1995 2.5 V6 CDX Saloon Manual Cav in Magic Grey Pearl

[iangsi]

A boot lip spoiler would set this car off lovely, but that would involve drilling holes in the boot lid

[GP123]

i have both the Sri bootlid spoiler and sideskirts to go on.. but theres no chance that there will be holes drilled. Id rather use a bond than have to drill holes into the boot.. an open invitation to the water/rust party.

[GP123]

Pulled out today for a bit of fresh air and sunshine..

[Robsey]

Looking very nice indeed.

[GP123]

Thanks Robsey. Near completion now. According to the gov website the MOT centres here are due to reopen in 22nd June. So heres hoping.

Hoping to get tubular manifolds in stainless steel and into a downpipe made soon.

The AC compressor has behaved noise wise ever since. I have a new drive belt to go on but in 2 minds to keep AC or not as i dont even know if it works properly and dont want to throw 200 at a pump to find out either. For now it can ride the pulley just.

I also have the throttle body sent off to go from 64mm to 68mm to get more air into the engine. Luckily enough the ecu adjusts the fuel automatically for this.

I have deleted the traction control unit and its just used as a spacer in between the throttle body and intake manifold. Im not sure how much of a restriction this is. But its deleted now anyway.

Sri sidekirts and boot spoiler to be painted and put on after MOT also.

[GP123]

Update.

Well after weeks upon weeks it looks like i can get the cav MOTd and out FINALLY from 20 July onwards depending on what date i can get booked. They say the phone lines open on July 1 to book a test. So hopefully i can get one on the 20th July first day back for testing..

Few things since i got performance HT leads made in UK apparently. They seem very good quality. Their 10mm.
Research says they have a typical energy loss of 1 to 2 percent as opposed to normal ordinary leads that have a 15 percent loss.

So basically in turn this is meant to produce more power and better mpg also as the spark is more improved.








Im also waiting on the throttle body which should be here start of the week also.
Its been modified from 64mm to 68mm so more air going into the engine which should produce a nice wee difference to the engine. The traction control unit is off and and custom spacer the same width has been made instead with no holes on the side were the spindle would have been for the butterfly valve inside the TC unit.

Thanks for reading.

[Robsey]

Starting to get exciting.

Three weeks to get it ready - it will be here before you know it.

My O.C.D. is struggling with the HT leads being different colours.

[GP123]

Starting to get exciting.

Three weeks to get it ready - it will be here before you know it.

My O.C.D. is struggling with the HT leads being different colours.

Its all polished and waxed ready to go Robsey. Covers been on it few weeks now since. So just a matter of driving it up.
In two minds though about headlight aims its the only thing i can think of that it could fail for on the day as ive never had them set personally.

However i could maybe work that into the drive up to the test centre.

Yeah i thought i would get 3 of each colour. 3 red for front bank and 3 blue for rear bank. Lol. Just incase i get the cylinders mixed up

I am also on the hunt for either of the following:

GSI 2000 Saloon, Turbo or a Carlton GSI 3000 Manual. If anyone knows of any sitting in a shed somewere that they would sell please contact me via PM or 07856799980.thanks all

[Robsey]

You could try visiting the Autobahnstormers website.

It specialises in the bigger vauxhall / opel battle barges.

https://www.autobahnstormers.org.uk/ind ... club-forum

[GP123]

I forgot i also purchased these exhaust manifold flanges.



The idea is to get a set of tubular manifolds made up. But im ideally after a set of standard manifolds someone is looking rid of so i can get a set tacked up by a tig welder so i dont have to disturb my cav but ripping all off now. I have a spare downpipe sitting so just need the std manifolds now.

This mod alone should free her up a good bit as the standard ones seem restrictive..

[SRiGUY93]

Correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't this the one that bloke was selling along with his SRi a few months back on Facebook?

I am loving the progress anyway, the car's looking lovely, keep it up.

[GP123]

No mate, i found this back in October last year in England and got it shipped over to Northern Ireland. It was however found via Marketplace on Facebook.

