James' 2.0 8v Diplomat

[Mk3alan]

You got there in the end! Hope it's all ok.

Alan

[Robsey]

Looking forward to seeing / hearing that the car is sorted to an excellent standard.

As we would expect from the McGrath fleet.

[James McGrath]

Sorry I've not been very active these last few weeks, I've been over-occupied with work and with this 24 hour live stream for the Kipling society.

I’m pleased to say that the live stream went very well indeed. Despite a frustratingly slow internet speed at Bateman’s (0.5Mb/s upload speed), the full 24hours were uploaded successfully, albeit in very low quality.

The last 2 hours of it (which includes my very small contribution) are currently available on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyGB3sssHuE&t=79134s

Hopefully the other 22 hours will be available soon as well.

Anyway, an update for the Diplomat is on its way. Long story short, overall I’m very pleased with it. Not perfect, there are one or two things that have really annoyed me but overall I’m happy.

[James McGrath]

Right then. I'm felling ambivalent towards this car at the moment. On the one hand the work that has been done I'm really happy with, on the other... Well I'll get to that later.

Just to remind everyone, this is what the car was looking like before it went off to workshop:






















So all in all, pretty awful really.
But on May 22nd it was sent off along with this collection of goodies for repair:




Anyway, after a far longer than expected wait of 11 weeks and 5 days, this is what she's now looking like:
Note the new chrome strips in the front bumpers:












New paint on the boot lid:




The repair work, I'm really happy with.
All the doors open and close just as they should, it feels great, I don't think many would be able to tell that it's been in an accident.
The photos don't do it justice:






The best thing is that they were able to transfer all the original glass and handles from my original doors so everything still matches and no need for a second key:




All the original interior has been refitted too:




The wheel arches have turned out very nicely:



(looks like a white scratch in the photo but it's a reflection from the alloys)







The rust in the boot cut out:




As for the suspension, I think it's bang on. It's firm yet not at all harsh.
All the odd creaks and knocks are gone and it now just glides over bumps.
It still defiantly feels like a Cav to drive but it's limits are much higher. I find myself being able to go round corners at twice the speed I thought was possible before in this car.
The ride high is just perfect too:






New arms fitted:




New top mounts and shocks under there. Apparently the old top mounts were completely knackered:




One thing I forgot to mention was the leak into the boot.
water was seeping in through a rust patch along this seam, it's now all been welded and sealed up. Quite a neat job I thought:






That's all the good stuff, now for the bad.

First of all, and this is only minor, they didn't paint the pinstripes on rather they used the stick on variety.
Unfortunately these have already started to peel off:




Secondly, remember my shiny new rear boot panel back on page 1 of this thread?
Well, it came back looking like this:




The alloys, oh the alloys. Not only does the nearside rear wheel have this lovely dent in it...



But they are splattered with tar spots and overspray!


The front bonnet now looks even worse, yes that is a big bird poo on the to right, and yes it has eaten into the paintwork and cannot be removed:




On top of that, my rear badges which I toiled over on page 4, have been on the receiving end of an overzealous machine polisher. Thus, the silver coating has been buffed away along the top edge:




I'm most annoyed about the crack boot panel. Everything else is reparable.
Such an unnecessary waste, of all the things to get broken, why did it have to be one of that hardest parts to get hold of.
I'm also slightly annoyed that they painted the sills black instead of red.

As I said, I feel ambivalent at this stage. It's driving really well and I'm happy with most of the work. Yet I know there is allot more to do. There is still rust that needs sorting underneath, the interior needs a few things done (the leather on the steering wheel and the cloth on the A-pillar is coming away) and now I've got to repair stuff that I've already done before.
Initially I was happy with the cost (it was £1200 by the way [£1000 of that was covered by the insurance pay-out]) but I keep on thinking what I could have got with that money instead.

It just seems like such an unlucky car.

[Robsey]

I feel your pain.
Nothing worse than spoiling all that excellent work, by cutting corners or being careless on the home-straight.

I had a similar roller coaster of emotions when I got my car back after two years.
All that lovely work, and then rushed and rough handled at the end.
Leaving lots of damaged or missing parts.
I cannot point a finger, as it was all done when I was sat at home leaving everyone else to do the dirty work.

