Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Hello lads, and greetings from Finland!

This here's my first ever car, and what a car it is.

A 1994 Opel Vectra A with the indestructible two-liter four-banger, electric everything and a somewhat astounding 377,000 kilometers on the clock. She was a birthday present from my brother and it wasn't exactly love at first sight: She was a bit of a clunker with a really dusty interior, an ugly steering wheel, random bits and bobs all over the trunk for me to install and reeeeally nasty rims, that and I'd always had a preconception of Opels as being boring little shoeboxes. It's a free car though, can't complain. Thanks, bro!

So I take her home and start analyzing all the little fixes that need to be done. Electrics were the biggest; the stalk of the mirror adjuster had broken off, the passenger side window switch didn't work, and the stereo was a boring early-2000s unit with a broken CD drive and the antenna on the passenger side floor. Luckily my brother already got the switches and the local car parts store had a sale on cheap Chinese head units, so time to start tearing stuff off and see what she's made of!

The new mirror switch I installed with very professional mechanic's tools, a Leatherman and a cigarette lighter for soldering. A few curses from molten lead falling on my thigh and a fuse replacement later, I've got working mirrors. Next up was the window switch, and that was somewhat more complicated. The unit on the car was the type with a separate cover over the switches to clip into the center console, while the new unit had it integrated and had all its wires clipped. Took some time to plan everything, cut, strip, solder, remember the heatshrink tubing, curse, desolder, solder again and test, and here we go. Even has the circuit for automatic opening with a single press.


The head unit was a simple install, the previous owner had already wired in a standard plug. All I had to do was take apart the damn head unit and rescue my Metallica CD! Apparently someone had tried to play a homemade disc of the cringiest rap available in the early 2000s... Which was in half. Ah well, Master of Puppets was fine. New unit fits the car much better.



New gearstick and handbrake gaiters off eBay for twenty bucks shipped, installed with hot glue and some more swearing.


A few months later, time for some more messing about with electrics. The cooling fan never worked and I didn't much want to mess about with sensors and such, so an ignition switch-powered relay and a switch in the dashboard will do. I wanted to get some color for my dash lights as well and stealth mount a navigator, so that got its own switch, a cigarette lighter hidden behind the dashboard and a USB cord ran through the front tweeter. Very neat. Also, new floor mats to spruce up the look.



The old, black badges looked a bit meh... 2.50e for a silver paint pen, smoothed out with some Q-tips, and bam. Looks brand new.


That was about it for mods and improvements after my brother replaced the leaky water pump and worn timing belt... And then I found this forum. Just earlier today I emptied and clipped the elephant trunk, which will hopefully help with the windows misting up. Tomorrow I plan to check the engine breather pipe for clogs and paint the mirror casings with color-coded paint.

A question for you guys: Does anyone know where to get that plastic piece that the fuel door latches closed onto? One of the clips is snapped and the fuel door won't shut completely.

Thanks for checking out my ride, I'll be sure to keep this thread updated as I work on her. She's got a bit of this and that to keep me busy, but she's a damn fine car.

Welcome to the Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club!

Looks very nice, certainly a decent first car. That blue interior reminds me of my old 1989 Cavalier, 1.8 carburetor. One of the basic models. Certain nostalgia comes to mind.

Enjoy your stay here.

Alright, time to buy some paint and sandpaper and get to work. Casings come off with a bit of wrestling. A proper wash with soap and warm water to get all the gunk out, then sanding with 600-grit.



A quick layer of plastic adhesion promoter, then primer. Turns out the body used white primer, let's hope the end result doesn't change too much...



Three coats of base are on, aand they got some intergalactic crud on them. Time to let them dry and get to work on some gunk removal. The ICV pops off easily enough, bit of crud inside. A shot of carb cleaner did the trick.



Just found out about the breather filter. Cam cover gasket is just a few hundred km old, no need to replace that. Filter is cruddy and clogged, some liberal blasts of brake cleaner and that's sorted.



I pop the dipstick/breather unit off with a bit of difficulty and peer inside with anticipation, and iiiit's... Completely clear? Huh. Might as well squirt some brake cleaner in there too, just to feel like I've done something.



Take notes, lads: Flashlights with pocket clips are super useful!
Started her up once everything was back together. Idles much smoother and gains revs a little quicker now, time well spent.



Getting a bit dark, time to retreat inside and give the crap on the dried paintjob a bit of a scuff with 2000-grit, see if I can conceal it at all under another coat before clearcoat. Looks like I'm going to school without mirror casings tomorrow.

