In 1982, I learned to drive as a teenager in a beige Chevy Cavalier sedan. Good memories. Dirt simple humble cars with cheap plastic interiors. But so, so reliable and functional you had to respect them.
Can't wait for more updates on this! It is so cool to see throw away cars from the 70's-80's era.... The cars we used to take for granted...are now mostly gone...
if you removed the cluster/ speedometer from a "modern " car i bet it would set a code with the BCM and more then likely you wouldnt be able to even start the car due to antitheft or some nonsense of the like
If I bought a car around this age it would be my daily driver I love older cars and hate how new cars have a big tablet in the center that tells you everything.
That's gotta be one of the cleanest J cars I've seen in years! It's a keeper in my eyes, it's too old for most people to be worth anything more than $750-$1k on the used market, you'd make more money by keeping it and rocking the smiles per mile concept 😂
I have a soft spot for these cars. I had a job as a "vehicle messenger" for a bank when I was in college and we had a fleet of 1986 Caviilier wagons. Poor things put up with a lot of abuse from all the other college kids that worked there but they kept on going. Nice find Jay, I would hang on to it if it was me.
Drove my girlfriends 83 Cav from Michigan to Florida and back in 93. Had to run the heater in traffic to keep it from over heating because the electric fan didn't work. Got a flat tire on the same trip. Good times, thanks for bringing back the memories.
There's something so pleasing seeing about seeing such an austere classic, like a 1985 4-door Cavalier not only surviving, but thriving! A family friend of my parents had a... it was either a dark blue or gray 1987 4-door Cavalier, and it was basic motoring at its finest. Can never go wrong with an honest, simple car! It's very cool to see that the original owner held onto everything, including the dealer key tag (I did the same thing and kept the dealer tag when I bought my Subaru in 2021.) I noticed the company that made that key tag was from my hometown of Troy, Michigan (a pointless detail, but just felt like mentioning.)
We had a 84 Buick Skyhawk. It wasn’t a T-Type but it was red with black out trim, alloy wheels 5 speed stick and full instrumentation. Pretty cool car then. Dad loved it because it got awesome gas mileage.
Hey Jay, if you ever need any little small pieces for this car that are easy to ship let me know. I’m up in Maine. I have an 84 cavalier out in the field behind my house that’s been sitting there for about 30 years and is totally rotted out. I believe it only has 85,000 miles or so, the interior is mint. Lots of good parts I’d hate to see go to waste. Good luck with the new project!
Are you serious? I’d take the seatbealts. (The part on the floor by the console) the glove box with the latch on the dash side too. I’d be interested in a lot of the inside
Yes, I’m serious. I believe all of that you mentioned so far is intact and still good. The interior is brown, not sure if that matters to you or not. Do you have an email I can get? I can speak to you further there and send photos.
@@MXguy95 I forgot to tag you in my reply. Just making sure you got it. As I stated the interior is brown. I wanted to make sure you still wanted those parts before I send them. If you need anything more than that let me know.
So glad you saved this gem. Good car. Owned a Cavalier once. It had the 2.2. My neighbor sold me an 86 Corsica with 2.0 in it. It got me by till i got the Cavalier.
I had an 86 Cavalier 4-door, with a sun roof. My dad bought it off someone he'd known from work in the late 90s, for me to drive. I loved that thing a lot, but it quickly started drinking oil and smoking like crazy. I lived in a really podunk NW Ohio town at the time, one mechanic attached to a BP station. Took the car there three times, and he couldn't get the oil to stop leaking, always blamed the sending unit. Had to sell it to a neighbor's son in Michigan, who replaced the crumbling factory cork head gasket. Oil stopped leaking. I would so love to have that exact car back, even today.
Had to click on this because my first car was an ‘84 Cavalier “Type 10” 2 door. Maroon, no A.C. Seeing the interior and engine compartment, along with hearing it start up and the interior buzzers was kinda cool.
The TH125s are damn near hard to kill unless he was driving it low. Even then, filter and fluid and you usually can send it. The most amazing thing is that the buzzer stilll works. The heat and humidty kills those.
The VSS is the vehicle speed sensor that lives in the speedometer. This brings back memories of my 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. The lock-up torque converter worked the same way. There is a rotating vane in the speedometer that is counted by the ECM. There are lockup parameters dependent upon the vehicle. Mine locked up at 48mph cruising and disengaged when touching the brake pedal.
I love these cars. I had my grandma's 1984 Cavalier wagon and I ran it all through college back in 1997. The only issue I had to fix was the AC. I never see the wagons anymore and if I ever found one in good shape id buy it! Thanks for the memories!
