1981 Chevette Daily - 27/09/13 Update

[PhoenixCapri]

I couldn't help it, the CRX is too reliable and modern to drive, so I had to by something retro to potter around in till the Capris are done.... well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

So what is it, well its a basically standard Chevette GL 4 door - why? Well I've fancied an old Vauxhall for a while simply because its different to the Fords I'm used to. Wasn't really looking for a Chevette more just a solid old Vauxhall and having looked at a few that were not really deserving of the MOT they'd got (somehow) this was the first that wasn't over priced, I could use without having to rebuild first and I've got to say I'm pretty happy. She's not perfect by any means, the paint has had it some of the wiring is a bit untidy, and the engine mounts have totally had it. But she runs pretty well (though the cooling system needs a full flush and service) and the interior is very good.

Enough words have some photos

As bought


Some bloke who does music I believe...


Very period blue check interior (best bit of the car)


Worst of the paint (lacquer has totally died and flaked off)


And as she stands today, wearing my winter wheels because the tyres it had were very close to the limit




So what are the plans? Use it is the main one, but other than that it'll be paint, wheels and maybe a little bit of lowers. Plus some new engine mounts and a few other bits of refreshing (brakes etc).

On the wheel front, here are the current options

Mims


Can't have these as they're going on Lauren's capri, but they fit perfectly so I know the fitment I need

Generic 5 spokes


Boring really, plus the offset is all wrong so would need spacers

Torque Thrusts


These are what I'd like to fit, but and it's a big but, the tyres are far too big and they need adaptors, which I have except they're designed for hubs that use bolts not studs like the Chevette, thus it's going to be a pretty big job to get them on, which is a real shame. Plus they'd need arch extensions, which I wouldn't mind at all. These will stay as a maybe while I think of another way to get them to fit well.

Which leaves me with no wheels lying around I want to use, which wasn't expected! Sure I'll find something soon though

Paint wise, well the silver is a bit unusual for an early 80's retro, but rather boring. So I'm looking into yellows/greens/blues, anything that goes with the interior basically so watch this space on that front

[Mark]

Looks cool! You know Jay Kay?

[darrenh]

May 5, 2013 11:30:16 GMT Mark said:

Looks cool! You know Jay Kay?

bet he was tripping the light fantastic to have a go in a chevette

[PhoenixCapri]

Cheers guys, and no the previous owner was driving down the road one day and was flagged down by a car enthusiast who just happened to be Jay Kay, lol. Always nice to buy a car with stories ;D

Sent from my GT-I9100P using proboards

[foldy]

Very nice.

[luckygti]

Another cool addition to the fleet. Massive fan of the torque thrusts, always fancied a set for my T3 and have been looking...... Sure it's going to turn out lovely if the other cars are anything to go by

[PhoenixCapri]

So a few weeks on and not a lot has happened so far due to the loss of a close family member, but never fear life goes on and she's just about back together. Why is it that stuff happens just after you've taken a car to bits? And yes I know I wasn't going to take it to bits, but it was only the cooling system and some wiring..... lol

So what's been done? Well the engine bay wiring is all tidied up, the rad fan is on the back of the rad rather than the front (hopefully it'll stop it getting a bit warm at motorway speeds)and the cooling system has been flushed out (wasn't too bad actually) and I popped a new thermostat in because it didn't seem to be warming up that quick. But is it back on the road yet? well no I'm rebuilding the carb first - yeh I know it worked fine, but well I've decided it could work better at this point its bound to all backfire and it'll be worse when I'm done, but nothing ventured nothing gained! Basically the needle and jet have ovalised so it's either really rich at idle and ok in the mid range, or spot on at idle and weak everywhere else. A full rebuild kit plus some extra bits should turn up next week, from Burlen fuel systems (very helpful guys if you need SU/Zenith bits) so hopefully it'll be done then - better be as Lauren is stealing the CRX!

In other news I've gone wheel crazy and now have 5 sets of 4x100 wheels! Not sure I know which to go with yet, but I think these will be going on:



But expect them to be bright ;D

[PhoenixCapri]

So I've actually been getting on with some proper work on the Chevette, which has been really enjoyable. So nice to do a bit of work on a retro that I can drive afterwards!

First up I've rebuilt the carb, changed a few seals popped in some new spark plugs and leads and I'm happy to report she's running pretty damn well, not perfect, but not far off. The engine mounts definitely need doing, and sadly I can't seem to find original parts, so I've found some rubber bobbins or the right size in a 60 Shore rubber that should be about right, though they might be on the stiff side, so we'll see. Painted up the rocker cover too so its starting to look a bit tidier under the bonnet now



Now for the more exciting news, I've been playing around in here -



and here



Blimey it's easy to get the springs out of a Chevette! Not a spring compressor in sight. I counted 3 fixings a corner to drop the springs out, plus loosening a few more so that the bushes could be resettled. And here are the results

Before:


and After:


Came out pretty well I'd say, for those who might be thinking of doing it themselves and want something to work from, that's 1.5 coils off the front and 2 off the closer spaced coils on the rear springs (the softer side). Handling wise it certainly corners flatter, and still rides pretty well, though the primary ride is now a bit under damped, but since the dampers look pretty new I'm not going to rush to splash the cash on any more. Got to say I'm happy, done mostly for looks but it's always nice to make some areas better without ruining others. And the best news of all is that the car is properly solid, and basically every fixing came undone without a problem! (amazing if you're used to old Fords )

What else, well on Sunday I had a second pair of hands from Alex (alex1380) and to make the most of the lovely sunshine we set about popping on a cherry bomb on I had lying around on - the aim wasn't to make it loud, only a bit, well, fuller sounding. And with more luck than judgement that's what we got, which is nice, plus it looks quite a bit nicer Sadly the manifold is still leaking, so it's a bit tappy sounding but I've got some new gaskets on the way so son enough that'll be sorted too.



