Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Hey all!

As it’s raining outside and there isn’t a great deal I can be getting on with I thought I’d start my Work In Progress thread. It’s for my recently acquired Diamond Black 1994 facelift mk3 Cavalier 2.5i 24v C25XE V6 CDX with all the toys. It’s a saloon with a manual gearbox and is going to become the focus of my attention for the foreseeable!

Here’s a snap of her on her original CDX alloys looking a little mucky to say the least…



Originally I’d been on the lookout for a C20XE GSI simply as I’d wanted one for such a long time and liked them when I was younger. Aware of the modding potential, and relatively low cost these days, I set off far and wide checking out cars seen in ads on the ‘net. After seeing lots of rustbuckets and knackered engines I happened to stumble across a healthy looking 2.5i V6.

Originally I had intended to steer clear of a V6 as I’ve already got a 3.0i 24v V6 Omega Elite (some of you may have seen her in Total Vauxhall recently: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=1972) and to be honest it can be a pain in the butt to work on. That said, other than the engine, this particular motor seemed to be just what I was looking for. Besides, the C25XE lump sits the other way around to the X30XE in the engine bay and there is loads more room to manoeuvre about.

Anyway, about the car:

I had to travel four and a half hours away for the car, but it was well worth it. The car had 110k on the clock, ONE OWNER FROM NEW(!), had been very well looked after and hardly driven at all in the recent past. The previous owner had recently suffered bereavement in the family and inherited another car, so the Cavalier had to go.

Not long before I bought the Cavalier she had been fitted with a new radiator, new alternator, new petrol tank and a new windscreen. In addition to this, the car had a genuine Irmscher boot spoiler (fitted at original point of sale), and a few years back had been lowered 35/40mm on Eibach lowering springs, and Koni adjustable shocks all round. Coupled with the best part of a year’s road tax and MOT I was very happy. Oh and then there was the stainless Powerflow DTM exhaust system…!

Additionally, as a CDX with all the boxes ticked, she comes fully loaded with air conditioning (recently regassed), full heated leather interior, black interior and fittings, electric sunroof, electric mirrors, Bosch alarm and immobiliser, all the stuff you’d expect.

As if this wasn’t enough, the previous owner gave me all FIVE original CDX alloys in perfect condition with brand new tyres on them, as well as a set of 17” 5 spoke BK Racing alloys, again with good tyres on. There was also an original Cavalier CDX sales brochure.



The bodywork is great on the car, original arches are in great condition, and overall there isn’t anywhere near the level of corrosion you would expect to see on a 1994 Cavalier. Few spots here and there need attention but I’ll address those later in this thread. Basically this is exactly what I was after; a really good base to start from with a lot of the boxes for a project car already ticked. Lucky I didn’t find that C20XE after all…

While she has been looked after in terms of service intervals, the car is getting tired and is in need of rejuvenation. That’s where I’ve come along hehe! Short term plans are to get her running in tip top condition as-good-as-new as I can get her, with some subtle and sensible modifications and adjustments along the way. Cavalier Turbo bodykit will become part of the exterior modifications.

Long term plans are fairly ambitious but should see a complete overhaul and rebuild of the car from the ground up. While this is a while away yet, the main thing is that everything I do to the car from this point on will be done as thoroughly as possible by myself using quality parts.

I’ll be taking snaps every step of the way so this thread will be very picture heavy, and I really look forward to your feedback as I go along. Welcome your advice, feedback and *gulp* criticism… hehe!

Sounds good. I know what you are letting yourself in for ,with restoring a Cav. So good luck.

Greig

thanks greig.

an under the bonnet shot taken shortly after i got her home. as you can see, she's 'tidy' but not very 'clean' if that makes sense... this is indicative of the car all over. needs a new lease of life! note she is the C25XE as opposed to the later X25XE

Looks like a good project. look forward to seeing it progress

...some more shots of the car as i got her. Twin exit Powerflow DTM stainless exhaust and genuine Irmscher spoiler. You might also just about be able to make out the original dealer plates that are still present and correct...



The interior is really good, hardly any wear at all, although the leather is definitely in need of some good conditioning before it cracks.

Does look very tidy

its a very good base for your project.

looks nice and clean

I love the lokk of your car mate. You dont need to stick a turbo kit on. Be one of the few that run a standarded looking CDX. your wheels make the car.

HAIRIBO wrote:I love the lokk of your car mate. You dont need to stick a turbo kit on. Be one of the few that run a standarded looking CDX. your wheels make the car.

Hey all, thanks for the positive feedback. She's definitely a good starting point, but sorry to tell you Hairibo that she won't be staying on those CDX wheels, can't stand them, and there will definitely be a fair few mods to follow... hehe sorry to disappoint!!

…and on the original wheels, from the rear. It doesn’t look right to me, like the car is a bit of a mish mash. Plenty of people do like these wheels, someone has already told me to keep them on the car, but I’m not convinced. They’ll be good for her when she goes into the bodyshop though hehe!

Not long after, I had a flat tyre. The passenger’s front inner tyre wall had split, so the wheels have been swapped over with the BK 17” five spokes that came with the car. If anyone knows what model/name BK gave this wheel I’d be interested to know. These shots show the DTM exhaust off a little more as well.



A quick rinse later and hey presto! Looks like a different car… almost… there was moss and mould and all sorts of crap growing along the base of the windows, especially near the wing mirrors. This isn’t polished by any standard, but it’s got the worst of it off for now.

