Nova rebuild, take two

[supernovaxe]

write this is my first thread so bare with me on this. I started this build summer 2007 with a k reg 1.2 spin i picked up off ebay for a £500, at first glance it all seemed pretty tidy , there was some slight bubbling on arches but we all now ebay rules and id travelled over 150 miles ,it had one lady owner with 32,000 on the clock, drove it home and all was well, after further inspection my suspicions were confirmed when i found rust invading the front cross member, inner wings, wings, rear boot floor and arches. Tbh it wasnt that bad but it wasnt that good either so i ordered the panels from a local bodyshop and got in contact with a mate who had a fully established garage and was generous enough to spare me a small corner in the workshop.

after 3 months of wkend work i got to the point were i could take it home to my garage and finish off the work, well so i fort. progress was rudely interupted by me moving out with the missis and other work ties, so unfortunatly the lil nova was left abandened in the family garage on axle stands.

now summer has comeround again it is time to finish her off, and with a little help from expierenced members i hope to have it on the road in a couple of months

Where i got to so far;

xe engine in and running
rear disc conversion/v6 calipers
fully stripped/painted inside
bilstein sus fitted
fully delocked/depetrol capped
most panels fitted

i will list what ive got to do tonight along with some pictures, so long as i can load them on and a list of parts ive got, any suggestions/comments welcome , ive gone too far on this little beast to turn back now and if a jobs worth doing its worth doing well so i hope you all stick around to see how it goes, thanks

[AlexW]

Welcome to PNG, Sounds like a good project. Your be glad to have it finished im sure lol

You wont be able to post pics untill you have 15 spam free posts as im sure you can understand why. If you want im sure somone will post up pics for you.

[supernovaxe]

how does that work then, cheers

[Southie]

Welcome to the madhouse :D help is in my signature regarding posting pictures.

Sounds a decent project you have there. Is this your first one?

[Rickyb]

sounds good matey get some pics up asap
rick

[supernovaxe]

ye first project, chippy by trade so it was all a bit of a struggle at first but got my head down and got a bit more knowledge under my belt, these forums help bigtime, wot shal i do about these pics then? cheers

[let_nova]

get 15 non spamming posts then join www.photobucket.co.uk (http://www.photobucket.co.uk)

[supernovaxe]

does that mean i have to post 15 times or are all ur posts included

[let_nova]

u have to post 15 times

[skidmarkz]

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10697.jpg

[skidmarkz]

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121587

:thumb:

[ashjones]

skirtless ftw

[supernovaxe]

cheers 4 posting pik, wil try get some up today

[supernovaxe]

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10741.jpg
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10723.jpg
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10708.jpg
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10728.jpg
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10715.jpg
that was a brand new fiberglass gsi front bumper and the back was original, i smoothed all the lines out a cut a recess in the back bumper for the number plate, havnt seen this done before but i fort it made things a bit tideier . good old black mesh and a bigger grill for better ventilation. upmost respect to all bodyshop workers, i never realizied how much hard graft was involved, it took me the best part of 3 weeks and im still not happy with them, also have a set of brand new gsi fiberglass sideskirts but in not sur weather to put them on or not
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10706.jpg
iv removed the petrol cap an delocked the doors, was going to relocate indicators but to much of an ar**hole. think im gona keep it white seein as iv sprayed the inside and under the bonnet, going for a white ,blue ,black colour scheme
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10703.jpg
believe it ir not these discs are new and unused as is the suspension which i think was bilstein b10 or b12 and new track rod ends with a generous coat of underbodyseal. this is how i left the car over a year ago!
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10701.jpg
ok this is a list of stuff if bought/sourced over the period of this project ,about 2 years worth. some second hand some new. im gona atempt to remeber how much i paid for everything ive spent on this project to date, should give me a little more motivation when i see how much wonga ive chucked at it! also this will give ppl a rough idea of how much a rebuild to this extent will be costing them, all parts wernt perticully flash and expensive either.