Yours looks nice. I had an 83 coupe with no options or even a cigarette lighter, but I didn’t want a Chevette. It served me well and later my sister drove it until it just died. When GM could make a reliable vehicle. Good luck with the Cavalier.
Oh wow, my first car was the same make and model, same color too. Dang you done brought back so many memories and nostalgia for me. Kinda emotional lol. Every man’s first car had a special place in his heart, no matter what it was. Oh I paid $350 for mine back in 2002, it was kinda a beater at that point, but so similar price too. By beater I mean high mileage, smelled of cigarettes bad when I got it. Driver rear window didn’t work. Not the greatest interior, exterior was excellent. Engine and transmission was ok given 177k miles on it. Had to hit the passenger headlight now and again for it to work. Had to hit it just right too. Never did get the glove box open after I put the registration in it, damn thing done got stuck. Damn glove box claimed a box of Phillies blunts too. It was a 1985 for the year, which is the year I was born. So my first car was born the year I was. Damn if we lived in the same state I’d buy it off you. To have my first car again. Was it PA titled before?
Drove one these for drivers Ed. back in the 1980's and later had a 1987 4-door like this one with the 2.0 and auto trans except in light blue. Have also driven the next 2 newer generations of Cavalier but I always thought this generation felt the tightest and best put together with no squeaks and rattles unlike the newer generations. Nothing to look at but it was comfortable, got great gas mileage, was super reliable and easy and cheap to fix. Would love to find a clean one like that.
Yes! Gotta love the ol pressure driven gm transmissions. When you showed the leak, I already knew where this was going. I got a 92 gmc jimmy that had bad Trans cooler lines bought it for $400 owner said Trans is shot. Replaced lined, topped it off and it was just fine all 4 gears. Very common thing on these ol gm cars.
My first car was a dark red 1985 Cavalier “Type 10”. Loved it, drove the hell out of it for 8yrs until it just fell apart mechanically. Replaced it with a….1993 red Cavalier 2-door. You are correct about the 80s Cavalier being a basic car, the 93 version's felt like luxury cars by comparison. But I have such fond memories of that ‘85, fun to tool around in, it was so easy to fix and keep running, 24mpg all day long.
There is no mistaking the drone of a 4 cyl GM of that era. No other brand sounded like that, especially Japanese cars. I had a Celebrity back in the day with an Iron Duke that sounded just the same. And you had to get on it all the time just to get up to speed LOL. As rust free as it is you stole it at that price plus parts.
Congrats on finding such a nice little old Cavalier. My parents and I purchased a brand new 1985 (ordered out) in the SC trim in gray over gray and automatic. Loved that car and wish so badly that I could find one like that again. I do have my most saught after car now: a last model year 1988 Cadillac Cimarron. Yes, the super fancy Cavalier! But it's super clean and low miles and I love it.
One of my favorite products for automatic transmissions is the red bottle of LubeGard. I use it in my 2001 Ram's 46RE and I'd highly recommend it for this lil Cavalier here.
That's a real gem! Nice acquisition! 👍👍 Definitely worth fixing...and keeping if you decide to. Still real good on gas, of course. I really wish that the car makers still made cars like these. But, yeah......thanks for sharing, Jay!
I had a '82 Omega bought new. Those GM cars back then required you be a tinkerer to keep them running; nothing major, just picky stuff. But, if those picky items didn't get fixed the car would not last very long. I kept mine in good working order and it ran 186,000 miles before I sold it and bought a new car.
Its always great to see cars that was once apart of my childhood cars like the cavalier escort and corsicas and trucks like the mid 90s Ford rangers and Chevy S10s
It's always cool to find A relic from your past isn't it my first car was a 1987 Chevy cavalier that looks a lot like the one in this video except mine was turd brown the pastor at my grandmother's Church his wife had this cavalier and I bought it off of him drove it for quite a while then traded it in on a Dodge truck
My Grandfather had a 1984 Pontiac Sunbird similar to that . I took my driver's license test in it. The license examiner was tall and good sized person and almost didn't fit in. I thought I wasn't going to pass because they had a rough time getting in that car.😅 Car drove really well and I passed. Look forward to seeing more content on it.
We've missed you and these resurrection videos Jay! Love your problem solving skills and resourcefulness, much respect. Someone loved and took care of that car, they weren't built to last forty years. The paperwork was interesting, wonder how much trade in they got for a sixteen year old Impala. That dealer/owner card used to be a metal plate with info about the owner, dealer, ect. It was attached to the warranty book and called a Protecto Plate. I still have the original one and the build sheet from my 1970 Monte Carlo. Peace.
No way!!! My grandma had one of these back in the 90s, it was a MY1984. Michigan weather took its toll on it. I haven't seen one of these in so long, even the 2000s Cavaliers up here are getting pretty scarce.
