djgritt Cavalier XEV Track Car Project

[dave's.veccy]

looking good mate

[Paul]

Does look good, indeed!

I would get rid of wooden trim from door cards as well.. Carbon/silver (alu) effect?

[djgritt]

Does look good, indeed!

I would get rid of wooden trim from door cards as well.. Carbon/silver (alu) effect?

Doorcards will be off completely like the Rears, then sprayed the same too - they used to be bare (earlier pics show); but where SWMBO was using car daily, she needed somewhere to store her day to day crap... Plus she had nowhere to rest her arm etc. Bless.

[djgritt]

Harnesses have Finally arrived at home - sod's law - i'm in Germany...

Back in the UK tomorrow, so will be fitting them on Saturday


It's all coming together now...

[Paul]

Id love to see it in metal!

Will it attend PV this year then?

[djgritt]

Id love to see it in metal!

Will it attend PV this year then?

No - PV is tat.

[djgritt]

Harnesses Fitted - Tensioners and Belt Receiver removed also;






Rear Points;




Now just waiting on some items to finish sorting it out Mechanically - then it should be back on the road...

[Gaz]

game on, looking good

[djgritt]

Had a Parcel arrive this week - few bits to get it going again...



An Alternator

These Mirror Covers (Not needed, but will help it look a little tidier - mine are all blistered etc)



And the main item - a Cylinder Head - complete with Valves, Cams etc





The head is to be skimmed, cleaned up, and have the Inlet/Exhaust Ports Polished, as well as the combustion chambers

Unfortunately, one of the Pulleys got obliterated in the Post (you can make it out in the pic - the rearmost one), so i'll need to fit one from the Engine that's in the car - luckily, that's nothing major!

Then its a case of fitting it all - and it SHOULD be all good to go

[Envoy CDX]

progress. hopefully it will run better once all this is done

[Envoy CDX]

progress. hopefully it will run better once all this is done

[djgritt]

Had today off work (also got tomorrow too) so got to work with playing with the new Head;

This is how it was when i started - note the Pulley that was bust due to poor handling by the postal services...




Firstly i removed the Camshafts, and took the Pulleys off, then found that the other had also been damaged beyond repair - oh well, good i have spares that i can rob (the ones on the head in the Car) - this is the state they are in - definitely going in the Bin - also, i polished up the Camshaft Lobes to get the surface rust off, and get them nice and smooth again






I then Polished the faces of the Top of the Head (including the Follower Heads etc), and the Inlet & Exhaust Manifold Ports, i was going to attempt to Port/Polish them, but there doesnt look like much meat that can be removed, so may just leave it (or send it someone who knows exactly what they are doing!) - heres how nice i got the Inlet side looking though;




I also polished as much of the External faces as i could too, here is the EGR side of the Head as an example;




Then i made a start at cleaning up the Bottom face of the head, and also polishing the Combustion Chamber Tops - Here is how i left it today;




I then noticed how pitted and rough the Casting was, so made an attempt at properly Polishing/Smoothing the Chamber/Valve Faces - a comparison;

Pitted;



Smoothed;





I used all of the Wet & Dry paper i had availabale to me today, so will be going back with more tomorrow to finish it off, and also do more to the Interior of the Car

[djgritt]

Got bored this weekend - so decided to make a Vent on the Passenger Headlight - ordered the Scoppy/Funnel Majig, so will finish it fully this week - but, removed the Covers in preparation, seeing as i need to fix the Venty bit to the Cover itself

Covers Removed;





Also, now considering painting the Headlight Covers Black to match the Indicators, not sure though. What do you reckon?



Also, got access to a Valve Spring Compressor, so need to acquire new Valve Stem Seals before i do the Internal Polish on the Head...

[Gaz]

I think it will work doing them black, worth doing one and see how it looks?

[djgritt]

Right, i'll be getting back on this shortly - have the Timing Belt kit, and Head Set now, got some buffing wheels at home for polishing the Head Internals and also got some comedy stickers for the car. Still a fair bit to do though...

[FoxyCav]

look forward to reading more progress on it

[djgritt]

look forward to reading more progress on it

I look forward to actually seeing that some progress has been made by meyself with it, i've been shite about it this year

Still, it will be done this year

[djgritt]

I replaced the buckled Grille Support Panel with a straight one - has improved the front end tenfold IMO as there is no rust on the panel, no gaps around the Headlight bases and under the grille and its straight

Also refitted the Morette Covers, as i couldn't find another scoop/funnel part for the Passenger side - though now i may be ordering 2x Carbon Fibre Funnels for them instead...

Buckled;



Straight & Refitted Morette Covers;




Fitted some Corsa B -40mm Rear Springs too today

How about this for Arch Gap?!;



No pics of it on the Corsa Springs - car needs moving about to settle them, and had put the battery away by then - maybe next weekend...


Got some photos of the latest sticker additions - they're just for fun, well apart from the Combe Silhouette...








Did turn the car around prior to all the photo's - started first time, within 2s of turning the Key - the Ecotec just won't fully die on me


Got on with other stuff though - re-removed the Front doorcards (after having to refit them for SWMBO to use the pockets etc when she was using it last), but removing them reminded me of the shitty Hammerite paintjob i did, so that will be sanded and sprayed Matt Black like the rest once i rob some more cans from Work






Also, removed all remaining Stereo gear, and was left with this;



Couldn't be having that, so went rummaging in the stockpile of Carbon Fibre me and SWMBOs dad have...



That's better


On call next weekend i think, so will have to stay fairly local to home, which means i should be good to start doing more with the Head - won't hold my breath though...

[djgritt]

More Fettling today...


Cylinder head was looking like this before;






So i carried on with the polishing of the Valve Faces/Comb. Chamber tops - managed to get a lot of the pitting out too, but need to do the rest by hand (as well as go over the lot to remove some light scoring) as cant get the rotary flapper in the creasing - this is how i left them;



2x Sets



The other 2x Sets




The head mating face has some light abrasion marks, but will be going off to be skimmed yet

Also, went to start removing the Valves to clean all of them, but the Valve Spring Compressor i had access to wasn't suitable for the XEV Head (No lugs to drop on top of the springs, was for valves that sit pround of the Casting)
So, i need to borrow some from my Mechanic another weekend and crack on, or get him to do it for me... :lmao: