Dave's 1993 Cavalier 4x4 Turbo - The Never Ending Story...

[Turbodave]

It's only taken me several years, but suppose I should really start a project thread...

The History...

I bought this way back in 2001 when I were merely a lad of 19. Back then it was pretty standard, 98,000 mile 1993 (K) Spectral Blue Turbo aside for a suspension kit and a stainless exhaust. At first I pretty much drove it daily and was happy with the new found power and kudos. Back then I was rather nieve about all things Turbo'd so just made sure it wasn't rotten, drove straight and handed over the money. That said, i still believe it was fate... months before I saw a blue Cavalier Turbo in Alford (up Norf) and although I had the GSi2000, that was a turning point. When the GSi was written off, I bought the Autotrader (yeah, a paper version!) opened it halfway and said Cavalier Turbo was staring abck at me.



Granted, the time it got back from Aberdeen it was less than pretty.

A matter of weeks later, the standard tansfer box died in spectacular fashion and as this was still back in the dark ages when transfer box knowledge was limited and internet forums were pretty new, I was faced with the choice between converting it to 2wd or making a round trip to Derby to VTS. £1,300 and 600 miles later saw it with one of the first locked boxes to be fitted to a Cavalier in Europe. Apparantly. Immediately it became clear it was £1,300 well spent as it transformed the car and amazingly... today, still works despite covering 80,000 miles and never having had the oil changed or checked.

Once the box was fitted and the car was on the road again, I fitted a Vivaro front intercooler. Again, pikey spec came into play so I mocked up intercooler pipes with pipes of old hose and B&Q plastic tubing. I never did get round to getting them made up in stainless yet somehow a combination of Araldite and luck saw it covering 15,000 miles until I finally had metal pipes made up. The intercooler is still on the car today though it will be replaced in due course.





Cable ties... FTW!

Next was a trip up to see Gavin Wallace and Russ Paton at Wallace Performance in Aberdeen where Evo 2 was fitted and transformed the car. Again, 10 years on the car still runs this setup and so far, I've never had any cause for concerns. At this stage the carw as running approximately 250bhp and 260bhp thanks to the chips, intercooler and the stainless Scorpion exhaust (another part that is still on the car... can't argue with that for build quality!)

From there, little changed and it racked up a good few miles a year with very little cause for concern. Soon after the transfer box was replaced, the head gasket failed en route back from Bristol and also took out the cylinder head. Being a skint pikey, I fitted the porous head from my ill-fated GSi and then proceeded to rack up more miles without concerns until one fateful day whilst chasing an Evo piloted by Mr Dempsey around the borders, it finally decided enough was enough and expired. Another trip home on an AA wagon.

I'd never tackled any sort of engine work before but with limited funds, i had no choice but to get stuck in. I sourced a second hand cylinder head and then removed the valves and reground them before fitting new valve stem oil seals. Using a new GM gasket kit, I built the engine bay up over the course of a weekend replacing several coolant hoses and the radiator at the same time.





All was well once again and ther car was back on the road racking up more miles including numerous runs down to the likes of Billing, PVS and Trax and also one random "Why not..." session from Fife to Lands End to John O Groats and back to Fife. Just becuase we were bored and figured there was nothing better to do.





Obviously being a Cavalier Turbo, it promptly decided that it wasn't content with actually working and promptly threw the towel in. Granted, it was somewhat coincidental that it happened soon after an FSE regulator was fitted but never mind... two melted pistons later and yet another shot on an AA flatbed.



Aided by a mate, we removed the cylinder head to check the extent of the damage. I decided it was terminal and lost all heart in the car and as a result it sat for months unloved and slowly rusting in our fine Scottish weather. I meanwhile kept my age old tradition up and bought more random cars to run around in, more out of necessity than need. At this stage I'd decided I'd had enough with it and considered selling it as it stood.



By this stage I'd joined the Cavalier Turbo Owners Register and already been to their first meeting at the Heritage Centre in Luton. I was there I met Kev Hodges and his good lady and that proved to be a good thing! Kev stepped up to the mark and offered to put things right. All that lay between me and a working car was the small matter of several hundred miles. Roadtrip... again. So, armed with one of Fords finest a mission was launched to Staffordshire with one dead Cavalier and van full of bits.





The car was left with Kev for a few months and in that time the engine was rebuilt although being skint (and Scottish) I opted for second hand pistons and rods, a decision that would haunt me but more on that later. A reconditioned turbo was sourced and fitted, the suspension was sorted, the brakes were done... in fact the whole car was pretty much brought back up to scratch, Mot'd and even washed. Hero! I collected the car en route to Billing and then decided the 400 mile drive home wasn't enough to run it in, so...



