1994 Cavalier LSi C20NE (was C18NZ) Work-horse

[ilovedmymantas]

I do like a free fix.
Nice write up and would be a good how2. Pics make such a difference!

Regarding the how2's.
Any chance of a listing on the board index for easiness?

matt

[Robsey]

I did a thread listing all the electrical How 2s...
In the electrical sub-section.

But most How 2s are in the top folder of the Workshop section.
With discussions in the appropriate sub-sections.
Electrical, Mechanical... and so on.

I thought about doing a How 2, but I did not photograph every step like I normally do.

EDIT / UPDATE.
How 2 and discussion thread now done

[Envoy CDX]

Plenty of graphite grease in the lock afterwards

[vexorg]

And dont get the wee bits mixed up when cleaning them, or you'll be there a while working out what goes where.

[Robsey]

Exactly... but it is easy to work out.
Quite therapeutic really.

I have done this for three locks on my camper van.
It is often just a combination of four different wafer patterns to make up the lock.

Typically 6 to 10 wafers per lock barrel.

Simply insert the wafers and insert the key.
Whichever wafers lie level with the lock barrel are correct.

Those that protrude are wrong.
Simply swap each incorrect wafer for a different wafer pattern until you get the one that sits level with the barrel.

Repeat until all wafers sit level with the key in.

The bad way to do this would be to file any protrusive wafers down until they are level with the barrel.

Doing this would allow a lot more keys to fit the lock, and so significantly reduce the security of your car.

[Envoy CDX]

Exactly... but it is easy to work out.
Quite therapeutic really.

[Robsey]

Do you ever wish that you had acted earlier ?
Bit of a paradox to -
do you wish you had left stuff alone?

My near-side front tyre was getting flat, so I finally pulled my finger out after 15 months of abstaining from Cavalier action.

After pumping up the tyre, I jacked up the car via the front nearside jacking point.
The jack moved with an accompanying scrunching noise - but the car didn't lift.
I had been in the exact same situation with the van in 2014...
Jacking point has weakened due to rust.

Oh craps...!!



I was feeling as crushed as the side-member

In for a penny, in for a pound...

I jacked up the rear end to investigate the fuel leak.

As expected, the fuel hose to the fuel filter was badly perished.



And the fuel filler hose was also badly cracked and split.



As you can see, my four year old hand-brake cable is also rusty as hell.

I am also aware of a coolant leak, as my header tank is totally empty.
I suspect a cheap and crappy radiator, as that too looks quite corroded.

I am seriously thinking - is it worth doing up again?
Flog it on as a doer-upper?
Or simply cut my losses and send it to the crusher?

It has been stood in all weathers for 15 months, so a few more months whilst I think of what to do with it, shouldn't make things much worse.

[iangsi]

The rubber hoses are easy to replace, you'll regret parting with it

[thomas]

Commiserations. Cannot advise, only support the decision you make, and ask for first dibs on assorted parts.
Be a shame to see another one go, a nice one too. Hope not. Think you should get into the dry, soonest, don't leave it, if keeping it.

That rust looks awful, I have similar grisly photos from the same area on the late lamented 1.6L.
When it went in 2012, never did I think I'd see another much less own another Cavvy.
Nothing is unfixable, only wearying, but there's all the other demands and balls to keep in the air too, it's a personal decision.

My driver's side sill is worse than expected under that rubber, nowhere else, after some poking and scraping.
I've got left and right sills and paired wheelarch repair sections ordered, though I might not need them this time round, and might use just some small parts of them. I know though that I'm not prepared just to let things slide with it yet, it has I hope plenty of life to go, and hasn't got as far as my last Cavalier went once I'd decided to run it out to a natural end but I hadn't stopped caring, and this one doesn't have the ugly complication of repairs to areas previously already repaired and rusted again, it's all original. Getting it ready for the next winter has aready started, never ends.

