First of all, I'm sorry on two counts. I'm sorry that it's been over a year since I've updated this WIP and I'm sorry this update is going to be very long and very photo heavy!
This update starts back in March when I was first thinking about taking the old girl out of hibernation for the warmer half of the year.
One of the things I've been meaning to do for a long time was get the fuel injector sonically cleaned. I had just had them cleaned on the Diplomat at the time which had made a huge difference to the smoothness of that car, and thought I could get similar results on the LS.
So off came the 'top hat' and the injector which was then sent off to Injectortune to be cleaned.
If anyone is considering getting their injectors cleaned I thoroughly recommend Injectortune. I've used them a few times now and they always have a quick turn around and they give you a really good run down of the results.
As you can see though, this injector, despite 204,000 miles of service under it's belt, really didn't need cleaning. Must be all that super unleaded it's had over the last few years!
At least the spray pattern was marginally improved.
To be honest, after that not much happened for a few months as other things took priority.
It wasn't until the MOT was nearly due in June that I got my arse in gear and finally fitted the thing.
By this point the car had not been ran since our holiday to Wales in September (more on that later...)
That's nearly 9 moths of standing still
At least it was tucked away in the garage:
As you might expect, the battery was flatter than a skydiver that forgot his parachute!
After so may deep cycles of the battery being used so infrequently, it was no longer holding any charge.
So a quick visit to my local Vauxhall dealer later and I got myself a slightly oversized 55Ah Vauxhall trade club battery for just £40! Luckily they were having a sale on top of their already low prices.
While I was removing the injector, I also noticed a couple of other things that weren't quite right.
Firstly one of the breather hoses to the top hat was broken:
And the seal around the injector's electric connection had turned to liquorice:
Solution: £2 on genuine parts search a new breather hose connector:
And under a £1 on eBay for one of these...
...which kindly donated it's rubber seal to the LS's injector connection:
It was then finally time to put this back in it's proper place...
After that it started up first turn of the key!
Despite bing very dusty, it didn't look too bad either, considering it hadn't been washed in the best part of a year!
Gave everything a once over and decided to give her a quick service, despite only doing a few thousand miles since it's last one....
... the state of this air filter swayed me into thinking that it was probably a good idea:
It was then time for its MOT...
... which it failed
All signs pointed towards a bad catalytic converter which I wasn't too unhappy about as I have been looking for an excuse to replace the poppy old quick fit supplied system for quite some time.
Some of the exhaust components were actually the wrong size (1.8 mid silencer) and I'm pretty sure the Cat was a non type approved part.
The back box wasn't much to look at either:
Luckily, I've been stockpiling genuine exhaust components for some time and the only thing I didn't have spare was a catalytic converter.
I initially tried to order a type-approved part from ECC exhausts. I even messaged the seller beforehand to double check what I was getting but the part that arrived was not type approved!
I queried the seller and all they had to say was that the type-approved part wasn't available any more, thanks for telling me!!!
Anyway, here are all the exhaust components that I had ready to go on. The pictures also include the non-type approved cat which was sent back for a refund:
Genuine GM back box:
Genuine GM mid silencer:
Down pipe made by Klarius:
GM gaskets and ECC cat fitting kit:
Complete system:
One of the other advisories on the MOT was a track rod end dust cover.
On closer inspection there was actually quite a lot of play in the joint and it needed replacement.
These are notorious for seizing up and being rather difficult to remove. Luckily all the track rod components are still manufactured and are widely available so I thought I'd replace the whole lot while this is still the case and get the tracking properly aligned at the same time.
Lovely Febi goodness:
Failing to find a decent quality catalytic converter, I decided to get one made up in stainless steel at the Hastings exhaust centre. They had made exhaust sections for me before, namely the V6's mid silencer and knew they would do a good job.
So it was off to Hastings to get everything fitted:
Everything was fitted really well, the exhaust looks ace and the new track rods made a surprising difference to the feel of the steering; it feels much more precise:
Just to make sure it got through, I decided to fit a new ignition coil and ignition module which I had in my spares.
I bought these a while ago when I noticed that the wrong part was fitted. According to EPC4, the coil should have the ident 'XE' whearas the one fitted had ident 'WR'
Genuine GM ignition module and Bosch coil:
New and old:
Fitted:
It was then time for the MOT re-test...
Hurrah!!
The emissions results were probably the best I've seen on any of my cars too:
After getting that over with, it was time to start thinking about the show season.
I'd noticed that the rear anti-roll bar bushes were really quite bad and wanted them replaced before I went on any long journeys:
Again I had some new ones in the bottomless pit of parts that my parents garage has now become:
When it came to fitting them, I found they were in a lot worse condition than I thought and the bar disintegrated when I removed them!
It's doubtful that the bar was operating at all given the state it was in:
I had to call my mechanic John, who came round and fixed the old bar by welding on new metal:
Actually having a working anti-roll bar has made the world of difference; she feels much more stable around corners than ever before.
It's surprising how much difference it makes considering the type of compound crank suspension Cavaliers have.
One last little job was the battery plate that was looking very tired:
This was wire brushed, painted with hydrate-80 and given a coat of Hammerite metal paint:
After giving the ol' girl a proper wash, she was treated to a full coat of wax:
before:
during:
after:
Phew!
After all of that she was finally ready for VBOA...
both curtsey of LowriderDave.
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