1978 Mk1 Vauxhall Cavalier Saloon.

[Rusted Pistons]

Ok, so I needed a new daily and have been scouring the classifieds since the Jag took it's new owner back to Scotland. I had bought a Citroen Xsara from a friend of a friend as my job/course requires me to have a car and I couldn't do without - this only made it more of a necessity to find something else! I lasted 2 weeks in the Citroen before I found myself exchanging in depth emails with the owner of this Cavalier. A road-trip ensued! My mates V8 Disco provided the transport and we headed off, full of the usual car buying road trip emotions - anticipation, excitement and fear (of it being a rotbox). First stop was to fill the Disco with its favourite drink:




before hitting the road!

After a couple of hours we rocked up at the owners house and there she was waiting to greet us!







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Had a good look around it, in it and under it and was suitably impressed, took it for a spin and handed over the monies!

It's definitely been hit with a somewhat heavy lowering stick, from a great height! Surprisingly though, not via the use of Mr Whizzy, it actually has pretty new looking lowering springs on it although I'd wager the front ones aren't actually supposed to be on a Vauxhall Cavalier due to the minimal travel available! Looks awesome but makes for an interesting experience over potholes/small twigs.

It was running well but the oil looked like melted liquorice and the leads looked like solid plastic - clearly she's not been serviced in a while! It also wasn't warming up so the heater was freezing, the needle staying firmly in the blue section of the dial. I took my new keys, jumped in the Recaro seat and began to wipe all the condensation from the windows using my mates spare fleece... 10 minutes later I pointed it's happy froggy face towards the road home and began to bond with my new ride.

It was raining heavily and with no stereo and wet carpets making the windows steam up, made for an interesting but fun drive, first stop the petrol station:

[slacky]

Sounds like a good one? ;-)
Look forward to the updates .....

[Rusted Pistons]

First things first was to sort the lack of heat - I presumed either the thermostat was seized or missing. Managed to pick one up off the shelf for about £4 along with the rest of the service gear...



whipped the housing off and it was thermostatless! Slightly concerned that this may have been a bodge to stop it overheating I went ahead with it anyway! Cleaned up the surfaces and refitted - jobs a goodun - runs better warmed up properly and the heater's toasty too, should help dry the carpets out a bit!
Better looking temp needle



Love the dials on this - the font of the numbers is ace. I think it has the extra dials because it's a GL?

Cool analogue clock complete with gap where stereo should be:



Definitely overdue a service, the leads came off and stayed exactly the same shape!



nice...



Went to change the plugs....



that's not gonna work! Ordered some more at another place and got the same ones again! Eventually got a set but I haven't fitted them yet, possibly today if I get a chance between Christmas films!

[Rusted Pistons]

She's been recently fully wax-oiled which is handy as I'm gonna be piling the miles on as soon as January arrives, come rain or snow, in my book cars are built to be driven! It's had a pair of Manta wings put on it as the old ones were tired, they aren't quite in keeping with the rest of the body work as they're slightly off shade and have a few scratches but they're solid so kind of give it a nice honest patina. On the whole it's tidy enough and nice and straight. Gave it a good t-cut and wax and removed the rubber mats that kept the damp in.

Post valet..

[Clement]

This looks really cool, especially lowered!! I quite like the low-on-skinny-wheels style.

Well done

[Rusted Pistons]

Cheers matey - yeah pretty pleased with it so far, just swapped the plugs, it was happier with the old ones at first, think they're at one now as it's running sweet again! Tested coolant and it had no antifreeze so just dropped the water and filled her up with antifreeze/water so we're getting there, nearly winter proof. Shame there are no belts in the back, not really a fan of having people in the back with no belts (although perfectly legal) anyone know if it'll have bolt holes for belts?

Just got to collect the air filter, points and condenser from the motor factors (had to order them in for me) and change the oil and filter.

[Clement]

I might sound stupid, but check if it was sold in Sweden or something. I know that because of this, my ex-1964 Cortina had mouting points at least for the front seats, that were used pretty much only in Sweden.

[humbucker]

Nice, love the Mk1s. What are your long term plans? Engine swap on the cards?

[Rusted Pistons]

Cool I'll have a look, long term plans for now are just make it ready for the long commute starting in January. Don't get an awful lot of time to play with cars at the moment so I'll just be maintaining it religiously - reckon a couple of oil changes in the first 1000 miles to shift some of the crud (don't fancy sticking cleaner through, might shift some strategic curse word that's keeping it from leaking!).

Be nice if the ride was a little softer but it'd be a shame to raise it as it looks bad-ass...

[Paul Barrett]

Nice cavvy, had one myself for a bit, my manta 76' doesn't have rear belts either nor all mountings I think, been so long since I checked. Get on the OMOC site and join, someone will know and prob have a set for sale.
Paul

[slackerTHEpinstriper]

This looks proper bad ass, I like it a lot!!!

[spineynorman]

Dec 24, 2013 9:19:24 GMT Rusted Pistons said:

It's definitely been hit with a somewhat heavy lowering stick, from a great height! Surprisingly though, not via the use of Mr Whizzy, it actually has pretty new looking lowering springs on it although I'd wager the front ones aren't actually supposed to be on a Vauxhall Cavalier due to the minimal travel available! Looks awesome but makes for an interesting experience over potholes/small twigs.