I hope you manage to get the other bits sorted, and re-discover your love for the car.
Although, if like me you have an element of O.C.D. - it is bad because you know that there is stuff that simply is not right.

As for unlucky? Who knows?
On the whole it has served you well, and protected you well at the time of the accident.

[Steven715]

The car looks stunning James, it's a shame about the bits that got broken and cracked and the chip on the alloy wheel is so just annoying, however this video is something I would like to try on my Cavalier alloys https://youtu.be/9WQiqYlpxoY I hope this gives you hope or something to try, as for the over spray I would try t-cut and then wax the alloys they would look like nearly new again.
Hopefully this will help.
Steve.

[iangsi]

Looks like they masked off the badges & painted around them.

[Mk3alan]

Looks great! Shame to spoil the shop for appeth of tar.
I'm sure you will bring it up to scratch, it's just unfortunate that you have to as the work that has been carried out looks good!

Alan

[Lowrider Dave]

Looks much better now and not all crinkly! Pity about the bit and pieces letting it down. At least you can use it now.

[tonyo]

The Eibachs really do make a hell of a difference don't they? I recall mine feeling like a different car. Roll significantly reduced, but with the bonus of still being on the correct wheels. I also think the eibachs improve the look of the cav so much. The wheels fill the arches without the car looking overtly lowered.

The small trivial stuff can get sorted over time, its just good to see it back..

BTW.. Talk to Pete, I know he's got a couple of boot trims, not sure what condition they are in, but worth the ask..

[tonyo]

That price aint bad either is it? I was quoted £1000 just to do both rear arches, spray the front bumper and colour code the boot spoiler..

[Mazza]

look on the bright side mate, you got your car back and I they've done a decent job. It's a real shame with the other bits, .... they should have taken a little more care while detailing the car.

It could have been much worse, ... wait until you see my turbo!!

[GLC]

Hi James.

Glad you got the Damage sorted, these Cavs can take a hit!

With the paint issues maybe it's worth seeing them and having a polite word. Point out about the problems you mentioned and hopefully they will be decent enough to try and put it right.

They may fob you off and I've been there myself. So try and keep your cool and don't loose faith it can be sorted, in time.

Hopefully you can find another boot panel asap, will keep a eye out for you on my travels.

The main thing is your Cavalier is back in one piece and on the road again.

[James McGrath]

Thanks for all the nice comments guys.

After driving it for a few days I'm feeling much better about it.
A manual C20NE really is a nice combination for everyday driving. I've missed it to be honest.

Anyway, on with the repairs and this was my first target:




Initially I thought this was part of the accident damage. However, when you look at the before photos above you'll see it was actually fine before it went into the shop. So that's another thing that got damaged while it was there.

I was lucky enough to find one of these on eBay right away.
When it first arrived I thought it was the wrong part:




Turns out they are exactly the same and the extra bit of rubber on the front edge wraps right around the wheel arch panel:




Why it wraps around I don't know. As far as I can tell it just makes it harder to remove.

Fitted:




So far my half-thought plans are as follows:
- Get the bonnet re-sprayed
- Remove the rear badges and replace with an SRi lip spoiler
- Install the oval SRi backbox

[Robsey]

All good plans...

Be right as rain in no time.

As for the wrap around piece.
On the plus side - probably stops it being knocked or peeling off from glancing blows with shrubs and stuff on the side of country lanes.

On the down side, another layer to collect muck and moisture.
Does look tidy though.

[James McGrath]

I've been very lazy lately and haven't done as much as I could have on the cars.
Partly because the weather hasn't been that great, and partly because I've been preoccupied by other things.

Still I have found the time to do a couple of things on the ol' Dippy.

First off painting the SRi backbox.

These were my chosen weapons, high temperature engine paint and some trusty isopropyl rubbing alcohol for prepping:




Before, looking pretty scratched and grubby :




Grubbier than I thought, the alcohol took off allot of dirt:




First coat of 'aluminium' paint:




Second coat:




Prepping for painting the rear section:




Painted:




I was really quite happy with the clean line that I was able to get, not that anyone will ever see it once it's on:




This is how it looked this morning ready to be fitted:




Probably should have done this sooner but I've had this lot shoved into the boot since I got it back from the workshop. The door cards are GLS ones and are in pretty good nick just a bit dirty. If anyone sees anything they need let me know:




To my amazement, despite all this rain, the interior carpets are all perfectly dry. Ever since I get this car I've had a constantly damp drivers carpet but now it's bone dry. I don't know what they did at the shop but they must have done something.
Now that I've said that it will probably be damp tomorrow morning...

