3.0 Supercav!

[himselfunknown]

Bit more of an update. A fair amount of progress, but mostly prep-work.

But it's the journey and not the destination, they say, and I'm enjoying piecing together the jigsaw. (which doesn't mean to say that I'm not itching to drive the ***** thing!!!).

It's quite satisfying building up clean stuff!!

Engine is now timed up:



Then today I started building it up:





Not made as much progress as I'd hoped as I had to modify my freshly powder-coated plenum (Cry!), as it was fouling the oil cap:





And I also had to modify the throttle cable bracket (as it was fouling the new ICV spigot), which you can see in this photo:

[Envoy CDX]

Very very impressed

[himselfunknown]

Cheers Gary, it's coming along. Which reminds me, could probably do with an update.

Recently been held back by a combination of lack of motivation and key parts. Now seem to have both!

Painted up some more bits:



Then I built up the back of the engine. Which was fun as I had to do it a few times as Vauxhall, in their wisdom, decided to put fixing points for some things behind other things:



Unfortunately, the ducting for the alternator cooling fan fouls on my rear branch manifold, so the ducting got removed. This is a common 'mod', but I may try to route some other ducting. Maybe:



Another coat of paint on the gearbox as it was looking shabby:



Engine built up:





Engine and box mated up:





And finally in the hole!!!

[Envoy CDX]

Almost ready to turn the key!
Looking good though!
I really need to find some motivation.

[himselfunknown]

Cheers Gary! I'm quite a way off turning the key though. The next stage is to get all the suspension built up and under the car finished, then get it dropped back onto its wheels, which will hopefully mean the remaining work under the bonnet is easier.

Although when the weather is like this, the prospect of heading outside isn't an appealing one!

[Envoy CDX]

Cheers Gary! I'm quite a way off turning the key though. The next stage is to get all the suspension built up and under the car finished, then get it dropped back onto its wheels, which will hopefully mean the remaining work under the bonnet is easier.

Although when the weather is like this, the prospect of heading outside isn't an appealing one!

Tell me about it.

[himselfunknown]

So I've been making a bit more progress on this over the past few days.

Not been interested in the car much for a while due to the cold and splitting up with the ex (which is a good thing: the sex is about the same but now I can spend more time in the garage!!!).

Anyway, exhausts all heat-wrapped:



After I took this photo, the heat wrap was coated with silicone paint to help keep the wrap protected over time, and to better insulate it (silicone paint is good up to 1500 degrees C, the wrap only 1100 degrees). I'm hoping all that will keep engine bay temperatures right down and get the cat warmer quicker. We will see. One thing is for sure, it is going to smoke like a trooper the first time it's fired up!!

Finally got hold of all the polybushes I needed, so built up the front H frame:



Fitted the rear manifold, driveshafts, and front struts, then got the H frame fitted:









Then this evening, having done a load of clean jobs, I decided to make a start on the next bit of cleaning up required:

[Envoy CDX]

Nice one
Not making any progress on mine of late.
Reckon you'll be booting at Billing this year?

[Lowrider Dave]

Great work

[Robsey]

Looking stunning Tony,

Looking like a new car in those underside shots.

[dazzlersri]

Top work, will be lovely when finished

[himselfunknown]

Cheers guys!

Yeah, it's coming along now and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Can't wait to MOT it and see the look on the tester's face!!

Just a few more under the car jobs to get done then I can drop it onto its wheels which will be a nice milestone!

Gary - I plan on being at Billing but I won't be booting, I'll be drinking!

[Envoy CDX]

Cheers guys!

Yeah, it's coming along now and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Can't wait to MOT it and see the look on the tester's face!!

Just a few more under the car jobs to get done then I can drop it onto its wheels which will be a nice milestone!

Gary - I plan on being at Billing but I won't be booting, I'll be drinking!

Aye, shall be at Billing at some point I'd imagine.

Be nice to see the cav blasting about in months to come.

[himselfunknown]

Got a few bits and pieces done on the car. First, borrowed a mates press to remove the old bushes from the rear beam. I was expecting it to be a pain, but they popped out no problem!





