i had this car Opel Ascona) the German version, for 30 years, and it's one of the best old school car, it's solid will engineered and it has a character, not like those days cars, thanks for the video
My dad had a 1984 A-reg Vaxhall cavalier L 1.3 hatchback in polar white. Fantastic car, it was never looked after as well as it deserved unfortunately. I'm now making sure our 1993 Cav LS doesn't go the same way! We've had it since 1996 so I'm really attached to it.
Nice My father and later on me owned a 1983 1.6GL cavalier in china blue with velour seats & electric mirrors,also had an oil pressure gauge on GL model. Owned it from 1986 to 2000 a superb car. There were a problems the the camshaft followers on early models that were to soft and had them replaced at 19,000 miles,also valve stem oil seals were a problem too. Also very important to replace the rockercover filter gauze where the OHC writing is because when that blocks up it will destroy your camshaft and its was the same with my astra mk2 1.8 sri 1990 that i once had. Used to easily fit a camshaft timing belt in minutes too just slip it over after taking the old one off and the same with the astra,you cant do that on modern cars anymore. Look after it and it will become valuable in the future im sure.(:-)
Neither does mine, rear seatbelts wern't necessary until 1987! My car probably the same colour as well, it's Metallic Silver Green although there was another colour called Reed Green which is a solid colour, both are a sort of pea green!
Yeah, I know about the rust problems with these, they are famous for going around the rear arches and sills, the toeboard and bulkhead area is fairly soluble as well, I even had another one of these where the spare wheel well had virtually disappeared! This one though is one of the most solid I've ever seen, it needed new sills but that was all, everywhere else is solid and original, even the rear arches which in itself is a minor miracle!
Thanks, I'm pretty pleased with the result myself, My Cavalier has had a full body restoration, it's had new sills which was the only new metal required, the arches which are usually frilly were perfect and I gave her a full respray in the original Silver Green Metallic, a lot better than the horrible peuck green brush painted finish that was on when I bought the car. I agree about the 16SH engine, it's a classic sound.
I've been searching for a mk1 Astra, but no luck. I came across a 1983 brown mk1 Astra 5 door on ebay a few months ago and all was needed was a bit of attention to the rear valence. In hindsight, I should have bit the bullet and went for it. I just love the square lines of the early Vauxhalls. It's a great shame rust has been the demise of a lot of these cars. I've seen a mk1 Astra were the floor pans have virtually disappeared along with most of the sills!
Thankyou for the information. At the moment I've been chatting to a guy who has a mk1 Astra GTE he's selling as an unfinished project. It needs the usual sills and floor pans. I'm considering buying it to complete then hopefully I'll have a lovely mk1 GTE.
The lack of sun of british islands preserves the interior so much better than the sun from here. :-( You can literally fry a egg on the body of your car if you want. Imagine how is to be like a turkey in oven during thanksgiving, thats what you feel if you have a cavalier 4 doors without any electric windows working (thats why i prefer the 2 door model , and with manual windows).
Check out eBay, keep an eye on the Vauxhalls in the classic car section, they do come up now and again, but be prepared for a wait as the early cars are much rarer than the later ones. Car & Classic is a good website to look at as well.
Well done for keeping another fantastic Vauxhall on the road. I'm trying to find a mk1 Astra but not having much luck. I love the sound of the OHC C16NE. Did you have to do much work to the body? Recently I checked ebay and there were a few mk1 and mk2 Cavaliers.
you push all my buttons lol. my dad had a cavalier in the 80's 90's 1.6L pea green never broke down rust kills them though. about 900 mk2 cavaliers left
Actually, there's been a nice metallic blue MK1 Astra been at all the classic car shows this year up here in Scotland, and it's for sale, I believe the guy lives in Falkirk somewhere, I could maybe get their phone number if you were interested.
automatic chokes work or they don't. some Peugeots VW's had them and worked well. my dad said his cav mk2 1.6 had an auto choke and was fairly good. rather have a manual choke you've got more control. god knows how an auto choke works.
Auto chokes are quite simple really, theres a bimetallic coil of metal inside a housing which is heated by the engine's coolant which is connected to the choke flap at the top of the venturis, as the engine warms up, the hot coolant starts to expand the strip which opens the choke flaps to return the mixture back to normal once the engine is at operating temperature, what tends to happen is the bimetallic strip eventually breaks due to fatigue and the choke fails to open, causing the engine to run excessively rich, the flaps can also stick with the same effect! You are right, manual chokes are better as you can shut them off as soon as you are rolling, the automatic ones don't shut off until the water is hot enough, there were electric ones which replaced the coolant heating with an electric element which eventually burn out.
Nice to see a standard early mk2. Great looking cars - well done, mate!
i had this car Opel Ascona) the German version, for 30 years, and it's one of the best old school car, it's solid will engineered and it has a character, not like those days cars, thanks for the video
My dad had a 1984 A-reg Vaxhall cavalier L 1.3 hatchback in polar white. Fantastic car, it was never looked after as well as it deserved unfortunately. I'm now making sure our 1993 Cav LS doesn't go the same way! We've had it since 1996 so I'm really attached to it.
