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1979 vauxhall Cavalier mk1 auto


Michael mcinerney
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Purchased another Cavalier today in donegal. 1979 1.6 auto 30.000miles

Very clean body.all original. No radio was even fitted.drives lovely. dry engine and box. Interior little faded but in great nick.was going to drive home but tyres well perished. But seller is to enquire about getting it delivered to me.real nice fella.

He also had a opel gt under cover and a lovely opel kadett B saloon two door.should have taken few

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pics.

Will post few more pics when car arrives next week hopefully 

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Cavalier arrived today.solid car few bits need doing mainly paint work. No nasties like the orange Cavalier. Very presentable as is.check over brakes and suspension. Wash this evening made a start on machine polisher coming out great.hope to get a good craic at it tomorrow. 

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2 minutes ago, Michael mcinerney said:

Where would I find the colour code?it a 1979. Auto 1.6 GL.

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Looks really good, enjoy bringing it up to the next level. 
I can’t remember where the plate is on those but the paint code is on there.
 

If all else fails you could consider sending the filler cap cover for colour matching. 

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2 hours ago, Trooker said:

Looks really good, enjoy bringing it up to the next level. 
I can’t remember where the plate is on those but the paint code is on there.
 

If all else fails you could consider sending the filler cap cover for colour matching. 

Anyone know which one is paint code.only ID plate I can find?

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9 hours ago, cam.in.head said:

hi.  code is    

75L     ember red.

Thanks  cam.in.head.

Appreciate your help. 

Came up pretty good today

Used the dewalt rotary polisher with wool pad and 3m green top compound.

Then used the DA polisher with medium sponge and menzeirna 3in one compound fantastic compound great result. 

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Wow, top work there! She looks fantastic.

I love the colour, it’s one of the nicest GM colours of that era imho.
Some of these older paints last amazingly well. I had an Ember Red Chevette as my first car and the paint was the best bit in the end, modern Vauxhall reds have been notoriously bad. 

I might even have a few rattle cans in the workshop if you need them! 😉

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all

Has anyone got one of these solex carbs on there cars.i see some one had it off at some point before I got it.its a little  bugger to get to tick over nice and smooth. Replaced pipe from manifold to rocker cover as there was none on it when I got it.it wouldn't tick over at all.also kickdown pipe little rubber joiner to exhaust manifold  connection was perished. Runs ok now but feel it could be smoother 

New dizzy cap

New plugs.new leads.new rotor arm 

New fuel pump  and inline filter

Auto choke is coming on fine and off when warms up.

Don't really want to dismantle carb as I've done very little with these.as it's always injection  mantas I've had.then again I've been so long out of the opel vauxhall scene it could be something simple I'm missing.but really enjoying it again.the club is brilliant glad to have joined.

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Those older CIH's have oldscool ignition, so I would check also the contact breakers, adjust them and when you see they are burned fit a new set and also to be sure the condensator. By the way: Is that self locking nut (with the bleu plastic)completely screwed tight? I see something like a shadow between the nut and the washer. 

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2 hours ago, Michael mcinerney said:

Fitted new pionts and set to 0.40as hynes manual. It also oil light flickering on tick over.?

Carb will be coming out tomorrow and strip down.what else can it be....

What rpm is it ticking over at? Also if possible get it to a garage that can set points by dwell angle (lost art!) 

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In our work shop if you ask most of them about points they whoud not have a clue never mind about dwell angle 

ln the past have run the engine hot ,got the revs up ,put me hand over the carb sealing the inlet,keep it running and will suck out most of the gunk out of the carb .lf cuts out a bit of a buggier to restart 

Looking at the photos,looks like one of the nuts is not tight 

Edited by 1200bandit
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3 hours ago, Jessopia74 said:

What rpm is it ticking over at? Also if possible get it to a garage that can set points by dwell angle (lost art!) 

No rev counter on 1.6 unfortunately. Its hard to get mechanic who has an interest in the older cars.not too many here anyway. Pity.

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1 hour ago, Michael mcinerney said:

No rev counter on 1.6 unfortunately. Its hard to get mechanic who has an interest in the older cars.not too many here anyway. Pity.

Buy a cheap timing gun/lamp as your timing my be out too? They usually show rpm too so you can set it right.

