1983 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL with a twist.....

[redexstyle]

Hey guys.

Well I think it's time for me start my Readers thread.

A chance spot on Facebook, led to a conversation and a 7 hour round trip from Banbury to Pickering and back.

82k on the clock in a lovely GL spec with velour seats and a factory sunroof. However, there was another reason for buying it.....

1983 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL

Few things to sort: new wheels and tyres, full service, new discs and pads all round, new exhaust and some lowering.









Have to say this has not skipped 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.

First changes done today. Keeping the retro/sleeper look with a retro backflash, obligatory AA grill badge and the PH smiley.

[Limpet]

Lovely. I was grinning at that even before I saw the red top under the bonnet.

I do love a mk2 Cav. Haven’t so much as sat in one since I scrapped my old SRi back in the mid 90s though.

[Trevor555]

I used to sell loads of these, but not with the redtop in though.

Looks a nice clean one, China blue with LX alloys.

[Mr Tidy]

Brilliant cars when they came out - my girlfriends dad had a new 1.6GL saloon as his company car back then!

But in that colour with a red-top that is a real sleeper - brilliant.

[SimonTheSailor]

Had a silver/anthracite SRi saloon - cool car 😎

Like your motor 🙂

[spaceship]

Between my Dad and my Granda I think we had about 5 of these in our family over the years. Happy memories of me and my sister being driven about in the back of them.

[Zetec-S]

Always had a soft slot for these, my uncle went through a few back in the 80’s/early 90’s.

[stevemcs]

Love that, dad had a 1.3 hatch which was then replaced by the facelift 1985 1.6 GL both were china blue

[ScoobyChris]

Looking good. My Dad had the SRi on a B-plate and another on a D-plate. Happy memories of the traffic light grand prix with Money For Nothing on the cassette player

Chris

[Reciprocating mass]

That’s cool do like a mk2 cav, there isn’t to many around these days especially sallons, I had a nice 130 hatch a few years ago and some tosser nicked it, had quite a few 80’s Vauxhall’s in my youth mk2 Astra’s Belmont’s and cavs mainly,

[Simon182]

Looks great and there can't be too many XE's kicking about these days!

[DanMalkin]

Get back to work Pritam 😜
‘Twas a good spot of Facebook, however it’s still a grotty old cav..
Get rid of the injection and get some carbs on it.. you may have more of that great train strength pull then..
I look forward to seeing it in the flesh!

[Cocknose]

Nice car, a set of slabs would go lovely on that, I think.

Any plans for the engine?

[griffin dai]

Always liked the old Cav’s! Mates father had a white SRi 130, loved going for a spin in that!

[rickygolf83]

This is the ideal sleeper!

Love the mk2 Cav, granda and uncle had early hatches. My aunt had an SRi 130 saloon that was pinched and used in an armed robbery!

The replacement xr2 was also stolen. Next car was a Lada Samara

In terms of wheel, don't know that they are called but the ones of some mk2 cavs and the mk1 Astra GTE are my favourite oem vauxhall wheel of that period. Maybe not big enough for your brakes though, at 14"

Edited by rickygolf83 on Friday 7th February 09:36

Edited by rickygolf83 on Friday 7th February 12:54

[Shakermaker]

Very nice, I thought this was going one of 2 ways at the outset - it was either going to be a redtop conversion, or, the car that your dad owned in the 80s. Pleased it was the former of those options!

Very nice indeed, love the retro graphics

[Cocknose]

Just noticed that this has 'Leedhams York' Vauxhall number plates, my dad bought a Cavalier mk3 from there. Happy memories!

[pstruck]

Great stuff! My first car was a metallic green 1.6 saloon with factory sunroof, so this brings back great memories. Also had a Mk3 GSi 2000, so can imagine how well the red top engine performs in the lighter Mk2.

[Tabs]

Original versions must have been the last of the simple cars. Had many of these as taxis. Nothing seemed to take a couple of hours or cost no more than a £100 to fix. Clutch in 40 minutes via the inspection plate. Gearbox out of the side. Mechanical lift petrol pump off the camshaft. A kit to change the camshaft without removing the head. Tappets designed to break if the belt snapped. I could go on..

[redexstyle]

Limpet said:

Lovely. I was grinning at that even before I saw the red top under the bonnet.

I do love a mk2 Cav. Haven’t so much as sat in one since I scrapped my old SRi back in the mid 90s though.

Haha thanks. It really is a great car and leaves me grinning all the time.

Trevor555 said:

I used to sell loads of these, but not with the redtop in though.

Looks a nice clean one, China blue with LX alloys.

Yeh, the redtop was a favoured post buying engine conversion. Coming out of the Astra GTE, Astra GSi, Calibra 16v, Cavalier GSI etc

I believe the current wheels are off a mark 3 Astra Sport. It's a shame it's had a poor respray at some point so is a lighter shade than the original China Blue.

Mr Tidy said:

Brilliant cars when they came out - my girlfriends dad had a new 1.6GL saloon as his company car back then!

But in that colour with a red-top that is a real sleeper - brilliant.

My old man had an 86 SRi hatch in black. God that was an amazing car. I think that's what started my love affair with these lol

SimonTheSailor said:

Had a silver/anthracite SRi saloon - cool car ??

Like your motor ??

Defo underrated motors but the SRi's well a step above.

spaceship said:

Between my Dad and my Granda I think we had about 5 of these in our family over the years. Happy memories of me and my sister being driven about in the back of them.

Had a few of these in my family as well. Fairly spacious and airy lol. Still has an 80's smell inside haha.

Zetec-S said:

Always had a soft slot for these, my uncle went through a few back in the 80’s/early 90’s.

I think there's something better about the saloon than the hatch.