Return to a Cavalier - Satin Red Diplomat.

[Lowrider Dave]

Pete mentioned there was going to be some mincing, look forwards to the report!

[tonyo]

It's been a week since it had it's epic Migweb South Central visit.

It nearly didn't happen, as it dropped me about 3 miles from home, stuttered, stopped, no restart. After about 1/2 hour waiting for a recovery truck, I decided to give it a go, and she spluttered back into life. A mile further down the road, and Dippy was fine again. So, I took the decision to run it to the SC meet rather than turn back, and it made it fine. The cause? When I changed the Camshaft rear seal, I'd damaged it - oil and distributor caps don't mix. With the aid of Pete, it was soon changed for a new undamaged version.

Whilst taking the dizzy and leads off, this happened..



Oh dear. With an XE lead lashed in, she'd be fine to get me home, where the GTE gladly provided replacements (the bonus of having 2 NE's!) whilst new ones were on the way from the web of things.

So, onto its day. It got some ramp time where the oil and filter was changed.



Pete had a good old root around under the car to look for all the usual Cav rot points, and declared it in quite good shape. A couple of areas to treat (rear spring seats) before it gets worse, but nothing major. He also adjusted the exhaust which was contacting the heat shield on high revs. Its a lot quieter when pushed now.

Dan (Mig's very own Astra Dan), Pete and I decided to have a look for an an elusive connector under the bonnet, found hiding behind the engine fusebox, the last piece of the yellow plug puzzle.



Plugged in an outside temp sensor to it, and fitted to the factory fitted hole in the bottom of the bumper.




Pete then stripped the centre console, and replaced with one from his Dippy, with the button set already mounted.



This adds the white plug to the large connector under the console.



All finished.. Poverty spec clock replaced by.. Shiny Trip computer.




It's currently got an LET chip in it so the range and consumption are all screwed up. With a little help from someone Pete put me in contact with, it should be all programmed up for an NE soon..

For the Afternoon, Dan showed me how to do something I've never done before.. A timing belt. When I bought the car the guy very helpfully told me the belt had been changed 40,000 miles ago. What he didn't mention was that 40,000 miles ago was in the year 2000! Although a 15 year old belt snapping would have no consequence on an NE, I'd rather it was done. So, the belt was replaced, as was the Pump and Tensioner.



Yes, that is Bathroom Silicone Sealant around the old pump! Once again, Billy bodger had been here..



Coming home, with the new Belt and waterpump, I made sure that it was fully bedded in, with a couple of visits to the rev limiter in 2nd..

Since home, it become evident that the few spots of oil it was dropping has become more of a dribble, and the oil that's appearing is nice and clean on the mating face between the block and head. So, the suspicion of head gasket is confirmed, I guess I'm going to have to call on the very kind SC guys again, and take another step into something I've never done before.

[Lowrider Dave]

Love seeing the progress, the (we) SC boys are top notch

[Markb]

Great work so far. I would be interested to know who or how you are programming the trip computer to read the correct MPG, etc... As mine is all over the place!

[tonyo]

Mark, If I get anywhere, I'll see if the guy I have a lead on is open to reprogramming others, and at what cost.

On to this weekend.. No real work to report. However, Dippy is going to save our bacon tomorrow..

It's carrying this.



All because of this



Hope it can be repaired - even the Avon ZV5's it's currently wearing (lower mid-range) are £140 a pop.


Whilst it was off, I couldn't resist.. Anyone up for helping me with a five stud conversion?



As a side note.. My garage is the only flat area to work on a car, so in order for the Insignia to have a wheel off, the only place I felt safe with it on a stand overnight (No spare see - only a poxy squirty can) is the garage..

Now, my garage isn't huge by any shot, but it's easily long enough to accommodate the GTE with room for two to work on the engine or remove the front bumper with ease..

How does it fair with the Insignia? I think it's fair to say it's an interference fit..






The only reason it fits at all is because the centre of the boot fits into the reveal for the internal door. If I didn't have a rear door, it would be too long by about 1 1/2 inches.

[tonyo]

HMS Oil Leak is (Hopefully) no more.

Dan and Pete Turned up today in Pete's new quiet tool to join the 20 somethings, with Migweb's Dave 'GTE16v' dropping in on the way back from Combe to check we were doing it right.



After some breakfast and creative LEGO fun, we got down to work and some bits fell off the engine.



But it did give us a chance to Have a quick look at the head.



Not bad for a 22 year old 126,000 mile engine. Number 4 (Left on the head here), has been burning a bit of oil, and it's around the outside of the No4 that the oil has been weeping down the block.

Gasket itself was looking a bit worse for wear, again, around the No4 waterways and fire ring.



Dan got it all cleaned up. Once again, No4 shows evidence of burning fluids other than Petrol.



Pete Drunk Tea and waved a spanner around.



And they even let me, as a Novice and Head Gasket Virgin, have a go..



The Valves are all lapped in, and new Valve Stem oil seals are in place. Its all bolted back onto place, and Dippy is once again happy and running like a Swiss watch.

Big thanks to Dan and Pete for the help and guidance.


And another thankyou to Pete for some more Cavalier parts..



Not sure how often I'll use them, but they will come in useful I'm sure..

[James McGrath]

Fantastic work going into this.

Very inspirational.

[Lowrider Dave]

Grand work - good to see Pete lifting a spanner!

[tonyo]

Another bit of mincing with Dan and Pete today..

After Last week's head gasket swap, we changed the oil and filter, even though they were just over a month old, so that anything washed down through the engine from the HG change got flushed out.

Next, the Sump plate was dropped off the gearbox. The Oil didn't look too bad, for what I suspect was 22years old. Diff looked OK, and the casing inside was a bit dirty as you;d expect from 126,000 miles.



Some nice fresh EP80 in there, and the gearchange is a lot improved.

Next, the brake fluid.. Dan had spotted at the previous mince that it looked quite mucky, so it was duly flushed through with nice new DOT4 in a team effort of Dan on the nipples (fnar), Pete pumping away (pfft!), and me making sure the fluid was kept topped up.

This is what came out..



My word, glad that job was done..

[tonyo]

Its upgrade time!..




Collect together the required parts - Wire (correctly coloured for the job, of course), two extra Diplomat front door lamps, and some time.



The area in scrutiny with it's factory spec reflectors..



Strip the doorcard remove trim and remove the seatbelt spool to allow access into the door pillar. Then take out the wiring grommet from the body, and feed the grey through.



Replace the link and grommet, re plug the loom, and feed the grey wire up through the doorswitch hole. Cut off factory connector and crimp both wires into one crimp.



Now, strip back a section of the permanent live on the rear electric window loom.



Solder in a piece of live for the job, and tape the loom back together to make it look OEM..



Crimp connectors on the live and switched earth, Replace card, with the newly fitted door lamp..



Win.. Now, just do the other side for door lamps all round..

[humbucker]

Ah, love the rear door card light mod. 'The devil is in the detail' as they say!

[tonyo]

No photos this time, just an update.

Since I bought Dippy, the A/C has been non functioning. Fearing the worst, I arrived at todays Mig SC mince with three condesors. As the system was totally empty, it had to have a leak somewhere right? Wrong! Pete's vacuum pump put a decent vacuum on the system, which it held! Awesome!

A quick fill of refridgerant, and Dippy is once more providing cold air at about 6 deg..

So, as other things on this car, a previous owner hasn't bothered fixing it, just left it..

Huge thanks to Pete ..

[DiplomaXE]

That was the winner, the old girl wasn't TOTALLY empty, but a slight whiff of refrigerant left inside when I tried the valves....been here many times...
That means there is a chance the long term leak it had that no-one attended to, like just about all AC cars have due to the nature of the systems, really was a just a long term thing that never got topped off. no gas whatsoever or a gaping obvious hole in the rad or pipes, then we would have had some repairs to do. It may well last well, but it wont be a huge shock to me if it needs a top off yearly.

So glad for you we are just about have a bit of a heatwave too!

[tonyo]

Sooo..

For the last week or so Dippy has had real trouble revving, she wouldn't rev over 4.5k, and even heavy throttle resulted in jerking at low revs.

I suspected a fuel delivery issue.

Last night I went out to attack the old fuel filter..



Old one didn't look bad, but I couldn't blow through it. So replaced it anyway.




No luck, swapped the dizzy for a spare, and reset the ECU. Still performing really badly.

So today I thought I'd give it a run to work. Coming home it got progressively worse. Then, the coolant tank and system emptied..



Through here..



And here..




And Here..



Passenger foot well took most of it, but the rest was quite a shock coming through the vents and every dash cavity as steam.

