Cavalier mk2 - another blue giffermobile.

[Mike D]

Cracking work 😎

[danthecapriman]

Nice work.

You going to cavity wax the panels?

[4wheeledstool]

 

10 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Nice work.

You going to cavity wax the panels?

Many thanks! Yes, theres gonna be a fair amount of wax flying about soon - once the tailgate is fitted I'll be doing inside the doors, sills, pillars etc. Then the underside and inner wings will get a good spaffing of underbody wax.

The door handles were attacked with some 80 grit sandpaper this evening. The flaky original paint and oxidised aluminium was cleaned back to bright shiny alloy.

Once sanded and thoroughly cleaned, they were given a coat of etch primer.

I'll sand and prime them again next time, but before I left, I though I'd plonk the wings on for a look - I'd not tried them on yet, and thought it would be rude not to.

I'll probably not bother fitting them properly until the engine is in to avoid the risk of damaging them.

[Isaac Hunt]

Top notch bodywork skills.  What type of rig do you use for your blocking work ?  Is it a dust extraction unit or a powered unit ?

What epoxy primer are you using ?

[4wheeledstool]

12 minutes ago, Isaac Hunt said:

Top notch bodywork skills.  What type of rig do you use for your blocking work ?  Is it a dust extraction unit or a powered unit ?

What epoxy primer are you using ?

Cheers - I am but a rank amateur!

The epoxy primer I used is visible on the shelf below my primed door handles above, HB body 989 no less. I find it sands nicely. My blocks are Mirka abranet with a vacuum hose attachment for dust extraction - this is the longest one.

Hand cranked is my favoured blocking style - it's time consuming, but it's got me the reasonable results I was after.

 

[4wheeledstool]

Not a lot was achieved on the car today - after the door handles were rubbed and primed again, the gutter trims went back on.

I then went over and collected the rest of the painted pieces next.

Once they were all stashed away safely, I drove over to the Tyre Bloke's shop to get some tyres put on the shiny black wheels.

Hopefully I'll get the tailgate on and fitted up over the weekend. 

[Arthur Foxhake]

Where in the island are you? Do you ever take your cars to shows? 

I'd love to see this up close.

I'll be happy when it's finished but , sad because there's not many of this sort of thread on here these days.

It's truly a wonderful thing you've done, restoring cars that aren't the top of the range models, just the every day, cooking models. Hat truly doffed in your direction, Sir.

[stuboy]

great work, i hope u have the correct wheel trims

[4wheeledstool]

1 hour ago, Arthur Foxhake said:

Where in the island are you? Do you ever take your cars to shows? 

I'd love to see this up close.

I'll be happy when it's finished but , sad because there's not many of this sort of thread on here these days.

It's truly a wonderful thing you've done, restoring cars that aren't the top of the range models, just the every day, cooking models. Hat truly doffed in your direction, Sir.

I thank you very kindly! I'm in Cheshire, so should hopefully get it to Chodmolestedly next year. If the stars align correctly, I'll be taking it to FOTU next year too. 

16 minutes ago, stuboy said:

great work, i hope u have the correct wheel trims

Have a look on page 3 of the thread.  

[stuboy]

On 2/2/2017 at 5:33 AM, 4wheeledstool said:

 

phwoar

[Tenmil Socket]

This is absolutely what I'd want to do with a car if I had the time and facilities. I'm a Ford man myself but I do have a soft spot for a Vauxhall. What you're doing is amazing and I'm jealous that I can't do same! I'm looking forward to the end result and how much it's cost you against now much it's worth although I'm fully aware that's not the reason why we deal with these old cars! 

PS... If I win the lottery soon I will pay you a substantial amount of money to restore me a Series 1 Escort RS Turbo 😁😁

[4wheeledstool]

Didn't get a shot at this until late in the day, nevertheless I got a few jobs done. 

There was only one body about on the farm, and he was roped in to help me get the tailgate in position. 

Once the wiring and washer hose were threaded through (massive faff) then the wiper mech, washer jet, lock catch and central locking solenoid went in, I stopped for a look.

Next up, the spoiler went on - I should have fitted this first, as it was a little awkward to do with the wiper motor in position. 

I need to paint the lock handle/surround before I can fit it, then fit the glass before I can call the tailgate done - hopefully I'll get those jobs done in the week.

[Timewaster]

On 8/20/2021 at 9:31 PM, stuboy said:

phwoar

Those are the trims that my 1987 1.6GL had from new. I didn't like them so swapped them for some Sri alike trims. 

I also swapped the steering wheel for an Sri one. 

In my defence I was 19. 

[4wheeledstool]

Other stuff took up most of the time in the shed today, but the tailgate lock and handle were reunited after a bit of paint was applied yesterday. 

It was then clipped into place, meaning I can open the lid without poking a finger in the mechanism.

I need to move one of my cars into it's new home tomorrow,  but will hopefully get a bit more time on this later in the week. 

