My Cav turbo's progress thread

[TurboDan]

Yeah i think there common places to go there.

[Gray16v]

might be worth adding a drain hole when its welded up, thats what i am doing

[TurboDan]

I should just leave the rusty hole there lol problem solved then.

[jeffjeff450]

Think you court it erly mine had gone through both skins and eaten the bumper mount.

[btcctroy]

im sure ur sort it

[TurboDan]

Not got many pics but the welding is all sorted and the bumper is back on.




I Also spent some time lining up the bootlid/lights whilst i was fitting the bumper. It was worth it as it looks a thousand times better now.



I've also started to give the car a full proper buff, done one side and it does look much better, will get pics up once its done.

[Cavalier-C20LET]

does look really good bud,

any pics like that of before you lined it up?

[TurboDan]

I havent actually. You'l just have to take my word for it that its better lol

[gsi pie]

i do like a turbo rear end

[HAIRIBO]

I'm not haveing a go, or trying you be cheeky, I'm just genuinely intrested.

You had one of the nicest Cav turbos around with great looking engine bay. and you ripped it ot and stuck this engine in.

Wahts the reason behind it.

Is it cos pound per pound you can get more power with this set up? or was it to be a one off? I know the magazines have loads of tuned vxrs and hardly any c20lets anymore.

Just wondering as one day (Day dream) I'd like to take out the v6auto in the cesaro and replace with some manual engine. Was think saab B204 due to costs. and C20lets are really expensive.

Is they way you are doing it the most cost effective and reliable.


Love the work, and keep it up

[Cavalier-C20LET]

ive never even looked to see if my lights and boot ect are all straight, all i know is its never been bumped at the rear like two of my last cavs had been , the boot lanel didnt line up with the lights from the side angle, looked terrible when you notice it

[TurboDan]

Ask as many questions as you want i don't mind

Your right the old engine did look nice, it did actually run drive and idle nice too but boost wise it was NEVER right, there was always something with it, lets face it C20LET's are not getting any younger and neither are the second hand spares for them, yes you can buy new parts but they are also getting expensive and hard to get hold of. I didn't want to spend thousands on the engine and just fancied something differant.

And so i had always wondered how a zlet would fit and run in a cav. I have had a Zlet in an astra before and that was great and never missed a beat and was fast. My brother had an Astra VXR for quite a few years, that was 300bhp and also drove mint and never missed a beat. So i knew abit about them, fancied a challenge and when a few people said it will never work and its a stupid idea (which maybe it was), that just made me want to do it even more!

Other than a few bits i've had to make up to make fit most of it is bolt on stuff. I'd say its the best mod ive done to the car, it hasn't cost me that much as i made just over £1000 off the old engine.

This zlet so far is sooooo much nicer to drive, quicker than my old engine, much easier/cheaper to tune, loads of parts available new/old.

When the c20lets are all dead, the zlet or saab stuff will be the next option.

[TurboDan]

You had one of the nicest Cav turbos around

So out of interest do you think i have ruined it and completely de-valued it at all? Would be interesting to know what people think of the engine swap

[HAIRIBO]

You had one of the nicest Cav turbos around

So out of interest do you think i have ruined it and completely de-valued it at all? Would be interesting to know what people think of the engine swap

I wouldn't buy it off you as a cav turbo. As I'd want a cav turbo to be factory condition and tune, (Classic). So yes i'd say you've devalued it in a sence. But if yet get this engine to make good figures and its a better car to drive, then you'd made a better car.

I took out a 2.5 and fitted a 3.0. So its no longer standard but is better for it.

You have a one off cav. (Yes in theory would have been better to do this to a cav turbo that was crap to start with. But if you keep the car. who cares what you have doen to it. Its yours you drive it. make it how you want.


If I'm honest. The engine bay was nicer being a let. But if the car is nicer to drive. faster, more reliable, then you have done a good thing.

If I wanted a fast vauxhall, I'd pick the newer engine. If i wanted a classic car I'd have stuck to the let.

I wonder what people of Cav turbo site would say??? Or have they put a price on your head lol.

You still have a car great car.

[TurboDan]

Id like to think it was still classed as a cav turbo. It is on the turbo site too and tbh they havent said that much about it, not sure if they like it or not lol.

I do see where your coming from.

Its the same as the trip computer mod i did, you either love it or hate it. If and when the time comes to sell it i will still be putting it up for a good cav turbo price tag as i think it would be worth it still but who knows, its worth what someone wants to pay really.

What do you think its worth then now with a zlet?

[gsi pie]

sill worth 3k imo

its still a cav turbo in a way

and the trip comp is a sweet mod

[Chip Pan Dan]

its still worth the same its just a more usable and reliable cav turbo

[HAIRIBO]

The trip computer is sweet

But for me to want a cav turbo it would have to be standard in everyway.

Yours is nice modernised cavalier. it is a turbo 4x4.


So in a way means more than when people run 2wd

Your car still has to be worth good money.


But as you and everyone has said. Stuff is only worth what people want to pay.

Yours might get more now than when it had the LET. as you are doing a good job on it. its not like you have thrown it into a astra van and nbot washed the engine bay and left wires everywhere.

A guy on here just paid £350 for TD saloon, In northern Ierlandit would get £1000 more.

You might have just made the most reliable BHP/BHP cavalier in the country. In which case would be worth alot. how much would courtenay charge for this!!!!!!!!


But lets face it. as long as you dont get bored and sell on. you havent ruined a cavalier turbo. You've just improved your own car.

[steven240374]

I like the idea its bringing modern vauxhall and classic vauxhall together to make a better car

[HAIRIBO]

I like the idea its bringing modern vauxhall and classic vauxhall together to make a better car

Wonder if a 1.9CDTi would fit in a cav, or just be too heavy. The VW boys ofetn put TDi's in old mark 1 and 2 golfs.

[Gray16v]

You had one of the nicest Cav turbos around

So out of interest do you think i have ruined it and completely de-valued it at all? Would be interesting to know what people think of the engine swap

For it to be valued as a modern classic it must be original if a collector was buying. However on the flip side, look at the number of Mk1 Escorts that sell for £14 to 18K+ not many of them are totally original and the ones that have cosworth lumps in them are £20k+. My Cav 8V SRi is totally original even down to the firestone 690 tyres, in years to come I hope it will only go up in value, unfortunatley every Cav thats scrapped potentially increases the value of the ones that are left because they are becoming rarer (good clean ones are like hens teeth). Only certain marks seem to hold / increase value GSi's, SRi's and Turbo's being the best, wont be long before other models start to creep up a bit.

So if your worried about de-valuing your car I would say long term no !

[TurboDan]

I wasn't worried about if i have de-valued it really, i was just interested to see if people think i had done or not.

Nearly all mods on cavs have been done before at some point so its nice to try and do something abit differant which is what i like trying to do.

Haribo - I thought about fitting an engine like that in a cav/nova before now. I think it would be a great conversion and them newer diesel engines are really quick and still give nearly 50 mpg!

[TurboDan]

I said i'd started buffing the car properly, i've now got round the whole car with G3 and soapy water and all wiped off, looks so much better allready and i've not finished yet.





The next step is to go round it all again with the blue top 3m Finesse it polish, that will bring off any swirl marks and give it a nice shine, then its ready for some mequiars wax. Will finish it off over then next few days.

[jeffjeff450]

looking good

[SteLowis]

Looking really good. Paint works looking like glass. Who cares what people think mate. A lot if hard work, modifying time & effort has gone into this and is the first in the country. If anything I think you have added value and appeal to the car. Well done mate