It's now on the drive with the electrics detached (the aerial was going mad). Tomorrow I intend to pull the seats and carpets to try and start the drying process.

[Lowrider Dave]

Oh, bad luck!

[DiplomaXE]

fookun ell.
when mine went it never made it through the head unit under pressure! christ on a bike!

[Envoy CDX]

Oh sh..... brown stuff..

Hopefully, at worse its just a heater matrix, but that is going to take some cleaning up.
I feel for you, I really do

[tonyo]

Bit of a catch up now the forum is back..

Last Weekend saw the stripout of the car..

Top Bin, under the rubber mat.



Glovebox, it appears to have come in every opening, even through the lamp!



Dash Moulding under the glovebox.



Bin, between the seat heater switches



Stripped out..



Even made it as high as the trip computer..



Removed the Radio. can see why it's not working..




Got the Heater control panel out.



And then the Lower Dash..




Loom is soaked. May have to strip it and re-wrap it.

Next, the front seats came out, remembering to make them safe first.



Pulled the Matrix, and was greeted by a dry Blower box..



The Matrix didn't look to bad either..



Until I turned it over..



Stripped the insulation, and the passenger footwell had a puddle..



Drivers wasn't too bad.



Next, I went to strip the rear seats out. Billy Bodger had been here..

Correctly bolted in..



Incorrectly bolted in..



Washer City..



Passenger Rear footwell was not good either..



So. I cleaned all the dash parts with a specialist degreaser.. OK.. Water and Washing up liquid, and ended up with a boot full-o-bits.



I'm guessing this is why the aerial keeps going nuts..



I found I need a new hose for the glovebox cooling..



Managed to clean all the carpets with a pressure washer and wet vac. Just keep going at it until the frothy white antifreeze comes out and the carpet runs clear.

Left it to dry out for a few days.

[tonyo]

So, During the evenings last week I started Stripping Stuff..

First was the very poorly Radio Cassette. As it's the Phillips SC804 (opposed to the less powerful Grundig SC303) I wanted to see if I could save it.



Stripped the back.



Took the top off..



Lots down in here.



Four screws and the cassette player came out to allow me to assess the damage on the main board.




Cleaned it up as best I could with cotton buds and contact cleaner, and have left it on the window ledge for a couple of days to try and dry out..



reconnected it a couple of days ago, and helfd my breath, and.. No workie.. Oh well, it was worth a try, guess an alternative plan is needed.

[planetc]

Looking at how that heater matrix has blown I think I would seriously consider block testing for exhaust gas in the cooling system. The end tanks on anything don't often let go like that without an underlying issue with excessive pressure.

[tonyo]

Thanks. I was going to do a compression test. Looked up block test, and realised it was far more appropriate. Block tester is now on its way from ebay.

[tonyo]

At the end of last week I whipped the plugs out to see if there was any evidence of one lug looking different to indicate a problem.



Nowt that I can see.

Continued to clean up the coolant leaching through the insulation.



And cleaned up the heater control. Before



After



Ordered some stuff from the bay. Whilst everything is stripped, may as well improve it. Some sound insulation to be placed strategically around the car, along with self adhesive felt and foam, so that I can re-foam the air system to seal properly, and felt the trim joints to stop squeaks and rattles.



Also took delivery of the new heater matrix.



Only three years younger then the car!



On to Billing, armed with a champion Cav part spotter (thanks Pete)..

Front door looms. Don't need em' at the moment but at a quid each, it had to be done.



A set of Dippy fan centre caps. Three of the ones on the car have lost their badges.



They are so minty, they are not going on until the wheels have been refurbed.

Grundig SC303. Not as powerful as the dead Phillips, but at least period. Only problem is it didn't have a code, so I need to find someone to unlock it.



This little find to replace the scruffy wet items from the glovebox.




And this rather old looking box..



Which contained this lot..



Still sealed. As I've only got one, shop cut key for it, I'm so glad that I've now got pukka keys. Even after god knows how long on the shelf, got the master key out and it performed..

[humbucker]

That's a good haul. I'm glad to see that the Billing autojumble was able to produce items of worth this year!

[btcctroy]

wow thats some very bad luck regarding the coolant leak.
it does appear to have a lot of pressure, although it looks like that the matrix is an aftermarket replacement.
so may of been of poor quality.
other than that something may have gone wrong when the head was refitted, thus recommending a block test

[Lowrider Dave]

Good Billing haul!