1988 Mk2 Cavalier 1.8GLi

[sleag40]

Thanks to a gratefully received gift from the bloke who sold me my mk1, I am now the proud owner of a Cavalier mk2 to go with it.
Pictured here on inspection at the weekend.





Comedy repair work to both rear arches, sills and rear valance



I duly accepted the challenge, and returned the next day to collect it before he changed his mind.

My mate Big Steve did the honours driving it back in the curse word rain, and soon enough it was drying off in my unit.





I want to do up one of my Lambrettas first, but it'll give me some time to find some repair panels before I get stuck in.

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

In for updates. Hope it ends up as good as the mk1

[goingfinn]

Looking forward to seeing this one get some attention as I've quite a soft spot for a mk2. If your Mk1 is anything to go by, it will be stunning by the end.

[Rob M]

Ah, the MK2, the best model Cavalier Vauxhall made IMHO.
I had 2.0 CDi saloon on an E plate back in 95, a fabulously capable car, swift, comfortable and handling that is still as good as anything made now. Id love another!
I shall follow with great interest.

[sleag40]

Had a good look underneath earlier, and it's good news! The spring cups on the rear chassis legs have been replaced, and a small patch has been put in the back of the inner sill on both sides. Nothing else requiring attention has been spotted, but the welding looks like it was done with a stick. It's all hammer proof, but I'll most likely tidy up the welds so that they won't be obvious. The rest of the underside appears to be in really good nick - just a few bits of light surface rust.

The wobbed up rear valance



Offside rear corner - arch repair section plonked over the top and wobbed up.



Nearside rear corner - similar 'repairs" to the offside - but with even more wob.



The rear half of both outer sills done in the same style as the arches - repair panel tacked over the original one, followed by lashings of wob.

[79cord]

Previous repairs do look alarming, but hopefully kept it from being scrapped long enough for it to be better appreciated.

[sleag40]

Dec 16, 2016 21:47:03 GMT 79cord said:

Previous repairs do look alarming, but hopefully kept it from being scrapped long enough for it to be better appreciated.

Indeed - it's no longer in any danger of being bridged.

The interior is in fine fettle, sadly the camera flash makes the velour of the seats and door cards look a washed out grey - they're blue in real life!



Seats are tidy





Sunroof works well, and doesn't appear to leak



Behold! The mighty donk - its very quiet, doesn't smoke, and apart from a bit of a stutter at about 2000rpm under load, it pulls well.

[madwelshman]

I had an 88 Cav 1.6 LX hatch and I loved that car. Even though it was a carb model with the sliding type twin choke, it went REALLY well. Typically, the rust bug got it's teeth into it and when it failed MOT, it had to go as I didn't have anywhere to repair it (plus it was quite bad)

Looking forward to your updates when you make a start on this one.

Bookmarked

[mk2polobloke]

Nice purchase Steve. My dad bought a white 1.8 GLi back in '91 on an F plate, it was a very comfortable car and went quite well too.
It's a shame the previous owner didn't look after this like he did the Mk1 cause that was bodge free IIRC?
So how far are you gonna go with this one? I assume it'll all be properly repaired and a full respray? I do hope so, I always enjoy following your builds.
Cheers, Rich.

[vader]

Nice, I think I've only ever been in one MK2 cave in around 1981, I think it was a brand new X reg my brother rented to take me to the radio 1 roadshow in Ryl.

I like the MK2 but your MK1 is a lovely looking car, well done you must be over the moon with it.

[datsundrew]

Good to see some love. We had a fleet of 15 or do as company cars, I always thought they were such a great car.....WAY better that the equivalent sierras at the time. They were so revvy and being company cars would Rev far higher than any privately owned model.
And then there was the astramax 1.6 we had, Vauxhall didn't make them in 1.6 for long,
I think they were ordered to only do 1.3 or diesel as none of the top end sports cars could keep up. 😂😂

[sleag40]

Dec 17, 2016 22:20:01 GMT mk2polobloke said:

Nice purchase Steve. My dad bought a white 1.8 GLi back in '91 on an F plate, it was a very comfortable car and went quite well too.
It's a shame the previous owner didn't look after this like he did the Mk1 cause that was bodge free IIRC?
So how far are you gonna go with this one? I assume it'll all be properly repaired and a full respray? I do hope so, I always enjoy following your builds.
Cheers, Rich.

Many thanks Richard! The plan is to do the repairs properly, then re-spray and refurbish the rest. The previous owners of both Cavaliers died, the bloke I got them from bought both cars from the original owners families. The Mk1 was in far better fettle than the mk2 is, even though the mk2 has covered fewer miles. I think the mk2 must have spent most of its time outdoors?

