And now, a history lesson!
After a fairly low mileage and uneventful life in the hands of four previous owners, my Turbo was tucked up in dry storage somewhere in deepest darkest Saahf Laahndaahn. In seven years the new owner did an approximate 5k miles and in this time decided to SORN the old girl. This long period of dry storage is surely the reason the chassis is in such amazingly solid condition (touch wood!).
After buying and replacing parts ready for its release back into the wild (all OE parts including clutch, cambelt, waterpump, donut rubbers, as well as a Regal downpipe, Koni adjustable shocks, Avo lowering springs and a Scorpion full exhaust) it seems there was a change of heart and the car was advertised for sale. The car’s exterior wasn’t in the best condition though with a surprising amount of lacquer peel and parking dents caused by its previous owner(s). To add to this, the driver’s door was missing the Turbo trim panel, the door itself was the wrong colour, and the front bumper was hanging on for dear life! Keen to find a donor car for his own Cavalier Turbo project, our very own BennyMac36 bought the car to use as a breaker in the summer of 2010.
After the long trip home from London to Scotland (hauling the equivalent of a GM parts warehouse full of spares behind him) Benny decided to replace the car’s handbrake cable. It was while he was working under the car that he was amazed at just how solid she was underneath, despite the impression given by her ropey paintwork! With this in mind, plans to break the car were shelved and it was used as Benny’s runabout for a few months. Some pics after he got the car home:
The ever enterprising Benny had a cunning plan. Some shiny wheels! Nobody will notice the dodgy paintwork then! Mwahaha!
(well, providing they don’t go round to the driver’s side hehe!)
Benny drove the car to Billing and back in the weeks that followed and it featured in the owner’s club Rolling Road day where it made bang on 205bhp. Not bad for a stock setup which is supposed to have left the factory with only 204 almost twenty years ago!
So the drivers door was sorted but a few months after the initial run ‘north of the border’ it was time to part company. The car, now well known in the owners club and on some OE Turbo alloys, was bought by club members Heath & TurboNic who set about righting a few wrongs:
The car wasn’t running quite right, and so after initial investigation a strip down and rebuild was in order for the head. Cue replacement lifters, valves, skim and pressure test, metal head gasket, reworked helicoils and a TX Autosport alloy radiator. The engine is now ridiculously quiet, no tapping whatsoever (even from cold) and she really purrs.
Then after some minor repair work to a spot of rust on the rear panel it was time for some prep and a long overdue visit to the bodyshop!
I think this qualifies as air conditioning:
Off to the paintshop!
By this time some 17” Dare alloys had made their way onto the car (which are currently for sale if you’re interested):
Lacquer peel? What lacquer peel?!
Reassembly begins:
By now the car featured a Renault Laguna front splitter, some blue Samco / Roose Motorsport silicone hoses, all door locks and handles replaced with Vectra B items, a nifty DVD player, Mongoose decat stainless exhaust system, repositioned boot badges, a near mint replacement Turbo leather interior, Magnecor leads etc etc... all set for another trip to Billing! Hoorah!
...and that’s pretty much where the history lesson ends. I had been casually looking for a Turbo for some time and this one became available, ticked all the right boxes and had the vote of confidence from everyone in the owner’s club who knew her. So after a horrid three and a half hour train journey up to Stoke-On-Trent I was driving the car home!
She’s more or less the best example I could have wished for, but like all second hand motors she’s not without her niggles/teething problems. I’ll be picking up bits in order to work on her and pick up where others have left off in the coming weeks (expect to see some progress in the not-too-distant). I’ll be keeping her as near to standard as I can while I play with my V6 project.
Here’s some more snaps taken when I’d got the car home:
Looking back at the pics at the beginning of this project thread it’s amazing how small the tyres look compared to the new ones that I’ve fitted (the new ones being the correct size). Anyway, there you have it! A brief history of my Turbo! Thanks to Benny and Nicci for the pics.
On with the show...
