Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Very briefly owned a Vauxhall Brava, awful awful thing!

himselfunknown wrote:POS. I hope it's a really miserable washing machine by now.

That's some blessing

Cavalier342 wrote:

vauxhallnutter wrote:My worst one was a Ford Orion, had a floor that was like a Tetleys teabag!

I was in an Orion once, front passenger. I didn't think I'd ever be in a more comfortable car. Such soft suspension setup. Not my car of choice but gotta love the no-bumps ride. Though I much prefer Orions to Escorts.

i'm with you there, an RS kitted orion does look sweet.

a few too many lights but you get the idea... better looking than a belmont? hmn...

The worst car I'd ever owned? Erm I would say the fiat UNO it was a shed but, a 1 ltr with a 5 speed box, mono wiper from the factory and monospoke steering wheell!! Cooooool!!! Only paid 70 notes for it to get me out of a fix and it lasted til it ran out of tax, then I drove it to the scrappie and left it with the log book parked outside so can't complain really.

No really, the worst car was probably the omega estate I had. Crashing it was a blessing. In theory a good car; big, rwd, tow bar, turbo diesel 6 cylinder and ran like a dream, but I had nothing but problems; an alternator, twice, a clutch, twice, power steering pump, bottom pulley failed in the south of France, battery, injectors, the list goes on!

Should have been a good car, but simply wasn't


As for orions, they are cool!! A mate had one, the shed of sheds, but the 1.6 had all the bits swapped over off an xr2 I once had, and a jaguar twin exit exhaust sticking out behind the rear wheel! I have come across no one to date who could change gear as fast as he could, as a result he was faster than a LOT that would surprise you!!

Actualy in hindsight, that xr2 was by far the worst I'd ever had. Proper rot box and never actually made it on the road. I was only 16 at the time...

astra mk 3 phase 1 estate piece of poo but proper funny to drive

probably a mk3 escort 1.3 cvh.

i remember spending a tenner a day on fuel and the engine couldnt be revved for long periods or it miss fire and tap badly

every car i have owned i have enjoyed owning whether it was bad or not.

a mk6 2002 ford transit was the biggest pile of turd i have ever owned.
Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

lol

sriguy wrote: a mk6 2002 ford transit was the biggest pile of turd i have ever owned.

I drove an 03 for 6 years, only let me down once when the prop bearing siezed and had to have a clutch which started falling to bits at around 80k otherwise it was spot on.

drive a 57 plate transit pick up for work and it drives lovely,think some time times you end up with a friday afternoon vechicle,

My worst car was a mid 80's Ford Orion 1.3L . It used to jump sideways and only knew why when I took it for an MOT turned out the chassis was broken!

My worst car was and try not to laugh a purple hyundai accent 1.3 12v in purple which i used for a few months till cally was fixed

I've owned loads of orions, absolutely love them

ringer....


rotten....

So rusty even the metal on the backs of the headlights had rotted away

have had some good ones too

Still miss these 2

This one had RS1600i engine and running gear


Worst cars though.....
This 320i was rotten, nothing worked, was an auto and wouldn't do a donut with overheating, and bits of trim started falling off at 120!

I also had a 1.3 Maestro that i paid £125 for to replace my dead mk2 Cavalier. Lasted 2 weeks before i killed it

mmm my most hated car i ever owned

frontiera 2,5 td going round courners was like a boat felt like it was going to tip over only bought it to move washing machine as it would not fitt in my v6 vectra saloon
mr2 that tried to kill me by going sidey ways into petrol pumps
carlton gsi was auto
saab 900 thing was auto as well
calibra 2lt 8v enuff said it was a calibra
saxo vtr feet to big for pedals
astra 1,6 8v was gutless

a reg nissan sunny in bright rusty red with air con well it did have more holes than a muliti pack of polo's mind u it was quick for a 1.3 125 top end and kept up with my mates xr3i he bought brand new (e plate) started first time never used any oil or water in fact maybe this was 1 of the better cars after all
scott

I had a very knackered mauve Hillman Imp once.

Just for the record I've had many cars, including a 1.2 Nova, a Nova GTi, 1978 Celica ST, 1968 Mini estate, Corolla GTi, some other Celica for a few weeks, Corsa, Galant (very nice), Mitsubishi Colt, Sierra, Micra, Prelude, Saab 900s, six different Volvos, Mk 2 Cav GTi (was stolen five times in six months), Capri, and probably a pile of others that I can't recall right now.

The Imp though, that has to take the prize for my worst car. It was an interesting drive, certainly - however, having to carry a dozen or so rubber donuts around everywhere you go because they broke so frequently was a pain. I also developed massive arm muscles from the stupidly heavy steering, and after experiencing the brakes on Devon's hills my thighs became a sight to behold.

Fun though.

cavboy180 wrote:Right - time for a bit of fun....

