My GTE restoration

[pingu-turbo]

The other day I decided to start restoring my GTE back to its former glory.


It all started when I had to move my sr (gte rep), after having been stood for at least 5 years. I sat in the seat, started then engine (after replacing loads of fuel lines :roll: and a load of messing around) and that was it, got the bug again................. oh dear.

Anyway, I realised that you just dont see any novas around any more, let alone gtes, so I started looking at this car to see how bad it was. Back in 2002 I paid £200 for it, really just for the engine, it ran and that was about it. Everything was there incluing the latest failour fresh from the testing station. As things were, I put all the gte stuff onto my SR, much better car at the time.

And that was it for the gte, a stripped shell just glass, doors & tailgate and a bonnet. It has been stood in its current spot for 8 ish years.

So last week I dragged its sorry asre out and put it on the driveway at home, jacked it up carefully, and this is where I am now.

Sorry about the next three pictures quality, they are scanned in.

As I bought it in 2002. And yes it is sat on 13's that rub on the calipers :eek:

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/F29FTA03.jpg

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/F29FTA02.jpg


http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/F29FTA01.jpg

And this is how it stands now, prior to jacking up.

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7316.jpg

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7317.jpg

The quest begins for the donar boot floor and chassis legs. Some may have seen my wanted add.

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7325.jpg

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7324.jpg

Sills

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7320.jpg

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7323.jpg

Front chassis legs & inner wings

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7332.jpg

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7330.jpg

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7333.jpg



http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7331.jpg

Suprisingly the NSF chassis leg is the best one that will require the least attension.

The best bit is I am a self confessed squirrel. I keep everything, so consiquently I have all the parts, apart from the front bumper (donated on my misses sting many years ago). The only thing I want to change from how I bought it is the side skirts, back to the origional black ones, which I also need.

[christurboo]

looking abit sorry for itself there mate, fair play from having ago though.

you can still buy (SOME) panels brand new ill link you up later unless someone else beats me to it.

wilson.

[pingu-turbo]

That would be great, will look forward to that.

[Connor]

personally, i would reshell that

[pingu-turbo]

personally, i would reshell that

Totally understand where you are coming from. I just really dont want to do it. If I reshelled it, it isnt the car I started with.

[paul james]

Since theres so much rust and so little metal in the back, perhaps you should turret the rear suspension with coilovers, and have a flat floor boot. Quite a few people on here have done this with their track day Novas. Perhaps it's not ideal for an original spec restoration, but you'd be better off with a more complete shell if you want it to be mint anyway.

Anyways +rep for taking it on and not just scrapping it straight away.

[Edd]

Fair play for not wanting to reshell

You can get a new GM rear floor section from Opel Classic Parts in Germany, pm me if you want more details bout them

Pattern panels from here >>http://www.carz2.co.uk/vauxhall-nova-88393-c-331_336.html?page=3&sort=2a<< 4 pages there

Rear chassis legs, either fabricate your own or cut from another shell
There's a chap selling some GM rear inner arches that you'll probably need

Do you still have the red skirts in the first picture ?

All the best with it, your in the right place tho, loads of people will be happy to offer advice on here

Edd

[Plug]

fair play if you take that on mate and finish it, as many will probs will say would be better off re-shelling,

Where abouts in devon btw are you??

Joe

[Gaz1300SR]

This will be interesting to watch, I seem to remember someone on here taking on a restoration of a gsi which was looking as sorry for it's self as your gte, if not more so!

Keep us updated! :thumb:

[Cle]

Interesting :) should see some nice fabriaction in this thread, Good luck with build i shall be following it :thumb:

[Mazz]

wow, time has took its toll on that poor bugger :(

[DW-Nova]

Not what you want to hear at all but in all honesty you want to get a different shell, that is absolutely screwed! Do you live very near to the sea? It's really gotten in there bad hasn't it! You will have a seriously crazy amount of welding to do there! And what will you have left of the original. Not being funny but I've learnt from my mistakes and I seriously suggest you think about it before plowing so much time and money into that car.

