1988 Mk2 Cavalier 1.8GLi

[sleag40]

In the past I've been able to use the blasting gear at my workplace. All that stuff was auctioned off a while ago and my new job has no such useful perks. I thought I'd have a go at the rusty pile of junk myself, with power tools.



Poly abrasive disc and a finger sander saw it bright and shiny again in about an hour, so I'll carry on for now. (hoping to secure the use of another blasting rig at some point.)

[johnthesparky]

Going to change dampers on my mk3 astravan, so will be interested to know how you remove yours

More great work

[astranaut]

Strut in a vice, blowtorch on standby and a good pair of plumbers grips has seen me right with them in the past

[sleag40]

Apr 19, 2020 18:56:14 GMT astranaut said:

Strut in a vice, blowtorch on standby and a good pair of plumbers grips has seen me right with them in the past

This was my plan.

[sleag40]

Got the springs, back plates and wishbone weight painted this morning after another session on the abrasive tools.





Later on, the top mounts were cleaned back,



then the wishbones were wire wheeled to get rid of the majority of the curse word they were covered in,



before being finished up in my mate Liam's blasting cabinet.



More painting + crud removal coming soon.

[sleag40]

Bit more time spent on this today. Top mounts painted.



Wishbones painted too.



New ball joints fitted (still waiting for the rubber bushes)



Hubs cleaned up and wiped over with WD40.



The rest of the available time was spent wire wheeling the legs. They're pretty crusty in places, and take a fair bit of aggro before they're ready for the blast cabinet.

[skodacious]

All looking good and nice to see progress 👍 once you have all the bits refurbished you should lay it out like an Airfix kit before reassembly. It must be so satisfying to be accumulating factory fresh (and better) components 😎

[sleag40]

Apr 24, 2020 18:47:56 GMT skodacious said:

All looking good and nice to see progress 👍 once you have all the bits refurbished you should lay it out like an Airfix kit before reassembly. It must be so satisfying to be accumulating factory fresh (and better) components 😎

Thank you kindly!I don't know about factory fresh, but its certainly all looking a bit better than it did.

A little more done this afternoon, front legs wire wheeled in preparation for the blasting cabinet.



In the absence of the blasting cabinet owner, I made a start on the anti roll bars.



Should get more done next week.

[sleag40]

Anti roll bars cleaned back.



Then painted.



Brackets too.



Legs now painted as well.



Particularly impressed with how these came up, they were pretty crusty beforehand.



Next pile of rusty junk is being prepared.

[sleag40]

New brake discs + wheel bearings arrived, bump stops and wishbone bushes haven't yet.

Bearings pushed in with ease thanks to next doors' hydraulic press.



Backplates went back on, closely followed by the hubs. (pushed in while hogging next doors press)



Hopefully the other bits will arrive soon so I can call these legs complete.

[sleag40]

Other bits arrived - new bump stops allowed the springs to be fitted.



Wishbones bushes went in relatively easily using silicone grease, a vice, and a big socket.



Should be starting back end stuff soon.

[sleag40]

Not had a lot of time for this recently, but managed to get the majority of the paint and rust off the rear springs today.



Should get them finished up in the blast cabinet, and painted tomorrow.

[sleag40]

Bits and bobs been happening in between life based mither - rear springs now painted.



Rubber isolating things cleaned up ready to be refitted.



Normally I'd use the services of Bigg Red to refurbish my calipers, but not this time due to having a much lower paid job these days. I've stripped the calipers and cleaned most of the rust and muck off in preparation for the blasting cabinet.



Pistons and sliders cleaned up fantastically well, so just bolt caps, seals and dust covers required to rebuild them.

[shielsy68]

be like a new car

[skodacious]

Sorry if I have missed this but what paint have you used on those springs? Amazing attention to detail as always - keep at it 😎

[sleag40]

May 13, 2020 18:29:21 GMT skodacious said:

Sorry if I have missed this but what paint have you used on those springs? Amazing attention to detail as always - keep at it 😎

It's POR15 semi gloss black. You'd think it would crack in use, but appears to do the job well.

A couple more jobs attended to recently.. Calipers were blasted and painted in the only caliper paint I had on the shelf. They should be black, but blue will have to do.



Seals and stuff arrived.



Seals and stuff found their way into position on the calipers (eventually)



Rear brakes next up for some attention.



Disassembled and waiting to be cleaned.



Hopefully more will get done soon.

[darrenh]

those brakes have come up great, and fortuitous on the pistons. i think the pistons are chromed, ive had some where moisture in the brake fluid have obviously ferreted around and you get a nasty scab in the swept area back to the parent metal.

[sleag40]

As seems to be the case for the last few weeks, there hasn't been a right lot of time to spend on this recently. A few bits have been cleaned up something like prior to blasting.



Next pile of junk for the treatment.



Started stripping the steering gear down.



It all seems to be cleaning up pretty well.



These should be good to go back on after a bit of a buff up.



Centre piece sanded clean ready to paint.



Steering arms stripped ready to clean and paint.



New tin of paint should be landing this week, and hopefully my rear beam and subframes will finally get blasted too - every time I've gone to drop them off, the bloke has just left!

[shielsy68]

love to see mot mans face when this arrives you l put him her out of a job lol

[sleag40]

Stone chip paint finally arrived today.



This is all thats required to finish off the underside of the shell, I'll hopefully get that applied in the not too distant future. More bits and pieces have arrived recently, including these nice shiny gubbins for the rear brakes.



More pieces have been cleaned up ready for painting, including the rear anti roll bar brackets.



Some items have been painted ready to reassemble, including the steering arms.



Slowly, but surely, its getting there still!