I guess i best go first...I owned a 1984 Volvo 340 -

Can you beat that?

Try a Morris Marina, an absolute styling disaster with performance to match, the wretched car the last going off before its trip to the scrap yard wouldn't properly steer, you had to take the corners so wide. For me British Leyland is a disgusting swear word!!!

I guess it would have to be a Talbot Alpine. I paid £90 for it, with 10 months MOT, and was peppered with rust holes. Looking back, the MOT was not genuine.

He was reliable enough, carrying me up and down the country comfortably and safely, and after a 1971 Viva, it was pretty luxurious. Had never had halogen lights and electric windows. Was lovely.

But in the end, he fell apart....the rust got the better of him, and when my friendly mechanic took the engine out to put into another, he told me the car had sagged, and was resting on the side torsion bars!

I think I have been lucky in that none of my cars have ever badly let me down...they were always one step away from the banger track, but I always managed to find a way to hold them together (with wire, string, and gaffer tape, generally), but they have always kept going. As long as they started every time, I was happy to nurse them on till they finally died of rustbite.

I have never really had an unreliable car, but my list of jalopeys include

1980 (V reg) Toyota Corolla Mk2 1296cc DX Saloon in Sahara Beige - yummy.

I cut my "mechanic'ing" teeth on this car including a full engine rebuild after ramming a Mazda 323 Estate up the rear end.

Main issues were cooling system related... water pipes and broken pump bolt.
Held it to the block with a small G clamp !!

1985 (C reg) Austin Maestro 1.3HL in red. - loads of non-start issues until I did a manual choke conversion. Part-Ex-ed it for the wifes 1994 Cav Mk3.

1987 (D reg) Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2 1300 saloon base model in white Initialy the wife's car, it had running / idling issues, which were cured with a manual choke conversion... eventually rotted away, and was scrapped in November 2009

1987 (D reg) Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2 1600 Hatchback in Orient Blue. Bought for spares for £50. It got stolen 2 days before I was going to sell it... ended up being wrapped around a lamp post, which fell over and put a deep V along the length of the roof.

1991 (H reg) Proton (mk1) 1500cc Hatch - in a sage green colour. Ugly car, got it free from a work colleague who needed the space on her drive.
I stripped the stereo out, and scrapped it as the rear damper mounts had rotted away allowing the car to bounce insanely.

1995 (M reg) Cavalier Mk3 1800cc Hatchback in Polar Sea Blue... still have it 220,000 miles later - love her to bits, but age means that there is a constant schedule of jobs to do.

2005 (05 reg) Vauxhall Vectra-C Energy 1.9CDTi 150 in Olympic Blue. Wife's car, but I drive it more than her at the weekends..
On the whole quite bland, but reliable and fast.. I just hate the indicators - pah!!

Also have a 1991 (H Reg) MZ ETZ 125 Motorbike (The lada of motorbikes - ha ha) and

Now then, the wifey
Her first car at the age of 17 was an Alfasud 1.5 Ti CloverLeaf Special (top of the range at the time), which eventually rotted away.

Next, a Ford Cortina Mk5 - was driven more by thieves as it was constantly being stolen.. it was a canary yellowcolour, and she fitted a Ghia interior to it.

Then the white Mk2 Cavalier above

Then the Blue Cavalier above (Christmas present from me)

Then the Blue Vectra-C above (Christmas present from me)

Also the MZ above to get her insurance premiums down, before giving it to me when she passed her test.

and finally she still has a 1998 (S Reg) Honda CB500S in black.. not moved for a few years after wife broke her ankle.

"Main issues were cooling system related... water pipes and broken pump bolt.
Held it to the block with a small G clamp !! "

Robsey, I had a Mrk 1 Cavalier that had been left out in the rain with his bonnet off....the throttle must have got stiff, and wouldn't slacken off...so would rev its heart out. So I fixed a small spring from an old toy onto the lever, so it would return ok. That stayed on there for the rest of the life of the car.

Needs must - I like a good cheap fix...

The G Clamp on the Toyota stayed on the car even after I part-ex'd it

The worst car I ever had -

But for all the right reasons -

My Mk3 Cavalier, because it forces my arm up behind my back, and makes me work on it, even though I sometimes feel that I should be too old for that kind of caper

No one else at my age (early forties), in their right mind would get down under the car in all weathers fitting fuel lines, or spend a couple of days tatting about fitting an engine.

I should leave that sort of stuff to these younger twenty-somethings - lol

I still have three projects in mind - none of which are necessary.

I know the feeling Rob, I'll be 43 in a few weeks and it was touch and go rolling about doing the welding for the mot this year.

The upside to a Cavalier is it's cheap to fix, and relatively primitive, so you can do it yourself.

Modern cars frighten me a little...they are ok when they work, but when they go wrong....