A purple Cavalier TD..............

[vauxhallnutter]

Having sold the Carlton, I needed something economical to replace it so what better than a Cavalier TD?

Here it is, its a little rough around the edges but its solid and theres nothing that can't be sorted easily.








Started the big clean up yesterday as it was absolutely filthy inside:-


The Boot carpet.........








Found another boot carpet but I think it may not be a Cav one as it doesnt fit too well but it will surfice for now until I can find another..........









Fitted the stereo today as well so we now have tunes!


I will do some more another day and keep you updated!


The only bit of rust to speak of on it is the o/s rear arch but that will be sorted in time. It goes really well and has been looked after well mechanically. The interior is shot but quite luckily i have a spare Sri interior, given to me by a VODC Club Member, here which will be going in once a minor repair is done to the drivers bolster.

[blackv6]

starts drives gets u there mate and its a cav

scott

[vauxhallnutter]

starts drives gets u there mate and its a cav

scott

That it does scott

[iangsi]

Looks OK, good base to start work on, is it going to be a full SRI rep ?

[DiplomaXE]

looks like some economical motoring. I ought to be getting one really.
new boot carpet looks like a saloon one TBH. mines in the bedroom so see it everyday! they are different shapes AFAIK.
colour is a tad purpley, called Atlantis Blue. I bought a TD Corsa new in the that colour when i was driving instructing, very nice. the even purpley'er colour ones are rainbow Blue, but not on a cav IIRC.
quite late on an N reg too.
get the boot carpet in the bath with a shed load of detergent and hot water and scrub the ass out of it. mine came up like new, hence its resting in the bedroom till the spring!
keep on chugging!

ps. try some cheap veggie oil in it, it smells ace!

[vauxhallnutter]

looks like some economical motoring. I ought to be getting one really.
new boot carpet looks like a saloon one TBH. mines in the bedroom so see it everyday! they are different shapes AFAIK.
colour is a tad purpley, called Atlantis Blue. I bought a TD Corsa new in the that colour when i was driving instructing, very nice. the even purpley'er colour ones are rainbow Blue, but not on a cav IIRC.
quite late on an N reg too.
get the boot carpet in the bath with a shed load of detergent and hot water and scrub the ass out of it. mine came up like new, hence its resting in the bedroom till the spring!
keep on chugging!

ps. try some cheap veggie oil in it, it smells ace!

Yep its a saloon one, i will try the trick with the old boot carpet but i think its a bit too far gone.

I have had 3 td cavs and a td astra (all of which i have regretted selling) before this one which have all ran on veggie oil at some point or another. May even get the barrell and filters again and recycle used oil like i used to.

The paintwork needs a good polish as its very flat. I have clayed the bonnett so far and its certainly made a difference.

[vauxhallnutter]

Looks OK, good base to start work on, is it going to be a full SRI rep ?

Doubt it will be a full sri rep tbh but plan to do the following

Change interior to sri one i have

Change steelies to alloys

Poss sri skirts

Remote locking and alarm


Anything else will be whatever i think of in the future! Lol

[Super89]

Love TD cavaliers..nippy when messed with and run on veg oil

[cavaliersri130]

Not a bad looking td you have there.

:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

[vauxhallnutter]

Love TD cavaliers..nippy when messed with and run on veg oil

Not a bad looking td you have there.

:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

Cheers chaps, apart from the rainwater leak which seems to be sorted now, there isnt much else wrong with it. I changed the rear wiper motor yesterday so thats all working now. When the weather gets better i want to get the o/s rear arch sorted but other than that its just faffy bits really.

[vauxhallnutter]

Time for an update on this one I think!

Firstly the wet carpets returned so i had to try doing the next thing on the list of possible places the water could be getting in which was the heater fan motor surround.

Wipers and plastic cover removed:-






Wiper linkage and heater motor surround removed:-







Sealant daubed around where the surround sits (this baby wasn't going to leak again!):-






Unfortunately the wiper linkage bracket snapped when i was putting it back on but it still holds up fine lucklily (this happened in the same place when i was doing the same job on my green cavalier!):-






Since I have done this, the carpets have been dry so it looks like we have sorted it this time.
__________________

[vauxhallnutter]

Have also installed remote locking as well now using a kit that I have had for years in the loft. It has the bonus of a flip key arrangement so when i get chance I will get the blank cut and we will have a nice flip key. Before i do this I need to change the ignition barrell and at least one of the exterior locks so that they use the same key as it looks like the ignition barrell has been changed at some point. I did buy a lock set off of e-bay but the door and boot locks were knackered so I am on the look out for another lock set at the moment.

All in all the car is serving me well, it could do with a new set of glow plugs as it is a little tricky to get going on really cold mornings. It has only failed to start once and that was when it was -11 outside but I just walked to work and when I came home it started first turn of the key so can't moan at that!

Also we have some knocking coming from the suspension so I think some bushes have failed so that will need some investigation.

[planetc]

Bear in mind that they can suffer poor cold starting if the tappet shims haven't been adjusted for a while too. Check the plugs, if you still have issues then they are the next port of call.

[vauxhallnutter]

Bear in mind that they can suffer poor cold starting if the tappet shims haven't been adjusted for a while too. Check the plugs, if you still have issues then they are the next port of call.

Aye if the glow plugs don't do the trick then I shall give this a go but its not rattly so hopefully they are ok.
Sent from my Lumia 610 using Board Express

[Cabletwitch]

Hmm, the starting issue can sometimes be caused by the wiring on the alternator getting all corroded and failing to get the battery charged properly. I suspect this is the case with my TD, and I'll be looking into it tomorrow hopefully, weather permitting.

Still, good to see another TD out there on the road, I've only ever seen one other, and we ran one behind the other on the M3 a few days back. Same colour and everything, couldn't stop grinning

(I think he had less rust though, so boo!)

[Super89]

The tappet shims wont make it rattle. You will need to check them. I had all this with my TD in the end it was the shims, Starts first time on a cold morning even running on nearly 100% veg oil. People just dont seem to check them and think its the same old 'glow plugs' etc

[planetc]

The tappet shims wont make it rattle. You will need to check them. I had all this with my TD in the end it was the shims, Starts first time on a cold morning even running on nearly 100% veg oil. People just dont seem to check them and think its the same old 'glow plugs' etc

^ I never heard a rattly one either, even when they refuse to start from cold without easy start

[vauxhallnutter]

Now that the weather has warmed up a tad the starting is a lot better. I hear what you are all saying on the shims so if the glow plug idea doesnt work then thats where i'll go next. It only failed to start once and that was when it was -18!

I think that the filter may need chnging as well so once i hav some dollar to spare I will replace some bits on it.

[vauxhallnutter]

Gave this one a good polish over the past few days, I have to admit it has come up rather well, see what you think......


The roof Before..........






The roof after I had attacked it..........






A few random photo's .............























Still a few marks to get off in places and the front bumper really needs spraying along with the o/s/r wheel arch. I am going to get the wheel arc sorted once I have the MOT in the bag and the money starts flowing in again.

It certainly looks better than it did

[James McGrath]

Looks great, it's come up really well!

All you need now is some original LS hub caps!