I love these GM J Bodies!! Definitely a great great great car. My wife daily’s a 93 Cavalier 4 door 2.2L that we bought for $350 with a bad fuel pump. The scrap yard had already been called when we showed up to all about it. Fuel pump, tires, plugs, wires, coils, coil mounting plate (that was fun) and an oil change and it runs. I tease my wife by calling it the world’s largest go cart but it’s a fun little car to run around in. Still looking for a handful of odds and ends but it’s blast.
Nice, I've owned 6 Cavaliers, two automatics, a 99 I bought brand new sold it and the next was 2002, the rest were 5-speeds, I'm pretty much just a fan of 95-05.
Parents had an 83 or 84. I remember the paint going bad . Along with many other issues. Radio went out, rack and pinion went out. Which a recall. Paint faded out way too early. A/C gave out and the list goes on. Nail in the coffin was the lifter’s or valves went out in 93.
my 40s now. Something like this was everybody's first car. Mine was a 1986 Chrysler reliant hydrated piss yellow. Timing belt snapped. And then I found the old beat up brown 76 Corolla 5-speed 200$ had so much fun in that and oh yeah I like dom says I was double clutching like I should 😂
My dad had a 2-door blue '86 back in the early 90's. Probably the first car I got to steer as a little kid. I'd really love to find one in clean condition so that I can join the 80's J-body brigade!
TRANCE! I haven’t seen your name pop up in awhile! Glad to see you still around! Find you a j-car before other people start collecting them😂 Also, digging that new profile pic! Turned into a hunk!
Had an 85 olds Firenza. Same car really. Car wouldn’t go over about 60 up a hill and something was always broke on it. We referred to it as the crapper. Good times.
Ok. Here's my nugget on Cavaliers this age. I had an '84 that I rebuilt the engine on when I got it. It had been ran hot due to a leaking water pump. After I got it running, rebuilt and a new water pump...the fan on the rad would not come on. So the a/c had a bad compressor on it so I ran the car in a/c mode all the time with the pressure switch on the accumulator unplugged, to prevent compressor from running...which made the rad can run all tje time car was on. For several years I searched for an answer for why the rad fan wouldnt cycle. I put a couple of fan switches on at the thermostat housing and that did not help. I could bypass the switch and the fan would run. So by mistake I found out why the problem existed. Even the dealerships said to just bypass the fan switch...and I told them it wasnt designed that way! So I parked the car for a year or two and I didnt drive it. When I started to drive it again, the heater core sprung a leak. So I bypassed the heater core. Low and behold, the fan switch started working! 😳 I replaced the heater core, and I tried to flush the old one. And it was stopped up with rust and barely flowed water. So the flow path was from the water pump to the heater core, and from there to the thermostat housing. With that much restriction the bulb on the fan switch was never fully submersed in coolant. I guess the steam wasnt enough to cycle the switch. So, anybody have this problem....bypass the heater core to check it if fan switch dont fix it. There are probably thousands of switches bypassed out there....if they are still on the road.
Bought one of these in wagon version years back with 90,000 miles for $500. drove it for 31/2 years and pur 90,000 miles on it with very little work,5 spd version a great car.
A buddy told me he had a bit of luck polishing run scratches off windshields with 3000 grit and a jewellers emery cloth like they use to polish watch crystals. good goin Jay
it feels like i haven't seen a video from you in years! so weird i just stopped getting recommended to you i didn't have any kids the last time i watched you 😭😭😭
Jay I saw your video from 5 years ago saving a scrap grey Ford Ranger. You were wearing a pizza planet shirt. now you got long hair and beard now? You are getting old old bruh. 🤣 I enjoy watching you save these old vehicles! you must be making a killing flipping old cars! congrats on your success
That is a nice looking car for being 40 yrs old now! Can't believe that's a 1985. The Celebrity looked alot like this car as well! Both good cars from that era
It would be interesting to drive a car like this, back to the dealership it was originally purchased at, if it was still in business, just to see what they think. Considering this car was considered a throwaway car, it is still in nice condition, considering it's age.
The original owners were obviously people who took care of their cars and kept them for a long time. If they bought the 69 Impala new, that means it was 16 years of ownership. This is a great little car, something I'd love to have and just drive around.
I had a 1987 Maroon Cavalier. It died with 365,000 miles on it. Mostly because the body rusted out thanks to New York salting the crap out of our roads.
what a cool video! my first car was a 1985 Pontiac 6000LE (same car as this) and as a kid i thought that v6 was the fastest thing in the world lol. that beast went through 5 accidents from youthful stupidity, and i still couldn't kill that little 2.8L... last one knocked all the coolant clean out of it, she made me walk across town, and when i came back it fired right up and kept goin like nothing happened. those cars were something else. we still had a little pride in em back then, no matter how silly looking. i'm watchin and i hear in the background like "what is that noise.. wait, is that rain on the roof? i remember when you could hear rain on the roof!" new cars are so insulated, and i didn't even realize when it happened.