...went to Trax via the Nurburgring.

With new found enthusiam and a car that actually worked, needless to say my joy was short lived and one day, whilst at work an oil drum decided to faint and dented the o/s/r arch. I got a quote to have it removed... and then the panel painted... and then the doors... and the wing... bonnet... roof... and before long the inevitable happened.











48hrs later it was back from paint (I don't do "Aye, it'll take 4 months mate...") and having sourced numerous new parts, it was back looking all spanky and new again.
The car never missed a beat until a few months later when at a rolling road event in Aberdeen, it developed a little rattle which I assumed was a noisey lifter. That rattle progressed into a knock and soon enough I had to accept the bottom end wasn't happy. It turned out to be a little end issue (what was I saying about second hand rods/pistons?) and so again, off the road it went until a solution was found. I bought yet another random car to run around in... a Volvo S70R. As you do.

Kev immediately stepped in once again and offered to sort it out again it was back on the trailer bound for Staffordshire where again it sat for a while. Money was tight (see the theme here) and faced with a decision to spend lots or cut my losses, I opted to cut my losses and collected the car and brought it back to Scotland.





Now, as most are aware I'm mates with a certain Dave Dempsey and Dave Dempsey really doesn't do logical thought process but he does do "...stop being a tit and get on with it..." The car had a reprieve, was pushed into his garage and we started to see if we could make it so. Between us we had enough parts to cobble together an engine of some description: an XE head was sourced along with a couple of pistons from an ill-fated Calibra turbo, Benny Mac supplied a replacement block and Kev supplied a crank then the bottom end was put together by an engine building mate locally.









Several late nights saw the engien back together, turbo fitted and it back in place and running sweet as a nut. Just to make sure our work was up to scratch, I took it on the obligitory test drive... just to ensure all was well. It was and numerous miles followed without so much as a complaint, protest or huge fireball including numerous random roadtrips around Scotland, trips to the usual big shows and it was also used daily as my commuting car.



It did try and get me back for the years of abuse and whilst skirting Fort William at speed, it tried to kill me by shearing the n/s/f lower suspension arm. A word of warning to those considering fitted poly bushes front and rear in a Cavalier wishbones. Still, we didn't die and the nice man from the AA came out (again) and put things right whilst we sat in the pub...





Back on the road once more a slightly more challenging test drive was needed so back to the workshop it went for a quick bit TLC and a check over, back brakes sorted, yet another oil change, ABS pump replaced and a final check to make sure the Scooter album was present and correct...



And off we went to Billing though we kinda missed and somehow ended up on a North Sea ferry to Amsterdam... again



Bit of this...



Then back to good old Blighty. Winter came and went (we're in about 2009 by now... I think) and the car was used and abused throughout. The paintwork by this stage was looking poor again around the edges. Whilstt he finish was perfect the finishing touches were a bit lacking so it began to discolour around the arch lips within a year. I gave up on the polishing and instead opted for the driving.



Unfortunately, at the stage Dougie (TV mag) rang and asked if I could pop down to Combe for a feature along with the new Insignia SRi. Slightly inconvenient given the car was looking a bit neglected by this stage so enter stage right a task force and a weekend and a mission to get it sorted and to Combe three days later.







Feature done it was back home to Scotland and at that stage I decided enough was enough. If I was going to keep the car long term then I'd have to stop glossing over the cracks, get it off the road and start a complete rebuild. Whilst the car had racked up numerous miles in the past few years, it always felt like it was a mad rush to sort out any issues and get it back on the road. We sat down, had a chippie and decided that if the car stood any chance of long term survival I'd need to get a unit, take it off the road and start from the bottom up. And so it began....

And that's part 2...

[Turbodave]

Part two...

Ok, so unless you've given up the will to live then here goes part two.

I decided that there was no way I'd ever part with the car and so the decision was made along with Demspey and new boy John "Coo" Sumner, we found a unit that suited our collective needs and moved in. The Cavalier went in alongside Dov's latest aquistion, a Spectral Blue Astra GSi which was soon deemed a pile of arse and binned. The space was filled with his Vectra ST200 and has been ever since. One day Rodders, one day.



The Cavalier work began back in 2009. My intention being to strip it down, sort any traces of rust, reseal the chassis, paint the engine bay and general strip, clean, paint and rebuild pretty much everything I could. With limited space, I opted to do it bit by bit with the front end being first. No point doing step two if there's a rotten shell at step one. The car was Ziebart'd from new so was actually pretty solid but there were cracks beginning to show, hence I had to be brutal and accept if it was going to get done...







