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Thread: Another bloomin Rally Car build/rebuild?

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    Club Member Club Member TallDave's Avatar
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    Default Another bloomin Rally Car build/rebuild?

    Sadly this is yet another rally car build, or should that be rebuild…

    First off who am I, well apart from being old enough to know better, I’ve spent many years sat in the navigators seat of a variety of vehicles, most of them Historic Rally Cars. Volvo Amazons, Porches, Minis, MG’s, TR’s, Escorts and Lotus Cortina etc. I’ve done mostly UK road events, but have had the odd foray into Europe doing a few Retro Monte’s etc, I even got to do a few editions of the Ypres Historic Rally in the Lotus Cortina, that was a very nice car indeed, fitted with a proper twink it sounded the dogs when on song…

    Now however I’ve called it a day in respect of the road rally stuff, concentrating instead on doing a few stage events as and when my drivers funds allow him to thrash the nuts off his Pug 205… The outing are a bit thin on the ground so I thought it was about time I moved over to the “nut” side of the car, oh dear…

    In 2010 I bought this baby sort of by accident, looks nice doesn’t it, but if it were that nice it wouldn’t need a rebuild would it?


    Fitted with a C20XE motor


    Looks quite good doesn't it?

    It has what is believed to be a Pilbeam cage with an additional diagonal fitted in the back to make a full cross brace, it has multi-point fittings to allow it to be bolted to the B pillars etc. However even the fitting of the cage has been bodged, as will become clear in time....

    Meanwhile the shell has proved to be the usual bag of ****e as will become clear...

    Initially I had to build a car port down the side of my house to protect it from the elements, then came a full on build of a Workshop/garage at the bottom of my garden (literally) to accommodate the car so I can get the build done in some comfort. I'm too bloody old to be lying down in the driveway, and anyway welding is tough enough without the weather being a factor.

    Anyway when I finally got the workshop built I shoved the car in and completed its strip down



    Nova roast anyone...
    Last edited by TallDave; 28-08-17 at 01:17 PM. Reason: Reinstating photos shafted by photobucket!

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    Club Member Club Member TallDave's Avatar
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    Right oh on to the little Nova of horrors, there's nothing hear that you won't have seen before, but I have been inflicted by all of them it seems...

    Battery tray repair, well at least they didn't use fibre glass!


    The underside looks even worse...

    And inside, arghhh

    Choppy choppy

    Meanwhile on the passengers side, lurking under copius amounts of silicone sealant (obviously counts as a valid method of repair to some muppets) more horrors await, notice the remedial welding around the front of the turret and along the top of the chassis rail, this had rusted up through the paint, sigh....

    Doesn't look any better from underneath...

    You can just about make out the plated repair (over the rusted out original?), needless to say this was soon to go

    You will notice that the upper bulkhead panel also got the heave ho, lots of clearance for throttle bodies
    While in the area of the front struts, the inside of the turrets was found to be somewhat lacking, so out with the spot weld cutter, cold chisel and disc cutter/grinder, the result?
    Offside cleaned up

    Nearside opened up to reveal the horrors, tbh the rust makes it looks worse than it actually is, underneath the surface rust the steel is still pretty solid thank goodness.

    You can just about makeout the repair down the join between the back of the wheel arch and the side panel, again made over the original rusted panel edge


    Repair pictures to follow...
    Last edited by TallDave; 28-08-17 at 04:22 PM.

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    Unfortunately this all looks and sounds too familiar! Just like mine, hidden bodges that leave you scratching your head as to what they where thinking when attempting it. But I'm sure it will be rebuilt properly this time by the sounds of it, I look forward to the updates

    Josh

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    Looked a very nice car, amazing the hidden rot but no surprise bearing in mind Novas are a minimum of 20 years old now.

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    Club Member Club Member TallDave's Avatar
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    Thanks guys, I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise bearing in mind the age of the cars and the poor anti rust treatment of the time, but it doesn't mean to say we can't live in hope I suppose...

    Anyway on with the repairs. I bridged the gap between the turret and the bulkhead using two patches, the first (front right in the image below) overlaps the top edge of the Bulkhead, while the second (back right) folded up against the foot well due to the shape of the panel, it sure isn't going to win any awards, but it is solid! I also added a third piece along the seam at the front of the turret (front left below) where the original metal had rotted away, not strictly necessary I suppose but I've done it anyway.



    I apologise for the state of some of the welds, the welder and I are in discussions about this, but the welder seems to be winning at the moment, darn it!

    Similar news on the nearside, though I have yet to seam weld along the join between the turret and the chassis member (top of the photo)



    More to come...
    Last edited by TallDave; 28-08-17 at 04:23 PM.

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    A short update to round off the work around the strut tower...

    From the top, looks like I have a reasonable amount of weld penetration, some grindy grindy required


    It’s a similar story on the nearside, not very neat but strong enough.


    Meanwhile at the back of the nearside wheel arch the seam looks a little crusty, despite being cut back a little


    It was a similar story on the offside, so why not just do away with the seam, chop back, bead weld, over plate for strength, et voila!


    I realise it looks a little scuzy at the moment, but once I've finish welding the floor pan the area will be subject to the full POR15 treatment...
    Meanwhile along the top of the nearside chassis rail the tin worm battle continues...
    Nasty

    So back to the cutting device...

    Unfortunately thos also did away with most of the upper flange joint between the chassis rails inner and outer panels. So out with the welder for a spot of seam welding...

    As I welded I also finished removing the rotten bits, then time to plate up...


    Just a bit to finish off, sigh
    Last edited by TallDave; 28-08-17 at 04:31 PM.