[Nick J]

Im sorry to say it but that shell is most definately not worth repairing. The sheer amount of cost for panels and labour to rectify all that would be huge. If I was you Id keep your eyes peeled for the best mk1 shell you can find and build a replica of your old car if thats what you want. Without doubt it will then cost you hundreds and not thousands.

Nick.

[pingu-turbo]

WOW, I must say I wasnt expecting this many replies. :eek:

Many thanks for your words of advice and support. I do take on board on what you are all saying.

paul james, thanks for the rep and the great idea of building a new boot floor, it has got me thinking. I must say I nearly did scrap it in the early days when I stripped it :(.

Edd, thanks for the link, Ill pm shortly. I must say I love your thread with your sport, credit where its due, that is a awsome build.

Joe, Im in newton abbot, not a milion miles from you.

Nick, I appreciate what you are saying but I cant just throw it away, it means one less gte. I am, however a panel beater by trade, and when it comes to restorations this is no where near as bad as what i have done before. I have restored mg b's, morris minors & mk1 escorts at work that have no floor pans and barely any sills. At least this car still has them both, ish ;). Also I must say I have read your wip thread too, I love your red one, brilliant styling and great taste.

I have got a donar vehicle for a floor and legs. Ill have to strip the gte further to a shell and get it blasted. Then Ill make up my mind what course of action to take.

[Mieran]

Well done for saving a Nova :thumb:

[brucer]

balls of steel. pleased to see your going to be restoring this shell. so many people reshell (which is a good idea) but in ten years time there will be so many novas that could have been saved but have been scrapped. eg nova rally, colin.

will be watching this closely.

[pingu-turbo]

Right, time for a quick update...

In the passing weeks I have been tidying out the garage at home, that hasnt been touched for 10+ years, full of crap! :roll:

I have now managed to get the gte into the garage and raised the rear. I have decided to cut off the rear chassis legs and strip the remaining parts off of it and sent it away for blasting.

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF7378.jpg

I have also managed to buy a rolling shell from a fellow member gazz. It has good legs and boot floor and rear panel. So if the worst comes to the worst I have all these panels to hand if I need them.

NSR Chassis leg
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Donor%20shell/DSCF7374.jpg

OSR Chassis leg
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Donor%20shell/DSCF7373.jpg

OSF Inner wing
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Donor%20shell/DSCF7375.jpg

NSF Inner wing
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Donor%20shell/DSCF7377.jpg

It does seem to be a shame to break this shell but it has no future with me. I want to keep my gte as origional as possible and use genuine parts, but I cannot justify the costs of buying new. It may take a bit of time to unpick all the parts I need, but it is time I am prepared to put in.

[simonm]

I have to say fair play to you and best of luck with it it will need a lot of work but I understand how attached ya can get to these things and to keep it original is the best option and if you can do the work your self it should turn out good I'll be keeping an eye out for this

[bazil]

good luck mate, have a wee look at this thread http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread.php?153919-*HOW-TO*-remove-inner-wings (http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread.php?153919-*HOW-TO*-remove-inner-wings) it may be of good use for you.

using a donor shell is the best way as im over £2000 in panels now and still buying lol:roll::(:cry:

[16v-kev]

wow and i thought my sons nova was rotten fair play i hope you dont give up and it sees the road again at some point

[White Nova Man]

will be very interesting to see progress on this project mate, all the best way her,

do it right once so you dont have to do it again.

[nova_niek]

subscribed. Enough said. :-)

[christurboo]

i just carnt wait for the metal work to start

good luck mate you may need it lol

chris.

[Andy]

Fukking hell fire,thats absolutely destroyed!!
If you pull this off then thats seriously brave.
Best of luck,can understand why you want to do it but i just couldnt justify it myself.

