1983 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6 GL 4 speed or is it???

[redexstyle]

So I did have a thread on here a few years back but it fell so far down the chain, thought it was time to start a new one.

Story starts from my old man having a black 1985 SRI Cavalier hatch and then there's just been something about them that does it for me.

First one:

1983 1.6 8v GL 4 speed with 21k and 1 owner. Later sold to a friend who did a full resto on it.





Second one:

1983 1.6 8v L 4 speed with 62k. Bought with no MOT, did a complete brake overhaul on it and full service and sold.





Third one:

1983 1.3 8v L 4 speed with 110k. Bought as spares/repair and stripped to live on through 30 other Cavaliers.





Which brings onto #4.

Back in January 2020, a chance spot on Facebook, led to a conversation and a 7 hour round trip.

On the outside, 1983 1.6 8v GL 4 speed with 82k but it was the 2.0 16v redtop and 5 speed F16 box which had gathered my interest.









Have to say this didn't skip a beat, especially on the 220 mile trip back from picking it up. The C20xe paired with the F16 box gives it great train strength pull in 2nd and 3rd.

Will update the story soon with more photos but eagle eyed readers may have seen her parked up at the Pistonheads 25th Anniversary at Bicester Heritage recently in a completely different guise.






Instagram: @the_boosted_80s

Edited by redexstyle on Friday 29th September 16:47

[Fermit]

memory lane there. Dad had an A reg (A75 DTO) Cavalier 1.6 L Estate, in the exact same colour as your first one pictured. I was 6 y/o.

[Jhonno]

The only way that could be cooler is if it was the same colour as TNY.. Love it.

[the-norseman]

My grandad, dad and 3 uncles all had Cavalier's when I was a kid.

My dad did the unthinkable thing a few years later and sold 2x Astra to buy a Toyota (dad was working at Toyota at the time).

One of my uncles had the same green as the one above, my dads older brother knew how to spray cars so they all ended up different colours, grandad had a gold one that ended up council yellow.

[Geffg]

Had a few cavaliers myself. Still got a soft spot for them and would love another one just for the hell of it.
1984 cavalier 1.6L
1987 cavalier 1.6GL
1988 cavalier 1.6LX
1992 cavalier 2.0 CDi
1992 cavalier 2.0 GSi.

Edited by Geffg on Friday 29th September 18:07

[Mr Tidy]

I've got history with Cavaliers too!

Bought a 1980 2000GLS Sportshatch in 1985, a 1990 1.8L in 1992 and a 1992 SRi in 1995. The SRi was the best by far, although the 1990 2.0i 4x4 I borrowed briefly from a mate was great too!

[Bobupndown]

It looked much better before the mods, intercooler and eyebrow look particularly poor.

[rossub]

I hope that intercooler was cheap…. never seen one so exposed before.

[J4CKO]

My old boss had a Cavalier saloon in that maroon colour, a 2.0 GLSi I think it was, but though it was definitely quite rapid not sure it was that posh, seemed so fast back in 1988 !

Glad people keep these alive, they were everywhere, then dissapeared in like two years.

[dogbucket]

I have particular fondness for the Philips head units fitted to those. One of which ended up in my mini fitted under the front seat..

After the mini and then a metro, I finally got a mk3 2.0L. 2 litres seemed massive!

[Bobupndown]

J4CKO said:

Glad people keep these alive, they were everywhere, then dissapeared in like two years.

Just like every run of the mill saloon as time goes on. Sierra, 405, BX, Montego, where did they all go?

[nismo48]

Bobupndown said:

It looked much better before the mods, intercooler and eyebrow look particularly poor.

+1 A stage too far

[nismo48]

rossub said:

I hope that intercooler was cheap…. never seen one so exposed before.

Very exposed and very brave

[chris1roll]

Bobupndown said:

J4CKO said:

Glad people keep these alive, they were everywhere, then dissapeared in like two years.

Just like every run of the mill saloon as time goes on. Sierra, 405, BX, Montego, where did they all go?

I had a 1987 1.6L hatchback as my first car. D651APH.

When I dropped it off at the scrapyard in late 2000 his exact words were "Oh god not another one!"

There must have been 10 of them there, a blue one was dropped off earlier that same morning.

[sixor8]

I've had 4 x Cavaliers over the years. A 1981 RWD in yellow from '86 - '87, a 1985 brown hatch and later, a 1987 red Mk 2 Base model 1.6 saloon, and that WAS only a 4 speed.

The last one was a 1995 1.7 TD that I used in the 2009 scrappage scheme. I enjoyed all of them, only the 1985 hatch was a big problem, the rear spring mounts rotted away.

[redexstyle]

Fermit said:

memory lane there. Dad had an A reg (A75 DTO) Cavalier 1.6 L Estate, in the exact same colour as your first one pictured. I was 6 y/o.

There is a really nice one currently in the colour you mention going around at the moment.

Jhonno said:

The only way that could be cooler is if it was the same colour as TNY.. Love it.

I think the reed green saloon was by far my favourite colour. If I had kept it long enough, she would have had a factory restoration in the same colour!

the-norseman said:

My grandad, dad and 3 uncles all had Cavalier's when I was a kid.

My dad did the unthinkable thing a few years later and sold 2x Astra to buy a Toyota (dad was working at Toyota at the time).

