humbucker's satin red cavalier turbo WIP

[humbucker]

get it locked mr humbucker save alot of problems

yes that's the plan, have already spoken to mike h about obtaining one of his locking kits. watch this space! is your gsi box locked?

what a beautiful example

thanks pal

[humbucker]

Small update. Had some time spare before a pal came over on Sunday so set about a detango of my rear lights so that the indicators match the appearance of the reversing light as well as the clear tint of the Cavalier Turbo boot panel reflector.

BEFORE:


DURING:




AFTER:


They look a million times better now. Will get some 'before and after' shots when I've put them on the car, hopefully a bit later today. In case you're interested in doing the same I wrote a guide which can be found here (you might need to register to view it): Vauxhall Cavalier Mk3 Owners Club | Login

[Jambo]

What a cool idea. That looks spot on.

[humbucker]

And now, a history lesson!

After a fairly low mileage and uneventful life in the hands of four previous owners, my Turbo was tucked up in dry storage somewhere in deepest darkest Saahf Laahndaahn. In seven years the new owner did an approximate 5k miles and in this time decided to SORN the old girl. This long period of dry storage is surely the reason the chassis is in such amazingly solid condition (touch wood!).

After buying and replacing parts ready for its release back into the wild (all OE parts including clutch, cambelt, waterpump, donut rubbers, as well as a Regal downpipe, Koni adjustable shocks, Avo lowering springs and a Scorpion full exhaust) it seems there was a change of heart and the car was advertised for sale. The car’s exterior wasn’t in the best condition though with a surprising amount of lacquer peel and parking dents caused by its previous owner(s). To add to this, the driver’s door was missing the Turbo trim panel, the door itself was the wrong colour, and the front bumper was hanging on for dear life! Keen to find a donor car for his own Cavalier Turbo project, our very own BennyMac bought the car to use as a breaker in the summer of 2010.

After the long trip home from London to Scotland (hauling the equivalent of a GM parts warehouse full of spares behind him) Benny decided to replace the car’s handbrake cable. It was while he was working under the car that he was amazed at just how solid she was underneath, despite the impression given by her ropey paintwork! With this in mind, plans to break the car were shelved and it was used as Benny’s runabout for a few months. Some pics after he got the car home:







The ever enterprising Benny had a cunning plan. Some shiny wheels! Nobody will notice the dodgy paintwork then! Mwahaha!



(well, providing they don’t go round to the driver’s side hehe!)



Benny drove the car to Billing and back in the weeks that followed and it featured in the owner’s club Rolling Road day where it made bang on 205bhp. Not bad for a stock setup which is supposed to have left the factory with only 204 almost twenty years ago!

So the drivers door was sorted but a few months after the initial run ‘north of the border’ it was time to part company. The car, now well known in the owners club and on some OE Turbo alloys, was bought by club members Heath & TurboNic who set about righting a few wrongs:



The car wasn’t running quite right, and so after initial investigation a strip down and rebuild was in order for the head. Cue replacement lifters, valves, skim and pressure test, metal head gasket, reworked helicoils and a TX Autosport alloy radiator. The engine is now ridiculously quiet, no tapping whatsoever (even from cold) and she really purrs.



Then after some minor repair work to a spot of rust on the rear panel it was time for some prep and a long overdue visit to the bodyshop!



I think this qualifies as air conditioning:





Off to the paintshop!



By this time some 17” Dare alloys had made their way onto the car (which are currently for sale if you’re interested):





















Lacquer peel? What lacquer peel?!







Reassembly begins:



By now the car featured a Renault Laguna front splitter, some blue Samco / Roose Motorsport silicone hoses, all door locks and handles replaced with Vectra B items, a nifty DVD player, Mongoose decat stainless exhaust system, repositioned boot badges, a near mint replacement Turbo leather interior, Magnecor leads etc etc... all set for another trip to Billing! Hoorah!

...and that’s pretty much where the history lesson ends. I had been casually looking for a Turbo for some time and this one became available, ticked all the right boxes and had the vote of confidence from everyone in the owner’s club who knew her. So after a horrid three and a half hour train journey up to Stoke-On-Trent I was driving the car home!

She’s more or less the best example I could have wished for, but like all second hand motors she’s not without her niggles/teething problems. I’ll be picking up bits in order to work on her and pick up where others have left off in the coming weeks (expect to see some progress in the not-too-distant). I’ll be keeping her as near to standard as I can while I play with my V6 project.

Here’s some more snaps taken when I’d got the car home:





Looking back at the pics at the beginning of this project thread it’s amazing how small the tyres look compared to the new ones that I’ve fitted (the new ones being the correct size). Anyway, there you have it! A brief history of my Turbo! Thanks to Benny and Nicci for the pics.

On with the show...

[daddy cav]

[humbucker]

So a manic few days to say the least; earlier in the week, Practical Classics magazine made contact with a few owners clubs looking for cars to feature for a forthcoming issue. The theme of the article will be ‘Tight Budget Turbos’ and as the name suggests it will focus on a number of different cars that readers might be interested in purchasing if they have a few quid burning a hole in their pocket and are looking for some turbocharged fun. Fun that also happens to be practical. And classic. Crucially, each car had to be standard (or as close to unmodified as possible). This wasn’t as easy as it sounds, especially when they approached the MR2 Owners Club who virtually laughed them off of the internet. With a resounding “good luck” ringing in their ears the Practical Classics boys continued their search.

Having narrowed down their lineup of potential feature cars to just five, I’m pleased to report that the Cavalier Turbo had made the shortlist. I had a good chat with Ross from Practical Classics and before you could say “transfer box? what transfer box?” he was forwarding over details for the shoot. It was all a bit short notice as the meet was taking place on Saturday just a few days after our telephone conversation, so I booked a day out of the office for the Friday and started to work on a plan of action.

Now charged with the daunting task of getting my Turbo in shape for a magazine feature I realised that I was going to have to get the V6 out of the garage so that I could wheel the Turbo in for its makeover. Notwithstanding the fact that the V6 was on axle stands and with no brakes, there was the small matter of fitting the new exhaust! A fun filled few hours followed where I lay on the floor cursing a great deal, but out she rolled (if a little dusty and a little lacking in the stopping distance department!). Work will resume on this car later.

Not a happy bunny:



Having got the Turbo in the garage it was ‘mission accomplished’ for one night, however, the following evening saw me dust off the AutoGlym and start on the interior. This ended up being a five hour job. Quite aside from the deep clean and moisture restoration that I forced upon the unsuspecting leather, there was a good eighteen years worth of grubby paw prints to contend with. It’s not until you start wiping down this stuff that you realise just how mucky your car is! The windows, carpets, mats, head lining, pillars, sunvisors and grab handles were all given a long overdue scrub once the leather had been treated and then it was time for some shuteye.

A couple of snaps after the event:





Fitted that all important tax disc holder hehe:



It was now the day before shoot and work on the car resumed at 8am sharp. I finished off the interior (yes there was still more to do) and fit the headunit out of the V6 as I didn’t want there to be a gaping hole in the dashboard for the photographer to include when the feature goes to print! I then turned my attention to the exterior of the car.

Having a lovely gleaming Cavalier Turbo complete with its sparkly polished new-ish paint was always going to be let down by the badges on the rear end. These were showing their age and had lost the silver lettering, instead showing a dull black. With the assistance of Mrs Humbucker’s hairdryer and some tried and tested advice from the chaps at Vauxhall Cavalier Mk3 Owners Club these were removed to make way for some brand new badges. I also managed to source a brand new front grille badge as well as those for the bootlid:

Old:



New:



Bootlid debadged:



Having sorted that it was time to attack the exterior with every shampoo, conditioner, polish, wax, glass, bumper and wheel treatment known to man. All in all I started at 8am and finished at 1am the following morning. This was a megaclean. Every bit of the car got blitzed. Even bits of the car that didn’t even know they existed got blitzed! I didn’t take many pics to be honest as I was working flat out and didn’t really stop unless I was waiting for some polish or another to dry. Or the kettle. Besides, I’m sure you don’t want to see the car in the various stages of being cleaned. Oh, you do? Well these two snaps are just for you then hehe:





The recently detango’d rear lights in place:



The rear lights are a massive improvement, and it’s amazing how a new set of lights can freshen up either end of the car. One light in particular that needed some attention was the rear number plate lamp. With age it’s gone all yellowy. I ordered a new one but what arrived was just the bulb holder. Thinking the part must have come as two separate pieces I then ordered what I thought was the lens, which ended up being the complete unit. That’ll teach me for trusting a ‘useful’ part number guide online! Anyway, the new rear license plate assembly was fitted and it makes a big difference. The light is bright white too!



Let me know if you need one of these as it is now surplus to requirements:



Apparently I’ve ordered the last two of these at the factory and “they won’t be getting any more in” so you have my apologies if you’re now having difficulty tracking one down! :







I then turned my attention to the engine bay. It is in need of much more of a clean than I had time to give it but I did what I could in the time available. It is caked in a layer of crud so I got shot of as much of it as I could and will attack the rest at a later date.





The engine bay also features a mix of blue and red silicone hoses, Samco and Roose respectively. I’m going to replace all blues and blacks with red Roose hoses so started with the AFM to turbo pipe:





Much better. Will get the cam cover and timing belt cover sprayed nice and silver in the not too distant. In the meantime I threw a battery jacket on and took a quick snap of a much cleaner looking lump. I’d now been at it for 17 hours straight and decided to call it a night:



The next morning I had a few hours spare before I needed to be at the shoot so I darted out into the garage and finished off some engine bay bits and bobs. I was also going to fit the new boot badges but disaster struck. I had the wrong Griffin badge for the spoiler! The one listed on the ever-so-useful parts guide was for a non-spoilered Cavalier. Arrgh! I had to reluctantly refit the grotty old badge in the hope that it would go unnoticed.