Tried to get the polybushes in, but the metal insert seemed a bit on the small side. Currently in discussion with Powerflex, who say they'll be sending me the right ones out. Fingers crossed:





This evening I cracked on with the front calipers. Having cleaned them up the other day, I fitted new seals etc:





Then I got painting. Rear hubs and backing plates, and front brakes all now done:

[Envoy CDX]

Nice and shiney!

[dazzlersri]

Good work, ive just done all this to my turbo so I can sympathise ! Very satisfying bolting all the clean painted bits back together though. Keep it coming !

[himselfunknown]

Been cracking on a bit with this. Being single really does help, lol! Exhaust is now back on the car. Not 100% happy with it, but I'm going to wait until I fire it up to see if it blows or rattles against the bodywork. I need to get the tailpipe adjusted anyway, as it was last fitted to a saloon so it will stick out too far:





All the painted up stuff waiting patiently to get bolted back on:



Polybushes finally fitted in the rear beam:



And the beam fitted to the car (and was a pain that was!!):



Rear caliper before:



And the rear suspension parts I gave the first coat of paint tonight:

[Lowrider Dave]

Superb work, coming together nicely now!

[himselfunknown]

Superb work, coming together nicely now!

Yeah, slowly getting there!

Got a bit more done on it over the weekend. Got the front brakes reassembled:





Then got cracking building up the rear beam. After these photo's were taken I fitted the rear ARB too:











I'm off work for a week as of Friday, so I'm hoping to make some significant progress then. I've also decided to drop the idea of the Omega inlet for the time being, as it's probably going to be a lot more work than I thought, and what I have time to do (and enjoy) before Nurburgring in May. I think I need to get it running and troubleshoot any issues as a priority.

[Envoy CDX]

Cracking progress there Tony.

[himselfunknown]

Cracking progress there Tony.

Cheers Gary. I'm trying to get the oil cooler pipework sorted this week and it's turning into a nightmare! Wanted it fitted before the Bank Holiday, but it's looking like I'll be lucky to even have it made by then.

[Robsey]

Looking the dogs danglies -

Very nice indeed.

[himselfunknown]

Been making a bit more progress on this over the Bank holiday, amongst other things.

Finished painting up the rear arches. Not perfect, but will hopefully keep the tin-worm away for a while!





Had to relocate the PAS cooler to make room for the oil cooler. Moved it forwards by about an inch, by fitting captive nuts to the old mounting points then bolting it on using some Mk2 Astra mounts:



Still enough clearance between the PAS cooler and the standard front bumper:





For anyone who is interested, this is the tool I've been using to fit the captive nuts. It's been worth its weight in gold on this job, can't recommend it enough!!



Next I got the oil cooler mounted, again using captive nuts and rubber 'cotton reels'. Once I had the cooler mounted I could make a start on the pipe work. It's all quite tight in there, with only about a 5mm gap between the oil cooler and the rad, and just enough room to route the cooler pipes around the rad, but it's going to be a tidy install once it's completed!









Waiting for some P clips to be delivered before I can go any further with the pipework, so I got the rad painted up as it was a bit tatty but still holding fluid! Firstly zinc primered, then satin black:





Gave the oil cooler a coat of paint too:



In re-routing all the various pipework, I'd hit a snag regarding the PAS pipes: the Cavalier PAS reservoir has funny angled off-takes that force the pipework out in the bay, which was not what I wanted. However, I was up the scrappies the other day and noticed that a Mk3 Astra reservoir is identical, other than it has straight off-takes - exactly what I wanted!! Cav on the left, Astra on the right:



Finished building up the rear beam, including all the ABS sensor wiring, etc, and also got the rear bumper fitted:





Lastly, made a start on the engine bay wiring. Fitted the LPG ECU to the bulkhead (very tight!), and made a start on trying to make sense of all the wiring. Gave up as I was hungry, so this is how it looked when I packed up this evening (I'm hoping the fairies come in the night and finish it off for me!):

[Super89]

Nice work indeed. Looks minted

[Lowrider Dave]

Fantastic work, it must nice to actually bolting stuff back together!