And finally, to finish of the looks department, wheels. Yes I know I've already covered that but well it turns out I've been a numpty (it happens a lot!) and while I was sold them as being 4x100, they're actually 4x108s but on the up side I've found another set of Mims that are already gloss black with good tyres which I'll hopefully have soon, which means the other ones are available - yay! Problem is that now it's lower the likelihood of them fouling seemed pretty high, so I popped a tyre on one this evening to check how they sat

Front = perfect


Rear = perfect - I do love it when a plan comes together (even when there was no real plan at all!)


Some further away shots


Plan is to get the tyres swapped on this week, can't wait to get it looking nicer ;D

That's about it for now. Next up some drop links, lower front ball joints (all shown up while doing the springs) a new choke cable, and a few other bits

[Alex1380]

Glad the mims with the tyres on, wheels really suit it especially the red.

[PhoenixCapri]

Yeh they don't look bad do they, all the tyres are on now so just need to drop them off for balancing tomorrow hopefully.

In other news, I hate sorting out years of DIY wiring.... Spotted some wires that I had no idea what they did (and still don't) with twisted un-soldered connections and ended up pulling out a few wires here and there and having to rewire all the stereo feeds since in my rummaging, the poor connections on them broke down, not what I was planning to spend the evening doing, but all sorted now. Even found out why the alternator was rattling, the bolt had sheared, but not dropped out - very odd!

[PhoenixCapri]

Not a big update, but the wheels are on and it's sitting ever better than I'd hoped

[Davenger]

Looking good!

[timmy201]

I love the Rials... Wish I never sold mine!

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

Looking good but when you said you want wheels to match the interior I was hoping you'd have a tartan pattern airbrushed on.

[markgenesis]

That looks ace

[PhoenixCapri]

Jun 8, 2013 7:01:33 GMT fr€$h&m1nt¥ said:

Looking good but when you said you want wheels to match the interior I was hoping you'd have a tartan pattern airbrushed on.

Now there's an idea! (goes looking for tartan vinyl wrap....)

[PhoenixCapri]

So been a while! So what have I been upto on this one then - well until the last week not a lot more than filling it with fuel and driving it about which has been pretty enjoyable ok, except needing a jump one morning...

The fueling has never been right on the solex, even after the rebuild. The basic issue seemed to be that it was lean everywhere when the idle mixture was right, which made the solution pretty easy - take the jet out pop it in the pillar drill and use a little sand paper to re-profile it a bit! Simples. Actually it could go massively wrong but I got lucky and it seems to work great, which was a nice change.

On top of that I've been getting on with sorting out a few of the bits an pieces that have needed doing since I got the car.

First up was the front brakes - they weren't exactly working as best they could


And sorted, gave me chance to re-grease the hubs as well - always find it odd how solid old grease goes.


Then came some new lower ball joints, which was surprisingly easy. Still kind of shocked by how easy actually.

Next up was a job I've been putting off for a while, the engine mounts. The front right engine mount has been degrading for a while and this week it finally gave up the ghost and things got bit rattly! Plus the exhaust manifold was leaking pretty badly so I thought, what the heck I'll do it all in one go - how hard can that be! Sadly Chevette mounts don't seem to exist any more, so I found these instead - 55 shore and an M10 thread to bolt into the existing weld nuts, perfect (Think they're actually from a canal boat manufacturer!)



Why is it that these jobs always turn into a pain in the bum? All I wanted was some more access to the mount...



Anyway, turns out the mounts aren't too easy to just turn out - so in the end it came down to burning/tearing the rubber to bits and welding on a bolt to get a spanner on. If only I had the special thin wall 50mm(ish) socket designed for the job. All sounds easy now, took me ages... but in the end I got there. So much better now.



Next came the exhaust, a handy tip for anyone - if you need to take exhaust bolts out that look like they're going to be a right pain and snap, get a candle and melt some wax onto them a few times before you need to take them out. The paraffin gets into the thread and amazingly they come out without a problem (I was amazed it was that easy). Decided that since the carb sits above the exhaust and gets really (like stupidly) hot a bit of wrap wouldn't go a miss either.

Like so



Got to say with all this done, it's like a different car. Quieter, faster and much much smoother plus the carb is a massive amount cooler and the engine seems to be running a bit less hot too which is a nice bonus. Almost worth not getting to bed until the early hours for!

Next up is to get somewhere with the tartan wheels (oh yes there is a plan!)

[markbognor]

Sept 27, 2013 22:10:10 GMT PhoenixCapri said:

Next up is to get somewhere with the tartan wheels (oh yes there is a plan!)

This?

[PhoenixCapri]

Would be an awesome idea, and work far better than what I'm going to do - damn! But it should still look good fingers crossed. I'll take some pics tomorrow

[monkeep]

Glad to hear it is running a bit better :-) re-profiling needles is always a bit dodgy but sounds like you've had a bit of luck!! :-)

Looking forwards to seeing what the wheels turn out like...