There we go, turned out great!

Looking good, all the little jobs add up to make a big difference.

A very nice example you've got there! I thought I was lucky with a 1.6 as my first car.

Interesting spec too with cosy heated velour seats.
Is that auxiliary heating I see there too?

My my, what's this? I wonder. Square twin tips look damn fine on these old Vectras, can't wait to have it installed.

"-20C windshield washer fluid, will not leave an obtrusive film." You sure about that, boys? Contrary to popular belief, having your windshield turn into an opaque sheet of ice when doing 100 is not as fun as it sounds.
Starting's getting a bit sluggish at -10C, let's charge the battery... Oh dear.

Seventy euro later, new Sznajder battery with an extra forty amps, and some nice, expensive washer fluid. This stuff better not freeze at 4e a liter. Stepdad gave me a smart battery charger for Christmas, damn nice thing.

Looks like no more mods for a while. I've got to do something about the damn moisture in the car though, I have to scrape ice from the inside almost every time I drive... Any tips, people?

"having your windshield turn into an opaque sheet of ice when doing 100 is not as fun as it sounds."

Lol. The amount of brainless idiots I see around here on cold days who set off without bothering to clear their windows first, I just want to run out, stop them, drag them out of the car and swear at them till I'm white or blue in the face. It's simple and it's common sense.

I once had to scrape the inside of my windscreen on my old early hatch, but that had moisture ingress problems. Neither of my other 2 Cavaliers did. I recommend checking your footwell carpets if you haven't done so already, if they feel cold and soggy, chances are they're wet underneath. And that won't help one bit. Check the windscreen and window seals, make sure everything is nice and snug, and check around the front bulk head for any rust holes or points of entry.

Augh. What a goddamn day.

So I set off to the battery shop to drop off the old, bulging battery. Car starts really nicely in -17 with the new battery. Temperatures rise as I make my way, but I disregard it as she had been doing that lately, rising the temps until dropping them again before getting up to operating temperature. I pull into the store parking lot a few km later to discover a bit of steam rising from the hood and the temp gauge at max. I call my brother and he asks me how much coolant I have. Barely see anything in the expansion tank. I tell him I have some extra coolant in the trunk... Aand it's all a block of ice. Well, shit. 4 PM.
I go warm up inside the store and my brother comes a while later with a van and a tow rope. A few terrifying miles of towing with frozen windows and we're at his work, starting to tear the engine apart. A ton of coolant leaking from the back of the engine, head under the car and this plastic joiner pipe had burst. He goes to work on his own Merc and I start getting all the damn hoses off while getting soaked with coolant, oil and engine filth. A dozen trips to the pit and back later, I've got the plastic bit off and the hose connectors had broken off. Smash the pieces inside the hoses with a hammer and dig them out.
Brother hacksaws the burst piece off, grabs some steel pipe and plumbing nipples and starts fabricating up a maaad replacement, meanwhile I take apart my cabin heater and put some new grease on the fan motor. A few hours later, I get to go back under and bolt this in.

Pour in some coolant. No leaks? No leaks. Brother starts her up and starts revving. Check engine light lights up. Loads of smoke from all the coolant that leaked on the exhaust. Some burps and gurps from the expansion tank, a bit of fresh water to compensate. Pet the workshop dogs. Discover I have a block heater. Wipe down the windows of three goddamn double-decker buses to pay the man back. Order pizza. One more bus, I wipe the windows and he brushes the floor.
One in the morning, time to head home. Cleaned windows, warm gearbox oil. Smooth shifting, warm air. A mile down the road, the check engine light turns off. Victory! Stereo gives me some Moog. That goddamn feel. <3
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to wash my filthy, filthy body and pour myself a big glass of brandy.

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You guys know how to have fun over there!

Pretty impressed so far. How are things looking now/

Dampness interior - check for water leaks, damp front floors, either rust/leak from bulkhead/trunk pipe blocked, matrix filled with mud or rust under floor/leaky drain plugs. lift up bulkhead soundproofing in engine bay at bottom corners see if any rot along join line. The underfelt in front floor is so thick it literally never dries out if it gets wet, cut floor section out and dry it that way as impossible to remove whole thing unless strip dash out, put copious amounts of newspapers under the remaining bits at bottom of bulkhead to soak up as much as you can. Locate and fix leak.

Also common leak points, rear quarter windows, rear wing where it joins at bottom of rear window and boot vents, check for damp boot carpet at corners etc. Also check behind roof plastic trim I found a hole there on my old cavy, well hidden.

