New member with a familiar car from the 'For sale' section!

[r.welfare]

Well, I picked up my long-awaited Cavalier today. Sorry about the photo quality but it's tipping it down here at the moment.

This is very much the 'worst' side, the other side is rot free thanks to a new wing some time ago. The wing on this side is rotten at the bottom...

...thankfully it's a bolt-on part, so I have ordered a new pattern jobbie for £44 delivered. Painting the new wing will be a good try-out for my new compressor. There have been a few patches welded on the sills, so they ideally need grinding down and tidying up. However, it's still here and in one piece, probably down to the fact it's a Belgium-built one rather than from Luton perhaps?

Always preferred the shape of the saloon to the hatch. Wheels need a good refurb.

The interior, and by God GM loved green that year. Driver's seat has three tiny holes in it, should yield to a needle and thread I hope. Pleasant surprise #2 is that it's a 5-speed, which the brochure I have for the 1984 models seems to indicate was optional. Performance is bloody good for a 1600, but these Cavs always were flyers! Nicely run in at 115,000 miles with no blue smoke or anything.

So, things to fix:

1. Front wing replacement

2. Stonechips on the valance, and fix the rubber lip spoiler back on

3. Get the radio working, and the heater fan, which has just stopped working completely (fuse is fine though?  ???)

4. Replace the dashboard if I can find one (it's got cracks in the top a Mk3 Scrote would be proud of)

5. Repair driver's seat

6. Tidy up sills and front passenger door (surface rust along the bottom - need to check the drain holes)

7. Check out why the brake pedal is so hard - I reckon calipers have seized, it's only done 20 miles since the last MOT in June 2006

If you can believe it, the old boy I bought it from was 97 AND STILL DRIVING. He revved it like a loon backing it out of the drive for the last time, which made me laugh. Still, there's no dents in the bodywork and the clutch is still good, so he was obviously still an A1 driver.

Not bad for £100 with tax and MOT till the end of May in conclusion!

[Guest Chalkey]

a good buy, and overall it looks like its an honest car as well......

i love cars like this, they have character and this one looks to have worn well, it would be nice to see it return to its former glory.

the hard pedal could be due to the location of the servo, the early cars had the servo on the left hand side, there was a linkage that connected the servo to the pedal, this sometimes gave the pedal a false feel

[Rabbit]

Wel done , its great to see more early base type models (like my 1983 "L") being saved & kept boggo standard..

I,ve got a early green car here that is a scrapper, used mainly for storing parts, but there are a couple of things (in green ) that might be of use to you, like the window winders & inner door handles, centre console, sorry but the dash in it is not green..

As to thje brake pedal being stiff , check all the wheel cylinders, plus what Jason says can also be true....

[r.welfare]

Rabbit, I'd be interested in the heater blower motor and/or switch from your scrap car, I've worked out that the fuse is fine  ???  Bit of a bummer as it was working fine on the way back, just a background rattle on speed 1, then stopped working completely after a lunch swap.

I'm waiting for a Haynes manual from eBay so I will be having a look through there to see how to get the switch out, to squirt some electrical cleaner on it...

[Rabbit]

It is very rare that the heater blower switches go, try taking the blower motor out, easy job..

1 .. try & turn the inside of the blower by hand,

if it moves by hand freely, then suspect the blower motor to be faulty...

if not moving it will just need a little oil on the end bearing, then gently prise it to move...

2 .. take the cover off (under the bonnet), there are clips on each corner, you will need a long then flat screwdriver, unclip the rear 1st ..

3 .. then there is 2 phillips screws, one each side of the motor, undo them & lift the motor assembly out..

[Matt O-SRi]

Well, I picked up my long-awaited Cavalier today. Sorry about the photo quality but it's tipping it down here at the moment.

Really glad its gone to an enthusiast! I love these early ones. ;D

Good luck with everything. ;D

[Mr POD]

Nice car, Do you want a perfect LX interior (no dash I'm afraid)

Seats and Door cards.

Cost me £15 and is sitting in a garage in Worcester.  (I'm in Liverpool !)

Or will you be keeping the interior standard ?  There will be lots that love the Retro Green !!

I love the BargainS !!!

[Frisco]

I love the green.

Your american i see now POD

[r.welfare]

Nice car, Do you want a perfect LX interior (no dash I'm afraid)

Seats and Door cards.

Cost me £15 and is sitting in a garage in Worcester.  (I'm in Liverpool !)

Or will you be keeping the interior standard ?  There will be lots that love the Retro Green !!

I love the BargainS !!!

The seats and doorcards are pretty perfect, it's just a dash I am after really.  Could probably paint a different-coloured one if necessary!

[Rabbit]

have you sorted the blower ?

[Guest Chalkey]

the blower will be the resistor pack, a small coil that is mounted on the side of the heater blower.....

we used to sell then for fun, they were forever going on the early cars, the later one use a modded part and was a lot better....

early and late ones are interchangable

[r.welfare]

No, I haven't managed to sort the blower yet.  Although last Saturday I did take the old wing off and trial-fit the new one.

Good news - there's no major rust on the inner wing, just a bit of surface where the underseal has cracked.

Bad news - pattern wing fit ain't great, fine at the front by the headlight, not so good at the back by the front door!  Need a bit of time with the rubber mallet I think...