40 years already.

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I was still doing my apprenticeship at a Vauxhall dealer when they brought the Mk 1’s out.

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I had a Mk3 SRI
 
Mottie said:
I was still doing my apprenticeship at a Vauxhall dealer when they brought the Mk 1’s out.
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Me too.
I had 3 mk1’s
4 mk2’s. 2x1600. 1x1800 & 1x2litre.
2 mk3’s. A 2000GL and a 2000CDi
They were great cars imho.
 
Stivino said:
Who remembers these?
I had four of them.

Luton car club marks anniversary of Vauxhall Cavalier Mark II https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-58665324
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My dad had one of them in the 90's

Bought it 6 months old crash damaged from a guy who got done for DD. Paid peanuts for it.

Owned it till about 2005 and the rust just got to bad on the rear arches so had to scrap it. Was a good reliable car though, would have kept going
 
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I was behind a Vauxhall Cavalier estate a week or so ago. Looked great, although, also was so much lower than my Ford estate. The rear window was massive.
 
The original Cavs - X reg - used to knock out camshafts big time.....lubrication issues if I recall.
John :)
 
Burnerman said:
The original Cavs - X reg - used to knock out camshafts big time.....lubrication issues if I recall.
John :)
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Can’t say I ever remember doing one or seeing one done and I worked in a Vauxhall main dealer. Lubrication issues? Christ on a service we had to make a temporary cam chain cover out of the cardboard air filter box to stop the oil going everywhere because you had to adjust the valve clearances with the engine running. Oil bloody everywhere!
 
Mottie said:
Can’t say I ever remember doing one or seeing one done and I worked in a Vauxhall main dealer. Lubrication issues? Christ on a service we had to make a temporary cam chain cover out of the cardboard air filter box to stop the oil going everywhere because you had to adjust the valve clearances with the engine running. Oil bloody everywhere!
Click to expand...
We used to use the plastic “box” that filled the radio space. Because new cars came without radios in them days and the Cavaliers had a box that had to be removed to get the radio in. I don’t know/can’t remember why it was even there. But we used to get one, cut a section out so that it would go over the camshaft,and it was possible to hold it in place with two screws from the cam cover. Remember they had a captive wing shaped washer?
It was good when the 1900 became a 2L because they had self adjusting tappets.
 
i had a few in the 80's company cars - couple of SRI's and a CDX Estate , which had traffic master included , i actually went out and purchased on, when i changed and was nolonger included , I think I had it going upto around 2007 ish when i purchased a satnav with traffic info
Traffic master probably saved me a 4+ hour delay a few times a year.... mainly around M25 / M3/M4/M40/ which i travelled on most weeks
 
I had a few: X reg 1.6L saloon, A reg 1.6L hatch, E reg 1.8 Li (yes, L spec with the 1.8 injection SRi engine!) saloon, a 1.8 SRi hatch (can't remember age) which I bought with oil pressure issues and put a new short motor in, another 1.8 SRi hatch (E reg IIRC?) with a slightly damaged front end. The 1.8 Li one was bought brand new and the timing belt broke at about 2 years old, but with the benefit of hindsight, it had a hard life from a much younger me who was always in a hurry or up for a race with the reps in their 1.6 Sierras who thought my Cav was also a 1.6.
 
I only had to do one. They can't have been that bad because working in a vauxhall dealer I did more Pinto OHC camshafts than I did Cavaliers.
 
For sure I can't remember how I got involved in these.....presumably the cars had only 12 month warranty then but those were the days when I would tackle most things.
The Pinto was a grand one for blocking up the spray bar nozzles over the cam - head off time to replace that one.
I remember the clutch could be popped out from below leaving the transmission in place - a brilliant idea that quickly bit the bullet.
I also worked on two Astras with the same motor that had snapped their cam belts, but happily the motor freewheeled to a halt without damage to anything.
John :)
 
Done my apprenticeship at the Luton Vauxhall Plant back in the 1970's so remember all of the Cavalier models being built and introduced. The garage I have used for my MOTs since I was 17 done the MOTs for all of the Vauxhall Heritage cars dating back to 1900 (The MOTs were done to confirm safety despite them not needing MOTs) have told me that since the Peugeot takeover all of the museum cars have been sold.
 
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