1977 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6 GL

[VW]

Did you seal the glass to the rubber?
Rubber to metal?
Or are you doing one, or both, of those after fitting?

I have this job to do soon. I was going to seal rubber to glass then put a bead of sealant in the frame before fitting but you fitted before sealing?

Ive not used sealant on window rubbers in the past so I'm unsure how ill go about it.

[sleag40]

Jul 10, 2016 15:13:25 GMT VW said:

Did you seal the glass to the rubber?
Rubber to metal?
Or are you doing one, or both, of those after fitting?

I have this job to do soon. I was going to seal rubber to glass then put a bead of sealant in the frame before fitting but you fitted before sealing?

Ive not used sealant on window rubbers in the past so I'm unsure how ill go about it.

Its suggested in the dealership manual that sealant should be applied to the window aperture before the screen is fitted, then sealant should be applied to the glazing channel after the screen is fitted.
I've found that putting sealant in the window aperture usually ends up with a load of it getting inside the car, making a mess of your headlining. I fitted the glass/rubber first, then put sealant in the glass side, then body side, before fitting the chrome trim. All the sealant that gets splurged out can then easily be cleaned off the glass and bodywork.
Hope this helps.

The wax is on, the masking removed - its all ready for me to get the engine and transmission back in. Apart from not having an engine crane. This will hopefully be sorted tomorrow!





My "working underneath cars" light makes it look very brown under there. It looks just as black as the shot of the passenger compartment floor with less harsh lighting. I'll get some decent pics of the underside when I get it on a ramp at some point.

[VW]

Thanks.
Ill add the sealer after fitting then.

[sleag40]

Jul 10, 2016 18:40:37 GMT VW said:

Thanks.
Ill add the sealer after fitting then.

No probs!

Slowly but surely, the pile of junk in my dining room is getting whittled down. The latest pieces to leave the house were the heating/ventilation stuff that goes under the dashboard.



Hopefully this trend will accelerate in the next couple of weeks.

[sleag40]

After going to get an engine crane, I finally made a start on getting the engine and gearbox back in. There was nobody around to help, which is strange for a Monday, but I got stuck in anyway.
The hardest part was getting the engine from next to the car, to underneath the car. The engine and gearbox were sat on their cross member, on carpet underlay. The car was on stands with its nose in the air - I just needed to slide the lot underneath. Definitely easier said than done! It took a fair old time to drag/man handle it in position to get the crane attached to then lift it into position. Later on, the height of the front end caused an issue of running out of jack lift on the gearbox. It was sorted by putting the jack on some wooden blocks to give me the amount of lift required to do up the gearbox mount. It all worked out in the end, and no harm came to paint or person.

[mbheather]

Am mightily impressed with the amount of care and attention this car is getting.

I had 2.0GL when I was a student and I have to say it was probably the most reliable car I have ever owned. The only 'breakdown' I remember was when the engine developed a terrible noise and started running funny. Taking off the rocker cover I discovered one of the rocker studs had unwound itself so that valve was no longer operating. Not really knowing what I was doing I just tightened the stud back up as the engine was still running. It chuffed a bit as the hydraulic tappet reset it self, then was business as usual, amazing!

If I had to get picky the heater was rubbish and front brake pads only lasted 3k miles. That could have been my driving style though. Ah happy days!

[sleag40]

Jul 11, 2016 17:48:09 GMT mbheather said:

Am mightily impressed with the amount of care and attention this car is getting.

I had 2.0GL when I was a student and I have to say it was probably the most reliable car I have ever owned. The only 'breakdown' I remember was when the engine developed a terrible noise and started running funny. Taking off the rocker cover I discovered one of the rocker studs had unwound itself so that valve was no longer operating. Not really knowing what I was doing I just tightened the stud back up as the engine was still running. It chuffed a bit as the hydraulic tappet reset it self, then was business as usual, amazing!

If I had to get picky the heater was rubbish and front brake pads only lasted 3k miles. That could have been my driving style though. Ah happy days!

Many thanks! I agree about the heater - its pretty poor!

Went back for a short stint this evening for some light fettling - all the wiring for the engine is now connected, the earth strap is on, vacuum hose plugged in, and throttle cable fitted and adjusted.





It was a most pleasant couple of hours (most of it spent gassing!) compared to the wrestling marathon earlier on.

[sleag40]

More stuff done today, the flash on my phone has stopped working though, so most of the pics I took are no good.
The front to rear brake line went in first, closely followed by the prop shaft. Next up, the speedo and clutch cables were fitted, then the choke cable that came with the Weber carburettor conversion.



The steering rack and cross member braces were next up, and after struggling for a while trying to fit the universal joint to the end of the steering column, my mate who lent me the engine crane appeared. With me pulling the column upwards + my mate wiggling the joint, it was done immediately. Some jobs just can't be done alone!



Hopefully decent pictures will be taken with a camera from tomorrow.

[sleag40]

Refurbished callipers came back from Bigg Red this morning. Excellent service!

[darrenh]

time sapping small jobs but cumulatively will make the car stand out a mile due to attention to detail !

Jun 30, 2016 17:35:07 GMT sleag40 said:

This appeared in my unit today

i triumphantly googled images of facel vega just to confirm i was right, denied !

bristol 3 litre ?

[samta22]

Try Alvis 3 litre

[sleag40]

Jul 13, 2016 10:20:25 GMT darrenh said:

time sapping small jobs but cumulatively will make the car stand out a mile due to attention to detail !

Jun 30, 2016 17:35:07 GMT sleag40 said:

This appeared in my unit today

i triumphantly googled images of facel vega just to confirm i was right, denied !

bristol 3 litre ?

Jul 13, 2016 13:20:43 GMT samta22 said:

Try Alvis 3 litre

It was definitely an Alvis, no idea what engine was in it though!

