Cavalier mk2 - another blue giffermobile.

[4wheeledstool]

Block now has 2 coats of engine enamel on it after a mammoth wire brush/cleaning session. 

Should get the sump pan painted tomorrow, so I can start putting it back together next week hopefully. 

[4wheeledstool]

The missing part of the cam belt cover plus the clips arrived this morning. Many thanks to Keith at Vauxhall Green Parts. 

Sump pan now cleaned and painted. 

Just waiting for a stat housing to arrive, and it can go back together.  

[vulgalour]

That engine came up astonishingly well, as has all the rest.  It's a joy to read these updates and see so much good progress.  Hoping all is well on the job front too.

[4wheeledstool]

Replacement thermostat housing arrived today thanks to a top bloke called John off mk2cav.com. I gave it a quick bath in petrol, then a cheeky bead blast to leave me with a ready to fit part.

Not sure when the engine will be back together again, but shouldn't be long. 

[4wheeledstool]

I was hoping to get the motor built back up this afternoon, but thanks to good old ebay, the cam belt and water pump were wrong. The ebay fitment check is clearly not to be relied on.  

Although its tempting to clean and refit the old one, I'm gonna have to play water pump roulette again. 

[4wheeledstool]

Correct cam belt and water pump went on yesterday, alternator and some odds and sods went on today. I just need to remember to take my torque wrench with me next time, then I can finish the engine jobs off. 

[danthecapriman]

Mint! Looks like new.

[4wheeledstool]

Found a new manifold to downpipe gasket on ebay. 

Then threw the remaining parts back on the lump. 

Just needs the loom fitting, and the cambelt covers cleaning again, and it's ready to go back in when the time comes.  

[4wheeledstool]

Playing with scooter parts, job hunting, and numerous other endeavours have all but stopped play on this. I did get a little bit of time for it today though, so made a start on the crusty fuel pump/filter arrangement. 

One of the rubber mountings required a bit of grinding to get it off, but other than that it all came apart nicely. I have a new fuel filter to go on, and the pump cleaned up well, the crusty bits will be blasted clean and painted up at some point. 

Its kind of satisfying to have made a start on this assembly - I've been threatening to do it for months! 

[4wheeledstool]

Got a load of rusty junk blasted today. 

I have some more paint on the way - hopefully it'll get here before it all goes rusty again.   

 

[4wheeledstool]

Fuel pump related gubbins now painted and back together. 

It's shield is also ready to be refitted. 

Tank straps were painted too. 

Attention then turned to the fuel tank, stuff needed for the new tank was removed from the old one. 

Internal bits to be cleaned up ready to go into tne new tank. 

[4wheeledstool]

Time for this has been pretty much non existent recently. To prepare for the completion of the fuel system, I've been de rusting the pick up pipe flange. 

After several applications of Deox gel. 

Several more sees it pretty much ready to paint. 

I need to get the new tank stone chipped before I can get it all back together, hopefully it won't be too long before I get back on it properly. 

[4wheeledstool]

With the scooter all but done, I can get back on this heap. New rear shocks arrived yesterday - the ones on the car seemed to work OK, but they were pretty corroded. 

Gonna have a clean and tidy up of the shed tomorrow, and get back on with it.

[4wheeledstool]

Got cracking with a job I've been dreading - rear beam bush removal. 

I started by drilling out some of the rubber with an 8mm drill bit, then a wood chisel to break the bond between the rubber and casing. After a bit of chiselling, the centre of the bush could be pushed out wit the rubber still attached, then it was just a matter of carefully sawing through the bush casing (without cutting into the beam) so it could be biffed out 

It wasn't nearly as difficult as I was expecting - hopefully the wishbone bushes will behave similarly. 

[4wheeledstool]

Another day, another shit job - stripping the wishbones for refurbishment. All bushes and ball joints were marked GM, I'm pretty sure they're the originals from the factory. 

The weight attached to the offside wishbone surrendered after swinging on the Allen screws with a four foot breaker bar - very surprised that they didn't shear. (not complaining though!) 

The four rubber/steel bushes were pushed out after heating them up with a blowtorch for 10 minutes or so - I tried other methods beforehand, but none of them appeared to work. 

The ball joints, being riveted on, usually biff out once you've ground the heads off - not these though! After grinding the heads off, I drilled them through until the walls of the remains of the rivets were thin enough to smash out with a hammer and fine screwdriver. 

