1977 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6 GL

[sleag40]

Now the grey bits have been rubbed down, I've been preparing to spray the stone chip paint.





Something to look forward to for the weekend - just hope I don't end up wearing too much of it.

[sleag40]

Stone chip paint arrived.



Removed the front to rear brake line and cleaned it up - its in pretty good nick. I do have a kunifer pipe made up to replace it, but I need to remove the rubber sleeves from the old one to go onto the new one. I also need to paint it black!

[darrenh]

good stuff! are they sized to screw underneath a standard schutz gun ?

[sleag40]

Mar 10, 2016 12:54:54 GMT darrenh said:

good stuff! are they sized to screw underneath a standard schutz gun ?

Indeed!

[sleag40]

I thought it was about time that I made a start on the last of the filthy clean ups -





Ran out of time to get any further, but the plan is to clean and paint it, fit new gaskets and seals, replace the water pump, fuel pump, clutch, thermostat + carburettor. Should be a pleasant job once all the muck has gone!

[sleag40]

The stone chip is on -











I only ended up wearing a small amount of it, and fortunately it comes off with thinners.

[mk2polobloke]

As usual that looks fantastic.
The CIH isn't a "pretty" engine at the best of times mainly due to being non crossflow unit. However I'm sure it'll look its absolute best once you have finished with it.
Keep going mate, this is gonna be superb once its finished.

[sleag40]

Mar 12, 2016 19:17:51 GMT mk2polobloke said:

As usual that looks fantastic.
The CIH isn't a "pretty" engine at the best of times mainly due to being non crossflow unit. However I'm sure it'll look its absolute best once you have finished with it.
Keep going mate, this is gonna be superb once its finished.

Cheers! I'm gonna do my best

Recently I've been inspecting the underside, and found a couple of areas that need resealing.
The first for the treatment was the offside rear chassis leg adjacent to the spring seat. There was a little rust on the seam, so it was cleaned back to reveal the extent of it.

After degreasing -



After metal prep solution and first coat of the grey stuff -



Two more coats were applied, so after a light rubbing down, it can be stone chipped. There are two small areas where the sealant has been damaged on the chassis rails under the front seat area - it must be fairly recent as it isn't rusty, but these will get the same treatment.

[sleag40]

Had another day away from this today, but good stuff happened! I'd planned to get my exterior paint sorted yesterday, but it didn't happen. This afternoon I took my fuel flap to a top bloke in Stoke, who matched me up some paint, and supplied some epoxy primer.



It always feels like a milestone has been passed when I have my paint.

When I got back home, the dizzy cap, rotor arm, points and condenser bought off of ebay (for a whopping 10 queenheads) had arrived.



Work is getting in the way of this for a couple of days now, but should be back on it on Sunday.

[sleag40]

Got an unexpected bit of time on this today - I've finally made a start on cleaning 40 years worth of filth off the engine!







Just scraped the worst of the oily muck off for now, it should hopefully be getting steamed off once I get some TFR.

My brake lines have now been painted too.





Next job on the list is to get the back axle and suspension back on. With this done, it can be wheeled over the yard to get the engine bay painted.

[sleag40]

A recent introduction to a panel beater type bloke has yielded a solution to my dented bodywork. He's just handed his notice in at work, and has a free week. I've been removing paint from the dented areas in preparation



In other news, my rear axle is now back where it belongs -





Three click handbrake too - must be on a roll!

[sleag40]

Metal finisher Jim has been at this today -

Near side rear door done-



Rear quarter done -



Near side front door not quite finished yet -



Both wings, and new old stock drivers door will hopefully be fettled tomorrow.

[sleag40]

Metal finisher Jim finished his magic on my panels today - the new old stock door had taken a bit of a beating during its long period of storage, but now filler won't be needed.



The drivers side wing was pretty good to start with - just a storage dent on the side, a dent on the top at the front, and a welded up aerial hole at the back. Some badge holes have been welded up too. (the wing came off a Manta)



The passenger side wing had taken a knock where the bumper had been pushed into it, but all good now. The upper rear of the wing looked really good, but I found out it wasn't so good when I cleaned the back of all paint and sealant. It was like a topographical model of the Alps. Someone in the distant past had "repaired" it by belting with what looked to have been a pickaxe, then applying a large amount of filler. It did look good though! My man did his best for many hours, and now only a very small amount of filler will be required along the back edge to make it good.



A bit more work was done on the rear quarter, so just the unpleasant task of stripping all the rest of the paint off remains before it can have its shiny new coat.

[mk2polobloke]

So you're gonna bare metal the whole of the outside?
This'll be absolutely mint once it's finished, I for one can't wait to see it finished.
Keep up the excellent work.

[darrenh]

looks like a mixture of hammers, dollies, slappers and panel file? proper old school!

[sleag40]

Mar 23, 2016 21:36:16 GMT mk2polobloke said:

So you're gonna bare metal the whole of the outside?
This'll be absolutely mint once it's finished, I for one can't wait to see it finished.
Keep up the excellent work.

Cheers Richard! Yeah - there's micro blistering on the roof, C pillars and boot, plus a couple of other spots, so it's all coming off.

Mar 24, 2016 10:28:11 GMT darrenh said:

looks like a mixture of hammers, dollies, slappers and panel file? proper old school!

Correct! This dying art was performed by a lad in his twenties, it's good to see skills like these passed on to keep them alive.

[sleag40]

Most of today was spent cleaning the backs of the newly straightened wings.





90% of the paint and rust was buzzed off quickly with a poly abrasive disc, the fiddly bits that couldn't be reached with that took a LOT longer with a drill and assorted attachments.
After a tickle of Mig to sort out a small crack in the nearside one, they'll get treated with the grey stuff.

[sleag40]

After several hours, it's still rank! It does look better, but it's nowhere near clean enough to paint.





Gonna try good old fashioned brillo pads next.

[sal]

I've had very good results degreasing engines with petrol and a paintbrush.

Great progress btw.

[sleag40]

Mar 26, 2016 18:48:14 GMT sal said:

I've had very good results degreasing engines with petrol and a paintbrush.

Great progress btw.

Cheers! Petrol sounds like a good call - I'll try that too!