My money would be on those being lowering springs meant for a Manta GTE coupe. The Mantas sat slightly lower than the Cavs anyway, so a 40mm kit for a GTE is nearer a 100mm drop for a Cavalier. I had a mk1 Cav Sportshatch a few years ago with Manta GTE 60mm lowering springs on... Uncomfortable, but drove like a go-kart! If you need some more travel the normal way is to chop a section out of the front bump stops or even do away with them altogether.

A lot of Mantas and Cavaliers end up running without a thermostat due to the dash voltage regulators dying. This causes the temp and fuel gauges to read high so people panic and think they're overheating when they're not. This has probably happened to yours at some point in the past, but probably before those Manta clocks were fitted. Yours would have had the standard 3 dial poverty-spec dash when new

Rear belts from a Manta coupe should fit, have a feel around the headlining on the C pillars, you might be able to feel the mounting point but I can't remember if they're present on saloons or not. Finding correct belts will be a serious challenge, personally I wouldn't bother unless you're gonna be carrying young kids often. Also a standard sized modern radio won't fit in the dash as it fouls the heater box, you can either take the heater box out and modify it or get a spacer to fit between dash and head unit. They're not common but I do have a couple spare if you're interested.

Lovely looking car, glad you're enjoying it!

[darrenh]

love it! had a mk2 in this colour, wrong wheel drive though !

[pugmyster]

That looks spot on bud..like how it sits.. fat.n.low.
Should have kept mine when i had it but i was young n daft then..

[dubhighland]

very nice. Love the stance it has.

[adam73bgt]

I don't really look at old vauxhalls much but that cav looks awesome! doesnt look much fun over speed bumps but i'd totally drive that everyday

[Rusted Pistons]

Dec 24, 2013 19:26:23 GMT spineynorman said:

Dec 24, 2013 9:19:24 GMT Rusted Pistons said:

It's definitely been hit with a somewhat heavy lowering stick, from a great height! Surprisingly though, not via the use of Mr Whizzy, it actually has pretty new looking lowering springs on it although I'd wager the front ones aren't actually supposed to be on a Vauxhall Cavalier due to the minimal travel available! Looks awesome but makes for an interesting experience over potholes/small twigs.

My money would be on those being lowering springs meant for a Manta GTE coupe. The Mantas sat slightly lower than the Cavs anyway, so a 40mm kit for a GTE is nearer a 100mm drop for a Cavalier. I had a mk1 Cav Sportshatch a few years ago with Manta GTE 60mm lowering springs on... Uncomfortable, but drove like a go-kart! If you need some more travel the normal way is to chop a section out of the front bump stops or even do away with them altogether.

A lot of Mantas and Cavaliers end up running without a thermostat due to the dash voltage regulators dying. This causes the temp and fuel gauges to read high so people panic and think they're overheating when they're not. This has probably happened to yours at some point in the past, but probably before those Manta clocks were fitted. Yours would have had the standard 3 dial poverty-spec dash when new

Rear belts from a Manta coupe should fit, have a feel around the headlining on the C pillars, you might be able to feel the mounting point but I can't remember if they're present on saloons or not. Finding correct belts will be a serious challenge, personally I wouldn't bother unless you're gonna be carrying young kids often. Also a standard sized modern radio won't fit in the dash as it fouls the heater box, you can either take the heater box out and modify it or get a spacer to fit between dash and head unit. They're not common but I do have a couple spare if you're interested.

Lovely looking car, glad you're enjoying it!

Cheers mate, some great info! I'm tempted to remove the bumpstops but I'm slightly concerned about bottoming the shocks out? Be nice to get a bit more play - bone shaking would be an understatement, not looking forward to Scotty Road on my commute to Ormskirk through Liverpool!

I think I need to get a new rad, the bottom of mine is always wet, I've chucked a bottle of Kseal through and it's done precisely nothing! Other than that though it's been great so far, starts on the button and runs much better even with only half the service complete - should get the rest of the gear later.

[Rusted Pistons]

Just went on a mission to the shops to buy soup and Lucozade (necessities for recovery from the past couple of days) and went on a random little drive about to take pics of the Cav, not done that sort of thing for a while - enjoyable

At the shops, looking low!



On my drive about...





Think I'll be removing the bump-stops to see if I can gain a bit of travel on the suspension in the next couple of days, as well as changing the oil and hopefully getting the last few service bits if the motor factor ever opens again!

[Rusted Pistons]

Dec 25, 2013 23:54:25 GMT adam73bgt said:

I don't really look at old vauxhalls much but that cav looks awesome! doesnt look much fun over speed bumps but i'd totally drive that everyday

Haha, no it's not much fun over speed bumps! Looks cool though ;D gonna have a fiddle with the bump stops to see if I can add a bit of comfort to the ride but I'm not hopeful! It drives like a go-kart though which is good
It runs so much better after a good carb clean, thermostat and half a service - rest of the service should do it wonders!

[darrenh]

valid point about the bump travel on the dampers, the rubber stops might actually be saving you mechanical failure