Cavalier mk2 - another blue giffermobile.

[4wheeledstool]

Still waiting for 8mm fuel pipe, so cracked on with stuff up front. The wiring loom was pulled through the bulkhead. 

I got it all roughly in position to remind me what goes where. The plan is to clean it all and re wrap where necessary before securing it in position. 

Fitted the rubber isolation blocks that the air box sits on - I found these on Ebay, size wise they're spot on.

Before fettling the wiring loom, I decided to clean the headlights so they're ready to go back on. Seen below after the majority of the crud was removed with a cloth and panel wipe.

Popped one in to marvel at the annoying gap between the top of the indicator and the wing that all mk2 cavs have.

Loom fettling tomorrow.   

[4wheeledstool]

Loom now fitted and clipped into position. Assorted furniture put in to remind me how the loom goes.

Air box needs a good clean before it gets fitted permanently. 

Bonnet release fitted and adjusted too.

Had a look round the back end to make sure it's still there - not had the cover off for a while!

[4wheeledstool]

Once the aerial was fitted,

I could fit the arch liners. After a good scrub up,

they went back on. I'd forgotten to drill a new hole in the offside inner wing when I repaired it a long time ago, but it was easy to do with the liner in place to show me where the hole needed to go.

Pilkington delivered my new screen today,

It was flung in and fitted in a few minutes - I'm getting pretty good at doing this on my own now!

I'll apply some arbormast sealant and fit the trims over the weekend hopefully.   

[stuboy]

On 10/22/2021 at 7:44 AM, 4wheeledstool said:

not as gappy as original mk2 cavalier headlamps with the bevelled headlamps, i bought the trims as shown in the picture (not of my car) from a CD model in the scrapyard

[4wheeledstool]

Arbormast sealant pumped into the screen rubber.

Once the trim went in, a load of it splurged out as expected. 

After the mess was cleaned up, the wipers went back on to complete the job.

Fuel pipe is due on Monday, so hopefully I'll be able to stick the engine and gearbox back in once the fuel system is completed. 

[Arthur Foxhake]

Can't get enough of this restoration. More please!

Looking perfect mate.

[4wheeledstool]

I've not been able to get a go at this until this evening, but carried on chipping away at it. The first job was to remove the majority of the thick layer of dust and dirt off the front bumper. The trim strip had gone yellow and cloudy - probably UV damage, so as I had found a new one, the old one was removed.

The 8mm fuel pipe arrived on Wednesday, 

so made a start on finishing off the fuel system. I only got as far as fitting the fuel pump along with associated gubbins, then connecting the fuel filter to the metal fuel pipe on the chassis leg before my time was up.

I should hopefully get back on it on Sunday and finish all the fuel pipes off. Then I can drop the back wheels on the deck and get the motor ready to go back in. 

[Minimad5]

Mate this is minty fresh.

Outstanding work

[4wheeledstool]

Fuel filler apparatus now reinstated.  Threading the pipes through the plastic conduit arrangement was a bit of a faff.

It's all gotten a bit busier under there.

Fuel lines all buttoned up now, 

To the rear, (still need to clip the tank to pump line to the chassis leg)

Up front.

Once I've checked everything over under here, I can get the motor back in.   

[Dick Cheeseburger]

So, so clean. This old girl hasn't looked this good since the late 1980s! 

Thinking ahead, you'll have restored a mk1 and mk2 Cav so a mk3 would be the natural next step, specifically a GSi2000 please 😎👌😅

[Popsicle]

Amazing work going on here, incredible attention to detail. Brings back some happy memories for me, I had a 1985 1.8 GLSi 5 door hatch, in gold. It would of been around 91 that I picked it up, think I gave about £1800 for it. Probably one of the best cars I ever owned. Compared to the 1983 Sierra 2.0 GL that it replaced, which was a constant PITA, the Cavalier just plodded along faultlessly. Planned on keeping it for years, but got my head turned by Mk1 XR4x4.........

That had to be sold for the deposit for my first house in 96!

[4wheeledstool]

On 11/7/2021 at 7:01 PM, Dick Longbridge said:

So, so clean. This old girl hasn't looked this good since the late 1980s! 

Thinking ahead, you'll have restored a mk1 and mk2 Cav so a mk3 would be the natural next step, specifically a GSi2000 please 😎👌😅

Many thanks! Still not feeling the mk3 thing though.

Whilst getting the front bumper cleaned up ready to go back on, I thought I'd try the grill on.

It fits OK, but the little rubber grommets that support it on the body have disintegrated. May have to get creative here as I've not been able to find any on Ebay. 

The bumper to wing brackets cleaned up pretty well, just need to fit the new chrome trim to the bumper and it can go back on.

Borrowed an engine crane from next door in preparation for the lump going back in,

then went over the motor making sure everything was tightened or torqued before it goes back where it came from. 

Put it's own wheels on out back, then proceeded to drop the back end down from this height,

to something a little less precarious. 

Should hopefully get the front end raised up, and the engine and gearbox back in over the weekend.   

[lisbon_road]

Fantastic work.  Thanks for taking the time to post all these pictures and stuff which is really inspiring for the rest of us. 

The windscreen.  Is this a rubber sealed screen, or is it a bonded screen where you have added rubber seal sealant under the bonded screen rubber seal?  I've often thought that would be a good idea - I have an Astra which had a new bonded screen fitted and the fitter didn't do it that well - I suspect it isn't easy - and the rubber seal is decidedly loose. 

[4wheeledstool]

2 hours ago, lisbon_road said:

Fantastic work.  Thanks for taking the time to post all these pictures and stuff which is really inspiring for the rest of us. 