Today started off by fitting the gearstick - what a faff! To get the e clip onto the pin would have been easy with three hands, but in the end a bit of contortionism got the job done.
The exhaust was next on the list, I've ditched the standard downpipe bolts and used Allen headed bolts instead. I have some super long Allen bits which make this job a lot easier.



The middle section was awkward to fit with the car being on the deck at the back, but I didn't want to risk jacking it up while the engine laden front end was so high on axle stands.



The back box was incredibly easy though!



A mate from work showed up for a look - and was instantly roped in to give me a hand holding the doors up while I knocked the hinge pins in.





Both passenger side doors, and the drivers side rear one were pretty easy. I'd bought some new hinge pins for the drivers door as the original ones were worn, they're like big roll pins to look at. This caused a bit of a problem as the new ones didn't fit in the holes - they needed their splits closing up before they'd go in. This involved a bit of hammer and vice action as they're made from a very hard steel! By the time I'd driven the new pins in, then removed them again to ensure they would work as they should, my mate had escaped. Fortunately, a short time later, someone else came for a look - the last door would go on today after all.



The lower part of the new door fits really well, but the window frame seems to sit a little too far forward. I'll have a go at fettling it another day though.

[nualfaman]

I have just stumbled on this forum tonight and just read this fascinating thread as it pretty much mirrors what I am doing to a 1990 Alfa Romeo 33, albeit I have no lock up / unit just a standard modern garage (to small to get a car in and work on it) so doing it all pretty much on my drive.
You are doing a fantastic job and going to great detail which always helps when reading such threads. Love the car and the colour and great to see it kept original too.
Being a little ahead of where I am with mine I am taking inspiration from this as well as tips to help me on my own project.
Well done and I will be following this to the end.

[sleag40]

Jul 13, 2016 20:29:12 GMT nualfaman said:

I have just stumbled on this forum tonight and just read this fascinating thread as it pretty much mirrors what I am doing to a 1990 Alfa Romeo 33, albeit I have no lock up / unit just a standard modern garage (to small to get a car in and work on it) so doing it all pretty much on my drive.
You are doing a fantastic job and going to great detail which always helps when reading such threads. Love the car and the colour and great to see it kept original too.
Being a little ahead of where I am with mine I am taking inspiration from this as well as tips to help me on my own project.
Well done and I will be following this to the end.

Many thanks! I do like a 33 - about 20 years ago a bloke at work had a white one on a J plate. It had a "permanent 4" badge on the back - I presume it was 4 wheel drive? I don't know a great deal about them. It replaced a G plate cloverleaf in black. I'd get one if I had the space!

[darrenh]

getting car shaped again !!

ive spent fair few hours laying under vauxhalls trying to undo exhaust bolts with decades of rust and thousands of heat cycles under their belt. that + added joy of stripped out allen heads i think will be the end of your, or the next owner !

thats allot of assumptions though, guess it will be low use relatively cosseted after this thorough resto ?

[sleag40]

Jul 15, 2016 10:56:43 GMT darrenh said:

getting car shaped again !!

ive spent fair few hours laying under vauxhalls trying to undo exhaust bolts with decades of rust and thousands of heat cycles under their belt. that + added joy of stripped out allen heads i think will be the end of your, or the next owner !

thats allot of assumptions though, guess it will be low use relatively cosseted after this thorough resto ?

It's definitely gonna be cosseted, but even so, we use these bolts at work in high heat applications, and I've not managed to round one yet. That's one reason to use them - the other is that they were free.

Dash top panel was fitted next.



The fiddly bit was next, heater control cables were a bit of a faff, but were easier than I thought they were going to be!



The binnacle cover, lower switches, and column shroud on.



And finally, the lower dash panels and steering wheel.



Now the dash was in, I could mount the choke knob.



I routed the cable through an unused grommet in the bulkhead, just above the servo. I think it's where the kickdown cable goes on an automatic.

[sleag40]

Not much to report today - just treated the insides of the doors, sills and A-posts with cavity wax. Then left to do some chores.

[cavboy80]

Absolutely stunning, this is for certain going to be one of the best Mk1's out there once finished. Good progress and looking forward to seeing it completed.

[sleag40]

Jul 16, 2016 20:07:30 GMT cavboy80 said:

Absolutely stunning, this is for certain going to be one of the best Mk1's out there once finished. Good progress and looking forward to seeing it completed.

Cheers Jason! I'd like to think it'll be one of the nicer ones - I'm doing my best!

Well, my spring compressor was completed this morning, it does look just like a proper one!



In practice, it wasn't nearly as straightforward as I was hoping though. It took many attempts at compressing, offering the arm/spring up to the car, then unwinding it, repositioning the tool and trying again until it was right for fitting.



Finally, after several hours of trial and error, it was in!





All the paint remains intact, although the same can't be said about my head, so I finished the day off by fitting the disc/hub, calliper and brake hose.



Hopefully the other side will be a lot quicker now I know where exactly to position the tool.
It would have been a lot easier if I wasn't bothered about ruining the paint - I think there might be something wrong with me!

[sleag40]

As my spring compressor broke whilst trying to do the other side, I got on with other stuff while the mk2 version is being crafted. It was ridiculously hot in the unit today - 32 degrees outside - so an easy task was chosen.
Starting with this



I attached the door membranes with a bead of black silicone sealant, as I couldn't find any of that silly putty stuff used originally. The finished job looked identical though, but I forgot to take a picture!

The door cards went on with new door pull surrounds (thanks to a man called Peter!) The cards are pretty grubby from storage, but they'll clean up nicely when I get the car away from the unit.







Bought a new battery, and some 20/50 oil today too - as soon as I get it on four wheels I'm gonna run her up!