I don't need this Cav after the Viva is finished. When (if) that happens, one or the other of these two cars will have to go, must go - Viva or Cavalier. It's Heart vs. [Round]Head and the result of such is usually an agonising draw and happenstance is the decider. I share your pain.

Had an exhilirating ride in it this evening, using it as intended. New coolant temp sender works, is more perky, communicative. Sitting idling long in treacly traffic it's getting to a shade under 90 degrees indicated and the fan is coming on around there, rather than barely out of the blue zone as before. So all good. Should keep this astonishing "temperature gauge works' nugget for the car's own thread, the saga.

Good luck Robsey, hope you'll long continue to contribute your expertise, enthusiasm, your wit here. Not owning a Cavalier, you'll of course be an outcast, neither fish nor fowl, not in with the Cavvy-owning in-crowd in the velvet smoking-jackets and it's cold out there...

[Robsey]

Just been looking into prices...

Fuel filler pipe is £9, but I cannot find reference to being ethanol resistant.

7.3mm bore R9 ethanol proof fuel hose is nigh on £18 per metre.
I would be expecting to replace all the hoses on the car to make it last well into the future. Probably talking 5 metres overall.

And the cross-rail outer reinforcing panel... typically £70, but everywhere is out of stock of the left side piece.
And then the cost of getting it welded and painted.

It all adds up.

Not a kings ransom, but more than I could comfortably afford at this time.
Just to sit on the car park for another 9 months or so.

I haven't really recovered from spending £9k on the restoration of the Cavalier and a few other niggles up until two years ago.

The Cavalier would be cheaper to fix than our Vectra-C.
A knackered dual mass flywheel would soon prove that.
(Still on the original 176,000 mile - 16 year old clutch).

[3cav3]

i too was in the same situation a couple of months ago. I'd left my Cav stand for over a year and it had badly deteriated. I considered flogging it as was when it failed the mot on rust. At the last moment though i had the garage weld it up as i was just too busy and have since then been slowly putting right all the issues that have occured, but mostly just enjoying driving it again.
Its a pity youre not closer to me as i would happily of welded up the jacking point for free if youd cut it out.
Dont lose heart, even an mot place shouldnt charge to much to repair the jacking point with some plate as a tempory measure, then underseal. Fix the other couple of niggles and get out there enjoying it again.

[Robsey]

Thanks for the kind offer, dear chap.
Thankfully, I have Troy nearby, so I could get him to do the welding.
We discussed the car briefly this evening, before starting on our projects in the unit.

I will have to give the whole underside a good check over and give any surface corrosion a quick clean and treat with rust treatment.

Probably talking £200 all in to buy-in the panel, get it welded, along with buying the fuel pipes.

The dearest part will be the R9 fuel pipe...
-------------------

As for the velvet smoking jacket... as I have recently had it cleaned, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

[3cav3]

£200 doesn't sound to bad, although when short on funds even £50 can take some finding. Prices become a blur but I think mine came to about £300 all in including welding, suspension parts,labour and the mot. At that moment in time it left me skint, however I haven't regretted it for a second. There's something really nice about driving a car that isn't run by a computer etc, the only way it could be improved further is by having a choke cable- something that most people under the age of 40 wouldn't even know what it was.
Good luck with getting yours fixed, - Speaking from experience just don't leave it any longer than you have to. These old cars don't seem to like being stood.

[Robsey]

A reality check of the money that I am throwing at the white-elephant called the T25, soon brought me back to reality.



The cav is in very good overall condition compared to the van.
Time to dig out the vactan, etch primer and underseal - lol.

UPDATE: -
I have got the Vactan and the fuel filler pipe on their way.
So it looks like the Cavalier is here to stay.

Just need to sort some 7.3mm hose now

[btcctroy]

Robsey - stop whining! lol i told you 5 years ago that the jacking points were the next on the list for repairs. oh guess what 5 years have past lol
i have made a copy jacking point before so no need to cry about that either.
go buy some pipe fit it then pop it over one night for welding.. carpets will need pulling back

[ilovedmymantas]

A reality check of the money that I am throwing at the white-elephant called the T25, soon brought me back to reality.



