Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today - First Generation Forum

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Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Tuesday, March 08, 2016 6:32 PM
Went browsing for parts least week at my local salvage yard. Didn't find anything new. On the way out I noticed an 86 vert sitting in the line to be processed where they put the cars before they rip out the gas tank and drain fluids. It was a NICE 86 V6 super clean white with blue interior Cavalier RS. Asked if they wanted to sell the seats and was given a ridiculous price for the entire interior. Well took my chances and waited until today to go back and it was still there. Asked the owner if it was for sale and he gave me a real good price for the whole car delivered (close to what his employee wanted for the just the interior). Was told someone could not get it started due a fuel delivery problem. Has an aftermarket fuel pump box in the trunk with a pump in it??? Also found a near mint blue convertible boot in the trunk.
According to the the title it was only owned by last owner for two years so it probably was well loved by someone for a long time judging by the condition of this car.
Here are some pics I shot today at the yard and when they delivered tonight.

Came with clean title and has 77,557 miles on it.
















Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Tuesday, March 08, 2016 7:02 PM
Awesome Save! from what i hear the rs convertables are a rare beast. That ones lookin solid!
Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Tuesday, March 08, 2016 8:05 PM
WOOHOO!!!!!! Awesome find!!! Looks very familiar!!!!! LOL ... almost like mine!!!! but you have about 25,000 less miles... but i bought from original owner.

Clean that baby up and enjoy!!!!!

I'll recommend getting some chevy wheels on there.... I'm thinking of selling my original Star rims .... with all 4 caps in great condition.



Let me know if you're interested.....i'll make ya a deal...

Terry



87 RS Convertible - 2.8V6 - 3-Speed Auto, Digital Dash - Complete LED / HID Conversion - Alarm/Keyless Entry
Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Tuesday, March 08, 2016 8:08 PM
LOve, Love that car!!!



Wish I could find one here...I have tried.....


http://www.autorentalandsales.com/images/2004Cavalier005.JPG
Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Tuesday, March 08, 2016 9:28 PM
Glad things worked out! Being we talked about this beauty last week.I would totally get it running being that straight.I came close back a few years ago on that sunbird vert turbo 86 but,it was toast on the inside,top gone,and NO TITLE and the yo yo wanted 500.00.I know you recall the story and I run from a problem with no title as my thoughts were to try and save it.I tried but cost to get it,plus figure out the maybe/maybe not get the title fixed it was too much to go thru.



Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Thursday, March 10, 2016 12:33 PM
Wow, i'm super jealous right now !




~ Mike ~


Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Thursday, March 10, 2016 12:58 PM
Thanks for the support guys.

Terry, I have a spare set of 13" star rims in my attic. But I think on this one I would stay with the aftermarket rims or go with the RS Chevy style it most likely came with.

Here are a few more pics I was able to get yesterday when we had our first real spring day (a full month and a half ahead of last year!!!!).



























Back seat out












Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Thursday, March 10, 2016 2:32 PM
WoW John!

I am very happy for you!

You have a great deal of experience with these and this one fits very nicely into your collection!!

I do believe you are benefiting ,(as all of us are), from the the current pitfall of scrap values. It this was worth anything they would have fought you hard to keep it for the scrap value, but nowadays they can make more of a profit from you than from the scrap collector. I have a buddy at work that has collected scrap to make some spare money on the side his whole life - he was telling me today he won't touch iron or steel ( whole cars), because it cost as much to collect and haul. Not long ago I witnessed cars minus engine /trans going for $1k. How things chance.....

Now is a great time to enjoy adding to our parts bins or car collections. I had the title transferred to the '01 Cavalier Coupe 5 speed yesterday and all I need now is to get it hauled home. Hoping to find a friend with a trailer because those rollbacks bounce the hell out of their load. When I had my Sunbird hauled home it bounced so much it cracked a brake line that wasn't even rusted.

John , now you might consider re-purchasing that Cimmaron for spare V-6 drive train! If you are like me it would really hurt to strip down a Caddy for parts though.