Interesting - what's the deal with the Sznajder battery, is that a heavy duty battery, do they have good reputation?

Meant to add for dampness interior check wiper spindles not worn, especially one in middle of scuttle panel, and leaking water into blower motor.

Back again. Starter motor went derp as you can see here. Towed her to my brother's workshop once again in the evening, then got her back home at three in the morning before my ice driving class! I was the only person there without ABS and got some big compliments from my teachers for learning the pumping technique and managing to do the dodging and emergency stop maneuvers at a higher speed than anyone else with their fancy ABS and traction control did. The new starter works really nicely, cranks faster than the old one ever did in summer.

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Another little fix to be done, cracked sun visor mirror.

Not like I ever use it, but it's always satisfying to complete a little fix. Made a gamble on this mirror replacement film, but it's actually really high quality. Was planning to glue the mirror together and put the film on top of it, but that ended up too thick. Just the film and some tape will do, it distorts around the edges a bit but that's fine.
Maybe I should upgrade the interior lighting to LEDs next?

I seem to have gotten the moisture problems sorted too, at least for winter. Plugged in the cabin heater overnight with the block heater disconnected to save some energy and a window cracked, then a nice long drive on the freeway. Zero ice inside the windows anymore, and the new windshield washer fluid doesn't freeze on the windshield and protects the wiper blades from freezing too. Gotta love it.
Cav1990 - Just the cheapest battery with decent quality I could find. It does seem very strong and doesn't mind short trips at all.

Had some warm days, got her washed. Need to paint that bumper one of these days.

Some more love for the old girl, exhaust manifold gasket and spark plugs. Engine's been making a terrible rattling noise at high revs ever since I got her, and a teacher noticed that three out of eight manifold studs were missing. A trip to the dealer and fifteen euro later I have an incomplete set of studs and copper nuts. Look at that gasket, no bloody wonder she was making noise.


Fancy, shiny new nuts, yay. Now just disregard all the oil, filth and oxidation on everything else and my engine bay looks good! No more rattling, now I can actually rev her sometimes without embarrassing myself.

Time to finally get that muffler installed. Bought a new middle muffler to replace the busted one and went to school to have the boys install them. They just took some bits from the old muffler to weld on to the new back box, painted up the welds and threw it on. She goes like stink with all her exhaust leaks fixed! They kind of botched it a little though, it knocks against a seam on the body under engine braking... I'll get that fixed later. Looking offensive enough for ya? Maybe I'll be a trendsetter. That's a laugh.

A little mod from Kent, clear side blinkers. A little over six quid and one more for shipping, arrived in under a week and complete with bulbs. Noice.

Right side lens just twists off, replaced in under a minute. Go to the left side one and twist, and nothing? Odd. Some tugging and pulling and the whole damn bulb holder pops off in my hand and leaves the bulb flashing inside the fender! Time to see a five minute job turn into a two-hour job. After deducing that the lens is permanently attached to the bulb holder, I decide to see just how permanent that is. I cut the lens in half with a little coping saw, then cut some slits along the edges and pry out the remaining bits of lens.

An hour of violence with knives, files and sandpaper to make the holder fit inside the new lens and a big dab of epoxy to hold them together. An old antenna helps fish the bulb and socket back out and the whole thing pops back on. Looking really good, but I'll have to post a picture later on. Just had a night of freezing rain and she's covered in impenetrable ice right now...

Nice to read your updates. Good progress!

Good job you have a willing and helpful brother to keep your Vectra on the road.

New shoes!

Some real weather extremes there ! we get the slightest flurry over here and the whole country comes to a stand-still !
NIce car too better than my first car that's for sure !

Heh - We get 20cm of snow and all that happens is people grumble a bit and put on their winter tires, Facebook fills up with people wanting to buy the cheapest RWD Ladas and Mercs they can find, and all the moped kids put a studded tire only on the front!

The wheels were just 80e for the full set with Continentals with enough tread to last until winter. An evening of Paint Renovator, tortoise wax and tire shine had them looking nearly perfect, save for some scuff marks on two. Next up is lowered springs, as soon as I get a job!

Half a can of color matched paint and a bored day...

I finally got that Omega wiper stalk I've been lusting after for ages! Thirty euro plus shipping for the stalk and relay from a random dude on Facebook. Dead easy job too.
The fuel computer buttons got me thinking of something to use them for. I'm going to make a fully custom RGB dashboard cluster lighting setup and use the buttons for a digital controller!