Fun fact, the Pontiac 6000 is not the same as a cavalier. They are completely different chassis and do not share components. Pontiac DID however have a car built off the “j platform” which was called the sunbird! Later it became known as the sun fire when the car was redesigned in the mid 1990s
@@MXguy95 i remembered the Sunbird and knew it to be a J-body, but didn't realized until i checked that the 6000 was an entirely different chassis. learn something new every day. thanks
I picked up a 86 like that once and went over it and used it for a winter beater it was super reliable I sold it to someone and they ran it for 3 more years including taking multiple 700 mile road trips
Wow. I drove an '87 in high school in the early '00s. My parents had bought it new, and was nearly totaled in the early 90s. Every single part on that dumb car had to have been replaced at least once.
My first brand new car was a 1985 Cavalier Type 10. I had the dealer order it from the factory with the optional 2.8 liter V6. Several weeks later the factory sent a message that said they discontinued the V6 option. I was super disappointed.
I had 3 of these in my life... My favorite was my 85 with a 2.0 -4sp manual. Nuked a clutch in 6 months on that car...... 3-4k clutch dumps. I miss that car. Had 2 amps, a 15" sub, 6x9s, and 3.5 up front.
I absolutely love when old cars still have the original docs in the glovebox! My little bros 90 Miata had its owners manual, dealership docs, and its first inspection at 7 miles! Also congrats on 100k subs! ( I know I'm wayyyy late lol)
I’ve had many cars with some original paperwork. But this much documentation?!? Is just unreal! Good to see you Fuzz Butt! I still have to put that radio in the dodge you got me 😅
The hall effect sensor controls so much on these J bodies, I was chasing so many faults on my Firenza wagon just to find out that my broken speedo cable was causing all of my running issues.
These are the kind of cars I drive. They are cheap to buy and maybe I have to put a little into it, but they just run. My daily driver is a 2013 Chevy Spark that I just love. Would love to find a Chevy Citation.
Around 2002, I bought one of these with a failing transmission for $1 and we had a weekend of debauchery and degeneracy. You'd be surprised how much air it can catch.
I love older cars. They are so much easier to work on. simple and straight forward.
It’s nice to know I’m not alone in an addiction to browsing old cars on Facebook Marketplace 😂
Started doing the same about five years ago😂
Dude that’s how I spend most my days anymore is marketplace
I might be getting a divorce for getting to much stuff off of marketplace.🤣 I need a marketplace anonymous seminar.
wouldnt be much of a market if not
Nope, I think all of us do that. I think more time at work is spent on marketplace than actually working!
In 1982, I learned to drive as a teenager in a beige Chevy Cavalier sedan. Good memories. Dirt simple humble cars with cheap plastic interiors. But so, so reliable and functional you had to respect them.
Can't wait for more updates on this! It is so cool to see throw away cars from the 70's-80's era.... The cars we used to take for granted...are now mostly gone...
It's funny how at one point in time, nobody would bat an eye at these and today, it's a "classic". Great find man, keep it running!
if you removed the cluster/ speedometer from a "modern " car i bet it would set a code with the BCM and more then likely you wouldnt be able to even start the car due to antitheft or some nonsense of the like
If I bought a car around this age it would be my daily driver I love older cars and hate how new cars have a big tablet in the center that tells you everything.
That's gotta be one of the cleanest J cars I've seen in years! It's a keeper in my eyes, it's too old for most people to be worth anything more than $750-$1k on the used market, you'd make more money by keeping it and rocking the smiles per mile concept 😂
I have a soft spot for these cars. I had a job as a "vehicle messenger" for a bank when I was in college and we had a fleet of 1986 Caviilier wagons. Poor things put up with a lot of abuse from all the other college kids that worked there but they kept on going. Nice find Jay, I would hang on to it if it was me.
Drove my girlfriends 83 Cav from Michigan to Florida and back in 93. Had to run the heater in traffic to keep it from over heating because the electric fan didn't work. Got a flat tire on the same trip. Good times, thanks for bringing back the memories.
Awesome 👏🏼 looking sharp. 40 years old and still ticking. I love those simple computer free cars. Definitely more reliable than ones of today market.
