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Nathans Nova Fun Project
Hi PNG Fellow Members, some of you will already have seen my Nova on here through random posts and at shows last year but I thought its time i finally do a project thread.
Pic Heavy.
I have had this car since i started to drive, previously owned a nova before that to play with when i was 15 also which got sold on.
Since owning this car ive had a further 4 novas, 2 gsi's, one was a nice blue but rotten and was scrapped, a pearl blue rj automotives one with turbo 1.6 conversion which some may have seen me in a few years ago and a black 1.2 gte lookalike which i also did a few shows in before selling on.
But there is something i love especially about the nova ive kept all these years.
After driving the car for a couple of years after passing my test i decided to go for a complete rebuild on the car and wanted something to mess about with on weekends so took the car off the road and stripped it back to a bare shell.
Over 8 years yes a long time i have finally got it back together and on the road now stored away in my garage.
It started life as a 1.2 spi FUN and i went through the dreaded bodykit phase.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps0f79141a.jpg
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And the now for the process of the strip down
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So now i started to take the car apart piece by piece and using the Nova GSI i scrapped i used most of the components to build up my fun to a gsi design but i also wanted to go wider with the arches so i ended
up buying a wide arch kit from a company called SID. cant say ive seen anyone else with this wider kit as its not massive.
Anyway i went with it and this is how things progressed
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Inner arches were cleaned up, i removed the undersealer from every part of the car and resealed the whole thing including the bottom of the car on axle stands with a wire wheel
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps8f313fa7.jpg
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http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps2383b486.jpg
engine now out i could make a start on tidying up the bay and repairing any rust areas, it was fairly good news as i did not have much to deal with
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psae79bb1b.jpg
I removed my gmax shocks and decided then to go with the AVO coilover kit to get the drop i was looking for
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps09b614ad.jpg
More rust patched and repaired
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psb4986551.jpg
They taped the arches on to see how they would look
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psc8881631.jpg
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After removing some of the rear arches to get an idea of how much to cut away i was greated by this underneath my side skirts so this had to be repaired first
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I then worked how much i could remove to get the low drop i was looking for without tyres rubbing and so on so trimmed and welded inner and outer arches for a water tight rear end
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psf01ff4c5.jpg
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I then continued to get on with the bodywork sorting out all the areas then needed repairs and fitting up the front wings ready to fit the wider arches
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psf1f44fcf.jpg
I also decided to move the filler cap and fibreglass sheeted over the original filler point in the wider arches, welded up the vent in the drivers door area and cut a hole and sealed through the inner arches to meet my new fuel cap.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps604cbeba.jpg
After another trip out to newport i visited welsh coast customs and picked up this louvered bonnet
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps06ffd89c.jpg
After moving away from this bodykit look i also decided to get rid of my smooth boot for something semi smooth so went and got myself a mk1 boot and smoothed over the lock and wiper holes.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psded50214.jpg
At this point i needed to get finishing touches done and into paint so i took the car over to a place within an hour of hereford where they fitted my wider front arches and gave it a full respray in lamborghini white
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps5d0afc7a.jpg
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Loving those 'small' wide arches, would barely know the rears are not OE.
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Will update some more later, sposed to be working today but its nearly christmas so dont want to do too much :)