.



Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Thursday, March 10, 2016 4:45 PM
What a great save! They just keep popping up.



Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Thursday, March 10, 2016 4:53 PM
Wow what a find !
I am very sad that thoses cars end to a scrap yard. I cant understand why the previous owner did not try to sell his car .
There is always someone who are interested to a nice little convertible in great shape like this one.
This car is a dream and his fun to drive .
I dont know for you guys but here it is easyer to sell a 1990 civic honda beaten to death than a nice 87 cavalier who always been care of.
Alain
Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Thursday, March 10, 2016 9:39 PM
84conv wrote:Thanks for the support guys.

Terry, I have a spare set of 13" star rims in my attic. But I think on this one I would stay with the aftermarket rims or go with the RS Chevy style it most likely came with.



Cool deal!! Keep us updated with pics!!!



87 RS Convertible - 2.8V6 - 3-Speed Auto, Digital Dash - Complete LED / HID Conversion - Alarm/Keyless Entry

Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Friday, March 11, 2016 4:43 AM
great save! i hope it turns out to only be the fuel pump to get it running. the 2.8 can be a little finicky but it is a a whole different driving experience than the 4cyl. i would not be surprised if it became your favorite one out of the three once you get it back on the road. i hope you plan on keeping it as you did not say what your plans are for it.
Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Friday, March 11, 2016 7:28 AM
Love to see the love for these cars. I have an 88 Skyhawk with new paint, new reman engine, redone 14" 87 Skylark wheels, new BFG tires. The wife hates it. I've got about $6,000- $7,000 in it. It was a car I bought from another mechanic for $400.00 and when I needed a car to be good to me, it was. So I decided to return the favor and make it beautiful. As I was nearing completion of the project (attach body beltline moulding, affix hard to find NOS emblems), I met my wife and it got put on hold. Now I never get to give it any attention and the wife wants it gone.

My wife is no crusher, but I'd like for someone to save this car. I'm talking giving it away to someone who would love and appreciate it.

http://www.j-body.org/members/khawk88/garage/1/

Sorry to hijack the thread. I see fewer and fewer of the mid-late 80s J cars in the boneyards these days. Thanks for saving that vert.
Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Friday, March 11, 2016 8:30 AM
84conv wrote:
Came with clean title and has 77,557 miles on it.

Nice - that car looks great.


Robert Bryant wrote:
My wife is no crusher, but I'd like for someone to save this car. I'm talking giving it away to someone who would love and appreciate it.

I'm sure you'll have some takers close to your neck of the woods - nice of you.





Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Friday, March 11, 2016 9:36 PM
Ok John the 1st pic shows the harness plug from the rear bumper plug in point.This is where the fuel pump plug harness connects to the primary which feeds to the front.The black with white wire is your ground.The middle wire (looks red but is pink) is the power to the pump.Lastly the tan with white is the actual sending unit feed to the guage for the fuel level.The 2nd pic is the harness from the fuel pump harness and matches.Now to explain some of this Johns car cranks over but will not crank due to no fuel.The short we have discussed are check the simply items like the in car fuse for the pump,replace the fuel pump relay (low cost to rule out) and move forward to more diagnostics.I recommended checking the oil pressure sender wiring and plug and John I have the OHM specs to check the sender unless you find it in your shop manual.In short if the oil pressure sender is faulty it will make the fuel pump not activate as a safety measure for the engine.Since I have replaced both my fuel sending unit recent and fuel pump I have had to correct and adapt a newer sender with different colored wiring but easy to hook up.Keep in my John can go into more detail if need be so if you want to add some thoughts on fixing this please do so.This is step 1 and I will leave it at that as I am getting tired after my first write up failed due to the trusted IPO I have stopped and on the preview went back to the home here (errrrrrrrrrrrr) freaking internet.Also John if the ground on the fuel in the tank has broken(I doubt) the fuel pump will not ground even though there are external grounds outside the tank that ground the system.I looked thru my 85 shop manual for 30 minutes and too much info to digest tonight after two vehicle washes and house duties late.



Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Monday, March 14, 2016 2:21 PM
Thanks for the info Ron. I will check it next weekend if time permits. My manual says to jumper 12V to the test terminal in the engine bay. This will send power directly to the pump. Anyone know what the test terminal looks like?

Alain, You are right! Why would someone junk a car like that. I even have a running ad looking for 1st gens on CL.. Get maybe one or two responses per year and they are usually not what I am looking for.

I did run a car check on the title and it looks like this car was registered in the next town over from me. It was in Maine from 86 to 94 and then less than 5 miles from me from 1994 to 2014 . How could I have never seen it during the 40K miles that it was driven during that time????. The tile came up with what looks like a roll back, so I would guess it has 177K on it. Still in decent shape and I did not buy it thinking it only had 77K miles on it. I was surprised when the title had 77K on it though.












Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 1:22 AM
I will read into things and see if I can find it.I just got home about 30 minutes ago and it is 4:20 AM basically a 16hr day and I am wiped out.Ironically I took tue as vac day what a way to sleep half thru it.ERRRRRRR



Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 1:18 PM
84conv wrote: My manual says to jumper 12V to the test terminal in the engine bay. This will send power directly to the pump. Anyone know what the test terminal looks like?





92 Pontiac Sunbird LE, 2.0, AT, Red / Black with Grey 155K miles. Hurricane Maria Survivor ! ( It takes a licking and keeps on ticking ! ).....in Salinas, Puerto Rico!




Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 1:21 PM
92Sunbird PuertoRico wrote:
84conv wrote: My manual says to jumper 12V to the test terminal in the engine bay. This will send power directly to the pump. Anyone know what the test terminal looks like?




Looks like this in my 92...................Doug in P.R.
Attachments
DSCN2157.JPG (1542k)


92 Pontiac Sunbird LE, 2.0, AT, Red / Black with Grey 155K miles. Hurricane Maria Survivor ! ( It takes a licking and keeps on ticking ! ).....in Salinas, Puerto Rico!




Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 6:16 PM
Thanks for the info Doug.
I've seen that connector many times and never knew what it was for. Just never want to send 12V where it does not belong.

Looks like I found it in this engine bay picture.















Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 9:42 PM
Well I guess my pic is useless to show.I got up at 3pm this afternoon by the way from my obsurd getting in late tue am.I assume you have a Haynes that walks thru each step to check the system right?I did a quick read and I assume you have the same manual with the simple.




Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 1:52 PM

Have both Chilton and factory manual.

Just need to find the time now to get over to the car and diagnose it.



















Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 9:23 PM

really nice find there!
congratulations
Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Sunday, April 03, 2016 10:33 AM
Very nice save there John! Those don't pop up very often in such nice shape in a salvage yard, very lucky!
Re: Saved a 1986 Cavalier From the Crusher Today
Friday, April 08, 2016 4:40 AM
alain benoit wrote:... I cant understand why the previous owner did not try to sell his car .


I can...

Sometimes it's just not worth the effort. I've decided to sell (well now, it's part out) my '87 2-door coupe after owning it since 1992. It was well used but also well taken care of, and because it has significant quarter panel & door rust I posted a CL ad for parts off of it, clearly stated that the doors were rusted... you would not believe the responses I've gotten.

First question I got asked is how is the door. There's a couple pictures of the nice blue interior, also decribed in the text, and another asks "what color is the interior?" Most times someone wants to pay next to nothing for a part that takes you hours to remove. Lots of tire kickers out there, lookin' for freebies. Someone wanted just the plastic molding from around the rear electric window.

After having it posted for more than 6 weeks, there are times I debate just sending the whole car to the crusher or a demo derby, just to be done with it. I know people who gave cars away, just to be harassed about every little problem with it afterwards, one even had to defend himself in court for a free giveaway.

I'm glad you were able to save this one! Very nice!



1987 Chevrolet Cavalier 2-door coupe
with 1996 2.2L MPFI
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