Edd's supercharged mk1 SR

[Edd]

Here goes. I’m Edd, I haven’t posted much on here but hopefully now my Nova project has begun, you’ll here more from me.
This car is meant to be the best Nova I can build in my opinion drawing from all the experience of the 6 Nova’s I’ve had & built over the years my first car was an F reg 1.3 SR in Red. My last Nova was a GTE that I rebuilt from a shell into a GSi replica with 2.0 XE, big Bilstein suspension & a strengthened body shell etc. I lost my enthusiasm for Novas a bit when Novadose & Abyss bodykits became the norm & the whole appeal of Novas went downhill along with their reputation.
However like many users on here, I couldn’t stay away for long & the temptation to have another has arrived. Me & Craig Green go way back & after he pointed me at the pngclub.com forums I have bought a donor car & sourced the required rare, genuine panels from Steve (Duick) to make a proper job of restoring a Nova that will hopefully last for a good few years.

I’ve got hold of genuine replacement rear quarter panels;
Pair of brand new GM doors;
Replacement rear panel;
Grp-A chassis plating kit;
Replacement upper fr panel & crossmember;
Early mk1 grey rear bumper;
Early SR wrap around rear spoiler;
Early 1 piece fr bumper & lower snowplough spoiler;
Mk1 SR 1.4 tailgate vinyl.

Big thanks to Steve (Duick) for supplying many of the new parts & panels, I don’t think my ideas for this project would be possible without his help.

I have decided obviously to tackle the bodyshell 1st. The car is a J reg 1.2 Luxe+ I sourced locally on ebay, which is in fair condition, structurally pretty much rot free, but a little unloved (hence the bargain price) 200 pounds.


MORE TO FOLLOW

[Edd]

The work on the car started for real this weekend. The car was stripped down to a state where we could begin the welding work under the bonnet.
Grant (GRUNT16V) came over to do the welding for me. He came well recommended.



We set about removing the fr panel & crossmember, the crossmember held on for dear life & was stubborn as a mule. It took the best part of an hour drilling off the spot welds & chiselling out the bits that wouldnt let go!







All off!


The strengthening plates for the tie bar mounts was welded to the crossmember in situ before it was welded back on the shell.

[Edd]

With the crossmember in, we set about adding the 2 large plates to the fr mounts/chassis leg areas & stitching the inner wings to chassis legs.





Then the lower plates for the TCA mounts etc were added in which are trickier due to being under the car, hence upside down welding.


There is an area of rust that needs attention in the battery tray (surprise surprise). I am converting to a Corsa style servo & removing the std Nova one so this area needs to be strong & cosmetically rust free ideally.

Here it is with an existing plate repair;


As you can see, the rot continues further beneath the battery tray & actually runs into the bulkhead behind the dash & outwards to the top of the splash guard behind the drivers wing.




We decided to cut out the whole area & make the best job we could of the repair with fresh metal.

[Edd]

This is where we are at since the first couple days of progress. This weekend should finish the front end & leave me free to dress back the welds & get some etch primer on the bare metal etc, then we will move on to putting on the rear quarters & rear panel.

The back end of the car is pretty good, with the wheel arches not being rusty, chassis legs perfectly sound but there is a hole in the rear panel below the bumper line, so this will be replaced too.







More updates throughout the weekend & I'll add a vague tech spec for the car & engine when I get time.

Edd

[Southie]

Now this looks like it's going to be very interesting "Luxe" a good project :D

Some brilliant welding going on by GRUNT16V. Top work. Also sounds like some nice goodies (new doors ) you've been buying there Edd

Welcome to PNG by the way

[General Lee]

Looks good matey, nice to see your saving her.

[craig green]

Nice one mate.
All the bits you have for this make me wish I was starting off from scratch again.

[krobinson]

Looking forward to seeing this complete!!

[wilson_sri]

Getting common as muck these 1.6 turbos I have craigs old engine.

Really looking forward to seeing some progress, cant beat a proper build thread! Any idea when you are hoping to have it built by? Would be cool to see another 1.6T at billing this year!

[Mike]

Getting common as muck these 1.6 turbos I have craigs old engine.

Really looking forward to seeing some progress, cant beat a proper build thread! Any idea when you are hoping to have it built by? Would be cool to see another 1.6T at billing this year!

Aye, they aint half getting common now!

One day mine will make Billing