There's something so pleasing seeing about seeing such an austere classic, like a 1985 4-door Cavalier not only surviving, but thriving! A family friend of my parents had a... it was either a dark blue or gray 1987 4-door Cavalier, and it was basic motoring at its finest. Can never go wrong with an honest, simple car! It's very cool to see that the original owner held onto everything, including the dealer key tag (I did the same thing and kept the dealer tag when I bought my Subaru in 2021.) I noticed the company that made that key tag was from my hometown of Troy, Michigan (a pointless detail, but just felt like mentioning.)
We had a 84 Buick Skyhawk. It wasn’t a T-Type but it was red with black out trim, alloy wheels 5 speed stick and full instrumentation. Pretty cool car then. Dad loved it because it got awesome gas mileage.
Hey Jay, if you ever need any little small pieces for this car that are easy to ship let me know. I’m up in Maine. I have an 84 cavalier out in the field behind my house that’s been sitting there for about 30 years and is totally rotted out. I believe it only has 85,000 miles or so, the interior is mint. Lots of good parts I’d hate to see go to waste. Good luck with the new project!
Fellow Mainer!
Are you serious? I’d take the seatbealts. (The part on the floor by the console) the glove box with the latch on the dash side too. I’d be interested in a lot of the inside
Yes, I’m serious. I believe all of that you mentioned so far is intact and still good. The interior is brown, not sure if that matters to you or not. Do you have an email I can get? I can speak to you further there and send photos.
@@DevoldoinHDyes sir. Penobscot county.
@@MXguy95 I forgot to tag you in my reply. Just making sure you got it. As I stated the interior is brown. I wanted to make sure you still wanted those parts before I send them. If you need anything more than that let me know.
Oh the memories. My first car was a 1985 Chevy Cabalier gray. Drove the hell out that thing, you could not kill it. Tough little cars.
They rattle, shake, and tremble. But they will do that for years and years of faithful service 😂
I see this video brought out all the furries 👍🏻
I can't remember what I had for lunch 2 days ago but I remembered 45mph was the O/D speed. That is an awesome find, Jay!
my grandfather worked at gm lordstown for 40 years he was a tool and die man. his tools made those cars. keep the old gal going !
Jay, that's a beautiful old classic! Looks garage-kept. Absolutely worth fixing up!
So glad you saved this gem. Good car. Owned a Cavalier once. It had the 2.2.
My neighbor sold me an 86 Corsica with 2.0 in it. It got me by till i got the Cavalier.
I had an 86 Cavalier 4-door, with a sun roof. My dad bought it off someone he'd known from work in the late 90s, for me to drive. I loved that thing a lot, but it quickly started drinking oil and smoking like crazy. I lived in a really podunk NW Ohio town at the time, one mechanic attached to a BP station. Took the car there three times, and he couldn't get the oil to stop leaking, always blamed the sending unit. Had to sell it to a neighbor's son in Michigan, who replaced the crumbling factory cork head gasket. Oil stopped leaking. I would so love to have that exact car back, even today.
Had to click on this because my first car was an ‘84 Cavalier “Type 10” 2 door. Maroon, no A.C. Seeing the interior and engine compartment, along with hearing it start up and the interior buzzers was kinda cool.
Awesome video. Nothing like an old Cavalier
The TH125s are damn near hard to kill unless he was driving it low. Even then, filter and fluid and you usually can send it. The most amazing thing is that the buzzer stilll works. The heat and humidty kills those.
I admire your excitement and passion for this little old Chevy ❤❤❤
The VSS is the vehicle speed sensor that lives in the speedometer. This brings back memories of my 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. The lock-up torque converter worked the same way. There is a rotating vane in the speedometer that is counted by the ECM. There are lockup parameters dependent upon the vehicle. Mine locked up at 48mph cruising and disengaged when touching the brake pedal.
I love these cars. I had my grandma's 1984 Cavalier wagon and I ran it all through college back in 1997. The only issue I had to fix was the AC. I never see the wagons anymore and if I ever found one in good shape id buy it! Thanks for the memories!
Nice to see one still running around. My first car when I 16 was a 1984 cavelier. Mine was exactly like that except it was shit brown.
Yours looks nice. I had an 83 coupe with no options or even a cigarette lighter, but I didn’t want a Chevette. It served me well and later my sister drove it until it just died. When GM could make a reliable vehicle. Good luck with the Cavalier.
Oh wow, my first car was the same make and model, same color too. Dang you done brought back so many memories and nostalgia for me. Kinda emotional lol. Every man’s first car had a special place in his heart, no matter what it was. Oh I paid $350 for mine back in 2002, it was kinda a beater at that point, but so similar price too. By beater I mean high mileage, smelled of cigarettes bad when I got it. Driver rear window didn’t work. Not the greatest interior, exterior was excellent. Engine and transmission was ok given 177k miles on it. Had to hit the passenger headlight now and again for it to work. Had to hit it just right too. Never did get the glove box open after I put the registration in it, damn thing done got stuck. Damn glove box claimed a box of Phillies blunts too. It was a 1985 for the year, which is the year I was born. So my first car was born the year I was. Damn if we lived in the same state I’d buy it off you. To have my first car again. Was it PA titled before?