Dec 18, 2016 16:57:37 GMT vader said:

Nice, I think I've only ever been in one MK2 cave in around 1981, I think it was a brand new X reg my brother rented to take me to the radio 1 roadshow in Ryl.

I like the MK2 but your MK1 is a lovely looking car, well done you must be over the moon with it.

Thank you kindly! I do prefer the look of the Mk1 myself.

Dec 18, 2016 18:58:43 GMT datsundrew said:

Good to see some love. We had a fleet of 15 or do as company cars, I always thought they were such a great car.....WAY better that the equivalent sierras at the time. They were so revvy and being company cars would Rev far higher than any privately owned model.
And then there was the astramax 1.6 we had, Vauxhall didn't make them in 1.6 for long,
I think they were ordered to only do 1.3 or diesel as none of the top end sports cars could keep up. 😂😂

Cheers! I had an Astramax diesel twenty odd years ago - even that could be persuaded to go far faster than it should have been capable of.

[sleag40]

Got a bit of time for a play with this today - it was cold, but I was very bored!
The headlights staying on issue that became apparent when I got the car back to my unit was resolved today. Unplugging the dim/dip resistor pack made the problem disappear, if I can find a new one, I'll fit it. If I can't, it shouldn't be a problem. 

The non-functional time clock has been replaced with one from eBay today too. The only other thing on the car that doesn't work now is the main central part of the interior light. I've not looked at it yet, but I'm sure it'll just be the bulb or an earth connection.

Before I scuttled off home, I adjusted the clutch cable. When I got the car, the biting point was just off the floor. It's now in the middle of the pedal's travel, and is a lot nicer to drive as a result.

[sleag40]

Rear valance, bottom rear quarters, rear arch repair panels and sill skins now found and bought. I'll probably get a bit of use out of it before tearing it down to fettle it. Since fitting a new dizzy cap and leads it starts instantly now, and the annoying stutter it had at 2000rpm whilst accelerating has gone.
I managed to get hold of a brand new set of GL wheel trims too.





Should be an improvement on the giffer spec cheapo ones that came with the car.



Even if I end up fitting some nice wheels when it's all done, I can always revert it back to standard now.

[sridgett]

Looking forward to more updates

[cavboy80]

Cavaliers in general need saving and it's good to see you've saved another. Bookmarked for updates..........you do know a Mk3 will be needed

[VW]

Ill look forward to this.

I built my van at the same time you were making a better job of building your mk1.
Your posts spurred me on no end.

Sort of makes me want to get another project now!

[richie]

Had a 2 MK2 cavs back in the day. A 1.6l and an SRI130 rot got the better of both of them but great cars and lots of memories.
Just remember how they would rev endlessly.

Look forward to updates. These need saving..

[sleag40]

Feb 19, 2017 18:15:00 GMT sridgett said:

Looking forward to more updates

It'll be a bit slow until I get stuck into it, should be later this year.

Feb 19, 2017 20:58:29 GMT cavboy80 said:

Cavaliers in general need saving and it's good to see you've saved another. Bookmarked for updates..........you do know a Mk3 will be needed

Cheers! They're getting pretty thin on the ground now - sadly no space for a Mk3.

Feb 19, 2017 21:05:52 GMT VW said:

Ill look forward to this.

I built my van at the same time you were making a better job of building your mk1.
Your posts spurred me on no end.

Sort of makes me want to get another project now!

Thanks muchly! Another project is inevitable!

Feb 19, 2017 21:31:02 GMT richie said:

Had a 2 MK2 cavs back in the day. A 1.6l and an SRI130 rot got the better of both of them but great cars and lots of memories.
Just remember how they would rev endlessly.

Look forward to updates. These need saving..

They certainly like to rust!

Had a good look underneath this before it goes in for an MOT.



Underseal has been applied to the inner sills relatively recently, but it's rusting underneath it.





The inside of the rear valance has been undersealed, most likely at the same time as the inner sills - it too is slowly festering away.





All this will eventually be stripped back to the metal, and any necessary repairs done before re sealing properly. A bit of use over the Summer shouldn't do much harm.

The spare wheel well has a bit of surface rust, but no crispy bits yet!



I need to do a small temporary repair to the drivers side rear wheel arch for the MOT, so I whipped the bumper off for ease of access. The comedy arch "repairs" were done without removing the bumper - it took a couple of minutes to remove!








It looks a lot better with the bumper on.

[sleag40]

A few pieces have arrived to smarten up the poxy rear end.



Got a couple of the vents that go into the rear door shuts too - the ones on the car have been besmirched with paint during the "repairs" to the rear arches.



Spotted this engine bay warning sticker on eBay for a couple of quid - it'll finish off the underbonnet area nicely. Eventually.