My freshly restored Vauxhall Cavalier GSi 2000

[41TR]

Its been a long time coming but very proud to show off my fully restored Cavalier GSi. After falling in love with BTCC and John Cleland's antics in the late 80's and early 90's I knew I had to get myself a Cavalier as soon as possible. I ended up having 3 GSi's in my 20's my first of which was 1996 and they have held a special place in my heart ever since. I bought this particular GSi in June 2018 after a few too many beers and it was sent down from Scotland, I was mortified when it arrived as it had holes all over the place. Unfortunately I'm not a hands on kind of guy so spent a few months trying to find a local company to help me with the restoration. Work started in September 2018 and I was able to pay the company on a monthly basis when funds allowed. The GSi ended up having over 1000 man hours of work. New panels were sourced from GM worldwide and if they weren't available they were fabricated. I bought a good condition 2nd hand interior which I cleaned up with a wet vac and then dyed as the material had faded. The engine and gearbox have been fully rebuilt and I added throttle bodies from SBD Motorsport running a MBE ECU. This should see around 208 bhp but I hope to raise this in time to circa 240bhp. The suspension is from GAZ (coil overs on front) and the wheels are extremely rare OZ Exclusives which took me 4 years to find. They are the same wheel that I bought for my 2nd GSi in 1998 at the height of the max power era. The exhaust was hand made by Lead Foot Racing and I plan to update the tail pipes to twin squares to give it an OEM plus look. I received the car back on 1st June this year and have done approx 150 miles in it so far. I need to run the engine in then I can take it for an oil change and to have the MBE ECU mapped. Currently it’s just running on a base map so it’s a bit lumpy. I’m loving having a GSi back in my garage, its like having a brand new 30 year old car and a proper nostalgia trip. I hope you like the photos, bring back the 90's!!

Edited by 41TR on Thursday 15th June 18:06

[Jhonno]

I assume there will be more pics..

[41TR]

just working on this now! sorry its my first post and I thought id uploaded a decent selection of photos!

[Jhonno]

41TR said:

just working on this now! sorry its my first post and I thought id uploaded a decent selection of photos!

It was only meant light heartedly! Didn't even notice your post count.. Looking forward to the pics!

[41TR]

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Edited by 41TR on Thursday 15th June 13:10

[41TR]

Jhonno said:

41TR said:

just working on this now! sorry its my first post and I thought id uploaded a decent selection of photos!

It was only meant light heartedly! Didn't even notice your post count.. Looking forward to the pics!

here you go!

[What The Deuces]

Looks great under the bonnet. Nice

[SlimK]

Epic motor - I remember being a kid and my dad having one in the same color, made the most epic childhood memories on B roads.

Will be awaiting updates on this!

Slim

[Resolutionary]

That is an excellent bit of antiquity, well done for getting it so well sorted!

[SitCet]

Lovely stuff.

[bumskins]

That is superb, lovely car OP - not often you see a Cav with an N/A-built engine under the bonnet, bet that sounds ace

I always thought Cleland was a moaning git who would get involved in door-banging when he wasn't quick enough, had I known i'd have ended up with a car like yours i'd have joined the fan club long ago!

[the griffin]

wow! Nice car and interesting history.
I would love to have one but they are so rare now.

[d_a_n1979]

Never been in to Vauxhalls, Fords etc

Bur remember these cars from my youth and that looks a cracking build; super-clean engine bay too

[BigMacDaddy]

That's ace, love it

I used to have an Astra GTE 16v and in a moment of drunken inspiration bought a set of Weber Alpha throttle bodies on ebay. Then established that the rest of the kit required to fit them successfully wouldn't be as cheap

The XE engine does sound great at full chat through ITBs though doesn't it

[41TR]

Thanks for all your comment. I cant rev it past 4k at the moment but it still sounds pretty special with the throttle bodies and exhaust. I've modified the car to the level I would have done in my 20's if funds had allowed. Hoping to get out to some shows later in the year.

[Matter88]

Absolutely love it.

The wheels are fantastic

[Riek]

208bhp is more than a stock cavalier turbo isnt it? spicy.

[Bobupndown]

Matter88 said:

Absolutely love it.

The wheels are fantastic

IMHO the wheels spoil an otherwise beautiful car. Think it would look best on factory originals.

[TheAngryDog]

This is sooooooooooooooooooooo cool. I was a Ford boy growing up so I went down the Sierra / XR4x4 / Cosworth route (oh how I miss those days), but the GSi2000 and Turbo were two cars I always liked, and would happily have either now (so long as A/C was installed lol).

Enjoy it OP, you've earned it.

[cerb4.5lee]

That is absolutely lovely OP. Thanks for sharing and it brings a lot of memories of the time back for me.