1988 Mk2 Cavalier 1.8GLi

[sleag40]

No more seats went back in today, I didn't have much time. Instead, I finally got round to filling the gearbox with oil. Once done, I got it down off the bricks and pieces of wood it's been stood on, and now it sits on the deck. It's been at a raised level for a fair while, and it seems stupidly low down now.



I'll hopefully be cleaning the front seats this week.

[Duggy]

I love the fact that you give the same or more care and attention to what many would consider mundane cars as people do with exotic classics. As someone who worked for many years in car factories, it is very refreshing to me to see that our collective efforts will live on in this way. It looks tremendous.

[sleag40]

Drivers' seat went back in first this afternoon.



Obviously the passenger side was next!



I got them reasonably clean using bathroom wipes (to avoid getting them too wet), but when the ambient temperature is considerably higher I'll be wet vacuuming the seats and door cards to finish the cleaning off. The worst of the muck has gone though.

[sleag40]

A little mudflap fettling was done this afternoon.  Emblems and metal bits were removed first.



The rubbery bits were then relieved of many years worth of muck (and bodge overspray!)



These will be receiving a bit of treatment from the paint bloke to restore the shine lost by the deep clean.

The metal bits then got straightened and cleaned back to the point where Hydrate 80 can be applied prior to black paint.



Still looking for the missing emblem.

[sleag40]

Not had the chance to do anything on this until yesterday, so got a few small jobs sorted.

A pair of old fashioned tracking gauges were borrowed from a neighbor to enable me to get the wheels pointing in roughly the same direction.





A new pair of number plates were drilled and flung on.



And the rear view mirror was stuck to the new windscreen, completing the interior.



No idea when I'll get back at it, but theres no rush, as the general saltiness of the roads means I'll not be driving it any time soon anyway.

[victorbox]

When you say rear view mirror was stuck to the new windscreen, is it one of the types with a small plate that bonds to windscreen and rear view mirror stem slots over this plate once it's stuck firmly? Can I ask what adhesive you used? I have the same job to do on a Mk3 Cavalier.

[sleag40]

It is the type with the metal piece that is bonded to the screen - I used Loctite 319 which is specifically designed for this job.

[victorbox]

Cheers! Great work as always. Good job you're restoring the mud flaps as they've reached crazy money on eBay as here: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124991164084?hash=item1d1a0dceb4:g:3GMAAOSwVSphba2G

[sleag40]

Some genuine GM NOS goodness arrived this week. I'd forgotten all about breaking the nearside mirror (nearly six years ago) whilst backing the car into a garage. It's still useable, but the aluminium structure had cracked, and it wobbled slightly as a result. A replacement was sourced, and it was unboxed today.





The rear bumper, although in reasonable condition, did let the car down a little. I treated it to a new genuine GM replacement, and this was swapped over this afternoon. 





No unsightly marks on this one, just need to fit the GL and I badges to finish off the rear end.

[norniron]

There’s something very satisfying about unpacking and fitting NOS parts so many years after production! Top work as always…

[victorbox]

Very true, except my wife keeps asking how much all those NOS parts on the shelves in the garage have cost!

[norniron]

Feb 6, 2022 10:53:43 GMT victorbox said:

Very true, except my wife keeps asking how much all those NOS parts on the shelves in the garage have cost!

glenanderson has a fear of that according to his signature

[sleag40]

Been busy elsewhere this weekend, but started getting the mudflaps back together.



No more time for the foreseeable, but should get back on it next weekend.

[Mercdan68]

Fantastic work as always

[victorbox]

Do tell us where you found the missing mudflap badge!

[Waxoyling Lyrical]

Cool. I have a pair of very similar looking flaps, probably ex-Nova/Corsa. In reasonable condition, if anyone's interested?

[sleag40]

Feb 9, 2022 11:48:37 GMT victorbox said:

Do tell us where you found the missing mudflap badge!

I bought a couple of single flaps with badges off Ebay - no harm in having a spare.

Didn't get a right lot of time for this at the weekend, but managed to make a little more progress.

The metal parts of the mudflaps got a couple of coats of a rubberised black enamel.



Hopefully this means that it won't all chip off in use. The painted pieces were then reunited with the rubbery bits.





They're now sat on a shelf waiting for me to get the time to fit them.

[sleag40]

Feb 9, 2022 12:34:37 GMT Waxoyling Lyrical said:

Cool. I have a pair of very similar looking flaps, probably ex-Nova/Corsa. In reasonable condition, if anyone's interested?

can you post a picture of them? I know someone who is after a pair.

[Waxoyling Lyrical]

Yes, I'll get a pic when I get over to the bodyshop tomorrow; I rescued them from my folk's garage and took them there, with the intention of fitting them to a Corsa C courtesy car, but that's now sadly been scrapped - a customer borrowed it a couple of months ago, parked it up and went off with the key and is now on the missing persons list. Car got recovered to a compound, but its going to cost more than its worth for storage charges, a new key and window after the police had to break into it for forensics!

[Waxoyling Lyrical]

Here's my pair:

P1030478 by mtjhunt, on Flickr

P1030479 by mtjhunt, on Flickr

Note, there is a rivet or two missing on the metal brackets, a slight split in the right-hand one next to the badge (it hasn't gone through) and only the top corner clips exist.