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    As a slight diversion from the metalworking I suppose I should mention something about my plans for this car build wise.
    Under the bonnet I initially intend to stick with the standard C20XE unit complete with standard injection and exhaust manifold. This will be connected to a standard F20 gearbox with a plate diff fitted to ensure max traction.

    Development will likely include moving to a dry sump system, some light head work, upgraded cams and pulleys, an SBD style exhaust manifold and throttle bodies, all controlled by an Emerald engine management unit, the target being circa 225bhp with the meatiest torque curve I can get, if anyone has got any recommendations for engine spec (cams, exhaust manifold etc, I’d be delighted to hear them so come on don't be shy...

    Suspension wise the car has inverted Bilstein coil-overs fitted at the front, I’ll be sticking with the standard font setup with poly bushes replacing the rubber and a 22mm a-roll bar trying to keep the roll in check. At the rear it’s the standard beam axle but with a set of coil over rear shocks, so I’ll need to turret the back end, I’ll probably go with the cavalier rear a-roll bar mod while I’m welding…
    Ahhh goodies


    The standard fuel tank will stay with a tank guard fitted, it’s perfectly placed for good weight distribution so why mess with it. The low pressure fuel pump(s) and filter to be sorted position wise. A separate swirl pot and high pressure pump will be placed within the engine bay, I’ll be using an oil pressure activated switch to kill the fuel pumps in the event of an engine stops for some reason….?

    Steering will be taken care of courtesy of a Quaife quick rack and Corsa B electric power steering column.
    Brakes will be Willwood Midlite 4 pots working on 310mm discs at the front (courtesy Rally Design), with Corsa C disc set up on the rear if I can find a set….

    Inside I already have a nice new Motordrive seat, custom tweaked for my skinny ass, the side mounts will be Sparco ally jobs that should enable me to fit the seat tight to the tunnel in an attempt to sit as straight as possible, tricky to achieve what with the wheel arch intrusion, something that doesn’t seem to exist in more modern vehicles.


    The co-driver’s seat mounts will be placed as far back as practically possible, with their foot rest being adjustable to cater for various leg lengths, just in case I have to go begging for a co-driver?
    I have built my own version of the obligatory vertical handbrake, which will handle handbrake turn duties.

    Gear changes will be undertaken via an Astra turret with support to raise it a tad...


    and rose jointed, quick change, obviously I’d love a Quaife stick/linkage but the money will be going elsewhere…


    As mentioned I want to try to sit as straight as possible in the car (on this subject I heard an interesting story from the guy at Motordrive concerning Gwyndaf Evan's first, not altogether successful, forays in the Seat Cordoba Rally Car, but maybe some other time), so my current thinking is that I’ll use a floor mounted ‘2’ Pedal box for the brake and clutch which should help in this regard, I’ll use a modified standard throttle pedal to cater for the go duties.
    Hopefully the Roll Cage can stay so long as it still complies with the MSA ‘Blue Book’, to enhance safety I may have X door bars fitted along with bracing to the front turrets and additional side to side braces.

    The standard dash, which had already been converted to use the Astra’s Digital Dash Display, will be staying, although the crap standard fuse box has been binned.

    WARNING RANT COMING….
    What I want to know just bright spark (pun intended) thought it was a good idea to run live unfused wiring through ALL of the dashboard switch gear, before finally hitting a fuse on its way out to the various electrical components? Is it any wonder then that there are so many incidents of under dash fires!
    …RANT OVER!

    A standard battery will sit in a box in the rear seat well, the cabling being run along the tunnel, through a FIA power cut-off switch before passing into the engine bay via a bulkhead connector, a spur off the interior side of this connector will feed the dash mounted fuse box, while on the engine side a similar spur will feed the supply side of an under bonnet relay box handle, this in turn will handle the sharp end of the headlights, auxiliary lights, cooling fan, and air horn duties.




    My current interior rewire uses just 8 fuses, however this was carried out over two years ago (blimey that’s scary) and in the meantime my thoughts are that it would be a good idea to add a second set of fuses so that I can spread their duties more appropriately, if that makes any sense?


    The connector seen floating in mid air will connect up the electrics at the back of the car, the funny crown like connector is the earth connector.




    As a further amendment I’m considering the merits of adding an auxiliary switch panel between the seats, primarily because with the seats being set well back the more usual under dash panel will be out of reach when the crew are belted in, this will carry switches to enable the co-driver to activate stuff like the wash/wipe, horn, headlight flash (well I live in hope that I might eventually catch someone) etc?

    And finally in the back of my mind is the issue of additional auxiliary instrumentation, I can see that some will be desirable, most notably Oil Pressure and Temperature and possibly Fuel Pressure etc..? Has anybody got any suggestions as to whose instruments they can recommend, which I should be considering?

    Looking forward to your comments/observations...
    Last edited by TallDave; 28-08-17 at 04:37 PM.

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    Club Member Club Member TallDave's Avatar
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    Bloody hell is it really over 5 months since I last updated this thread, where does the time go!
    That said my progress on this is so slow that such a time span almost seems appropriate....
    So what has happened in the meantime, well not too much really as the car still swings on its spit...

    Taking the best of some of the other threads (track day or rally cars) I have moved the handbrake mounting back in the car, this means I can move back the gear lever as I attempt to make room for my long legs!

    Cable outlet moved back (by the length of the grey infill bit) and tacked in



    Welded up


    Handbrake mounting replaced


    Thanks go to 8vCraig from whom I blagged this one.

    Need to get more photo's to add further updates.
    Last edited by TallDave; 28-08-17 at 04:39 PM.

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    Club Member Club Member TallDave's Avatar
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    Anyone give me a clue as to how I can move to a second page? Otherwise this is going to be one humungous single page thread!

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    Dave, just keep adding new posts as it automatically goes to more pages the more you add, usually after 10 iirc.

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