The cav is in very good overall condition compared to the van.
Time to dig out the vactan, etch primer and underseal - lol.

UPDATE: -
I have got the Vactan and the fuel filler pipe on their way.
So it looks like the Cavalier is here to stay.

Just need to sort some 7.3mm hose now

At first I thought I'd dreamt the recent post, after the time and money you've spent on the car. I'm so glad your sanity has returned!
All hail the T25 for lending perspective, at worst the cavalier is a grey elephant lol.

Wee c has taught me that a static car is a rust magnet - It needs driven to remove and dry out all the pooled water it's retaining. That's my theory anyway
Discounting a garage, I think a cover would be good for a long-standing car although I couldn't have one myself. I'd be too paranoid about unseen damage being done that wouldn't be revealed until the cover came off
Good to hear you're back on track

[Robsey]

Robsey - stop whining! lol i told you 5 years ago that the jacking points were the next on the list for repairs. oh guess what 5 years have past lol
i have made a copy jacking point before so no need to cry about that either.
go buy some pipe fit it then pop it over one night for welding.. carpets will need pulling back

Thanks Troy...
All fuel piping now ordered.
We will come to some arrangement.

I know what you mean about whining...
I get very upset when I am first faced with a problem.
Tell the world "Woe is me...." whilst the emotions are raw,

And then after a few days to allow me time to think, and work stuff out - I usually go back to being my usual calm self.

Cars - pah!! Who'd have 'em
Just means I have loads to do to get the rest of the car sorted. Time for me to knuckle down and stop being a big girls blouse.

[vexorg]

Fuel lines are one of the easier jobs, need to drop the tank and do it end to end.

In saying that I've been meaning to to mine for several years, along with an uprated fuel pump

[Envoy CDX]

It'll fix Rob. Don't you dare send it to the crusher.

[chrisp]

Regarding Robsey's comment on fuel pipes not being ethanol resistant, Esso Supreme 98 octane fuel is claimed to be ethanol free. I haven't seen the same claim for the Shell V-Power and BP equivalents though (and the BP version is only 97 octane). So I'm now running my Cav on Esso Supreme - the increased price per gallon is not that significant because I don't do many miles in it and, because the V6 engine has knock sensors, it should auto-advance the ignition timing to take advantage of the higher octane.

[Robsey]

I finally replaced the fuel hoses.

The leaky hose was actually from the outlet of the filter.
Only about a metre of hose from the trailing arm to the rear off-side sill.


I dropped the tank a little on the off-side as the hose ran over the top of the rim on that side.
Nice easy job

I saw a lot of surface corrosion - it will need a quick clean, dose of vactan and then painting over.
Luckily nothing too deep or worrying just yet.



Then came the fuel filler hose.
The jubillee clips were fasttened the wrong way up, so no way the undo them.
Brute force and ignorance meant that they yielded to a sharp twist to the side with my pliers.
Hose was damn tight to get off - but managed eventually.

New hose fitted - again damn tight.



I will need to get two new jubillee clips.
The tank end says 30-45mm,
The filler end says 32-50mm
Both were original GM marked clips.

Not a lot done... but it is more than I have done in 15 months.

[vexorg]

Should've probably changed the filter when there too.

[Robsey]

Perhaps, but it was new about 3 or 4 years ago...
So thankfully not the original factory fitted filter.

[chrisp]

Cavalier fuel tanks are fairly notorius for corroding through on their tops where water will lodge and not properly dry out - especially in our wet and salt laden winters.
I've had to replace tanks on 2 Cavaliers now - I got my last one 2 or 3 years ago and it was sourced from Denmark, with no availability from the UK. Although I do nearly all jobs myself, for this replacement I used a local independant garage as the car really has to go on a lift to get the access needed to drop the old tank out

[vexorg]

Are the tanks metal?
Why did the calibra get a plastic tank? and not the cavalier or vectra?