Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Just collected my new project. I purchased it off the son of the original owner, loving the car but really disliked the sellers attitude. Nearly told him what to do several times!
Its got full service history to back up these low miles, (Been done once a year for the last 12 years regardless of millage at the main dealer, plus mot'd there) Never been welded. 18 stamps in the book.
The interior is one of the best ive ever seen, externally its good but has had some repair work to the arches and sills that I will in time improve on. Like my Ls the oil is still the colour it came out the bottle!
I think with hindsight I paid to much for this one, however apart from being a 1.8 instead of a 1.6 its absolutely identical to my very first Cavalier that sadly was written off in 1999.
Better photos to follow in daylight.

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Nice looking car and quite early too. good luck with the project. have you noticed the difference in the weight of the doors yet to your later car?

Bob

Yes it's quite a difference, and there's lots of differences inside, like the dash clocks, the early type gear stick gator and the original Phillips tape deck complete with cassette tape holders, to name a few. Got to admit I'm liking the retro simplicity of this being an l spec aswell.
I haven't seen any prior to a h plate like yours for years, thought the pair of them being early and late would look good on display together at shows. ( that is the shows that don't say they are both to young to be classics).

3cav3 wrote:Yes it's quite a difference, and there's lots of differences inside, like the dash clocks, the early type gear stick gator and the original Phillips tape deck complete with cassette tape holders, to name a few. Got to admit I'm liking the retro simplicity of this being an l spec aswell.
I haven't seen any prior to a h plate like yours for years, thought the pair of them being early and late would look good on display together at shows. ( that is the shows that don't say they are both to young to be classics).

nice collection there mate, liking the series one cav, I preferred that look if I'm honest to the new one. Plus they used the multi-point Injection rather than the wheezy single point injection. I think I still got some lights and bits left over from my G plate 2.0 L.

Looks clean what's your plans keep it standard or modifications ?

iangsi wrote:Looks clean what's your plans keep it standard or modifications ?

at the moment, im just going to slowly smarten it up in places. Theres a couple of spots underneath that will want fairly prompt attention if theyre not going to turn to rot. going to steam it off tomorrow then start wire brushing the loose factory underseal, kurust it then underseal again.
Overall i'm going to try and keep this one standard.

Today I had a largeish parcel arrive.

It was my new set of L spec wheel trims.

Heres the missing trim replaced.

Going to need a proper valeting but heres the inside, including original Vauxhall over mats.

The gear stick and hand brake gaitor are like new and all the heater lights are still working!

Allmost as low a millage as my other Cavalier, but miss my Rev counter.

Your car looks very tidy inside too good on ye' did you buy the hubcaps from Vauxhallgreenparts on the bay?......i bought the same ones about 3 weeks ago they're great.
yep and both cars side by side sounds like a plan.

Bob

bobthevoice wrote:Your car looks very tidy inside too good on ye' did you buy the hubcaps from Vauxhallgreenparts on the bay?......i bought the same ones about 3 weeks ago they're great.
yep and both cars side by side sounds like a plan.

Bob

Yep, I believe that was the sellers name. Theyre both entered in a local show together on the 1st of july.

Here they are side by side

Had another little play with the old girl today before the rain came down. The only area that's concerning me is even though the tyres have very good tread they are looking a little bit perished. I'm guessing they may of been on there a very long time,what would people recommend I fit? I fitted a set of uniroyal pro sport 3's to my Volvo but these only did 5k on the front( driven carefully as well), so am looking for something that lasts longer, but equally want good grip as I live on bad country roads. What would be a good compromise for this sort of car?

Cavaliers are not as heavy as modern cars, so tyres should last a lot longer.

I suppose I should say the best you can afford.

I use cheap and chearfuls on both of our cars.
Both have good road holding, if not a little noisy on some surfaces at speed.

Originals were Michelin Energy on my car in 1994. Although current specification Michelins are quite expensive these days.

Ok, thanks. I used michealen energy on my written off van, as the were the best I found for road holding with a heavy load at motorway+ speed. I got 60 k out the rears and 25k on the front I guess I'll save up the pennies for a month or so and go for a set of them, as you say they are expensive.