Thankfully all was well aside for some minor scabbing which is to be expected on a car that is over 18yrs old. So, next step was to start removing the suspension and running gear and have it stripped, checked, cleaned and painted - replacing any worn/knackered bit in the process. Despite the age of some of the parts (the springs, prop, exhaust, gearbox, diff, bearings, bushes... they've been there since before I bought it) it was in remarkably good shape and with no obvious signs of terminal rot.







Long term good guy and Weigie, Benny mac stepped in and offered his services. So, everything that was metal was loaded into my works van and driven to Benny's work where it was flung in the worlds biggest shot blaster and erm... shot blasted it. Back at the unit the parts were primed and painted to avoid any tin worm setting in until the final coats of paint are applied later in the build.







With the running gear sorted for now and set to the side, attention was turned back to the shell and I started work on the front end of the chassis. There was a bit rot under the battery tray and a little hole in the n/s/f splashgaurd so the welder came out and the areas were chopped out and replaced with assistance from Benny and Coo.







Rather inconveniently, I then moved to Bath to live and work so coming back to Scotland once a month courtesy of Easyjet meant things slowed right down with the Cavalier. Going off and buying an Astra GSi Turbo didn't help matters as for the next year it proceeded to demand all my attention and my money. I plodded along with the Cavalier, doing a bit at a time when and where I could. Things were painfully slow simply becasue I couldn't give the car the time it needed especially during irregular trips back home which also involved drinking heavily, females and lots of hangovers.

Over the course of a few weeks I tookt he front end back as far as I could, removing all the sound deadening and checking for any rust along the way. Most of it was minor surface scabbing which was dealt with thanks to one of Bosch's finest and a wire wheel before being treated, primer and undersealed. So far from the bulkhead forward is done, leaving me the chassis and the rear end to do over the next few weeks.













It's not pretty just now but it's treated and sealed until the car goes off to be resprayed. Speaking of which, I always wanted a really really mint 'as new' engine bay so that meant it was time to get the engine and gearbox out. Enter stage left, Dempsey... master of engine removal and setting fire to metal. We supported the engine, dropped all the bolts on the subframe and the mounts, dropped it dowm onto a trolley then lift the car up and pulld the engine, gearbox and transfer box out as one complete unit.





From there we stripped the engine down to it's component parts to check it over and for ease of storage. With the engine bay empty, I could get in around the chassis legs and bulkhead to check for any soft bits but again, woohoo... none. Any surface rust was again dealt with and primer however I still need to remove alot of parts from the bulkhead and have it treated and painted. I also want to look at reinforcing the steering rack ina bit to sort Cavalier's inherantly pish steering feel!





Now, by this stage it was December 2010 and I was in trouble of an enthusiasm failure so I did the honourable thing and flung the Astra GSi to feck... or Northern Ireland. Thinking ahead, decided that at some stage I was going to need a few Cavalier Turbo parts. So hmmm, I needed a daily driver and a source of parts... sensible ideas for a diesel Vectra as a daily driver were horsed out the window and after a short trip on the Megabus to Leeds...

Cue genius idea number 484..







Cavalier Turbo number 2... a franky brilliant idea if I say so myself. Over the following 6 months I drove one Turbo daily and racked up nigh on 15,000 miles without a hiccup and continued to plod along with the 'other' one when I could. My situation took a dramatic change and I moved back to Scotland which meant the work rate should increase, I stress the word 'should'. The plan was to break the daily driver in September when the MOT ran out - it needed welding, a release bearing, tyres and a few other bits so wasn't really viable to save plus it was always destined to be a donor. I don't like killing cavalier's but needs must. The plan was falling into place.



D'oh!

So, one smashed Turbo meant only one thing. To the workshop and bring the weapons of mass destruction. A weekend assisted by Craigie and Coo saw the daily driver reduced to it's component parts and the shell disposed of. This meant I had lots of bits to sell and also lots of bits for the restoration case.







Result!

Everybody's a winner though it left me carless. Enter Helga, a 1999 Volvo V70 diesel which ticks all the boxes as a daily hack, van, recovery wagon, campervan, bombing target.So, back on track with the other one and almost up to date too. Shocker. The past few weeks have seen the engine bay get a quick blow over, mainly to protect it before it gets painted professionally...



I'm currently starting work on the back end. There's a few rusty scabs on the rear panel and a rather large hole at the bottom of the o/s/r arch (rear) plus the arches were getting a bit surface rot. Much head scratching followed so did a grinder and I took back what I could. Thankfully the arches are pretty mint and don't need replaced, just treated, primed then painted properly... again, primed just to protect them until it gets to the bodyshop.