The windscreen.  Is this a rubber sealed screen, or is it a bonded screen where you have added rubber seal sealant under the bonded screen rubber seal?  I've often thought that would be a good idea - I have an Astra which had a new bonded screen fitted and the fitter didn't do it that well - I suspect it isn't easy - and the rubber seal is decidedly loose. 

Thank you kindly - no probs! 

The screen is an old fashioned rubber seal type. It was filled with goop at the factory (same as the mk1) so I figured that it must have been necessary. Both cars had pristine screen frames, so it must have kept the water out pretty well.

Got the whole afternoon on this today, kicking off proceedings by getting the engine off the stand.

The clutch was fitted next, I cleaned up the face of the flywheel with wire wool first as it had a bit of flash rust on it.

Fitted a new release bearing, then the gearbox went back on.

The front of the car was raised up a little to enable the engine and box to slide underneath. I put a sheet of perspex down first, then some polythene bags, then sat the lump on top. I was surprised just how easy it was to manoeuvre the heavy lump on this plastic combination (in the past I've used carpet and struggled) and it was also spot on for protecting the paint on the sump from damage.

Once it was central under the engine bay, the crane was used to lift the assembly up into position so that the engine and gearbox mounts could be fitted. This took a fair amount of time to lift and manoeuvre a little at a time, constantly checking so that nothing was allowed to damage any paint anywhere. After an hour or so of faffing and fussing, it's all in position on its mountings.

Should get all the mountings tightened up, and everything plumbed in and wired up tomorrow.   

 

[Tickman]

Another milestone reached!

[4wheeledstool]

Arthritis got the better of me on Sunday, but I managed a couple of hours on it this evening after work. 

The engine mounts were all tightened up first, then a few smal under bonnet items went on before the radiator, fan and coolant hoses all went back where they belong.

I was a bit too crippled to get underneath and continue connecting up pipes and wires, so I chose the far easier job of fitting the secondary horn to the nearside front gearbox mount next.

Hopefully I'll get a bit more done in the week - I'm away at the weekend so will try to get the rest of the engine related stuff done before then.

[4wheeledstool]

Not had any time on this for a while, but got a couple of hours on it this evening. 

The coil has been spruced up and put back on.

The plumbing in and wiring is coming along, once I've fitted the engine loom and connected up the fuel lines, I can get  on with fitting the sub frame and suspension. 

Should get a bit more done over the weekend.   

[Matty]

Surely to God if its done by Xmas, you're going to do the right thing and wait till spring before taking it outside 😄

[4wheeledstool]

Probably won't get enough time on it to be finished by Christmas, but even if it was, I'd still be waiting for decent weather.  

[4wheeledstool]

I've left the re-fitting of the engine loom for now, and got on with getting the front suspension back together. It's been sat on the four bolts which hold the centre of the sub frame arms to the chassis, so first I had to move the axle stands from there to the jacking points at the front of the sills. Once that was done, the anti roll bar was bolted on.

With that in position, the sub frame arms could go back on, closely followed by the wishbone.

Once I'd fitted the anti roll bar links, time had run out.

Should get back on it some time over the weekend. 

[paulplom]

Why does a coolant hoes go into the exhaust manifold? Surely that'll melt when the engine fires up.

[MorrisItalSLX]

1 hour ago, paulplom said:

Why does a coolant hoes go into the exhaust manifold? Surely that'll melt when the engine fires up.

I think it’s just camera angle trickery.

On 14/11/2021 at 09:45, 4wheeledstool said:

 

[4wheeledstool]

Bit more done today, the offside driveshaft didn't want to go back in to the gearbox, so suspecting that the circlip thing in the splined end was at fault....

another one was sourced from a random pile of driveshafts next door. The offending item didn't look too distorted....

But the "new" one allowed the driveshaft to flop back in with a couple of gentle taps.

Once the driveshafts were in position, the strut assemblies were put back where they belong.

Should hopefully get the engine loom buttoned up tomorrow. 

[4wheeledstool]

Time has been scarce this week, but I still managed to get a few odd jobs done. The clutch and speedo cables have gone back on, as has the engine loom.

I finally got round to chucking on the oil filter - it's been sat in a box for two years patiently waiting.

I torqued up the front suspension fasteners, then checked all the wiring was in the right place before running out of time.

Once the exhaust, brakes and wheels are fitted, it should be ready for firing up.   

[stuboy]

looking splendider and splendider

[LoftyvRS]

Simply lovely. (as per usual!)

[4wheeledstool]

Didn't get a lot of time for this today, just enough to get the engine lid on and positioned nicely.

More fettlings will hopefully happen tomorrow if I'm lucky!

[4wheeledstool]

Luck was on my side today, difficult chores ended up being easy ones, so I got a couple of hours in the shed. 

I checked that the caliper sliders still slid, and that the pistons were still mobile (it's been a while since my DIY refurb). All in order, so they went on with the new discs...

new pads and fitting kit...

and new caliper bolt covers.

After repeating on the other side, 

I got to have a drive in a couple of my other heaps before teatime.   

[Timewaster]

I absolutely love the work and attention to detail you have put in to this fabulous restoration. 

It is incredibly good. 

 

But bright blue calipers?

An interesting choice. 

[4wheeledstool]

Many thanks!

Calipers are blue due to skintness, and being the only caliper paint I had on the shelf. When the sliders inevitably seize up, they'll be getting sent to Big Red - in the mean time, they'll not be seen once the wheel trims go on.