Drove one these for drivers Ed. back in the 1980's and later had a 1987 4-door like this one with the 2.0 and auto trans except in light blue. Have also driven the next 2 newer generations of Cavalier but I always thought this generation felt the tightest and best put together with no squeaks and rattles unlike the newer generations. Nothing to look at but it was comfortable, got great gas mileage, was super reliable and easy and cheap to fix. Would love to find a clean one like that.
Yes! Gotta love the ol pressure driven gm transmissions. When you showed the leak, I already knew where this was going. I got a 92 gmc jimmy that had bad Trans cooler lines bought it for $400 owner said Trans is shot. Replaced lined, topped it off and it was just fine all 4 gears. Very common thing on these ol gm cars.
My first car was a dark red 1985 Cavalier “Type 10”. Loved it, drove the hell out of it for 8yrs until it just fell apart mechanically. Replaced it with a….1993 red Cavalier 2-door. You are correct about the 80s Cavalier being a basic car, the 93 version's felt like luxury cars by comparison. But I have such fond memories of that ‘85, fun to tool around in, it was so easy to fix and keep running, 24mpg all day long.
There is no mistaking the drone of a 4 cyl GM of that era. No other brand sounded like that, especially Japanese cars. I had a Celebrity back in the day with an Iron Duke that sounded just the same. And you had to get on it all the time just to get up to speed LOL. As rust free as it is you stole it at that price plus parts.
Neat find , the dealer key tag is crazy well preserved,
I loved my little Cavalier when I had one! Good little (inexpensive) car.
Congrats on finding such a nice little old Cavalier. My parents and I purchased a brand new 1985 (ordered out) in the SC trim in gray over gray and automatic. Loved that car and wish so badly that I could find one like that again. I do have my most saught after car now: a last model year 1988 Cadillac Cimarron. Yes, the super fancy Cavalier! But it's super clean and low miles and I love it.
One of my favorite products for automatic transmissions is the red bottle of LubeGard. I use it in my 2001 Ram's 46RE and I'd highly recommend it for this lil Cavalier here.
A good day when Jay drops a new video
That's a real gem! Nice acquisition! 👍👍 Definitely worth fixing...and keeping if you decide to. Still real good on gas, of course. I really wish that the car makers still made cars like these. But, yeah......thanks for sharing, Jay!
Talk about a *time capsule* Jay! 👀 That puppy is cherry!! 🔧🔩
I had a '82 Omega bought new. Those GM cars back then required you be a tinkerer to keep them running; nothing major, just picky stuff. But, if those picky items didn't get fixed the car would not last very long. I kept mine in good working order and it ran 186,000 miles before I sold it and bought a new car.
Its always great to see cars that was once apart of my childhood cars like the cavalier escort and corsicas and trucks like the mid 90s Ford rangers and Chevy S10s
So glad you saved this, saw it on the front drive GM group on Facebook and was glad it didn’t get scrapped, way too clean of a car.
It's always cool to find A relic from your past isn't it my first car was a 1987 Chevy cavalier that looks a lot like the one in this video except mine was turd brown the pastor at my grandmother's Church his wife had this cavalier and I bought it off of him drove it for quite a while then traded it in on a Dodge truck
My Grandfather had a 1984 Pontiac Sunbird similar to that . I took my driver's license test in it. The license examiner was tall and good sized person and almost didn't fit in. I thought I wasn't going to pass because they had a rough time getting in that car.😅 Car drove really well and I passed. Look forward to seeing more content on it.
We've missed you and these resurrection videos Jay! Love your problem solving skills and resourcefulness, much respect. Someone loved and took care of that car, they weren't built to last forty years. The paperwork was interesting, wonder how much trade in they got for a sixteen year old Impala. That dealer/owner card used to be a metal plate with info about the owner, dealer, ect. It was attached to the warranty book and called a Protecto Plate. I still have the original one and the build sheet from my 1970 Monte Carlo. Peace.
I had the same car it was a 1986. It was my first car I beat the ĥeck out of it with pulling a trailer and towing cars.
No way!!! My grandma had one of these back in the 90s, it was a MY1984. Michigan weather took its toll on it. I haven't seen one of these in so long, even the 2000s Cavaliers up here are getting pretty scarce.