I remember you putting a post on my WIP for my white 1.6L hatch, nice to see you got another like your first, would be cool to get the two together at some point but I suspect your far away from me.

Looks very clean and similar millage on it to when I bought mine at 53K.

Metallicav wrote:I remember you putting a post on my WIP for my white 1.6L hatch, nice to see you got another like your first, would be cool to get the two together at some point but I suspect your far away from me.

Looks very clean and similar millage on it to when I bought mine at 53K.

A meet up would be nice but I'm in Hereford I'm afraid. There doesn't seem to be many members in this neck of the woods?
I still remember test driving my first one and falling in love with it. There was 150k on the clock of that one and it had a ropey respray, and the insurance used to be eye watering( I was only 19). Now 18 years later it's like going back in time. I think my green one is the slightly better car overall, however this is the one I'll be driving to shows, with my wife in the m plate.

Just been having a look through the service history. The cambelt was changed about 1500 miles ago, at the Vauxhall dealer,however this was in 2011. Would you change it? Also what are your thoughts about the water pump?

If it was me i'd have both the cambelt and water pump done due to the age of them to be on the safe side, the water pump could possibly be the original?
Had both of mine done last year at 54K, they'd last been done in 2008 at around 38k I think?

You are probably ok for a bit on that belt as long as it's been stored well and ran regularly since it was last changed.
If the belt snaps on these engines then it's not likely to cause any major engine damage. You'll just be stranded.

You can always inspect the belt yourself by taking the cover off. If it looks in poor condition then get it replaced.

James McGrath wrote:You are probably ok for a bit on that belt as long as it's been stored well and ran regularly since it was last changed.
If the belt snaps on these engines then it's not likely to cause any major engine damage. You'll just be stranded.

You can always inspect the belt yourself by taking the cover off. If it looks in poor condition then get it replaced.

Thanks to both of you. Are you saying its not an interference engine?

Due to nearly getting caught out a few years ago with my Subaru, and the availability of panels I thought I would order a few up whilst I can definatley still get them, even though itll hopefully be a few years before I need them. For after market they look quite good quality wise, however I wont be recommending the supplier as received very poor customer service off them and was told several lies.
There is a pair of outer arches, a pair of inner arches, a pair of sills and a fuel filler neck repair panel.

Have spent most of the day lying on my back under the car wirebrushing the flaky underseal and then treating with kurust. (it used to be so much easier being under cars even 10 years ago- must be getting old!)
I'm pleased to report that there was only one area that may need a small bit of welding in the near future and that's about 5 mm at the back of the O/S. Ill with have a word with a lad I know that's an mot inspector.
With a view to any future welding, rather than paint the chasis in flammable underseal, I opted for black Hammerite, as a top coat.
I did want to upload some photos but i'm having problems with photobucket (again- my pc real doesn't seem to like it).

It could easily be photobucket that is playing up.

I have had plenty of moments of frustration with that site -
Not so much recently - admittedly, I mainly access from my android phone as I also use it to take photos.

As for the hammerite - better for not trapping any ambient moisture into the seams compared to waxoyl and the like.

I think it was some form of truck bed lining that was used on my car. It's rubberised texture gives additional protection from stone chips caused by debris thrown up off the road.

Robsey wrote:It could easily be photobucket that is playing up.

I have had plenty of moments of frustration with that site -
Not so much recently - admittedly, I mainly access from my android phone as I also use it to take photos.

As for the hammerite - better for not trapping any ambient moisture into the seams compared to waxoyl and the like.

I think it was some form of truck bed lining that was used on my car. It's rubberised texture gives additional protection from stone chips caused by debris thrown up off the road.

I been using hammerite under cars since I kept my first ever car going with it that had terminal rust in the chasis. I'm hoping that the kurust will have neutuerlised the surface rust- it went black anyway. Long term I will probably end up doing a restoration on this car(hence all the panels), but not until I've had some fun with it first. Now I've been all over it with a fine tooth Combe, I've come to the conclusion it's actually in very good condition for a nearly 28 year old car. Certainly a lot more solid than most Cavaliers.

Where did you get the panels from?