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hi. dilly question but you have set points to 0.4 mm /0.5mm not inch guage ( 20 thou) 

silly question i know but worth checking.?sorry!

timing depends on fuel you are using ( octane rating)but you could definately do with a basic timing light. set number 1 cyl to the actual timing marks on pulley and case as an initial setting .if all runs well then leave it ( no pinking) otherwise just retard it a little and drive agin to check.. however if you are using esso 99 ron which is highly reccommended as its ethanol free then you can actually ADVANCE the timing a little rather than retard.

my car runs at 7.5 deg btdc with plug gaps at 35 thou.on esso 99.( points are not an issue as ive got an electronic distributor)

as regards oil pressure. the lower timing pump cover can wear and reduce pressure,the bypass valve piston can leak and reduce pressure and using thinner oil than w50 can reduce pressure (at idle)

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On 20/08/2022 at 17:41, cam.in.head said:

hi. dilly question but you have set points to 0.4 mm /0.5mm not inch guage ( 20 thou) 

silly question i know but worth checking.?sorry!

timing depends on fuel you are using ( octane rating)but you could definately do with a basic timing light. set number 1 cyl to the actual timing marks on pulley and case as an initial setting .if all runs well then leave it ( no pinking) otherwise just retard it a little and drive agin to check.. however if you are using esso 99 ron which is highly reccommended as its ethanol free then you can actually ADVANCE the timing a little rather than retard.

my car runs at 7.5 deg btdc with plug gaps at 35 thou.on esso 99.( points are not an issue as ive got an electronic distributor)

as regards oil pressure. the lower timing pump cover can wear and reduce pressure,the bypass valve piston can leak and reduce pressure and using thinner oil than w50 can reduce pressure (at idle)

Hi.i used a draper set metric mm 0.40 as specified in hynes manual 

Use 95 Ron unleaded petrol.waiting on timing gun to arrive so can check timing. Used 15/40 engine oil was looking for 20/50 but not many auto factors stock it here.

Have stripped carburettor right back.have found top  cover gasket was damaged also cleaned all jets and needle was slightly stuck.so just waiting on new gaskets to arrive. So enough to keep me busy.came accross a second hand solex carburettor handy have a spare.

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1 hour ago, Jessopia74 said:

So finding damaged gasket might be part of the problem. Its a worry when you don’t find anything when stripping down. 👍

I'm hoping gasket will sort it.didnt really find anything else.little bit of dirt in bottom of float chamber and needle slightly sticky nothing really.

Set timing  and check rockers after that I don't know.

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yes see what happens after you have done carb.

if you have an oil light flicker at idle only then i guess its nothing to worry over. even on a very good engine you can get down to 1 bar or lower at hot especially with 40 oil and if the tickover is a bit low.

servicing the oil pump cover can only improve things as can using 50 grade oil at next oil change. should be no problems finding 20w50 on ebay .

would be nice to fit a 6 dial dash then you can monitor actual pressure as well as idle speed ! plus they look so much better!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Back again

Checked timing it was well out.set up timing marks  after one full revolution. Removed fuel pump  and dizzy and set towards  no.1 cylinder  timing gun arrived last week so made use of it got it all set up.set timing it retard about 7 degrees  sounds much better on tick over.

I fitted the webber carb off the copper colour Cavalier  that I had engine out off..ran much better.

Only problem I had was when I put car in drive engine would die.quick flick to neutral revs would pick up to tick over.

Was waiting for gaskets to arrive to rebuild the solex DIDTA carb they arrived on Thursday. So tackling it today.replaced all gaskets.also new needle  jet in float chamber. the old ones were in bad condition. Removed the webber carb  and put solex back on.taught  to myself that's it sorted  now.started car ran like a bag of cra".tried few adjustments  still no better.sound bit spluttery at higher rev.

It's really trying my patience now so flipping  frustrating. I have one more option to try bought another  used solex DIDTA from Netherlands  should arrive by next Wednesday  will check it over before fitting. I'm  hoping it will cure problem of tick over.as who ever was at the original carb I don't know what they have done to it. Noticed the  metal  carburettor temperature compensator had been removed. According to hynes manual it should be on carb on rocker cover side of carburettor.would this have any effect sa its missing.??There is one on the intake manifold directly under carb mounting bolts. 

I taught gaskets would have fixed  carb but no joy.am dammed if I know what else it can be.

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hi. the bimetal temp compensator is indeed only usually fitted to the manifold on 1.6 cars and on the carb itself on 2 litre models, if its been removed and left a hole this would cause a very small vacuum leak but i wouldnt think enough to cause any major issues .blanking the hole (or replacing it) would remedy that.

timing set at 7 degrees btdc sounds a bit too advanced to me ,especially if you are using only 95 ron. mine uses 99 ron and will happily run at around 7 degrees.i would think around 0 to 3 would be better but each car is individual.experimenting is the key .

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