1988 Mk2 Cavalier 1.8GLi

[sleag40]

Working 12 hours a day at the moment - obviously not much time going spare, but I did get a few hours in on Sunday. The lower bulkhead, inner wings, chassis legs and the frontal parts of the engine bay were all scotched, cleaned and hit with the epoxy mastic. 







I'd better get some seam sealer for the next session! (no idea when that'll be )

[shielsy68]

Doing a lovely job

[sleag40]

A little experimentation with the Deox gel is ongoing at the moment. I accidentally deleted the "before" picture, but here is one of the test area on the offside rear quarter after leaving the gel on for 24 hours. 



The brownness is indeed being replaced by bright shinyness - I've applied some more gel and will leave it for another day. 

I started getting the seams sealed this afternoon. 







 Hopefully I'll get the bulk of it done over the weekend.

[darrenh]

pleasing amounts of non rust !

whats the protocol for removing deox gel ? guess it has to be washed

[sleag40]

Sept 27, 2019 21:22:25 GMT darrenh said:

pleasing amounts of non rust !

whats the protocol for removing deox gel ? guess it has to be washed

Aye - a scrub with water and a stiff brush then a blast of hot air to thoroughly dry it off, and it's ready to prime. (when the brown bits are gone, obviously)

[sleag40]

Another 24 hours, and more rust gone.



Spent a fair portion of the day getting more seam sealer on. As usual, I spent far longer than is necessary as I like a tidy job (even though it'll never be seen once the car is done) 





Inner rear valance was pretty awkward! 



Finished the day with the front floor area. 



Once the engine bay and front stuff is done, I can put another layer of epoxy mastic on, then it can have a good spaffing of Gravitex stone chip.

[Mercdan68]

More good work, as said before really like how this car is being restored 👍

[gtviva]

I know what you mean about the seam sealer, ive never found a way of putting it on and being totally happy with the finish!

Its coming along well now you've done the crusty/rusty worst part of the job!

[sleag40]

I didn't fancy more seam sealer today, so  I gave the underside another coat of epoxy mastic - no need for pics as it looks pretty much the same as before! This morning I borrowed an engine crane off a neighbour so I can get the engine up on the stand at some point -



I'll most likely do it once I've finished seam sealing and painting the inner wings, bulkhead etc as my hands are gonna be a bit oily playing with the engine and box! 

I reckon one more day should see this rust free.

[sleag40]

Rust now gone from this bit. 



Not much time available today, so I decided to get the engine up on the stand. First it was lifted off the deck. 



The gearbox and clutch were removed. (GM stamped clutch is probably the one it left the factory with) 



Then up on the stand. The back of the engine is dry and rusty. 



Wheras the front is sporting a thick layer of oil and muck due to the cam box gasket thats been leaking for years. 



I'm sure I'll enjoy getting that clean at some point in the future.

[820]

Looking forward to seeing the engine get the same attention to detail as the bodywork

[sleag40]

Very quick session on my way home today. Got some seams sealed up front. 





It's not much, but it all adds up!

[sleag40]

More seams sealed this afternoon. 





Once that was done, the inner wings, chassis legs, bulkhead bottom and front end stuff was all scotched in preparation for another coat of epoxy mastic. Hopefully I'll get it all cleaned up and painted tomorrow.

[VW]

Why is the bulkhead white? Did vauxhall not top coat it?

[sleag40]

It was blue at the sides, a few posts above it was cleaned back to the e-coat with thinners and a cloth.

[darrenh]

Oct 5, 2019 18:10:47 GMT VW said:

Why is the bulkhead white? Did vauxhall not top coat it?

they only topcoated the cosmetic areas!

[sleag40]

My job has been using up all the time this week, but stuff has still happened in dribs and drabs. The front end got another coat of epoxy mastic early in the week, then work took over. Today I made a start on cleaning the worst of the crud off the gearbox. It was pretty well caked. 



Half an hour or so of scraper and wire brush action saw it looking a little better. 



I'll hopefully finish removing the heavy deposits tomorrow before giving it a good steamy pressure wash at some point. 

Another rusty patch got the Deox treatment this week - this one is above the offside tail light aperture. 



Hopefully more to come tomorrow! 

[VW]

That deals with rust pits well. Might have to get some when i do a few touch ups on the CF.

[sleag40]

The worst of the muck is now off. 



Just need to convince a neighbour to let me have a go of his steam cleaning rig to finish fhe job off! 

This thread may go a bit quiet for a while now, as my freshly painted scooter bodywork will be arriving soon. (Been waiting for it since February)

[sleag40]

Managed a cheeky couple of hours on this on the way home today. Got a third and final coat of epoxy mastic on the underside. 







Just a good layer of stone chip away from being finished under here now. Once everything topside has been painted, the underside will get a coat of underbody wax before reassembly commences.