Ted's 2 Door Saloon

[Botedly]

Cheers guys, sorry for delayed reply haha

[Botedly]

I've not done an awful lot, I've bought quite a few parts but haven't had the time to fit them. I shall update my thread as soon as I make any progress

[brainsnova]

Super teds loon should of been your thread title and I can't believe how solid the turrets look

[Benn]

Very very clean car to start from. Very nice find.
I'd have banged the oil breather back in to the filter. You might find the bay will stink of hot oil now...

[saloonwoody]

nice , id keep that just as it is

[Botedly]

At the beginning of December 2015 I was crashed into whilst stationary at a set of traffic lights! (Pics of damage below)







What should have been a simple "third party at fault claim" turned into an absolute nightmare...

After having an engineer come out to assess the damage I was informed that the Nova was written off as a 'Category B' after it was involved in an accident on 20/01/2003. I was left confused and devastated by this news. I was adamant that this must be some sort of mistake so I began to investigate...

I found out from my insurer that it was More Than (RSA) that had written the vehicle off in 2003, I called them over and over until I finally got through to someone that could access previous total loss files. The very helpful guy accessed The Motor Insurance Anti Fraud and Theft Register (MIAFTR) and confirmed that the vehicle had been involved in an accident on 20/01/2003. He also confirmed that the damage was assessed on 27/01/2003. He then went onto to confirm that (wait for it, this is where things get even more sketchy) it was recorded as a Category B write off on 20/07/2004. Wait, what?!

So basically, it took them 18 months to decide that it was a write off? I don't think so...

The very helpful guy gave me the details of the team leader of the total loss department at More Than. I was told I might be able to write and request further information about the file as he couldn't find any details on the computer system.

Thinking I would have no chance of getting help from an insurance company I wasn't even paying, I thought I should do some investigating of my own.

I contacted all accident repair and restoration companies within 15 miles of the previous owners address (the old boy never travelled more than 15 miles per journey according to his journals). None had any record of the vehicle being in for repairs.

I then contacted the local police department with an incident reference I had found scribbled in between accident information. They had no details other than it was a reported indecent that required no attendance by the local police.

After weeks and weeks of hitting dead ends, I was losing the will with the Nova and was starting to look at Mk1 Jettas on Car and Classic...

My last chance was to write a letter to the team leader at More Than's total loss department with all the information/proof I had and beg for them to look into it...

On 15/03/2016 I received my letter back in the post, at first I thought they were returning my correspondence with a note saying they couldn't/wouldn't help me. But the compliment slip read: "Dear Mr Martin. We are terribly sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. It is quite clearly a mistake. We have removed the entry from MIAFTR."

I was frozen with shock and excitement. I fought an insurance company and won!

This whole ordeal has been an absolute nightmare. But I can safely say I'm never letting go of my lovely little Nova...

[Botedly]

I am currently having to keep getting my insurer to chase the third party's insurer to give an update on when they will be paying for the damages.

Until I see the light at the end of this tunnel, I shall be cracking on with my plans.

With only a few weeks until PVS, I decided to start.

[Botedly]

First of all, I needed to tidy up the hole I had hack in my rear arch when investigating the car's only real rust issue.

Pics below:

More screwdriver hacking went on.


Got the grinder out to try and find where the solid metal started.


Plated up and a bit of filler.


Flatted the first filler right down and added a better, smoother layer.


Flatted back.


After more flatting and filler skims to make it as neat as possible with as little filler depth as I could get away with. It was time for primer.


Paint.


Not a bad colour match for a picture taken in the dark... (haha)


After a week and a bit of curing time and a light machine cut/polish/finish it turned out better than expected.

[Botedly]

Time to get rid of the terrible square sub and box out of my boot and attempt to build one that looks like it was made to fit the boot.

Got wood.


Cut some shapes.


More shapes and a hole.


It fits.


Some carpet.


Sound proofing to go on the under the base to stop vibration.


More carpet and sub fitted.


Amp.

[Botedly]

I've always wanted to do something that has yet to be done to a Vauxhall Nova in the UK.

Thanks to the early 2000s and the ease of engine conversions in these cars, there's not much that hasn't already been done to a Nova...

So I looked to something that is a common thing to see in the modern modifying scene, but not yet done (successfully) on a Nova.

I had seen that someone had attempted to build an air ride system on a Nova Saloon not too long ago. But it was a 2 way system which really isn't ideal. I had also heard the owner continuously struggled to tackle leaks and rust on the car, gave up, and sold the car.

My idea was to build a custom 4 way air ride system on the car without making any alterations to the chassis or body of the car at all. I also challenged myself to be able to get the car seriously low without stretching tyres horrendous amounts or applying ludicrous amounts of camber.

So I got stick in.