One of my uncles had the same green as the one above, my dads older brother knew how to spray cars so they all ended up different colours, grandad had a gold one that ended up council yellow.

A few of my uncles had Cavaliers and they just seemed to be so spacious for such little money. Defo some character about them!

Geffg said:

Had a few cavaliers myself. Still got a soft spot for them and would love another one just for the hell of it.
1984 cavalier 1.6L
1987 cavalier 1.6GL
1988 cavalier 1.6LX
1992 cavalier 2.0 CDi
1992 cavalier 2.0 GSi.

That's a decent haul. There's still a few out there for sale and reasonably priced. Shame the mk3 Cav didn't really do anything for me lol.

Mr Tidy said:

I've got history with Cavaliers too!

Bought a 1980 2000GLS Sportshatch in 1985, a 1990 1.8L in 1992 and a 1992 SRi in 1995. The SRi was the best by far, although the 1990 2.0i 4x4 I borrowed briefly from a mate was great too!

The 16v SRi are holding strong money for solid ones. The GSI and Turbo hold even more. Shame so many were robbed back in the day and destroyed.

[redexstyle]

Bobupndown said:

It looked much better before the mods, intercooler and eyebrow look particularly poor.

I did originally want it to be as much of a sleeper as possible. However, there wasn't any space for the intercooler behind the front panel as I had wanted without some major fabrication work, will will come in the next stage. Having grown up in the 80/90's, the few modifications take me back to that era and I quite like them.

rossub said:

I hope that intercooler was cheap…. never seen one so exposed before.

Didn't cost much to be fair as it's a generic one. As above, you'd be surprised at how little room there is without major surgery to get an intercooler to fit behind the front panel, due to it running a Trust manifold and Kinugawa turbo.

If I had kept the standard C20LET turbo and manifold, a Frontera intercooler could have slotted in.

J4CKO said:

My old boss had a Cavalier saloon in that maroon colour, a 2.0 GLSi I think it was, but though it was definitely quite rapid not sure it was that posh, seemed so fast back in 1988 !

Glad people keep these alive, they were everywhere, then dissapeared in like two years.

The old scrappage scheme saw an end to a lot. Shame as they'd go for miles and miles and were strong.

nismo48 said:

+1 A stage too far

Very exposed and very brave

Touch wood not had any issues so far. However, she's quick enough to stave off a lot of today's challenges

chris1roll said:

I had a 1987 1.6L hatchback as my first car. D651APH.

When I dropped it off at the scrapyard in late 2000 his exact words were "Oh god not another one!"

There must have been 10 of them there, a blue one was dropped off earlier that same morning.

The UK built Cavaliers were awful for rotting out. Something to do with them being left outside prior to painting so the rust was already setting in in the dealers. The Belgium built ones are a lot more robust and have withstood the change in time.

sixor8 said:

I've had 4 x Cavaliers over the years. A 1981 RWD in yellow from '86 - '87, a 1985 brown hatch and later, a 1987 red Mk 2 Base model 1.6 saloon, and that WAS only a 4 speed.

The last one was a 1995 1.7 TD that I used in the 2009 scrappage scheme. I enjoyed all of them, only the 1985 hatch was a big problem, the rear spring mounts rotted away.

The rear spring cups are still problems these days. The design wasn't great so it allowed standing water to sit and eat away at the metal.

Thankfully mine hasn't been hit too hard with that

[redexstyle]

Seems like I had forgotten to list the spec.

Thanks to:
Zidan Motorsport - engine build
Page Motorsport - mapping
Mana Performance - engine loom & display unit

Spec:
C20XE block honed and rebored to 86.5mm
Head skimmed
Reground & polished crank
Wossner forged pistons
Nevlock X beam forged con rods
KS 20.9mm big end & main cap bearings
ARP head studs
Kinugawa GTX2860R T3 ball bearing turbo
ECUMaster EMU classic ECU
Siemens Deka 630cc injectors
Trust T3 manifold
2.5” stainless steel exhaust
Turbosmart WG40 external wastegate
3” tophat and downpipe
Toyosport intercooler with solid boost pipes
Screamer pipe
Bosch 044 in-line fuel pump
Steel head gasket
Z20LET oil pump
10mm high tension ignition leads
Adjustable fuel regulator
Spal 13” slimline fan
Roose Motorsport silicon hoses
Ramair filter

F28 6 speed gearbox with custom mounts
CG Motorsport 385 sports clutch
Equal length driveshafts
SRI wishbone legs and front panel
Wiechers front and rear strut brace

Renault Megane 4 pot Brembo calipers
280mm disks
HEL braided hoses
Mk3 Cavalier SRI disk rear beam, anti roll bar & disks
BigRedd refurbed SRI rear calipers

ECUMaster classic ECU
ECUMaster 5" ADU


Low boost she puts out 240bhp, high boost she does 357bhp.

So in a car that weighs less than a tin of beans, she defo be quick

[Maxus]

Nice to see a MKII Cavalier being loved. I did look over yours at Bicester. Must go pretty well with that engine in it.

I had one as my first car at college and Uni, it was only 4 years old at the time so a very decent car. Absolutely loved it and have fond memories. Added an in dash CD player (quite a thing in 1990!) along with an amp and bigger speakers. SRi steering wheel, CD front spoiler and a Janspeed exhaust. Then the luxury touches of rear head rests and a blind. Very executive!