nova 1.2 spin £500
c20xe engine +ancilleries £150
300bhp conversion kit £300 (new)
bilstein b12 £400 (roughly,new)
goodridge braided hoses/connections £280 (running thru whole car)(new)
carbon door/rear quarter panels £65
new panels £160 (new)
v6 calipers £30
rear disc conversion £80
grooved vented discs allround £100 (new)
rocker/spark plug cover £65
bucket seats with rails £140 (new)
willians harnesses £60
black gsi dash £50
fr/rr polished strut braces £80
chrisastley silicone hoses £350 (new)
new battery £100
rollcage £80
gsi fiberglass bumper/sideskirts £150 (new)
mountey snop off steering wheel boss £90 (new)
alloy single pulley £50 (new)
alloy fuel tank/ fuel lines £180 (new)
racing fuel pump £120 (new)
track rod ends £40 (new)
spark plugs/leads/distributor cap £80 (new)
gsi rad £70 (new)
mocal oil cooler/kit £150 (new)
slimline fan £30 (new)
wing mirrors £20 (new)
powercap £70
20mm wheel spacers £50
bolts/paint/filler/sandpaper/bulbs/inicators/oil/all the little thigs that ad up £200

TOTAL; £4290 SH!T

thats actually a bit of a shock!! but i supose the costs were spread over a two yrs. if you wanted to do a full nut and bolt rebuild your looking at maybe three times that i reckon:tard:

[7ova]

i will be watching this one mate,
nice collection of parts

[supernovaxe]

will get more pics of some wiring madness when usb cable arrives, lost it somehow on sunday after i had littal tinker with the beast, rang samsung and they wanted 27 squid for a two foot usb/charger cable EXTORTION or what!! so popped on gay bay and picked one up for 5 squids delivered! these big companies do make me chuckal

[LEWI007]

Yo mate, its a proper beast, dont like the bodykit though.

[supernovaxe]

fair comment about the bodykit but lets keep this thread on a 'need to know' basis, and i didnt need to know that

anway

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10699.jpg

i cut it like that because i think it gives a more open and clean view of the engine bay, but, looking at it now i dont thinks there is gona be enough support for the window wiper motor, i was thinking of putting a brace ther but imagine this would look a bit out of place seen a few wiper mods before but i just want to get this thing done and dont want to spend ages sourcing parts and labouring of a window wiper! any ideas:thumb:

[supernovaxe]

dont look at the wires just yet, many pictures to come on this subject soonlol

[supernovaxe]

has anyone got a flocked dash they wanna sell?

[supernovaxe]

wiring pics as promised:
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10899.jpg


http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10889.jpg


http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10880.jpg


http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10878.jpg

a few questions, i now the two looms are seperate looms, but this is were i get stuck, ive got wires all over the place, ideally would like to make whole new loom but wudnt have a clue were to start, to keep it simple this is what i know: the posi and negative need to be connected from the looms, also ingnition, coil, starter motor write? so were does all the loom go that was orinally on the old 1.2 engine, if the looms are seperate then were is the fan and thermo connected to? to all those "just search for it" w@nkers, i have, many times and still isnt clear to me, any help will be appriciated
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

[supernovaxe]

uve gotta love the temp water botlle cap,lol,
anyone got a spare 1 kickin around?

[supernovaxe]

sorry, does the nova ecu need to be left attached to the loom? cheers

[G-nova]

no u need to keep c20xe ecu it runs fule and air intake mix using the sensors on the c20xe loom.