Result - ready to strip paint/rust off before painting.   

[4wheeledstool]

More jobs attended to today - everything bar the shocks removed from both legs. 

Plenty of cleaning and painting of stuff to get stuck into now. 

[4wheeledstool]

In the past I've been able to use the blasting gear at my workplace. All that stuff was auctioned off a while ago and my new job has no such useful perks. I thought I'd have a go at the rusty pile of junk myself, with power tools. 

Poly abrasive disc and a finger sander saw it bright and shiny again in about an hour, so I'll carry on for now. (hoping to secure the use of another blasting rig at some point.)  

[Talbot]

On 4/16/2020 at 7:22 PM, 4wheeledstool said:

I'm pretty sure they're the originals from the factory.

Definitely.  The factory ones were riveted, but all the aftermarket ones are bolted.  Removing a riveted joint without taking the arm off the car is unfunny.

[4wheeledstool]

Got the springs, back plates and wishbone weight painted this morning after another session on the abrasive tools. 

Later on, the top mounts were cleaned back, 

then the wishbones were wire wheeled to get rid of the majority of the crap they were covered in,

before being finished up in my mate Liam's blasting cabinet. 

More painting + crud removal coming soon. 

[Marsh]

Very thorough, like it. Do you still have the MK1?

I'm probably mistaken but did you restore a MK2 Granada a few years back on the forum of blue?

[4wheeledstool]

On 4/22/2020 at 8:24 AM, Marsh said:

Very thorough, like it. Do you still have the MK1?

I'm probably mistaken but did you restore a MK2 Granada a few years back on the forum of blue?

Cheers! Still have the MK1 - I went to the shops in it yesterday. Never owned a Granada though.  

Bit more time spent on this today. Top mounts painted. 

Wishbones painted too. 

New ball joints fitted (still waiting for the rubber bushes) 

Hubs cleaned up and wiped over with WD40. 

The rest of the available time was spent wire wheeling the legs. They're pretty crusty in places, and take a fair bit of aggro before they're ready for the blast cabinet. 

[4wheeledstool]

A little more done this afternoon, front legs wire wheeled in preparation for the blasting cabinet. 

In the absence of the blasting cabinet owner, I made a start on the anti roll bars. 

Should get more done next week.

[4wheeledstool]

Anti roll bars cleaned back. 

Then painted. 

Brackets too. 

Legs now painted as well. 

Particularly impressed with how these came up, they were pretty crusty beforehand. 

Next pile of rusty junk is being prepared. 

[4wheeledstool]

New brake discs + wheel bearings arrived, bump stops and wishbone bushes haven't yet. 

Bearings pushed in with ease thanks to next doors' hydraulic press. 

Backplates went back on, closely followed by the hubs. (pushed in while hogging next doors press) 

Hopefully the other bits will arrive soon so I can call these legs complete. 

[4wheeledstool]

Other bits arrived - new bump stops allowed the springs to be fitted. 

Wishbones bushes went in relatively easily using silicone grease, a vice, and a big socket. 

Should be starting back end stuff soon.

[4wheeledstool]

Not had a lot of time for this recently, but managed to get the majority of the paint and rust off the rear springs today. 

Should get them finished up in the blast cabinet, and painted tomorrow. 

[Matty]

Not for one minute am I not saying you haven't spent hours on these parts, but the condition they're in under all the flaky paint, shite and surface rust is just astounding. I've always held that peak car was 80s to 90s. Turns out then that peak car is the MK2 to MK3 cavalier. As a GM man I'll take that ?

[4wheeledstool]

Bits and bobs been happening in between life based mither - rear springs now painted. 

Rubber isolating things cleaned up ready to be refitted. 

Normally I'd use the services of Bigg Red to refurbish my calipers, but not this time due to having a much lower paid job these days. I've stripped the calipers and cleaned most of the rust and muck off in preparation for the blasting cabinet. 

Pistons and sliders cleaned up fantastically well, so just bolt caps, seals and dust covers required to rebuild them. 

[4wheeledstool]

A couple more jobs attended to recently.. Calipers were blasted and painted in the only caliper paint I had on the shelf. They should be black, but blue will have to do. 

Seals and stuff arrived. 

Seals and stuff found their way into position on the calipers (eventually) 

Rear brakes next up for some attention. 

Disassembled and waiting to be cleaned. 

Hopefully more will get done soon. 

[stuboy]

coming on nicely, keep up the good work