The back panel was more of an issue as it's made up of three seperate sections of metal and where they join has holed in a couple of places. Quite a task to repair so I was going to leave that to the painters...



...but a stroke of luck at Billing saw me with a brand new GM 4x4 rear panel as modelled by my mate Matt. So that's the next task, cut the old one off and weld the new one in place and at the same time sort the rusty area at the quarter panel and finish stripping, treating and sealing the chassis. That's the plans for the next few weeks with intended completion for that being the end of August.



From there, get it back rolling and get it off to the bodyshop to be bare shell sprayed and whilst it's away, start freshening up the engine (or one of the engines) and then fitted a set of MH locking gears to replace the VTS system which despite covering alomost 80,000 miles has never ever missed a beat. Then it'll be a case of paint everything, renew what's needed and start building it back up.

The story will contine...

[rc]

awesome write up 10 years is sure a long time to own a car and lucky bastard having a cav turbo at 19 lmao

[Kev_G]

Being in the job you are you will make this a epic read and you are already! If you could guess how long its going to take to build it back up how long would you? 1 year? 2 years? (gives me something to aim to with my project then and beat you! lmao)

We all need a Dempsey local tho!

[Turbodave]

awesome write up 10 years is sure a long time to own a car and lucky bastard having a cav turbo at 19 lmao

Cheers chap, there is a slightly longer version running over on Cavalier Turbo but it's been about 10 years in the making so copying and pasting it over would take... a) several months and b) the internet down! So, a slightly shortened/where are we at now version to get up to speed. As for having it at 19... I saved up since I was 16 and bought a GSi2000 when I just turned 18 and when it was smashed, the insurance pay out covered the Turbo. Almost!

Being in the job you are you will make this a epic read and you are already! If you could guess how long its going to take to build it back up how long would you? 1 year? 2 years? (gives me something to aim to with my project then and beat you! lmao)

We all need a Dempsey local tho!

As said, kinda shortened version covering the basics to get the thread up to speed. Needless to say there's a lot more happened over the past 10 years / 80,000 miles but that'd take ages to cover. As for where the car stands just now, the hope is to have the car ready to go to the bodyshop by the end of September/start of October and assuming they can turn it round quickly (but not 48hrs like the last one as the attention to detail wasn't brilliant!) and I can have the car back by the end of the year, it'll be case of building it back up over winter in readiness for the early part of next year.

It's not going to be a build to rival some of the stuff on here so now mental spec engine or serious fabrication work... I just want the car back on the road, as clean as possible with a sort of OEM+ slant on things. The suspension is being kept as was so Bilstein B4 shocks with the Eibachs, it'll just be getting a final coat of paint along with the front and rear subframes, diff, prop and so one then fitted with new GM bushes throughout. Brake wise, again painted calipers and a fairly standard setup aside for fast road pads and braided lines. Engien wise, I was goingt o build one but the engine from the daily driver is a screamer so it'll just be getting freshened up, painted and dropped in with a locked box.

From there it'll really just be the little things... new lights, trims, all new clips, wheels refurbished, basically as mint as I can make it without spending a serious amount of money. It will be keeping a front mount but it'll be painted black and hidden as best possible and the exhaust will be standard GM spec. I have both a standard and a phase 2 ECU so haben't decided on which to run yet, the latter probably so if it makes a nice, reliable 230bhp (ish) I'll be happy. Interior wise, it doesn't want for anything aside for a bit TLC, the boost gauge removed and the leather perhaps redyed.

In essence, it'll be standard aside for sitting 30mm lower and with a subtle front mount. In theory.

And indeed, Dov's a good man to have on side... without him, this and several other projects would have died many years ago!

[BazW]

Well worth the read. I thought I had mental issues with the number of times the LET has been in and out of my GTE (currently sat on the garage floor...) so glad to see I'm not alone

[mk2astraturbo]

saw this in tv mag

[DarrenH]

i agree, thats a good read. must have taken you ages to write that up but worth it as it shows attention to detail. sounds like you have got a bit of history with the car which is nice, sticking with it, evolving. good pictures, good story board. look forward to more updates

[vxlgsi]

love the fact that you had the car so long and did nothing to ruin the awsome look of a stock cavvy turbo!

[Turbodave]

Not a huge amount of progress of late but any progress is good progress so in between getting drunk in Edinburgh and helping a mate renovate a flat, I did manage to get something achived last week. However, before the Cavalier got attention the first task was to wave a tearful (yeah right!) good-bye to the Cavalier's long term companion and roadtrip associate.