17's look massive, i think you need to sort the rear panel, it looks patchy compared to the lights

Gaz wrote:17's look massive, i think you need to sort the rear panel, it looks patchy compared to the lights

I've managed to get hold of a BRAND NEW turbo boot panel and turbo rear lights to match, still in the packaging direct from Opel. They will be going on when I do the exterior mods... I know what you mean though, the reflective bits are cracked a little bit and let the back end down.

The wheels make a 'massive' difference(!) to the car and suddenly it transforms the way it sits and looks. That spoiler and the CDX alloys, combined with the exhaust just didn't work. These wheels pull them together nicely. For now anyway...

I ment keep the standard CDX body and your 17's on. Not the CDX alloys lol. I do like diomand black. makes me feel gutted that old bloke went into me and wrote my black CDX off many moons ago.

HAIRIBO wrote:I ment keep the standard CDX body and your 17's on. Not the CDX alloys lol. I do like diomand black. makes me feel gutted that old bloke went into me and wrote my black CDX off many moons ago.

haha i did think 'he's got strange taste'... sorry to hear about your black cdx... hopefully i'll help keep the memory alive with mine hehehe

ilovemyelite wrote: I've managed to get hold of a BRAND NEW turbo boot panel and turbo rear lights to match, still in the packaging direct from Opel. They will be going on when I do the exterior mods... I know what you mean though, the reflective bits are cracked a little bit and let the back end down.

How did you manage that i got terry to try and get me a set of lights from vauxhall the other week and they told him they were discontinued.

Your V6 looks really good now its amazing what a good clean will do. Your lucky getting the bootpanel methinks.

Boot panel came direct from Opel in Germany. Was very lucky as no longer in production and like rocking horse poo. Can't wait to get rear lights and panel on. Combined with the other plans that i've got they're going to make a big difference to the back end... but there's a little more work that needs to be done elsewhere before I get carried away with the aesthetics...

Colorado, you're right, a quick wash can make a big difference. It's strange how a car can look so average when its a bit mucky then transformed when it's had a rinse...

She wasn’t holding charge very well, and the battery has died on a number of occasions when she’s been sat still for short periods. The battery that was on there looked like it was pretty old so I popped down the stealers and picked up a brand new one. Problem solved. Hasn’t missed a beat since. Calm yourselves for the exciting GM battery moneyshot…



Just little steps towards getting her running in tip-top-grade-A form which is my first priority.

ilovemyelite wrote: hopefully i'll help keep the memory alive with mine hehehe

I'd only had it 6 weeks lol. and ther 1st 4 of them were in the garage i bought it from having the ECU looked at. it used to rev up and down for no reason. #i got my magice grey one a month later and its coming up to 8 years I've had that now lol. but yes, you photos remind me of polish the shit out of my black cav the day before a was wrote off.

This window sticker makes the car go faster. Obviously.

When I first looked over the car I suspected a slight cam cover leak and figured I’d do something about it when I got back home. As I wasn’t sure if there was a leak or not (the engine components have a nasty oily film and fifteen years worth of muck over them making it difficult to tell), I cleaned up any exposed cam cover gasket that was visible from the outside of the rocker cover(s) and monitored it. The front one wasn’t too bad but a slight bit of smoke started appearing from the back and I could see oil dripping slowly onto the exhaust manifold. It got progressively worse in a very short space of time and so I decided to get it sorted and replace both front and back before a bigger problem developed.

I figured that the cam cover gaskets etc would be the same as on the X30XE but without any actual proof of this I called the stealer. I also called Autovaux. Both told me I’d need to buy brand new cam covers as ‘the gasket and cover on the C25XE is all one unit’. I couldn’t believe this was the case, so I took the covers off and sure enough, contrary to what I was told, the setup was exactly the same as the X30XE. So it's a good job I didn’t listen to either of them! I had already decided that I was going to fit metal cam covers off of a V6 Vectra anyway, and I was lucky to find a really clean set:



Bought the gaskets (genuine GM) and sealant ready to replace the suspect ones. Will be giving the breather system a good clean while I’m at it. The V6 engine cover will have to go though as the oil filler cap is in a different place on the Vectra covers. Farewell old friend…

When I ran the car for the first time at the previous owner’s house I could hear a loud hissing noise coming from somewhere under the upper inlet manifold. I was certain that this was going to be a breather pipe or something similar that had split. I figured with some electrical tape it would be a simple fix, and vowed to check it out when I got the car home. It didn’t seem to be causing too much of a problem running the engine, but being a V6 relying on the breather system I knew I had to get it sorted sooner rather than later. I’d fixed a similar hose on my Omega with electrical tape and it did the job perfectly.

Took the inlet manifold off and found that no amount of electrical tape was going to fix this! Ha! It’s the larger idle adjuster to throttle body hose! Or at least it WAS…





I think it may well be time to renew this…

Bad cam cover leak as suspected. Time to put the metal covers on and fit a new set of plugs. Decided to give the breather system a good clean at the same time. It’s no surprise that the cam covers have leaked, I think this must be the first time the breather system has been cleaned in the car’s life:



Both cam covers are at fault, but this is the rear one. Definitely leaking! Badly!



Old and new plugs (can you tell which is which?!):



Very very blocked breather outlet:



This hose was almost completely blocked with crud and because of it’s awkward shape it took quite a long time to clear it. I ended up using stupid amounts of carb cleaner and it would probably have been cheaper to try and get hold of a new pipe!



This one was totally caked up with crud. I used a paper clip to try and clear it and it wouldn’t go through at first. Used more of the trusty carb cleaner and a bit of elbow grease, the whole time worried that the paper clip would break off… then I’d be really screwed hehe! Worth pointing out that this whole area was a layer of sludge. I had to clean it up to get proper access to the outlets: