MK2 Cavalier Project

[mikegray]

Looking good matey

I've decided to get rid of mine now

Thanks, noo keep it and feel the love

[mikegray]

Just a quick update. I have been doing some bits in between work etc so,

The new fuel tank is in ready I just need to finish painting the underneath now its fitted. The rear axle is on and all the brakes, ARB etc is on except for one shock Absorber which I need to get another special nut for

I have also been playing with the engine. I have taken off most of the RWD setup apart from one manifold,the ring gear for the starter a bracket and dipstick tube. I have fitted the rear FWD manifold, swapped the sump and oil pick up pipe. Im going to take it to work to degrease it after I have put on the other manifold, because I made a mess and thats un understatementlmaolmao

Here's a few pictures...









At the moment Im taking off that maifold but theres one stud thats being a pain but after that I will remove the dipstick tube, the bracket for the coil and the ring gear. Then it can be cleaned I have been cleaning up the inlet manifolds ready to put on too. So its begining to take shape

[mikegray]

Well abit of an update. The rear suspension is complete and not being held up by any jackslmao

The sound deadning is back in except for the drivers side so I can access the servo/rack easier. The rear seats and carpets are in, the bulkhead has been welded only a couple of spots to do after the engine has been mounted. I have sprayed the bulkhead white just to cover what has been done. I have started to refit components back the bay as a trail fit to make sure things go in as they should before the bay gets filled and sprayed.

As for the motor, thats been abit of a pain The bolts that hold on the flex plate a extremely tight and easily rounding the heads of the bolts of so, im in the process of welding bigger nuts onto them and then removing them. Three have been done so far until tonight when the welder broke: Trying to get these bolts of has been time consuming and frustrating but getting there slowly.

The front suspension legs have been cleaned almost ready for painting, the 5 stud flanges have been fitted with new bearings. Also inside of the suspension turrets have been cleaned, seam sealered, and undersealing has been applied but not finsihed yet.

Im hoping to get the welder fixed tomorrow just needs a new torch. As I have big plans for the weekend Oh and I have founds parts I didnt know I hadlmao

Here's some pictures...

[mikegray]

Just spent some time building up the engine and giving some bits a clean. I managed after alot of buggering around to get the flex plate off. I couldn't beleave it was just the tightning torque making the heads twist of, if it were normal bolts they would have come out easy. One came out the others didn't. I had to remove one broken exhaust manifold stud too, apart from that it was ok. Here's some pictures...

[mikegray]

well the engine and bos are together and in the engine bay. Now comes the chopping and adjustinglmao At the moment it isn't too bad just needs to be in the exact position before I make the mount, as its tilting and not quite central.

The front inlet manifold section is quite tight to the front pannel so im going to make it a removable front pannel. The one thats on there at the moment is bent and rusted so its being replaced so im not too worried. Im going to cut out the middle out of the way, but do it so I can do the overlap when the new pannel is fitted. I should be able to use a mk2 radiator and a slim line fan, but it would be tight. So im doing some research at the moment and thinking of getting a alloy rad custom made The only problem at the moment...lmao... is there's not alot of room for an airbox Apart from that things seem well, but i'll find out when I bolt more things in im surelmaolmao

Next job, remove a section from the front panel, postion engine and make the mounts, then sort out coolant tanks/pipes, fuel lines, wiring etc

A few pictures...

[Stephen SRi]

cant wait 2 see this on the road v6 mark 2 cavalier wow that will be very sweet site 2 see
welldone mate

[mikegray]

cant wait 2 see this on the road v6 mark 2 cavalier wow that will be very sweet site 2 see
welldone mate

Thanks mate.

Right, well not a great deal had been done up until now. I was just looking at things and getting an idea of where Im going to be mounting things.

Some of yesterday and today have been doing my engine mounting. I have it in place I now just need to add another copule of bits of metal to the top piece of the mount to weld it to the side of the chassis to stop the mount twisting down. Which I will be doing after I have removed the old engine mounting bracket tomorrow. Then its a case of welding the plate to the bottom of the chassis completely, as its only tacked all the way incase I wasn't happy with it. Then just tidying it up cutting of excess etc.

I have also sourced some Fuel lines, a set of Downpipes, some Cav Turbo wheels and a pair of equal length driveshafts I have the downpipes and fuel lines im waiting for the wheels and shafts to be delivered.

The current state at the moment is the engine has been lowered down so I can finish the mount and remove the other bracket. Then ill put it back up and bolt it in place. After its a case of plumbing it in. The Vectra fuel pipes are bent a different way compared to where the lines for the cav go so I will rebend them to make it look tidy Im hoping to get alot this week. Thats it for now.. some more pics...

[humbucker]

the cav turbo wheels will look sweet on the mark 2...

[mikegray]

the cav turbo wheels will look sweet on the mark 2...

I hope so mate. I would like some five spoke wheels like yours in the long term. It's hard to find a good set of wheels to suit such a sqaure car I think.

[humbucker]

how about something like this? saw this mk2 at the vboa autojumble. probably a bit more aggressive than you're looking for...? but the sharp design of the rims seems to sit with the angles of the car

[mikegray]

Yes I see what you mean, I don't think it will be too agressive. Basicly the same as that just black and two more doorslmao I think im just going to have to wait until its all sprayed and all the kit etc is on and see what the Cav T wheels are like. If they do look good then I'll keep them, but there's always room for improvementlmao

[humbucker]

well i'll be sure to let you know when i decide to get rid of mine hehe

these were also vboa autojumble shots and both sets of rims look good on the mk2, although imho both sets look too small on the cars. with the cav mk2 being so square i think the wheels need to be quite bold/big...

[mikegray]

True, for what ever reason Im not an a big fan of multispoke wheels. Which is abit of a buggerlmao I do like 5 or 6 spoke's. I really like the 18" Penta Alloys on the new astra's they look smart.

[mikegray]

Time for an update but, I have no pics at the moment. I started to clean up the front suspension and subframes to give them some paint. I cut of the original 8v engine mounting bracket. Welded my supports on top of the mount to the chassis. They are only tacked at the moment incase of any minor adjustments. The engine is bolted in and sits nicely on its mounts. So I'm plumbing it in to get it running at the moment.

So still more to come...

[mikegray]

I have been making some progress lately not as much as I hope for though.

The bit that held me up was, when I was installing the new dipstick tube when removing the oil pick up pipe, It stripped the threads out of the block. So I drilled out the remainder of the threads, and installed two helicoils so now its a peach I do have some pics but there not that good.

Also the front to rear brake lines have been made and fitted to the car, along with the fuel lines. The fuel lines are now conected to the engine. I have a couple of fixings still to go on the bulkhead and next to the subframe. The brake lines need straightning up, but I'll do that on a ramp at work.

I have been looking at places to mount the Charcoal canister and PAS resivour. Im trying something out on the PAS system at the moment so its not permanant. 8v pump on V6 bracket a Mix of mk2/mk3 cav lines and resivour. Im still attaching this and may require a slightly smaller belt as the pulley is smaller.

Most of the coolant hoses are on im waiting on a top hose and another hose. Im still looking at the rad and cooling fan as there's not much room so im going to try the slimline from my Mk3 to see if that will fit. I have a new expansion bottle for the coolant under £20 from Vaux

It is coming together slowly but surely. Next on the list is finish off the PAS system, look at the Rad and Fan, Im going to make a stay bar for the rear of the engine like the Vec/Cav which im going to make the charcoal canister into. Then some wiring Still plenty to dolmao

Some pictures...







More pics and progress still to come.

[humbucker]

nice one mike, was looking forward to the update. looks like you've been busy. looking forward to more progress!

[mikegray]

nice one mike, was looking forward to the update. looks like you've been busy. looking forward to more progress!

Thanks mate.

[Matt2345]

Well done Mike, gonna be great, Mike bought my Cali Turbo wheels yesterday, by the way Mike I put your name down for the RR day, let me know if your buddy wants to come along Matt

[mikegray]

Well done Mike, gonna be great, Mike bought my Cali Turbo wheels yesterday, by the way Mike I put your name down for the RR day, let me know if your buddy wants to come along Matt

Thanks mate, hopefully I'll be seeing him the weekend if not before. So I'll let you know ASAP. BTW there was something I was going to pm you but I have forgot

[Matt2345]

Thanks mate, hopefully I'll be seeing him the weekend if not before. So I'll let you know ASAP. BTW there was something I was going to pm you but I have forgot

The ID of the guy who gets all the Vauxhall panels??

[mikegray]

The ID of the guy who gets all the Vauxhall panels??

Did they have any?

[mikegray]

Right a little bit of un update. I have managed to sort of sort out possible PAS setup. I just need to fluid it up and make sure its working. A problem that I think my bite me in the bottom is, Im not entirely sure the pump will be pumping enough when the engine is idling due to the V6 idiling lower than the 8/16v. Also have to use the diagnostic to veiw the pressure sensor in the PAS system.

Im currently wiring up an immobiliser so I can start the engine. I'll be going to be using Emerald aftermarket management when I put boost on the engine so ill just use standard for now just so I know I have a working running engine againlmao Because of the age of the car it doesnt have the transponder under the steering coulings so thatts the loom im making. Which is almost finished. Im also wiring up a diagnostic plug im just deciding where to put it out the way/acessable

My only really problem is sorting the Rad and Fan out as theres not alot of room but, I'll come up with somethinglmao

I will put some pictures up when my phone has charged up.

[humbucker]

nice one, look forward to pics

[Matt2345]

Did they have any?

No not at the moment, Their site was closed

Right a little bit of un update. I have managed to sort of sort out possible PAS setup. I just need to fluid it up and make sure its working. A problem that I think my bite me in the bottom is, Im not entirely sure the pump will be pumping enough when the engine is idling due to the V6 idiling lower than the 8/16v. Also have to use the diagnostic to veiw the pressure sensor in the PAS system.

Im currently wiring up an immobiliser so I can start the engine. I'll be going to be using Emerald aftermarket management when I put boost on the engine so ill just use standard for now just so I know I have a working running engine againlmao Because of the age of the car it doesnt have the transponder under the steering coulings so thatts the loom im making. Which is almost finished. Im also wiring up a diagnostic plug im just deciding where to put it out the way/acessable

My only really problem is sorting the Rad and Fan out as theres not alot of room but, I'll come up with somethinglmao

I will put some pictures up when my phone has charged up.

you certainly know your stuff, Good one mate, It'll be good to the have the engine running , its gonna be a monster!

[kik]

wow youve done an amazing job so far will be amazing to see it done