Mikes 2.0 Gls

[Cavalier342]

That does look mint mate. Love the back end on it now with the spoiler and de-badged.

[Mikebmth]

That does look mint mate. Love the back end on it now with the spoiler and de-badged.

Not bad for an old bird is she....

Always cheers me up when she has had a proper clean up and gets some looks, walked out of a pub the other day (after one pint) and some guy was wandering round it, I thought either he is eying it up to nick it or impressed which he confirmed when he told me he hadn't seen one in years in that kind of condition..

[Cavalier342]

Older birds are better, everyone knows that

[Mikebmth]

Older birds are better, everyone knows that

Was going to post something totally inappropriate but hey, i'll just agree on that one...

[Cavalier342]

That's ok mate, I'm sure you'll ring me and tell me anyway

[Mikebmth]

Quick pic....

Spent 2 hours cleaning the car top to bottom yesterday as I attended a Skirtz and wheels event down in Poole and ran into Paddy with his Cavalier, meant to get a pic but was so half asleep from working every hour god sends this is the only one I got after my prep at home and prior to him upstairs deciding to ruin all my work with 2 hours of torrential rain!!

[Lowrider Dave]

Looking smart, Mike.

[Mikebmth]

Looking smart, Mike.

Thanks Dave, loads still to do like re-priming the wing mirror covers and some paint work correction but getting there...

Got a few days off coming up so hoping for some half decent weather..

[Mikebmth]

20/06/15

Good news as the Cav is finally finished, all bar a new front bumper or spraying it and sourcing a stone chip free bonnet I am pretty happy with the work me, my mate John Robinson who was with us at Beaulieu last year with his modded Cav on the gold rims and others who have helped along the way.

January I thought all the hard work and money had gone to waste but she is back and getting amazing feedback at shows even for a daily driver she is clean and I have just had a word with a friend who is handy with a welder as the O/s sill needs attention but otherwise happy days

An evening meet at Portsdown hill, needed a Micks Monster Burger....







My mates Cav....



My finished boot install, runs around 600wrms....



Not for everyone but hey its musical and also competitive should I choose to complete we reckon the install should do around 138db..

Next jobs to include a Irscher Gsi Style front grille which is being sprayed this week, unsure still on the 16" Imolas but now clean her up and try to source a good bonnet then we're about there..

[Hayward691]

Looking good mate!!! Been so tempted to get another cav... Thinking of a nova as well...
Think you should LED the angel eyes

[Mikebmth]

Looking good mate!!! Been so tempted to get another cav... Thinking of a nova as well...
Think you should LED the angel eyes

Cheers mate

As for the lights I was going to put Hid ballasts in them as tbh on some roads they aint great at night, have heard good things about nightbreaker bulb upgrade so may try that first and stay legal that way for Mots etc.

Got a new grille to go on too, picking up from a mate on the 5th as its being sprayed to suit.

[Mikebmth]

Quick update as been a couple of weeks I guess..

Found on the bay of E a seller with chrome bumper trim however when it arrived it was just the chrome trim and I did not realize that the inserts on the Cav bumpers are actually like a plastic plate with the trim on the bottom half and simply sticking the chrome trim over would look rubbish.

Wondering what to do with it and after some measuring up I grabbed my old faithful orange stanley knife and set to work cutting away the old worn chromed section of the insert and fitting the new chrome trim.

A few pics of the job and finish

N/s chrome fitted:



N/s Chrome Trim:



O/s Chrome Trim:



All chromed up....Ooooo Shiny!



Since the last update I got hold of a new boot panel too, the interior one that butts up to the window as it had started to warp up along the window making it look shabby so that was a easy bolt off, bolt on job.

In the past few days I have also got hold of some Astra mk3 mirror covers for the insides of the door as I wanted the stereo install to stay stealthy these will hide the tweeters perfectly and come with the right fittings as well as being a straight swap over.

Still a few niggly jobs to do inc the centre pipe to cat which should have 2 bolts but mine only has one in it for some odd reason so need to get that sorted asap although its been like that for a year and the exhaust doesn't move much as it is on uprated bushes as it kept dropping off the rear mount.

Also not sure if I posted the Silicone hose upgrade, now just missing the pipes for the expansion tank which I plan to do asap but am unsure of the diameter so if anyone knows?

Roose Motorsport acid green silicone hoses



Next time out properly will be Beaulieu with our tame photographer Dave (lowrider dave) so sure pics will be taken and posted!

[Lowrider Dave]

Good progress Mike. Regarding the expansion tank, unclip it from the header tank (or similar) and measure the diameter across. If someone doesn't already know it then I have a micrometer with I can use to measure it at Beaulieu.

[James McGrath]

Looking good Mike.

Funnily enough, only last night I bought a set of chrome inserts for my Diplomat, so I'll be doing the same thing soon.

See you at Beaulieu!

[vauxhallnutter]

Looking very smart now Mike, looking forward to getting mine back on the road.

[Mikebmth]

Looking very smart now Mike, looking forward to getting mine back on the road.

Looking good Mike.

Funnily enough, only last night I bought a set of chrome inserts for my Diplomat, so I'll be doing the same thing soon.

See you at Beaulieu!

Cheers guys!

And see you at Beaulieu James, hoping on good weather and a better turn out in general this year

[Mikebmth]

So what has occurred since.....

Well I didn't make a very very wet Beaulieu event as some will know by now, I had a drive from mine to Brockenhurst to drop the mrs at the train station there to save time and while on route to Simply Vauxhall I totally lost all drive, tried dropping down a gear and nothing at all, engine just revved its heart out but no forward motion as the BMW driver behind me found out when I went from about 50mph to slowly very quickly......Slight brown pants moment!!