Having given the wheels and tyres a final going over I tried to wheel the car out of the garage so that I could get ready to leave but the battery was flat. I couldn’t believe it! I’d spent a total of 24 out of 36 hours on the car and it didn’t look like I was going anywhere! Thankfully the V6 battery wasn’t quite dead so I robbed that and started the ol’ girl up.

The pics don’t really do it justice but she didn’t turn out too shabby. Not too shabby at all!

[humbucker]

Throwing all my cleaning products into the back of the car turned out to be a shrewd move. Having spent 24 hours cleaning the car I arrived at the shoot and was led down a dirt track into a mudbath. Hoorah!



I was able to wipe the crap off of the outside of the car but the interior proved a little more tricky. Anyway, as soon as we came to a halt I got out the cloths and started cleaning the mud off!

The location was a wind farm at Burton Latimer in Northamptonshire and the turbines for the windfarm were the perfect backdrop for a fleet of turbocharged cars. The cars in attendance were my Cavalier Turbo, a Fiat Uno Turbo, a Mk3 Supra Turbo and a bonkers Citroen CX Gti Turbo 2 complete with a humungous louvered full rear windscreen spoiler. A bit of an odd mix of motors but I guess that was the point. There was also supposed to be an MR2 and a turbocharged TransAm but the latter wasn’t available in time and there didn’t appear to be an unmodified MR2 on the road at the time of the shoot so it ended up being just the four cars.



I only took a few pics on the day as the light faded fairly rapidly and most of the shots were taken at night with us driving down the dual carriageway in hot pursuit of one another. They’re going to make great ‘action shots’ so I look forward to getting the DVD of images and popping a pic or two up here.









It was a great day and the photographer took some amazing snaps which I can’t wait to get hold of. The feature (and cars) should be on the front cover of Practical Classics at some point in the first quarter of the new year. I think it’s a six page feature so it should have plenty of room for the detail on each car, especially as so many photos were taken inside, outside and under the bonnet. It wasn’t until I looked back at the pics that I noticed that my 18 year old Cavalier Turbo was the newest car there!

Got back late Saturday night and hit the sack. First thing Sunday I went out and washed the car again(!), this time just to release it of all the cak that had built up during the shoot and on the way home. The Meguiars Techwax stuff that the kind folk down at Total Vauxhall had sent me a little while back made it easy enough to wipe clean, but that didn’t stop me from spending another three hours out there.

Beads mutafukaz!





Dried the car down and put her back in the garage where she will now be tucked away for the winter. I’ve got a list of jobs to do in the coming weeks so will crack on with those during the cold snap. Will report back soon.

[Lowrider Dave]

Great write up - looking fantastic!

[humbucker]

Thanks for the feedback Dave. It's been a bit of a magazine fuelled month as in addition to the Practical Classics shoot I had my first cover feature published for Total Vauxhall; I wrote the feature on the green Astra Mk4 Coupe. It's a really fantastic car so do check it out if you haven't done so already:

Total Vauxhall December 2011 Issue is in the shops now!

[rc]

fantastic read, just been through the 'history' and 'feature' updates, all looks amazing great work all round

[humbucker]

Thanks Ron. Plenty of updates to follow now that the car is tucked away for the winter. Just need to find the time to get a few jobs done. Hopefully she'll be making an outing or two at the shows next year.

[humbucker]

Not much of an update but as the car is likely to be making the trip to Billing, PVS and the AutoJumble this year I thought it was probably a good idea to take the ol’ bus for a run as she’s been sat still since the mag shoot in December. Sunday provided a great deal of sunshine in our neck o’ th’ woods so off we went for a spin.

Stopped off for a nose at a scrappie that I passed while I was out and about but it turned out he only sold BMW 3 Series parts. It’s a goldmine for anyone with a 3 Series restoration as he had cars of all ages there. Oh, and a Frontera. And a Mondeo. Anyway, it was a good opportunity to take a quick snap or two.



I have quite a few niggles to sort but the car pretty much ran like a dream. It is currently in FWD mode due to the transfer box not being a happy bunny but I’ve got one of Mike H’s locking kits to fit. I decided to take it a step further so I have a replacement transfer box coming this week, just in case mine is fubarred. Not sure when I’ll get to fit it yet but I’ll add it to the pile of bits I’m accumulating ready for action!

I spoke to the editor of Practical Classics magazine to ask when the cover story featuring my car will be featured (I was told it would be out in February) but was told that “it hasn’t been planned in yet, summer probably”. I guess I’ll just have to wait until it appears on their Facebook page/the supermarket shelves then! Ho hum! Onwards and upwards!

[rc]

looking good