red. With a 8V 130 bhp SEH and 195/60/14 tyres on steel wheels and grey bumpers. Only available in saloon body. 

My mate had one. For 10 years. I dreamed he gave it to me. But he part exed it for a Scooby. 

[4wheeledstool]

On 9/23/2019 at 9:58 PM, dollywobbler said:

Just brilliant stuff. It's coming along. You'd better start looking for the Mk3 you'll be restoring next.

Many thanks! I have a self imposed one in, one out policy at the moment - and I fancy something British from the 60s or 70s next. 

A little experimentation with the Deox gel is ongoing at the moment. I accidentally deleted the "before" picture, but here is one of the test area on the offside rear quarter after leaving the gel on for 24 hours. 

The brownness is indeed being replaced by bright shinyness - I've applied some more gel and will leave it for another day. 

I started getting the seams sealed this afternoon. 

 Hopefully I'll get the bulk of it done over the weekend.

[4wheeledstool]

Another 24 hours, and more rust gone.

Spent a fair portion of the day getting more seam sealer on. As usual, I spent far longer than is necessary as I like a tidy job (even though it'll never be seen once the car is done) 

Inner rear valance was pretty awkward! 

Finished the day with the front floor area. 

Once the engine bay and front stuff is done, I can put another layer of epoxy mastic on, then it can have a good spaffing of Gravitex stone chip. 

[4wheeledstool]

I didn't fancy more seam sealer today, so  I gave the underside another coat of epoxy mastic - no need for pics as it looks pretty much the same as before! This morning I borrowed an engine crane off a neighbour so I can get the engine up on the stand at some point -

I'll most likely do it once I've finished seam sealing and painting the inner wings, bulkhead etc as my hands are gonna be a bit oily playing with the engine and box! 

I reckon one more day should see this rust free.

[4wheeledstool]

Rust now gone from this bit. 

Not much time available today, so I decided to get the engine up on the stand. First it was lifted off the deck. 

The gearbox and clutch were removed. (GM stamped clutch is probably the one it left the factory with) 

Then up on the stand. The back of the engine is dry and rusty. 

Wheras the front is sporting a thick layer of oil and muck due to the cam box gasket thats been leaking for years. 

I'm sure I'll enjoy getting that clean at some point in the future.

[4wheeledstool]

Very quick session on my way home today. Got some seams sealed up front. 

It's not much, but it all adds up!

[Skizzer]

On 9/27/2019 at 6:34 PM, 4wheeledstool said:

I fancy something British from the 60s or 70s next. 

Like this, maybe?

I’m no longer particularly looking to sell it now that it’s running happily and I’ve bonded with it, but I could do with reducing the fleet and I think you’d be the perfect new owner, if interested.

Skizzer delivery service available. It’s not rusty or a major project car but there are opportunities for improvement if you want to add some value.

Would swap for G40!

[Cavcraft]

I reckon that engine would actually be a pleasure to clean up, especially after your hard graft on the body work.

[4wheeledstool]

On 10/3/2019 at 8:56 PM, Skizzer said:

Like this, maybe?

I’m no longer particularly looking to sell it now that it’s running happily and I’ve bonded with it, but I could do with reducing the fleet and I think you’d be the perfect new owner, if interested.

Skizzer delivery service available. It’s not rusty or a major project car but there are opportunities for improvement if you want to add some value.

Would swap for G40!

Thats some choice chod right there. Other stuff would have to go before either G40 though!

On 10/3/2019 at 9:58 PM, Cavcraft said:

I reckon that engine would actually be a pleasure to clean up, especially after your hard graft on the body work.

Haha! I don't know if "pleasure" is a suitable word - I remember what a knacker it was to get the old CIH clean enough to paint a few years back! 

More seams sealed this afternoon. 

Once that was done, the inner wings, chassis legs, bulkhead bottom and front end stuff was all scotched in preparation for another coat of epoxy mastic. Hopefully I'll get it all cleaned up and painted tomorrow. 

[Skizzer]

1 minute ago, 4wheeledstool said:

Other stuff would have to go before either G40 though!

Gotta give me a bonus point for persistence though  

[4wheeledstool]

My job has been using up all the time this week, but stuff has still happened in dribs and drabs. The front end got another coat of epoxy mastic early in the week, then work took over. Today I made a start on cleaning the worst of the crud off the gearbox. It was pretty well caked. 

Half an hour or so of scraper and wire brush action saw it looking a little better. 

I'll hopefully finish removing the heavy deposits tomorrow before giving it a good steamy pressure wash at some point. 

Another rusty patch got the Deox treatment this week - this one is above the offside tail light aperture. 

Hopefully more to come tomorrow!