Managed to get the car off of the road and into a gateway where I could call for assistance, good ol' EE should be called Everything No Where on this morning though as I had a nice wet walk to get a phone signal!!

Called the miserable (tbh) Rac guy out and he diagnosed clutch / gearbox failure, was very difficult with where the car was and he couldn't recover it without towing me up the road a bit, he then dropped me at a closed Kwik fit before stating "I guess you'll be wanting a lift home then".......Uh well yeah

Turns out after a word in the ear of Ben the Kwik fit manager after being told they couldn't do the work he got it in and all my woes and general drunkeness after getting home was all due to the clip holding in the input shaft on the clutch / flywheel has disintegrated, being a decent chap (strange for Kwik fit staff) he charged me £20 and had the car fixed by the time I finished work on Monday afternoon.

Not done much else since, the car aint looking its best and feel since the incident back in January its lost a lot of appeal for me, the replacement panels are not in as cleaner state as the pre accident ones and let the car down but as its a daily driver then guess it'll do.

One of my main attractions of the car and club was the social element of it but unfortunately 2015 everyone has had their individual issues and with no meets or people interested in meets then I am rapidly loosing interest in Cavmk3oc or Vauxhallcavalier.com (stupid name change) and now I am at more modified car shows with friends who have all types of vehicles and are interested in all aspects of each others cars.

[Mikebmth]

Update:

Not much been going on of late tbh 100% honest just been using the car as intended and turning up at some Southcoast Audio & Skirtz and wheels (facebook groups) shows mixing with the modified familia really..

Have today re-instated the remote locking as my old unit died I managed to pick one up with 2 keys for £30 on the bay of E, Gsi grille now fitted and colour coded finally! (cheers to John) and Hid kit to be fitted for winter use as the headlights are shocking for fast road use..

The car now needs welding again and a hole has appeared in the sill alongside the drivers door but I have the contacts to sort this as soon as possible and will get the lads to get her Mot and winter ready shortly as she is no show queen and doesn't sit in a garage all winter!!

Not much else to add, will be at the Southcoast meet on 11th October which is also my birthday so hoping for decent weather and have invited some Cav mates..

Few pics from the last big clean prior to 3 shows in 2 days!!

[Cavalier342]

See you stole the spot next to the Audi again lol. Looking clean dude, good to see it out and about still, Have to catch up at some point, been a while.

[Mikebmth]

See you stole the spot next to the Audi again lol. Looking clean dude, good to see it out and about still, Have to catch up at some point, been a while.

Indeed it has mate, have to come on over for a few beers or sumin soon!

That is my spot now, old boy who had the Skoda scrapped it and told me I could have his space so Cav now officially lives off road all be it under trees so gets pollen and bird pies thrown at it but better than fighting for spaces out on the street i guess.

***

Quick update

Hid 6000k now fitted too, fed up of not being able to see where I am going so Hids were the only answer really!

Kit cost me about £30 online and took a while to work out fitting but now all done and a vast improvement

[Cavalier342]

Nice, guess it'll be easier to see you coming now before hearing your audio system! lol. Give us a shout if you're free at some point, we'll sort something out.

[Mikebmth]

Lmfao Yeah although if you see me coming before you hear me then it means I have broken something expensive in the boot!!

Cav now running a guesstimate 138db at full tilt, next job is to amp up the front end for staging purposes so be pushing around 120wrms into the competition spec components and its all still hidden in stock locations bar the boot build obviously, neighbours love me when I am setting up for a show

[Mikebmth]

Decisions to be made I am afraid to say....

The poor old Cav has a case of tin worm that is progressing at a rate but fortunately via Facebook and the group I am a member of Skirts and wheels I have found a local mechanic to complete the work much cheaper than any garage would charge, he has quoted me £60 for 2 bits of structural welding at the moment which is a bloody bargain as I have paid upto £50 per weld previously.

Also going to be looking into the replacement of the brake and fuel lines in copper which I already have in my pile of spare parts..

Big decision to make though as the car is due an MOT in January and I find myself looking at Astra Coupes again which are now in my price range or another replacement of the suspension which I stupidly did on a budget using Gmax and its awful, way too hard for road usage and when the roads are wet it is absolutely lethal!!!

See what 2016 brings and i'll post some pics of the welding required in coming days..

[Cavalier342]

Sounds good, nice quote on the welding, once it's done, it's done init.

[Mikebmth]

Another years motoring secured on Saturday morning!!

Not sure it will be another year with me as yet as really fancy a change soon but all be it another Cav still on the road and not rotting, raced or cubed

Did have a few advisories this year:

Rusty fuel line up near tank
Oil leak (bloody rocker gasket again!! - have had atleast 2 a year!!)
Small patch of welding in rear o/s which will be completed by my mechanic friend and Mot tester
ARB bushes corroded
N/s Track rod end rubber split
3 tyres down to 2mm

Nothing too major and nothing I wasn't expecting to be fair, main problems are the driveline now as cut out the other day and struggled to restart it after my dash did a full Christmas tree effect and pretty much every warning light came on, plus a what I believe to be squeaky auxiliary belt that I think is slipping and as they are on auto adjusters on the Cav it shouldn't be so needs looking into.

Trying to decide what to do with her to be honest as at 130k now and showing signs of the driveline getting tired I have considered a engine swap to a Saab lump for some extra Oomph or selling her on to someone who will finish up the jobs, know for sure if I keep her the Gmax suspension will be visiting the bin!! Way too hard for road use around my way so will look into Bilstein B6 I expect to keep the stance about right.

Oh got a new pic or two as well but will post later as bored at work and using my work Pc.....Lol