I love these GM J Bodies!! Definitely a great great great car. My wife daily’s a 93 Cavalier 4 door 2.2L that we bought for $350 with a bad fuel pump. The scrap yard had already been called when we showed up to all about it. Fuel pump, tires, plugs, wires, coils, coil mounting plate (that was fun) and an oil change and it runs. I tease my wife by calling it the world’s largest go cart but it’s a fun little car to run around in. Still looking for a handful of odds and ends but it’s blast.
Nice, I've owned 6 Cavaliers, two automatics, a 99 I bought brand new sold it and the next was 2002, the rest were 5-speeds, I'm pretty much just a fan of 95-05.
Parents had an 83 or 84. I remember the paint going bad . Along with many other issues. Radio went out, rack and pinion went out. Which a recall. Paint faded out way too early. A/C gave out and the list goes on. Nail in the coffin was the lifter’s or valves went out in 93.
my 40s now. Something like this was everybody's first car. Mine was a 1986 Chrysler reliant hydrated piss yellow. Timing belt snapped. And then I found the old beat up brown 76 Corolla 5-speed 200$ had so much fun in that and oh yeah I like dom says I was double clutching like I should 😂
These were/are one of the cars GM made that’s Camry level reliable. I’m glad you’re thinking about cleaning it up.
I used to have a car like that some years back and the motor mount that was bad was called a dog bone because you can guess what it look like .
Back in the early nineties I had a gold 84 and I loved that car.
My dad had a 2-door blue '86 back in the early 90's. Probably the first car I got to steer as a little kid. I'd really love to find one in clean condition so that I can join the 80's J-body brigade!
TRANCE! I haven’t seen your name pop up in awhile! Glad to see you still around! Find you a j-car before other people start collecting them😂
Also, digging that new profile pic! Turned into a hunk!
Had an 85 olds Firenza. Same car really. Car wouldn’t go over about 60 up a hill and something was always broke on it. We referred to it as the crapper. Good times.
Ok. Here's my nugget on Cavaliers this age. I had an '84 that I rebuilt the engine on when I got it. It had been ran hot due to a leaking water pump.
After I got it running, rebuilt and a new water pump...the fan on the rad would not come on. So the a/c had a bad compressor on it so I ran the car in a/c mode all the time with the pressure switch on the accumulator unplugged, to prevent compressor from running...which made the rad can run all tje time car was on.
For several years I searched for an answer for why the rad fan wouldnt cycle. I put a couple of fan switches on at the thermostat housing and that did not help. I could bypass the switch and the fan would run. So by mistake I found out why the problem existed.
Even the dealerships said to just bypass the fan switch...and I told them it wasnt designed that way!
So I parked the car for a year or two and I didnt drive it. When I started to drive it again, the heater core sprung a leak. So I bypassed the heater core.
Low and behold, the fan switch started working! 😳
I replaced the heater core, and I tried to flush the old one. And it was stopped up with rust and barely flowed water.
So the flow path was from the water pump to the heater core, and from there to the thermostat housing. With that much restriction the bulb on the fan switch was never fully submersed in coolant. I guess the steam wasnt enough to cycle the switch.
So, anybody have this problem....bypass the heater core to check it if fan switch dont fix it. There are probably thousands of switches bypassed out there....if they are still on the road.
Bought one of these in wagon version years back with 90,000 miles for $500. drove it for 31/2 years and pur 90,000 miles on it with very little work,5 spd version a great car.
Dang Bro that’s serious memories there. My aunt had that exact same cavalier it was red. I had an 83 skylark a fellow X car. Had a 93 cavalier too 👍👍
My dad worked in the paint shop at the Lordstown plant where the Cavaliers were built. He might’ve worked on that one. 😊
A buddy told me he had a bit of luck polishing run scratches off windshields with 3000 grit and a jewellers emery cloth like they use to polish watch crystals. good goin Jay
This car is a 💎 Love it. Looking very forward for updates on this gem of a car. Awesome video Jay 😃👍
I bought a 1986 cavalier just like that one for 700 back in the 90s. It had 146,000 on it and it lasted me 3 yrs. Good car
I’m willing to bet there’s at least one person at that dealership that still knows the car. At very least they’d likely want a picture with the car
i think there are some window replacement companies that sometimes can polish the scratch out depending on severity of the scratch in the window .)
my sister had one of these brand new in 85 when i was a kid... memories
$300?! What a steal.
it feels like i haven't seen a video from you in years! so weird i just stopped getting recommended to you i didn't have any kids the last time i watched you 😭😭😭
I love these cars! My uncle had one of these when I was 5 years old
Super cool having all the paper work. It's worth a fix up!
Amazing find, Jay! Can’t wait to see more on this car. Crazy someone kept all the documents on one of these.
