Rob36 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Hi all. Im new to the forum, and have just picked up a '78 Cav 1900 Coupe. Its an auto. It had been dry stored in a lovely old ladies garage for 10 years - she sold it to me so she could fit her MG in the garage space...and also so she could see what was in the cupboard that had been blocked by the car for 10 years! She's very clean really, fired up straight off after charging batt and replacing a perished fuel pipe! No real rot on her at first look bar a patch aat the rear of the nearside sill. Drivers seat has a split in the cloth along a seam, and a couple of panals have a marginal difference of colour, but other than that she seems top drawer! Plan is to put her through MOT, then check finances etc to see if I can keep her for a bit...or sell on to someone who'll continue to love her! We'll see I guess! These look of these cars have DEFINATELY improved with age I reckon! One question for you all if you dont mind...Rostyles... They seem to come unpainted as standard on these Cavs, but I reckon they look far cooler with black detail on 'em. Good move or travesty dya reckon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiney_norman Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Nice car mate, looks like you've got yourself a good one there! The back ends of the sills are a pretty common spot to rot out on these. Some Cavaliers had the plain silver Rostyles like yours, but I've seen plenty with the black painted bits and they do look excellent done that way. I say go for it, it'll be a good excuse to freshen up the silver bits while you're at it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carter Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 very nice looking car mate, these cars have aged well and look the part against euroboxes these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapierdave Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 IMHO Cavs look better with the black bits on the rostyles painted like Manta's or even all black with chrome rings as my old Sportshatch had. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Yeah I agree the all black with chrome ring looks nice - and a nice looking Sportshatch too! I think I'll go for painting the recessed bits black, with the rest silver...Im happy to say the Cav has the chrome rings present so thats a plus! Any idea of a good choice of paint to touch up the silver? I think I'll go for one-shot enamel for the black - I do a bit of signwriting with the stuff and I reckon it'll do the job well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemanta Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I thought they were different sizes, the all silver are 5j and the black and silver are 5.5j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hi all. Is the paint code on the chassis plate of these cars at all? thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 The Vauxhalls had all silver wheels and Opels had black inserts... thats how I undersand it. GLS cavs had 5.5J rims and all silver. Not sure about the paint code, there may be another plate with a series of numbers on the inner wing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 The Cavalier earned its MOT ticket today! Needed a spot of welding on NS sill and inner arch, new wiper blades, no plate bulb and front pads. Slight alteration to mixture passed thru emmissions. She's now in the body shop getting a bit of colour where the weld/primer/stopper went up the quarter panel, then she's good for the road! Jot a few more jobs to do on her, but its a good start! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 (edited) Just recieved the V5 today. The lady I bought it from couldnt find any of the documents unfortunately, so had to apply for one. Made interesting reading! One previous owner! It seems the aforementioned ladies father (who, quite spookily was called Alfred West) owned it from new, and the car was never re-registered to her name when he died 10 years ago. Edited February 25, 2013 by Rob36 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) Bit of an update on the Coupe! Following her MOT pass, she's been in the spray shop getting the weld area above the NS sill resprayed, plus we treated and resprayed a grotty area of surface rust on the boot lid. Colour was a great match! So good in fact, that its highlighted the poor match of the previously done OS rear quarter panel (done by prev owner). We might take this back and respray. Not sure yet. I spent today thoroughly cleaning the interior and giving her a good clean n polish! Then took her for a quick spin - She still needs a good service tbh, fluid change, rad change, thermostat and finetune the mixture next up, plus hopefully get the seat upholstery that have been discussed in a different post! Heres a fw pics, plus one of the newly refurbed spare wheel. The other 4 will get a similar treatment! Edited March 3, 2013 by Rob36 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutty2006 Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Looking good!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapierdave Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi Rob Car is looking good, are you planning to bring it to Billing this year as i & a few others would love to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gt/e paul Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 lovely motor there,gotta just love these old cavvy coupes keep up the good work . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 (edited) Hi Rob Car is looking good, are you planning to bring it to Billing this year as i & a few others would love to see it. Hey Dave. Must admit I'd never heard of Billing before being new to the GM scene! Just Googled it. Not a great date for me unfortunately as Ive got a race meet the day after (Im involved with / race at a local dirt oval track - (check out the website http://www.coastalraceway.co.uk ) Sounds like a good day out though! The Llandudno Extravaganza / Transport festival in May is a deffo though! I got the the bottom of another problem today - went to change coolant/thermostat, and the union from 'stat housing to heater matrix hose was blocked solid with gunk! I guess thats why the heater wasnt up to much!! Gonna flush her good n proper over next day or two, and possibly modify / put in the carlton rad a bit earlier than planned. Edited March 4, 2013 by Rob36 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 (edited) Thought I'd post this up. I decided to get over the disappointment of losing a couple of front seats on ebay by a POUND by refurbishing the next Rostyle, complete with polished up chrome gubbins. - suits you sir! Thats two down, three to go! Edited March 13, 2013 by Rob36 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Fish Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Shiny!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 Well I havent had much time to dedicate to the car rcently, but finally got up there for a bit today to fit a few bits. The car was suffering from rough idle / poor starting when damp, and a misfire under load, so picked up new dizzy cap, rotor arm and leads, and also a powerspark ignition kit to simplify things a bit since I dont have a lot of experience with points ingn. Fitted everything, then turned the key hoping for a beautiful startup and purr.... and if anything she's worse. Takes a few pumps on the gas to fire up, then keeps cutting out on idle. I didnt take her for a run coz the car was blocked in, but its fairly clear that the problem is not yet solved! Im wondering if the timing is out? Ive not got timing gear so may have to call in a favour from a mate. Frustrating! On a lighter note Ive refurbed another rostyle. 3 down two to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny dock Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 ive had all of these issues, remember the car is best set static (not running) on the timing, when the car is at top dead centre there is a small mark on the distributer at about 2 oclock as you look in from the headlamps, good starting point is to line the rotor arm with this, tdc lines the lower crank pulley with the line on the block. a test lamp will help. points need set at 0.50 mm when on distributer cam fully open, with a bit of drag on the feeler gauge. i only used timing gear to ensure correctly set. plugs should also be set at 0.7mm with gauge, again my new plug gaps were off. i took it for granted the would be good. hope this helps, i am finding these things out the hard way!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted April 16, 2013 Author Share Posted April 16, 2013 Another small update on the Cav. Running issues have indeed turnout to be the timing! After a little teak of the dizzy, she's now purring on idle and pulling nicely under load. Still takes a few turns to fire up though, Also, the chrome trim on the rear window surround had faded and was looking far from pristine, so being in the sign trade I thought Id ive spruce it up a bit using chrome vinyl. Its worked a treat - looks brand new. She's now wearing the refurb'd rostyles and lookin' fancy. Its not all good though - went for a drive to test her out and lost a newly polished centre caps from the offside rear Anyone got a spare theyd let go of for a reasonable price? Heres a handful of pics - before and after for the chrome trim, and one of the car wearing the Rostyles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiney_norman Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 I've got a load of those centre caps somewhere, I'll have a look later! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted April 17, 2013 Author Share Posted April 17, 2013 I've got a load of those centre caps somewhere, I'll have a look later! That would be fantastic if you have one Norman! pm how much you want for it if you can find 'em! Go easy though... Im a poor man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Looking excellent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTREA Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Indeed....love what you've done on the rostyles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob36 Posted September 19, 2015 Author Share Posted September 19, 2015 Been a long tme since Ive posted on here! Thought I'd drag out this old thread! The cavvy has been in a mates garage for about 2 years - havent had the cash or time to run her for the last 2 years really, but Ive had to pull her out coz my mate needs his garage back! She needs a bit of welding to drivers side floor pan and outrigger, plus needs a new coil spring for MOT, which will get sorted this week. Ill then drive her for a bit before (hopefully) finding her a new home for the winter. I did a bit of a DVLA search coz i was interested in how many coupes were left - you NEVER see 'em for sale do you? If I understand the database right, shes one of only 2 '78 GLS auto coupes left - and theres only 9 GLS auto coupes total still on the database, either on th road or on SORN? Since she was out last I have done a wee bit on her - changing the standard zenith carb to a 32/36 weber. Still needs a tweak, but straight from the box she idles and runs much better than she ever did on the zenith - running a bit rich though I think so a tweak still needed. I'll add a pic. Since she needs a front coil spring, Im considering a 40mm drop all round. Whats the thoughts on this guys? I deffo think shed look v cool dropped a bit, but funds wont allow for the shockers to be swapped too at this stage - will the drop encourage the existing worn in components to fail dya think? I think id just replace with standard ones on if it was a risk. Saw these on ebay, seems a good deal - although it doesnt mention whether what variant of manta its a 40mm drop on! Wouldnt want anything too drastic! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271683076743?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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