Anyway, the boot is also nice and dry so I can finally put the carpet back in.
I removed it about 6 months ago as it was being overran by mould due to constant water ingress.

First of all, it needed to be cleaned:




Loads of dust and dirt left over from it's time in the workshop:




Quick hoover and wipe around is all it needed.
All done one handed while holding an umbrella this afternoon:




At last, a properly upholstered boot compartment:




It's not pretty, but it's dry and mould free for the first time in about 2 years.

Next thing is to get the back box fitted.




To be continued...

[Cavalier342]

(Quote All done one handed while holding an umbrella this afternoon:)

Now that I want to see lol.

[James McGrath]

Not the easiest thing to do.
Amazing how cumbersome an umbrella is to hold.
Maybe I should get one of those hat umbrellas.

[Cavalier342]

James, please get one of those and put a photo up on here.

[James McGrath]

Maybe later.

[James McGrath]

Since I got the ol' girl back from the workshop, there has been a rather strong smell of petrol especially when standing still.
A quick look under the bonnet confirmed that the fuel lines were leaking. At first I thought that this was only a minor leak and I carried on driving.

It wasn't until the Monday before last (11th Sept), that I actually bothered to investigate further.
The only reason I did that was because my last full tank of petrol only yielded 275 miles. That's just 22 MPG by the way!!
To put that in perspective, my last tank in the V6 got me 400 miles, a respectable 33mpg.

Anyway, this is what I saw when I took a look under the bonnet while the engine was on:



You can't see it very well but it was basically gushing out.
(So of course I did the only thing you should do in this situation and took a photo of it )

I took the lines off and they were in a very poor state:




Rather worrying really as these are the exact lines I had replaced back in 2015. To only last 2 years is awful.
Just to name and shame the garage responsible, it was the Bosch Nev'll fix it garage in Tonbridge:
http://www.nevllfixit.co.uk/

Anyway, quick trip to Halfords to pick up some 7mm fuel line:




Fitted:




Much easier job than I expected, why I paid someone to do this last time I've no idea.


Anyway, after that fiasco I took her down to the exhaust centre in Hastings to get the new back box fitted:






It seems to sit a bit low but I've checked the sales brochures and this seems to be about right for an SRi backbox.
Looks much better than the standard one anyway. Plus it is ever so slightly better sounding too.

Next job was to fit the A-pillar covers kindly supplied by Andrei (Cavalier342):




How do you like my latest solution to working in the rain by the way Andrei?




Anyway, I digress.
This is what my old A-pillar was looking like after the fabric had come away:




Nice to see some original paint that isn't full of scratches:




Fitted:




Pleased to say that the new fuel lines have done the trick. MPG is back up to around 35MPG.
Added to that all the carpets are still dry, so it seems she's now watertight at last.

[Cavalier342]

James, I'm pleased that you are happy with the A-pillar trims but they don't match your interior lol. I thought you had the same roof upholstery (leather) as my old LS which is where they came from. Never mind, at least they look better than your old ones.

I like your solution to working in the rain, but it's not as good as mine


With regard to the fuel lines, lol, that reminds me of my old Shitroen ZX, man before I scrapped it, the fuel hose in the engine bay had let go, and was pissing fuel all over the ignition leads and alternator, I'm still amazed to this day that it didn't just catch fire and become a Hollywood movie prop right in front of me.

Good job mate.

[James McGrath]

James, I'm pleased that you are happy with the A-pillar trims but they don't match your interior lol. I thought you had the same interior as my old LS which is where they came from. Never mind, at least they look better than your old ones.

Don't worry they do match. They are the same colour as the originals.
It's the roof lining that is the wrong colour. I had it re-trimmed a few years ago, it's a much nicer material than the original but it's a much darker shade.
The flash was on in that photo which brings out the contrast more too.

[Cavalier342]

Oh I see, it's the roof upholstery that threw me off, that was all.

[James McGrath]

Yeah it's odd if you look at it closely. I never really notice it personally.
Much better than having a sagging headlining anyway.