Thanks.

[Robsey]

I think he means this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=16854

I know there was interest in the exhaust, but not sure if it got sold or not.

[GP123]

4/7/20 update.

So this morning i got up nice and early. The weather has been pretty poor here recently. I hope the sunny weather makes a return again!
But anyways.. I got the 68mm throttle body put on and the standard 64mm off. Instead of using the traction control unit as a spacer with the weight of the motor and it not being plugged in etc a spacer was made specially.

The spacer needed is roughly just shy of 3cm wide but is needed to get the throttle body screwed on right.








So this all worked out good and fitted back on. I also rerouted the throttle cable as no matter when everythings put back together again it always seem to be caught in between something and im not sure if the pressure is enough to disturb the operation of it but id rather there was nothing touching it at all just incase.

So now it sits above the cover.

I then fitted the new performance ht leads. This was nice and easy also just had to make sure all the leads matched the correct numbers on both the ignition coil and the spark plug wells as the top/bottom rows of cylinder numbers on the coil and the plug wells are different so its possible to make a mistake there when fitting back again.

So now theres 3 red for bottom bank and 3 blue for top bank. Idiot proof right?

So once this was all done i fired her up and she does run that bit better so far. I dont know if this is purely the placebo effect or not but ill see the next time im out a wee spin which is probably the 20th!... MOT day. Lol.

Same goes for the bigger throttle body. With a rev it does feel more responsive. But ideally ill need to drive it to notice the gains which there should be! More air equals more potenial power as they say.

Thanks for reading!

[Robsey]

Excellent work.

Hopefully all this boring-out milarkey will not upset the emissions.
Although, by the looks of it, you know what you are doing.

[Robsey]

Whats the easiest way of running a wire from the V6 engine bay into the inside of the car? I would like to run a switch to the inside so i can turn the alternator cooling fan etc on and off from the inside. Its the mode that kicks in after the cars turned off basically..

The switch for mine on the coolant bridge has a mind of its own/faulty and comes on anytime and at times doesnt go off at all once the cars been off a good half hour!

Probably the neatest way would be to run a wire through the bulkhead with the rest of the ECU wiring.

Then run the wire up to the drivers side of the dashboard to a switch mounted to one of the blank slots by the switch for the lights.

Robsey is the expert when it comes to wireing though.

The best way is not necessarily the easiest way.
The best way would be to run a single wire from the cabin to the engine bay.

In the cabin a simple switch would have two pins.
One pin connected to your control wire.
The other pin with a wire to earth.
(That is the easy bit).

The route for the wire can be a bit fiddly, as there are only two 'main' paths through the bulkhead.

1 -
On the driver's side, you have the engine ECU loom. (Up behind the coolant header tank).
On the passenger side is the big loom for all the engine bay. (Hidden by the glove box).

To add an extra wire to either bundle, you will need to pop the grommet out of the bulkhead.
Then "very carefully" ease a gap in the wires as they go through the sealing grommet with a size 2 philips or posi-drive screwdriver.
Do no use a sharp implement.
Withdraw the screwdriver.
This should create a temporary gap in the wires to allow your wire to be fed through the grommet, and into the engine bay.

2 -
You could drill another hole through the bulkhead, and fit a rubber blanking grommet.
You can then punch a hole through the grommet and thread the wire through.
If you do this, you need to clean up, primer and paint the edges of the hole to reduce the chance of corrosion.
If you are OCD, you could then seal the grommet and wire in place with some Sikaflex or similar.

Now then -
Once in the engine bay, I would fit a relay.
A standard relay would be fine.

The relay will have four pins.
Pin 86 needs to come from the battery via a fuse. (5 amp is enough, as it just powers the relay coil)
Pin 85 is the wire from the cabin.

Pin 30 and pin 87 are two wires to your fan.

[Robsey]

Continuing on..

In the diagram, it suggests that the alternator cooling fan motor is wired to the barrel shaped connector close to the battery - identified as X5.
Pin 5 of this is a brown wire to earth / ground for the blower motor.