Nice
My father and later on me owned a 1983 1.6GL cavalier in china blue with velour seats & electric mirrors,also had an oil pressure gauge on GL model.
Owned it from 1986 to 2000 a superb car.
There were a problems the the camshaft followers on early models that were to soft and had them replaced at 19,000 miles,also valve stem oil seals were a problem too.
Also very important to replace the rockercover filter gauze where the OHC writing is because when that blocks up it will destroy your camshaft and its was the same with my astra mk2 1.8 sri 1990 that i once had.
Used to easily fit a camshaft timing belt in minutes too just slip it over after taking the old one off and the same with the astra,you cant do that on modern cars anymore.
Look after it and it will become valuable in the future im sure.(:-)
Finally, I have found myself an 1983 mk1 Astra GTE in need of restoration. It needs a lot of welding, mainly sills, floor etc.
we had a pea green 1984 cavalier never let us down. didn't have rear seatbelts
Neither does mine, rear seatbelts wern't necessary until 1987! My car probably the same colour as well, it's Metallic Silver Green although there was another colour called Reed Green which is a solid colour, both are a sort of pea green!
Yeah, I know about the rust problems with these, they are famous for going around the rear arches and sills, the toeboard and bulkhead area is fairly soluble as well, I even had another one of these where the spare wheel well had virtually disappeared! This one though is one of the most solid I've ever seen, it needed new sills but that was all, everywhere else is solid and original, even the rear arches which in itself is a minor miracle!
Thanks, I'm pretty pleased with the result myself, My Cavalier has had a full body restoration, it's had new sills which was the only new metal required, the arches which are usually frilly were perfect and I gave her a full respray in the original Silver Green Metallic, a lot better than the horrible peuck green brush painted finish that was on when I bought the car. I agree about the 16SH engine, it's a classic sound.
I've been searching for a mk1 Astra, but no luck. I came across a 1983 brown mk1 Astra 5 door on ebay a few months ago and all was needed was a bit of attention to the rear valence. In hindsight, I should have bit the bullet and went for it. I just love the square lines of the early Vauxhalls. It's a great shame rust has been the demise of a lot of these cars. I've seen a mk1 Astra were the floor pans have virtually disappeared along with most of the sills!
Thankyou for the information. At the moment I've been chatting to a guy who has a mk1 Astra GTE he's selling as an unfinished project. It needs the usual sills and floor pans. I'm considering buying it to complete then hopefully I'll have a lovely mk1 GTE.
The lack of sun of british islands preserves the interior so much better than the sun from here. :-(
You can literally fry a egg on the body of your car if you want. Imagine how is to be like a turkey in oven during thanksgiving, thats what you feel if you have a cavalier 4 doors without any electric windows working (thats why i prefer the 2 door model , and with manual windows).
thanks for the ride :D. ill be at billing this month.
is this a 4 speed or 5 speed manual?
Nice one J, you've done well!
Check out eBay, keep an eye on the Vauxhalls in the classic car section, they do come up now and again, but be prepared for a wait as the early cars are much rarer than the later ones. Car & Classic is a good website to look at as well.
Well done for keeping another fantastic Vauxhall on the road. I'm trying to find a mk1 Astra but not having much luck. I love the sound of the OHC C16NE. Did you have to do much work to the body? Recently I checked ebay and there were a few mk1 and mk2 Cavaliers.
Great video - what sort of camera & mount are you using?
Nice car
you push all my buttons lol. my dad had a cavalier in the 80's 90's 1.6L pea green never broke down rust kills them though. about 900 mk2 cavaliers left
Love it. Good work! But the CD player lets it down a bit for me!
Only 900 left? In 2007, apparently there were about 6000 left.
Actually, there's been a nice metallic blue MK1 Astra been at all the classic car shows this year up here in Scotland, and it's for sale, I believe the guy lives in Falkirk somewhere, I could maybe get their phone number if you were interested.
great to drive and they pulled like a train im after a early gl saloon if any one knows of one
automatic chokes work or they don't. some Peugeots VW's had them and worked well. my dad said his cav mk2 1.6 had an auto choke and was fairly good. rather have a manual choke you've got more control. god knows how an auto choke works.
Auto chokes are quite simple really, theres a bimetallic coil of metal inside a housing which is heated by the engine's coolant which is connected to the choke flap at the top of the venturis, as the engine warms up, the hot coolant starts to expand the strip which opens the choke flaps to return the mixture back to normal once the engine is at operating temperature, what tends to happen is the bimetallic strip eventually breaks due to fatigue and the choke fails to open, causing the engine to run excessively rich, the flaps can also stick with the same effect! You are right, manual chokes are better as you can shut them off as soon as you are rolling, the automatic ones don't shut off until the water is hot enough, there were electric ones which replaced the coolant heating with an electric element which eventually burn out.
She's a 1.6