[supernovaxe]

ok, so how much of the original nova loom can i get rid of, tidy things up a bit? anyone make looms for this sort of thing?:thumb:

[16v Nova Kev]

you need to keep the nova starting and charging parts of the loom but take out the ecu under the dash i.e the old one and you could cut those wires out

[supernovaxe]

ok, bin really busy lately so no advance on the nova, but i went to the garage yesterday and took all my parts, tools, bits n bobs etc to my new yard. i managed to get the shell tow worthy so i can tow it to the yard with an A frame tomorrow. bin going down the yard every night straight after work till about 9, gettin in a routine now so i will have to work on it wen i c it staring at me everyday. its been on my mind alot recently weather or not to just start again from scratch, as my first attempt wasnt perfect and over the two years of building it and being stored in a busy family garage with bikes and fishing gear etc going in and out its a bit abused. but how fekin time consuming will that be!

anyway was chekin it all over and everything seems safe so might just crack on, and a friends just setup his own spray booth so painting wont be an issue, all i need now is a flocked dash, fiberglass bonnet and boot, new tyres allround, rear arches and a door popper alarm system. not a lot, but all pricey. anyone got these lying around?

was wondering weather its worth running a swirl pot for fuel and oil systems, has anyone done this and was it worth it? cheers

will locate swirl pot next to tank, with fuel pump aswell, is this tank too small?

<a href="http://s902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/?action=view&current=SDC10728.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10728.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[supernovaxe]

try again


http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC10728.jpg

[supernovaxe]

ok, had a lot on recently so had tp put the nova to one side for a while. went back to the nova today tightened a few bolts and gave it a good look over to make sure its fit to go on the A frame tomorow, gonna tow it to the yard and get crackin. still need a few bits as listed in earleir post if anyone can help:thumb: cheers

[Rickyb]

its looking well get it finished

[craig green]

I would have soldered & heatshrunk that wiring.

Nice project though.

[supernovaxe]

ye, im gona take the loom out at one point and clean it right up. good news, just won some brand new solid engine mounts off the bay, picking up another gsi dash and gsi servo tomorow hopefully, gonna order more stuff tomorrow aswell as gettin some work done on the car and write up a list of to do's and to buy's , anyone recomend a good company to flock my dash?:thumb: cheers

[supernovaxe]

took the car to the yard today, noticed a noise coming from driveshaft so tightened the bolt on the end that pokes out the hub lol , seemed better, got it to the yard and noticed the offside driveshaft was not atached so the end of the cv joint was just loose spinning round in the box so there is light indentations around the top part of the grooves, thinking i may need to replace the cv joint and the part of the gearbox where the shaft goes , if its damaged the shaft i asume its damaged the inside part which looks removable, im no mechanic and could really do with some advise :thumb: :thumb:

tried taking picture of damage but camera isnt good enough, it is repairable, just needs the bits were the grooves bin spinning on something to be filed out so the grooves slot into the gearbox, which hopefully isnt too mashed uplol

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11408.jpg

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11406.jpg

[supernovaxe]

done a bit of shopping today for essential restoration kit, the motivation is back lol , got some filler and fiberglass, wire brush assortment, spot weld drill bits, solder/iron, deep sockets, 6 packs of different size wire heatshrink to do the whole loom, wd40, spreader knife assortment, 2x toggle switches and other electrical components, 2x new cv gaitors, and a small pannel beating hammer, im planning to take the car apart again and start from scratch as my first attempt was pretty poor, getting it all resprayed inside and out in 3 weeks so better get crackin, just need a welder and few more parts and were off!!!:thumb:

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11415.jpg

[supernovaxe]

just came back from surry where i brought rich's gsi dash and m/c and servo, cheers mate the dash was mint:thumb: , hopefully going to get a box bid enough to fit the dash in then its goin straight up to yorkshire to get flocked:)

progress.....lol

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11422.jpg

[scott.parker]

Good plans dude, not sure what's happend to your drive shaft/outer cv? hope it's ok?