One set of go-jacks under the rear wheels, three blokes and an Iveco flatbed and the ST200 was sent packing from it's hiding place over the last three years. Wiping tears from his eyes, Dov vowed to replace it with something else. So, we went to KFC and had a Zinger Tower meal each.

So, to the Cavalier...

The plan was to remove the original, corroded rear panel and fit the new one I picked up at Billing so armed with an angle grinder and a wire brsuh attachment I set to work and then after an hour I'd managed to uncover a stupid number of spot welds and also discoved in some areas the rear panel is integrated into another two panels...



At this stage we had a meeting, argued for a bit then poked the car with a screwdriver and decided that the amount of rust on the original panel didn't justify the amount of work it would take to fit a new one. Dempsey was dispatched to lie under an 18yr old and give it a poke in the rear, which he did...



...and then reported back that all was well structurally. So, the rear panel mission was aborted for the time being and plan B was instigated which basically involved lots of scraping and lots of poking bits with screwdrivers in search of any rot or gaping holes. So to speak. As I was designated cameraman, this of course gave Dov the oppertunity to seem like he was doing all the work...



However, I did go poking about elsewhere and thankfully the danger areas on a 4x4 cavalier all appear to be solid with just a couple of minor repairs needed, bearing in mind surface corrosion always looks twn times worse in the pictures. Even I **** myself when I uploaded these!







Another hour of scraping followed turning this...



...in to this...





And thankfully, no holes found. We did start cleaning up the floor pan with brake cleaner which did do a remarkably decent job of removing the ridue left however under the circumstances, something a little more manly may be required to get it back to good, clean metal ahead of being rust treated, primed and sealed. That's this weeks mission.

The only other thing I achieved in the limited time I had was to cut away the only bad bit of rot on the car which was the bottom of the rear n/s/r quarter panel. It's rotted out completely and looked terrible...



...sooo, I just opted to cut it off flush for the time being however as replacements aren't available, I'll either fabricate another section or simply weld a plate along the bottom and seal it up. It isn't visible once the bumper is refitted so I'm not going to loose sleep over it being 100% original or not.





And last task for the day, I refitted the front wings and lights for no other reason aside for they were in danger of being damaged off the car and also it looks a little more complete and thus, doesn't scare me as much when I open the garage door!



More later this week, time allowing.

Cheers

[humbucker]

excellent dave, glad to see such a thorough job being undertaken on the surviving turbo, even if you did manage to kill another in the process hehe! if you have the patience, dupe the thread up over in the WIP section at Vauxhall Cavalier Mk3 Owners Club as i'm sure the guys would love to read all about your progress.

look forward to more updates

[p-hoey]

That is looking great Dave can't wait too see it back on the road and at some shows

[Davey j]

Cracking read this and just goes to show sticking with ONE motor can pay dividends really. Shame I can never follow that mantra!

[Dave Dempsey]

Cracking read this and just goes to show sticking with ONE motor can pay dividends really. Shame I can never follow that mantra!

Serious irony there lol, aside from this car, there's been around 374 other Vauxhalls (not to mention the occasional swedish barge) came and went throughout the time this project has been on going......its just he's not allowed to get rid of this one.

[thedondy]

good wee read there dave and a good solid cav, very nice

[TheWelsh1]

This thread has inspired me to get another Cav Turbo before they all get broken.

[humbucker]

i have a couple of these panels, one i picked up at billing this year. perhaps your mate matt can come and model both of mine for a snap hehehe!

[Todi-Corsa]

nice read hope to see more soon, glad to see another person undertaking a decent amount of fabrication work, don't worry your not alone in bricking it when you look at the amount of work to do, I keep constantly asking myself why when I look at the amount of welding I need to get done on mine lmao

[GaryVaux]

Cracking thread! Good to see progress has resumed!

[Davey j]

Serious irony there lol, aside from this car, there's been around 374 other Vauxhalls (not to mention the occasional swedish barge) came and went throughout the time this project has been on going......its just he's not allowed to get rid of this one.

I've worded that wrong. My bad! I meant sticking to your guns with one rather than giving up. Would have made more sense really! :-)

[Stevey_n1]

nice thread fair play

[big e]

Cracking write up Dave, good to see one being saved..

[adzthestig]

great read! i would love a turbo cav! i will have one even just to keep it safe from corsa and nove owners lol

[MattBrown]

Read it all, really good write up

10 years is a long time to own a car, and still love it.

I adore cav turbos, but with them being scrapped left right and centre I may never own one

[Lowrider Dave]

Just read the whole thread, inspiring stuff and a good read too. Appreciate the effort and continued energy to keep the cav on the go! Good luck getting her finally back together.