Pin 7 is a red wire with black stripe; which acts as the supply voltage to the motor.

You could cut either the red / black wire, OR the brown wire.

Using 1mm wires, connect your cut ends to pins of the relay. (Pins 30 and 87).

Wired like this, the relay can be used to cut power to the fan motor.

[Robsey]

The "easiest" way.

Now then, the easiest way, would be to run two 0.75mm wires between the cabin and the fan control switch on the bridge.

The minor problem with this, is that you are running two powered cables through the bulkhead.

On the bridge switch you should have two wires.
1 - Brown and
2 - Brown with a yellow stripe.

Cut either of these to create two 'tails'.
connect your new wires to the two tails.

As with all Robsey wiring.
Ensure that all joints are soldered and sleeved properly.

At the cabin end, a typical two pin switch can simply be wired - one wire for each pin.
Orientation is un-important.

----------------------------------

The correct method would be to replace the faulty part, whether this is the switch or the control relay.

Save faffing with wiring, and you know that it 'should' work as Vauxhall / Opel intended.

Thinking on...
Have you checked that all connectors are fine first?
Clear of moisture, corrosion etc?
And are you sure it is the thermo-switch or could it be a faulty relay?

Just to save a load of faff, when it could be a simple fix affecting a 25 year old car.

[GP123]

Thanks Robsey. I got sorted. There already was a wee hole that had been filled in with some sort of silicone. So i used this and wire went straight to the pedals inside!

Sweet. Happy boy now. Its a piece of mind really for me as ive no idea what way the cav will react in her first 20 min drive to the mot centre on Monday after 17 years.. .

So now when i flick the switch on this puts on the alternator cooling fan, electric coolant pump and a cooling fan at front.

The car is meant to automatically trigger this on when the cav is switched off after running at running temp and then turn off after 5 mins or maybe less. However my switch on the coolant bridge is faulty and they arent made anymore by Vauxhall/Opel.

Sometimes its runs when started. Sometimes it runs when it leaves the blue on the temp gauge. But nearly always when the car was turned off and it did kick in, it just would never have turned off itself again. One night it ran for half an hour

So now i have control. I can turn on and off as i wish.

The main fan switch works it kicks in and goes off as it should after sitting a long time stationary.

These V6s seem to run quite warm. As far as i know this is perfectly normal. It has a new thermostat in her. However they open at 92 degrees and then fully open at 107 degrees which seems quite late? But that is the specs.

Thanks for reading.

[GP123]

Saturday 18.7.20 Update.

The mighty V6 is out from her hibernation & is now sitting in launch position ready for her big day on Monday evening!

Id be lying if i said i wasnt nervous... As i type i can feel my heart beating in a nerves way.

But. Whatever happens, happens! 17 years is a long time but hopefully she rewards me with the money i have spent on her. (might as well be a woman at this rate)

Here are some pictures of her in all her glory. Polished, waxed and wheels slicked. Been doing parts here and there after work or at weekends. In round door shuts, boot lid inside etc. So hopefully Mr. MOT is happy with her presentation. As cavs ive had in the past were colour rust brown and they were not happy!

[Robsey]

I am sure it goes without saying that the important stuff is making sure that all thr exrerior lights work.
The engine and air-bag lights come on then go off when they should,
And that the horn, washers and wipers all work too.

After all that effort, you do not want to fall for something simple and obvious.

Looking smart as usual.
Fingers crossed for you.

[Cavalier342]

Looks proper clean, good work.
Quick tip... Next time don't take the photos with a Ford Ciesta in the background, it ruins the photo.

[GP123]

Excuse you me lol. Thats my daily driver/work car. The red one you mean? Its a focus!

BREAKING NEWS....JUST IN.

SHE PASSED!!

AHHH!! & the crowd go wild.

[Cavalier342]

My mistake, all new cars look the same to me, anyway good news.

[ilovedmymantas]

Congratulations on the pass
How were your emissions