Scott

[supernovaxe]

more worried about the gearbox were this cv joint goes:eek:

[supernovaxe]

so as said ive stripped the car down to shell in order to start again and do it proply this time. removed all that tar ****e, headlining and all interior, removed doors and wings for prep, removed all glass for polys, engine out and ready to go. need to prep the shell for full respray inside and out, plan to remove all reminance of scuttle pannel, and battery tray, remove gear shifter platform and turret then weld plate to cover hole, remove roof gutter rails and smooth a load of things over, and need to clean and paint all things like calipers, rear beam, hub carriers, wishbones engine mounts etc. need to get a welder sharpish to get this shell off to sprayers:) everything taken off is all being cleaned, painted, made new...... i wanna build a show/track car with little mods they should make iy stand out from the crowd, any comments welcome:thumb:

this is how far i got this weekend
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11441.jpg
all tar sound deadening removed, i found the best way was to heat the area thoroughly until small bubbles apear with a small butane torch, then slip a long flexible flat piece of metal underneath to prize it off, machetes are good for thislol
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11442.jpg

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11450.jpg
anyone suggest the least time consuming method of removing this sound deadening?
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11453.jpg
think ill get amay with these arches, saves a lot of work but if it dont look right ill be relacing the rear 1/4's
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11451.jpg
block to be cleaned and hoses, may rebuild??
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11449.jpg
items to be cleaned and painted
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11478.jpg

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac223/supernovaxe/SDC11444.jpg

[djshaggeh]

MACHETE!

Looking good, I love white novas.

[7ova]

crack on mate, nice work :thumb:

[supernovaxe]

cant wait to see the shell after its been fully resprayed inside and out!! you live close to me, do you know where our nearest track is?

[djshaggeh]

Haha, I didn't even notice you lived in Slough, I should have realized when I saw the machete!

I don't know where the nearest track is tbh, I've never been.

If you ever seen a Calypso red GTE around Slough in daytime, its me. I work down the Farnham Road.

[supernovaxe]

im down the farnham rd often, il look out mate, good auto shop down there, also nearly bought a flat there opposite kfc, lol

[djshaggeh]

I work in that tyre place next to the Texeco garage.

[supernovaxe]

small world:)

[djshaggeh]

If you need anything. Pop in and ask for Mr Boombastic or Andy lol

[supernovaxe]

do you think i will get away with those rear arches???

[16xe_chris]

do you think i will get away with those rear arches???

Easiest way is to strat and clean the arches up with a wire brush on your grinder, you'll soon tell if they are good enough to leave alone :thumb:

Good project:thumb:

P.s. where in yorkshire is your dash getting flocked?

[Benn]

Looking good dude, i'd get the shell off the floor tho, even if its on wooden blocks.

Arches don't look to bad, get a sand or grinder on them, if they fall to bits then you know what you need to replace.

[supernovaxe]

cheers chris and ben, to be honest i dont know yet as hes giving me the address when i have got a box big enough to fit the dash so he can arrange collection and delivery, it was 100 for dash and accesories, not including p&p. but still not bad.....if anyone wants this done aswell the bloke might knock the price down and we can split delivery, intersted? benn, i will get it of the floor for u mate, she does look a little sorry for herself, all naked and abused, locked away in her chamber of construction, poor thing lol also thinking of sending my momo steering wheel to the flockist as the leathers seen better days, what do you reckon?

[Benn]

Flocks not ment for hard wearing places, as it will start to come off..

[supernovaxe]

wont send that off then, nice one, no progress at the min, generator getting repaired so no lights, its f@king pitch black at five :wtf:

[supernovaxe]

ok ,change of plans, all parts in this build are for sale, no silly offers, all new parts are still new as the project never took off, the shell will be for sale, bare shell only, its been taken down to bare metal and is at the spray shop in twopac primer waiting for full respray which im no longer having, its been lighted moderately(rear seat brackets, sound deadening, headlinind etc) and is completely rust free apart from rear arches but will come with two brand new rear arch panels, the bay has been fully seam welded including engine mounts and then freshley seem sealed. its had a new full front rebuild including both new inner wings, new battery tray and complete front panel, this is absaloutley mint with no rust or dents, underneath was completely stripped to bare metal, stonechipped then two layers of underbodyseal, ready for c20xe including space for alternator.... start on a blank canvas;)

[supernovaxe]

up

[scott.parker]

Make a sale thread mate.