Wow, not sure how I missed this build. Awesome work so far!
Any idea when you will have it on the road?
Wow, not sure how I missed this build. Awesome work so far!
Any idea when you will have it on the road?
Glad you like what I'm doing, thanks. Uncertain when it will be on the road - most likely next summer now - though should have it completely rebuilt by the end of year, as still got a few quid to spend: full interior reupholstering is going to be the single biggest cost next to the brakes - the latter of which are in the process of being ordered; just waiting to hear back from the company who are making up a bespoke kit with regards to whether I can get away with fitting 215- or 220x28mm discs on the front. If neither, might just need to be 304/5mm. Also yet to buy a dsop downpipe, Bastuck exhaust system, and OE black silicon hosing. Trying not to wish time away for the sake of seeing the finished product, but I really can't wait to drive it when it's completed and take along to next year's PVS.Originally Posted by Ian_Gsi16v
Love this build.
Your intercooler is the setup which was created for Andy B's Nova about 8/9 years ago. They made three at the same time as a group deal for Me, Andy and Another. It's a good setup and has run well on my car now for 7 years.
Keith
Cheers KeithIs reassuring to hear from someone who has tried and tested the same kit, especially over a considerable time slice as 7 years. The gentleman I spoke to when ordering the intercooler/rad kit remembered well the original order you refer to. Once you see it in the flesh and fitted, you just know it will work well (...) Wouldn't do an LET conversion without it.
Choking to get this car finished, running and set up perfectly to take to PVS (and hopefully a couple of other Vauxhall shows) next summer
Best,
Tony
Lots of work has been going on behind the scene with this project; just not the sort of progress that makes you feel like you've actually achieved anything, not least because I've not much to show for it (at least pictorially, but that will soon change).
The things I've achieved but nothing to show for yet are as follows:
(1) finally committed to and ordered a custom made big brake kit for the front, of which I ended up going for an AP Racing set-up. Pictures will follow in 3-4 weeks once the kit has arrived, and it does look to be a nice bit of kit.
(2) Helix 6 paddle clutch kit and lightened flywheel soon to be fitted upon receiving lightened flywheel back after having the ring gear transferred from old flywheel onto the new.
(3) gearbox has finally had all the new parts that I bought for it - diff bearings, black F20 speedo ring for GTE digital dash, Quaiff LSD, drive shaft seals, housing tapped for rear engine mount bracket, and a couple of other minor things - and will soon get fitted/coupled to the block once the new clutch and flywheel are re-fitted.
(4) purchased an Astra F in-tank fuel pump for the GTE tank, which is stubbier than the Cavalier in-tank fuel pump cradle, yet using a Cavalier 2.0 fuel pump which I transferred into the Astra F cradle and re-soldered the electrodes to the pump. All I need to do now is drill the fuel tank and screw it on, as the Astra F fuel pump lid is slightly larger in circumference than the Nova GTE/GSI/SRI fuel sender unit lid. Fingers crossed all works accordingly!
Couple of pictures of what I have taken and can share is a section of my F28 gear linkage that I rose-jointed, then stripped down for a good clean and metal polish (came up quite well, I thought); and also had some custom GM decals made up for my mudflaps - not sure whether I'm going to use these mudflaps, as might not tie in with the rest of the car, as have another set of Astra mudflaps that I might end up using which are a lot more subtle, but we'll see.
The only problem I'm having with the gear linkage is figuring out how it connects to the gear selector rod. Anyone have any clue here? Wondering if I need to weld something, such as an old section from a Nova linkage, onto the F28 linkage in order for the linkage rod to have something to link onto - bit stumped at that at the moment.
Anyway, here's a few pictures...
Excuse the poor quality of the last picture, the gearbox looks a lot sweeter in the flesh than what my camera skills let onMore updates to come soon.
Last edited by HouseAtreides; 30-09-15 at 10:10 AM.
Custom made some seat rails for mounting the Recaro seats to the Nova subframes, then prepped, primed and painted them in direct gloss black. Also primed and painted the new GM F28 gearbox plate while I was at it.
Last edited by HouseAtreides; 30-09-15 at 10:06 AM.
Be carefull with the seat bracket, you might end up sitting very high. I mounted that same style of seat in the same kinda way and found my head touched the headlining at times.
All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one PepsiFar from suicidalStill I get them tendenciesBringing back them memories
That I really miss when I reminisce
I was very conscious of this fact when making the brackets up, Benn. When I removed the old VW Golf or Ford Sierra subframes that the seats came off, I removed the whole subframe so that the seats would sit lower than they usually would as standard (though I appreciate that sitting them lower than the subframes that they came off might still not be low enough for a Nova). Moreover, the Recaro seats now sit almost exactly where the original Nova seats should on their rightful subframes. The only difference is that the seats sit a fraction higher at the back of the subframe where a pin locator would usually slot into a hole/locator.
I'm also 5ft 8", so can't see my head ever touching the roofbut I get your meaning: so long as the headrests aren't too close to the roof lining, then I'll be fine, which I think I will. If I'm not, then it's a relatively easy fix - can always lower the seats by cutting/grinding a section from the rear of the brackets at an angle towards the front, which is adjustable, and then re-welding the non-adjustable section at the rear to the Nova subframe.
Last edited by HouseAtreides; 08-06-15 at 03:49 PM.
Only just stubbled on this Thread, build looks stunning.
As Keith says, The Intercooler, Rad, cooler setup was my design, I wanted to have the Intercooler and everything tucked behind the bumper, straight across the front end with the Radiator sat to the side of the Turbo, Smaller, but bigger core and taller. I drew up my ideas and sent them to Darren and Keith at Radtec in 2007 along with some photos and then they built it up on my car during its rebuild. I've never had a problem with it overheating, stuck in traffic, round the Nurburgring etc. Expensive but worth the money for a discreet decent setup.
Only thing I would recommend is putting some heat shielding around the fan cowling next to the Turbo.
and i thought there was only going to be 3 of these setup's....
Thanks Andy, appreciate it
It's nice to finally speak to the originator of the RadTech set up. Such a beautiful design - don't think the design could've been any better tbh - it fits so neatly into that space. When the kit arrived I was amazed at the thought that went into designing it, and understood why the radiator was narrower but taller for clearing the turbo. So top marks for coming up with that fella, as (to me) that is perhaps the single most important, and effective, contribution to solving one of the most problematic hurdles in making a Nova LET conversion work as it should. As a student who is permanently skint, I would still rather wait a year for one of these kits than settle for anything less if it meant putting the project on hold just to finish it - really is worth the paper.
As for preventing the rad fan cowling from melting or overheating (which had occurred to me as one of the only potential problems), I was planning on wrapping the downpipe up to the turbo in order to circumnavigate this.
Best,
Tony
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