Hello! Just Picked Up A Mk1 Cav Coupe!

[Rob36]

Hi all!

I just picked up a Mk1 Cav 1900 Coupe, so thought I'd join the forum!

Dry stored for 10 years.

I had a first good look at her today after picking her up on Friday. Initial hopes have been confirmed really - she's in good shape! Replaced a perished fuel hose between pump and carb, and charged up the batt, and she fired straight up.

Interior is pretty good bar a busted seam on the drivers seat, and the only rot Ive found so far is a small area on the sill just in front of the rear wheel which will need patching up. Theres subtle differences in paint tone on a couple of panels, but its slight.

Found a mouse nest on the airbox! No mouse though, and thankfully, no chewing through wires!

Next up is patching the sill up and seeing what happens on MOT!

[Cavtastic]

Hi Rob,

Welcome to the forum and a lovely lookiing Cavalier you have there. keep us posted on the project please.

[opelmantagsi]

Love it! Hope to see more of it one here! Welcome along.

[Rob36]

Thanks for the welcome guys! Yeah Im quite taken with the car to be honest! Quite what happens to her we will have to see, but the plan is to tidy it up a bit, MOT, then decide whether funds allow me to run her as a second car...or sell on to someone who has the means to really appreciate it. For now though, I'll enjoy getting my hands dirty!

[Magic]

Hi,

beautiful. Really.

[1900SR]

Looks good to me, welcome to the forum.

[Rapierdave]

That looks a nice example of a Cav coupe.

Hope you can keep her, if not i'm sure there will be someone in the club that will buy it off you

[richm]

Beautiful car Rob, looks & sounds to be in really good shape overall.

Very few of these early chrome bumpered cars around now - I've got an early Manta B 1900 and it always attracts interest as most people don't know what is is, or they only remember the Manta C. Hope you're gonna keep the standard look.

[Rob36]

Hey Rich - thanks for the comments. Yes mate I'll be looking to keep her largely standard I think - would seem a shame to mess around with her too much!

Edited January 28, 2013 by Rob36

[Julian]

I like it Rob, I like it. So you have a red one in the North, S reg, I have a white one in the South, also an S reg, I wonder if there is a green one in the middle, We would have the three colours of our flag then!!

[Rob36]

I like it Rob, I like it. So you have a red one in the North, S reg, I have a white one in the South, also an S reg, I wonder if there is a green one in the middle, We would have the three colours of our flag then!!

haha indeed mate! If there is, it would be nice to park em up together at a show sometime. Although I must admit I'm from Merseyside originally and only a resident in this beautiful land rather than a Welshman by birth.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Rob36

[Mick]

Nice looking Cav, not many Coupes left now....

[Brown Job]

Wot a cracker! And you must be really strong, I just to tried to pick my car up but couldn't even get one corner off the ground ...

Hope you don't find any expensive surprises when you start digging around, and I guess we can look forward to seeing that at the Bodelwyddan Vauxhall-Opel day in July.

Where'd it hail from originally? I don't recognise the "CC" reg code.

BJ

[Mick]

CC is a Bangor reg so is a welsh car too...

[Rob36]

Wot a cracker! And you must be really strong, I just to tried to pick my car up but couldn't even get one corner off the ground ...

Hope you don't find any expensive surprises when you start digging around, and I guess we can look forward to seeing that at the Bodelwyddan Vauxhall-Opel day in July.

Where'd it hail from originally? I don't recognise the "CC" reg code.

BJ

Yeah not finding and expensive surprises would be great haha. I believe the car is indeed from Bangor originally, but I sourced it locally from Llandudno.

Edited February 3, 2013 by Rob36

[Mick]

It seems most cars in North Wales are CC reg an come from Slaters of Abergele

[Brown Job]

Fancy that, it's a local reg to me and I didn't pick up on it. Strange that the car's not travelled too far from its original home in all these years. Having said that, I bought a car that had spent 26 years based not 2 miles from my house and i'd never seen it until it turned up at a local dealership.

BJ

PS. Hey, if it gets through MOT it can go to the Llandudno show in May, no need to wait till July!

