new member

[gav.]

hello, just signed up as im about to take possesion of an 85 commander with c20xe conversion ...its in need of a respray due to the previous owner partially rubbing it down with the intention of painting it black, thankfully i got to it on time and intend to respray it in the factory colour as soon as i find someone to replicate the decals ...seriously in need of a brake and suspension upgrade as its entirely factory underneath , been off the road and dry stored since 2000 ...put in for an mot the other day and failed on no rear brakes ...anyway ...enough life story ...im off to the wanted section

[andyf21]

Hi gav welcome to the site. what colour are you painting it.

[Glenn-130]

Hi and welcome. Sounds like you have the makings of a nice car.

Hi gav welcome to the site. what colour are you painting it.

He says the original colour, so being a Commander it will be silver. 

[stevemc]

theres been a few commander decals on ebay

[andyf]

Hi and welcome. Sounds like you have the makings of a nice car.

He says the original colour, so being a Commander it will be silver. 

I know just checking if anyone would pickup on it.

[Greg]

Hello Gav, and welcome to the site......pics please, its the rules :angel:

As for a commander, I had a couple of hatchs in the late 90's, and loved them so will be interested in your project thread (something esle to sort out).

[gav.]

my parents had a comander from 88-99 until ot disolved due to us living right on the coast ..think it had about 220k showing whennit was eventually sold to a friend to put the engine into a nova ...i wouldnt even consider painting it any other colour BUT of i cant get decals it will prob end up silver over dark grey ( sri style ) but thats if and only if i cant get the vinyl made up...the commander j have is the one thats posted in the for sale section on gumtree on scotland ...the fella i got it from found it on ebay in wales last year after it had been dry stored for a long time ...has 64k on the clock, full dealer history , original bill of sale , came with all the brochures as well

..why he chose to convert it ill never know but he still has the original engine so im tempted to return it to factory spec

[Glenn-130]

Where in Scotland are you?

[Greg]

Commanders dissolved when they weren't by the coast.....both of mine rotted out.  Good luck with it.

[gav.]

took delivery today after it passed its mot with only an advisory for slightly coroded rear brake pipes ...let the work commence ...drives well...needs a full respray though...was hoping i could save it but no chance ...some bits rubbed through to bare metal and primed and other bits rattle canned ...very very little rust though and like a new car under neath

[chris m]

took delivery today after it passed its mot with only an advisory for slightly coroded rear brake pipes ...let the work commence ...drives well...needs a full respray though...was hoping i could save it but no chance ...some bits rubbed through to bare metal and primed and other bits rattle canned ...very very little rust though and like a new car under neath

you'll need to move quick mate to protect your investment, you don't want to be moving it around with a brush and shovel.. Anyone know why they rusted so bad?

[sal]

Welcome to forum mate. I seen this one advertised glad its in good hands now.

Chris. I thought all limited editions rust quicker to increase the rarity of the model 

[chris m]

That's a fair point mate but it is interesting that things like commanders and lx's rot like f**k. There must be some reason why, I  mean cabbys etc of the same era don't rot as fiercely.

[andy]

Commanders in particular seemed to received the thinnest paint of all. The LX was seen as a premium run out in comparison, but everything was done as cheap as possible on the commander. In terms of spec engineering (which set opel / vauxhall up with special editions) it was the low point quality wise! Still, it had a TV advert with Hugh Laurie in it, so it's not all bad...  ;D

[sal]

Yeah seems to be the case. I'm sure I read somewhere on here that 87/88 Luton built cars where noticeably worse for rot but were commanders not before that on C and D plates?

[gav.]

the factory paint on the commanders for some reason was celulose instead of vauxhalls usual 2k paint ...its definately very very thinly applied ...i need a drivers wing as there is a very slight perforation below the bump strip...first and foremost is so sort out the horendous wiring thats calling itself a redtop conversion and wire the fuel pump so it doesnt sound like a jet behind my seat as its running all the time

[andy]

Yup, the antibes and club were better but not by much. Wonder if that celulose is what painters meant by tpa that they used at one point? The run out Luton put together must have been cheaper metal or used less paint as it became very clear the early cars and particularly the Belgian cars last the longest. Actually thinking about it the chassis leg detachment is almost always *normally* on late cars

[Matt O-SRi]

Welcome aboard pal 

[Rabbit]

its not C 664 GOK is it ?

[gav.]

Wow... It is c664 gok... Iv also just pmd you regarding owl :/

[Rabbit]

http://www.mk2cav.com/index.php/topic,16999.0.html

About 3 years ago i looked at this car, is the roof sorted!

[gav.]

The roof has been straightened where it meets the sunroof but the dent remain... I'm in the process of respraying it at the moment and replacing the drivers wing... Rear lower panel at the corner and am hunting for a good bonnet... It was meant to be staying silver but due to the fella that brought it up to Scotland having replaced the original lump with a valves and changing the interior along with the roof condition iv decided to paint it. Glacier white over anthracite and am intending purchasing another cav to restore to factory condition and standard as I believe there is too much of the originality missing from this to attempt to save now

[Rabbit]

Jonny had some commander wheels for sale not so long ago,

& Newbody has got some commander seats.

If that any help.

[gav.]

I have the wheels.. All 5 in lovely condition...I also have the rest of the interior and seats but it's all in a mess now due to mice... It's far too far gone to restore as a commander the....Will make a nice cav but will never be able to be restored as a commander without a major amount of expense... I will store all the original bits incase I restore in the future but at the focus is on sorting the rust and getting it sealed from the elements so it does not dissolve... And the cheapest and easiest way is to De rust it and hit it with 2k glacier white

[gav.]

I know taking this away from its original.spec is wrong especially since I have managed to aquire the original 1.6 engine this evening but at the end of the day if I paint it glacier white it will only ever be a respray and a sticker kit away from being original again which I'm perfectly capable of performing at a later date... Plans for the time being are glacier white of anthracite... 16 compomotive mos...40mm drop and the c20xe will be removed in favour of a 20seh I have sitting here until I source the rest of the parts needed to refit the original carved 1.6 (dizzy,manifold, a weber carb and few other pieces)

Original commander seats and door cards are tucked away in my loft for safe keeping and a new lower rear quarter has been purchased to repair the boot... Roof has four main dents which will be a fairly simple repair once I drop the roof lining and after a gentle going over with the sand blaster 95% of the surface rust is gone leaving solid metal below... Only serious rot was the very corner of the lower quarter and even it looked far worse than it was... All in all a very easy project if a little awkward due to the roof... Thanks to rabbit for the pics from back then...seems to have held up well in the past three years of outside storage and if anything was a lot better when I goto it than it looks in the previously posted pics... Sorry for the huge post lol