Jay I saw your video from 5 years ago saving a scrap grey Ford Ranger. You were wearing a pizza planet shirt. now you got long hair and beard now? You are getting old old bruh. 🤣 I enjoy watching you save these old vehicles! you must be making a killing flipping old cars! congrats on your success
That is a nice looking car for being 40 yrs old now! Can't believe that's a 1985. The Celebrity looked alot like this car as well! Both good cars from that era
Love the car!!! I'm a sucker for 80's GM stuff, and your post came at a good time since Big AL hasn't done content in ages.
Rip big al
@scottgray9674 what? He didn't pass did he?
It would be interesting to drive a car like this, back to the dealership it was originally purchased at, if it was still in business, just to see what they think.
Considering this car was considered a throwaway car, it is still in nice condition, considering it's age.
The original owners were obviously people who took care of their cars and kept them for a long time. If they bought the 69 Impala new, that means it was 16 years of ownership. This is a great little car, something I'd love to have and just drive around.
My Grandma had a red Cavalier, cool video 👍
I had a 1987 Maroon Cavalier. It died with 365,000 miles on it. Mostly because the body rusted out thanks to New York salting the crap out of our roads.
Love the shoutout to Polebarn garage !
I pasted my driving test in 1985 so I was was on your side of the pond that car could have been mine.
I love the way this car looksss I love the boxy design
Brings back memories. I had an 86 back in 01. It was Grey. Thing was a beast.
That could have ended up at the Winston Pull-A-Part. Glad you saved it! (Did I just say that about a Cavalier?) I had an '84 way back when.
That’s pretty clean! Nice find
what a cool video! my first car was a 1985 Pontiac 6000LE (same car as this) and as a kid i thought that v6 was the fastest thing in the world lol. that beast went through 5 accidents from youthful stupidity, and i still couldn't kill that little 2.8L... last one knocked all the coolant clean out of it, she made me walk across town, and when i came back it fired right up and kept goin like nothing happened. those cars were something else. we still had a little pride in em back then, no matter how silly looking.
i'm watchin and i hear in the background like "what is that noise.. wait, is that rain on the roof? i remember when you could hear rain on the roof!" new cars are so insulated, and i didn't even realize when it happened.
Fun fact, the Pontiac 6000 is not the same as a cavalier. They are completely different chassis and do not share components. Pontiac DID however have a car built off the “j platform” which was called the sunbird! Later it became known as the sun fire when the car was redesigned in the mid 1990s
@@MXguy95 i remembered the Sunbird and knew it to be a J-body, but didn't realized until i checked that the 6000 was an entirely different chassis. learn something new every day. thanks
I picked up a 86 like that once and went over it and used it for a winter beater it was super reliable I sold it to someone and they ran it for 3 more years including taking multiple 700 mile road trips
Wow. I drove an '87 in high school in the early '00s. My parents had bought it new, and was nearly totaled in the early 90s. Every single part on that dumb car had to have been replaced at least once.
My first brand new car was a 1985 Cavalier Type 10. I had the dealer order it from the factory with the optional 2.8 liter V6. Several weeks later the factory sent a message that said they discontinued the V6 option. I was super disappointed.
congrats on saving the cavalier my grandmother had one for years
I had 3 of these in my life... My favorite was my 85 with a 2.0 -4sp manual. Nuked a clutch in 6 months on that car...... 3-4k clutch dumps. I miss that car. Had 2 amps, a 15" sub, 6x9s, and 3.5 up front.
I absolutely love when old cars still have the original docs in the glovebox! My little bros 90 Miata had its owners manual, dealership docs, and its first inspection at 7 miles! Also congrats on 100k subs! ( I know I'm wayyyy late lol)
I’ve had many cars with some original paperwork. But this much documentation?!? Is just unreal! Good to see you Fuzz Butt! I still have to put that radio in the dodge you got me 😅
@@MXguy95 DOO EET! I wish I have some old Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash tapes to throw in with the other “extras” in the box!
Great find. Nice solid little car. Take it to Radwood! I spend some time in these cars in my youth
i own an 85 convertible. love to see another clean one!
Awesome! Would LOVE to see more on the car, especially an interior clean.
I miss my cavalier now . Good job
Wow! My mom had one of those when I was a kid!
The hall effect sensor controls so much on these J bodies, I was chasing so many faults on my Firenza wagon just to find out that my broken speedo cable was causing all of my running issues.
Been watchin ur vids for years absolutely love this car
Yay! Excited to see this Cavvy up and going! Looks great so far!
These are the kind of cars I drive. They are cheap to buy and maybe I have to put a little into it, but they just run. My daily driver is a 2013 Chevy Spark that I just love. Would love to find a Chevy Citation.
Around 2002, I bought one of these with a failing transmission for $1 and we had a weekend of debauchery and degeneracy. You'd be surprised how much air it can catch.