[Rob36]

The Extravaganza! Great weekend. I never thought of that! Well I had a closer look yesterday and did a couple of small jobs - sorted fuel line properly, replaced the knackered washer pump and pumped up the tyres - which amazingly dont seem at all bad after 10 years standing. She might go in for MOT next week, the sill can get sorted while she's there. Anyone know the colour code or name for these red ones?

Edited February 4, 2013 by Rob36

[Brown Job]

Hi there,

I wouldn't trust those tyres if I was you, they'll have deteriorated in 10 years' standing, especially if they weren't kept over-inflated to lessen the chance of flats forming from the constant weight of the car on them. Could well be much more than 10 years old, there should be a date of manufacture stamped into the sidewall.

It's hard to be absolutely sure of a colour from a photo, but I can tell you what it's NOT. It ain't Royal Red, which was darker, a kind of maroon-y colour, and it ain't Signal Red, which was brighter, more of a fire-engine red. The colour code should be on the VIN plate.. If it hasn't got a VIN plate, it won't go through MOT anyway! If no-one else comes up with the colour first, I'll have a look in my paint charts.

Just realised, it's a GLS - missed that first time round. VERY nice, it just gets rarer.

If you've not already done it, I'd be tempted to drain off the fuel and replace it with Super Unleaded before running it over for MOT, as well as an oil change. (Got those tips from the Ladybird Book of Car Maintenance, feel free to be insulted by being offered starter-level advice!)

BJ

[spiney_norman]

Hi there,

I wouldn't trust those tyres if I was you, they'll have deteriorated in 10 years' standing, especially if they weren't kept over-inflated to lessen the chance of flats forming from the constant weight of the car on them. Could well be much more than 10 years old, there should be a date of manufacture stamped into the sidewall.

It's hard to be absolutely sure of a colour from a photo, but I can tell you what it's NOT. It ain't Royal Red, which was darker, a kind of maroon-y colour, and it ain't Signal Red, which was brighter, more of a fire-engine red. The colour code should be on the VIN plate.. If it hasn't got a VIN plate, it won't go through MOT anyway! If no-one else comes up with the colour first, I'll have a look in my paint charts.

Just realised, it's a GLS - missed that first time round. VERY nice, it just gets rarer.

If you've not already done it, I'd be tempted to drain off the fuel and replace it with Super Unleaded before running it over for MOT, as well as an oil change. (Got those tips from the Ladybird Book of Car Maintenance, feel free to be insulted by being offered starter-level advice!)

BJ

Actually most Cavalier coupes were GLS spec, it's the GL coupes which are really rare!

[Rob36]

Hi there,

I wouldn't trust those tyres if I was you, they'll have deteriorated in 10 years' standing, especially if they weren't kept over-inflated to lessen the chance of flats forming from the constant weight of the car on them. Could well be much more than 10 years old, there should be a date of manufacture stamped into the sidewall.

It's hard to be absolutely sure of a colour from a photo, but I can tell you what it's NOT. It ain't Royal Red, which was darker, a kind of maroon-y colour, and it ain't Signal Red, which was brighter, more of a fire-engine red. The colour code should be on the VIN plate.. If it hasn't got a VIN plate, it won't go through MOT anyway! If no-one else comes up with the colour first, I'll have a look in my paint charts.

Just realised, it's a GLS - missed that first time round. VERY nice, it just gets rarer.

If you've not already done it, I'd be tempted to drain off the fuel and replace it with Super Unleaded before running it over for MOT, as well as an oil change. (Got those tips from the Ladybird Book of Car Maintenance, feel free to be insulted by being offered starter-level advice!)

BJ

Not at all offended mate. Any advice is much appreciated - even if its basic stuff. Yes I'd expected the colour code to be on the vin - Just thought it might be worth the question anyway as I'd forgotten to check last time I was at the car.