[4wheeledstool]

In among a mountain of chores, I got a little bit done on the car this evening.  All three wiper arms were stripped back to the metal and primed, then the door handles and locks went back in.

Looks like slim pickings timewise for the foreseeable.   

[4wheeledstool]

I didn't think I was gonna get another go at this until next weekend,  but opportunity presented itself, so I grabbed it. 

I finished up the wiper arms first.

Then gave the bulkhead cover a decent clean.

After I'd located the bag of relevant clips and fittings, it was reinstated.

This means that I can put the servo and rack back in at some point, hopefully next week.

[ProgRocker]

Great work!

I was pondering what spec this was, see it's a GLi purchased from Billy (page 1). Vauxhall must have offered the 1.8i on the GL when the CD was upgraded to 2.0i in 1986/7.

Mark 2 Cavalier is one of those '1980s cars I wish I had the chance to own' back in the day.

[4wheeledstool]

More time theft occurred - I gave the tail lights a bit of a spruce up.

Thought I may as well throw them on.

Then thought I may as well chuck the reg plate on too.

Should get a decent amount of time on this tomorrow.   

 

[4wheeledstool]

Much fettling of small parts occupied me for most of the day today, but I did get to put the rack and brake servo back where they belong.

[4wheeledstool]

A few more bits and pieces done recently, the wiper mechanism got a good clean up and went back in.

All traces of the old sealant were removed from the hatch window.

Which allowed the glass to go back where it belongs.

Apart from the badges, the tailgate is complete. 

[4wheeledstool]

In between helping with a house clearance and a lot of chores, I managed to get a little more done today. The inner wings were masked up in preparation for a bit of underbody wax. 

After two liberal applications, they're ready for action.

More wax based goodness to follow at some point. 

[4wheeledstool]

Not had a pop at this for a few days, but got a few odds and sods done this evening. 

After finding the fan warning sticker last week, I cleaned it up and reinstated it on the slam panel. I thought I'd lost this, so was most pleased to happen upon it in a box of parts.

When I put the wiper mechanism back on the other week, I'd completely forgotten about the plastic scuttle drain thing.

Miraculously after all this time, the flimsy plastic drain thing is still in good condition, and after a quick rub up was put back where its supposed to be.

Just before I had to leave, the Griffin badge and water deflector were clipped back into the grill.

I'm hoping to get the body off the dolly and up on axle stands at the weekend. Once thats done, I'll do the rest of the underside waxing and the cavity waxing so that the reassembly can continue. 

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Fantastic attention to detail as always. Vauxhall seriously need to know about this mk2 when it's finished.

Seriously. 

What goes on with the spoiler though? Is that an SRi one or something? 

[dollywobbler]

Cor! Just lovely. That was about two months of catch up for me there. Annoyed I'd missed it for so long, but actually quite nice to see it go from pre-paint to fairly assembled! 

[4wheeledstool]

21 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Fantastic attention to detail as always. Vauxhall seriously need to know about this mk2 when it's finished.

Seriously. 

What goes on with the spoiler though? Is that an SRi one or something? 

Many thanks! The spoiler came off an LX (same as SRI IIRC.), but I'm pretty sure one could be specified as a dealer fitted option.

The time came for the body to part company with the dolly this afternoon. 

This left it on axle stands, but in the wrong places to be able to wax the underside. 

The front two were on the front cross member,  the rear two were on the spring seats with a piece of oak spanning the two. After a fair bit of a faff, the axle stands are now in the correct places (back where they were before it was sat on the dolly) to facilitate an underbody wax fest. 

The tape comes off easily in big sheets, as expected.   

[sutty2006]

Looking good this. Is it painted in Monaco blue? 

[adw1977]

23 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Fantastic attention to detail as always. Vauxhall seriously need to know about this mk2 when it's finished. 

Unfortunately I don't think Vauxhall will be interested.  It appears that their heritage collection is all being either sold or donated to museums.

[Minimad5]

Mate that's a fantastic bit of work 😎

Who did the spraying for you ? (if you don't mind me asking), as I'll be needing someone to spray something when I'm done, and not a million miles away from Cheshire. Do feel free to P.M me if need be.

Once again, sterling work 

[Ohdearme]

On 8/27/2021 at 8:41 PM, ProgRocker said:

Great work!

I was pondering what spec this was, see it's a GLi purchased from Billy (page 1). Vauxhall must have offered the 1.8i on the GL when the CD was upgraded to 2.0i in 1986/7.

Mark 2 Cavalier is one of those '1980s cars I wish I had the chance to own' back in the day.

I had a Mk2 1.8GLi on an 87D if I recall. D679 MRH

a ridiculous car for an 18 year old at the time when my mates had shitty Novas and fezzy pops.

 

[dollywobbler]

7 hours ago, adw1977 said:

Unfortunately I don't think Vauxhall will be interested.  It appears that their heritage collection is all being either sold or donated to museums.

As far as I know, Vauxhall still owns 50 cars, but they're now on display at the British Motor Museum as they no longer have anywhere to house them.