1988 Mk2 Cavalier 1.8GLi

Inside of the door was primed on Sunday.



It took a while to fully cure, so I didn't get to do the other side until yesterday.



With all four doors stripped and primed now, theres just the bonnet and spoiler left to prepare for bodywork now. As the weather is set to be colder for the foreseeable, I reckon now would be a good time to make a start stripping the paint off the tailgate spoiler. It has been painted over the factory finish, and there is crazing in certain places, so the only way to make it right again is to take it all off.

I've tried a patch sanding the majority off then finishing up rubbing it with thinners on a cloth - it worked well, but was incredibly time consuming. I'm gonna see if I can get hold of some decent paint stripper to try and speed it up a bit.

The thinners approach was sped up considerably by using a scotch pad with it instead of a cloth.



It was still a pretty grim way to spend an afternoon.

Next to no time has been available for a while, just enough to finish up cleaning the inside of this.



With the potential for warmer weather on the cards, I may even get some primer on it in the next few days.

Excellent work.

Been quietly following this since the start and I have to say what an epic save on one of the most popular yet little saved cars of the 80s. Those wheel trims I'm sure are for a mk2 astra Sri, I admit if I'm wrong. Possibly seen on various Vauxhall special editions too.

No idea how I missed this one but 22 pages caught up on this afternoon! What a great read and a great restoration, cracking work! Will you be painting it yourself I assume? Also how's the compressor? I keep looking at those hyundai ones as they seem reasonably priced for Nz (3hp 100L belt drive for ~350 quid) but don't know anyone who's got one!

Many thanks! As its having a metallic finish, I'll be entrusting a proper painter to do the top coats - I don't believe my spraying skills are up to making a decent job of it! The compressor seems right enough - so far no shortcomings have become apparent.

Last bit of reasonable air temperature for the foreseeable today, so took the opportunity to prime the underside of the bonnet.



Here ends the "bare metal and epoxy primer" chapter. The "filler, rubbing and dust" chapter will begin when the weather warms up at some point.

Not been at this for a few weeks for a variety of reasons. The most recent reason was the inability to get to the shed due to flooded roads.

Got the tyres off - it's still too cold to do any body work stuff, and there isn't a right lot left to do apart from that.



I had an exploratory session with power tools to ascertain the general condition, and was pleased by the face of the wheel.



The back was not quite as pleasing.



I duly got stuck in with the wire wheel stuff.



Not too bad at all - they're all very straight too. If I can afford it I'll get them all blasted and Powder coated.

The inside of the wheel cleaned up pretty well too.



If I don't have the wedge to get these powdered, I could always do them in POR15 - I'll have to see what's left in the kitty after the bills have been paid.