[opelmantagsi]

Hi there, I wouldn't trust those tyres if I was you, they'll have deteriorated in 10 years' standing, especially if they weren't kept over-inflated to lessen the chance of flats forming from the constant weight of the car on them. Could well be much more than 10 years old, there should be a date of manufacture stamped into the sidewall. It's hard to be absolutely sure of a colour from a photo, but I can tell you what it's NOT. It ain't Royal Red, which was darker, a kind of maroon-y colour, and it ain't Signal Red, which was brighter, more of a fire-engine red. The colour code should be on the VIN plate.. If it hasn't got a VIN plate, it won't go through MOT anyway! If no-one else comes up with the colour first, I'll have a look in my paint charts. Just realised, it's a GLS - missed that first time round. VERY nice, it just gets rarer. If you've not already done it, I'd be tempted to drain off the fuel and replace it with Super Unleaded before running it over for MOT, as well as an oil change. (Got those tips from the Ladybird Book of Car Maintenance, feel free to be insulted by being offered starter-level advice!) BJ

That's well written and was a good read, learned a bit there, thanks for sharing

[Brown Job]

Hello again,

Learned something myself, didn't realise most Coupes were GLS. I've seen 3 "in the metal" over the years and they were all GL, as it happens.

Well now, about the paint. I can't tell you what the shade is from the picture, as I can't relate names to colours that well. But i've had a look at my chart that gives codes and their names between 1975-78, so should relate to an S-reg. as it's a Coupe, it will have been made in Belgium, so presumably an Opel colour. Just for interest, I'm chucking in the Vauxhall colours too, as I don't know how it worked - maybe Opel did spray in a Vauxhall colour if it was destined for the UK market? I'm sure someone out there knows exactly what was done and will tell us.

Ignoring Royal Red and Signal Red, the red shades were:

Opel colours

L508 Cardinal Red

OP529 Flame Red

L500 Flamenco Red

Vauxhall colours

4RD/3RD Ruby

2RD Volcano Red

6RD Extra Dark Wine

508/4RD Cardinal Red

4RD Cardinal Red (UK)

2RB/CAV75L Ember Red

So if you find the code off the VIN plate, one of those should give you the name used for the colour.

I always found it a bit weird that a colour with the same name had a "UK shade" and a "European shade". Got caught like that myself years ago, asked for my colour by name instead of code and it didn't match, turned out I'd been given the Opel European shade and I should have asked for the UK shade, which was quite a bit lighter.

And if you're looking for advice, with a car that's been standing, as a minimum before putting it in for MOT I'd flush the fuel through in case it's gone gummy or collected water from condensation while standing, change the oil and filter, be dead wary of the the tyres (they might go through MOT so not an immediate priority if you're not planning to drive far). I'd also clean all the earth points and wiring connections that you can get at handily to save dipping MOT on a silly electrical thing not working due to dirty contacts. Have a look at your plug lead connections/dizzy cap/ plugs for general corrosion or fouled plugs. You've changed the washer pump so presume you've got rid of all the old washer fluid. System should be left dry in store, all sorts of vile bacteria breed in fluid left in store for months/years!

By the way, I'm suggesting Super Unleaded instead of Regular Unleaded as not only is the octane rating higher, but the percentage of accursed ethanol is lower (shouldn't be more than 3% in Super, it's 5% in Regular at present). Ethanol can destroy old-style fuel systems rather easily, even at 5%, in my experience. Using Super won't protect against valve seat recession, but you can deal with that when you get to it. Mine's been running unconverted since the introduction of Unleaded and not suffered from it so far, even though I don't use an additive. It might never bother you if it's only a second car doing small mileages.

BJ

[Mick]

VIN plate missing isnt an MOT issue at this age of vehicle. As long as the stamped number is still there it will pass

A Vehicle Identification Number (VIN or chassis number) is required on all vehicles first used on or after 1 August 1980. except those which are
. kit cars
. amateur built vehicles

5. Check that the vehicle is permanently displaying a legible Vehicle Identification Number (this can either be
. on a VIN plate secured to the vehicle. or
. stamped or etched on the vehicle
body or chassis).

[Brown Job]

VIN plate not actually required for pre-"W" reg? Interesting. I had the nosecone replaced on mine and the chap forgot to reattach the VIN plate, they dipped it on MOT. Not a big deal, he just had to drive back 2 miles and rivet it back on for a quick retest, but interesting that the MOT station were apparently as unaware of this ruling as I was.

BJ

.