[mk1nova_rich]

echoing previous comments really...total respect for giving it ago, and even more if you pull it off :) I would personally be wheeling that straight down the scrappers so fair play pal :thumb:

have a second green blob

[pingu-turbo]

Well you could say the metal work started this eve. I started off by drilling off the spot welds inside the boot floor to get the NSR leg off. This gives me a good reference point for when the new (used) leg goes back on.

Spot weld drilling\/
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1295.jpg

Has anyone removed a sound pad in one go? \/ I may put this bit back on lol
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1296.jpg

And off with his leg! \/
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1298.jpg

This is what remains of the boot floor, still good in the important areas \/
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1299.jpg

[mowgli]

you are a very brave person. i wish you all the best in this resto.. take tons of photos, as magazines will be interested.

[LEWI007]

Nice car been keeping my eye on this one but not much progress so far.

As for the sound deadening, someone off here removed a whole front floor one in one go once, im sure it was spudly or someone 'popular' around the forum lol

[Novasport]

The Pope might be interested in this one, we have not seen any miracles this big for a while lol
Good luck.
I wouldn't even tackle that with all the stash of repair panels I have avaiable

[scott.parker]

I wont bother saying it, it's all been said already!

So i will say good luck, I'll keep my eye on it as I'm intrigued to see how you get on.
Also is that a 2.0L servo? looks like one from a mk2 astra gte.

Scott

[pingu-turbo]

Thanks for the luck chaps, ill need it! ;)

As for the servo do you mean the one on the gte or the donar car? Either way I dont know what it is. I know the gte one is different from my sr or any other I have seen, it came with the car.

Hopefully there will be another update for tomorrow night.

[scott.parker]

The one on the GTE, it looks like a Astra mk2 GTE 16V one, as it's the same as what was in my donor car years ago mate, so if it is you should have considerably better braking capability's etc..

[pingu-turbo]

Ahh brilliant. Thanks Scott, well spotted and duely noted. :thumb:

Just off now to a bit more, I want to get all the glass, bolt on panels and suspension removed for blasting next month.

Has anyone got any tips for removing a headlining and factory sunroof? I understand they are a bit of a pain, and i must add, look a bit fragile.:roll:

[scott.parker]

Just be careful and make sure you un latch the hanger bars without riping it, as for sunroof never removed one mate.

Scott

[Edd]

There's a guide in the articles section for removing the headlining

[Jeff16v]

Best of luck on this build, can't knock the intentions at all. I would of loved to have saved J376CGO, rip, gone but not forgotten, lol

[bazil]

Two threads for you to read :)

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread.php?152879-*HOW-TO*-remove-a-3-door-headlining

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread.php?153919-*HOW-TO*-remove-inner-wings

[Benn]

Why dont you just swap everything to the blue shell? The red one is knackered.

[simonm]

It's nit a major job to strip a roof out if your willing to do the repairs it needs your more than capable of doing so just take your time and try memorise every thing it's putting it back together is the job Took me about two hours to refit the roof cloth bit turned out perfect

[Balley]

When i looked at the rear of the car i thought imo it was ****ed but when i looked at the front i thought actually its not that bad and its worth saving. the amount off welding mine has had is unreal. its had out riggers slash guards and a rear chassis leg and still needs sills and rear arches, but it will get done. Keep up the good work dude.

[pingu-turbo]

Thanks for the links chaps, and the support :thumb:. I didnt think to look in the articles. Ill wait until i have a bit of time before I tackle that then!

Today ir been mostly been....
Choppin off t'other leg.

I had to move the car over to the other side of the garage, thats a pain on your own!

\/ Drilled spot welds
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1308.jpg

\/ Hanging on by a thread, mouse been in there? Little sh1t
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1303.jpg

\/ All gone

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1304.jpg

[brainsnova]

Ice age lol good work and good luck.

[pingu-turbo]

Ice age lol good work and good luck.

Yeah its cool stuff....

Where did you see that?

[brainsnova]

http://i517.photobucket.com/albums/u331/Brain_missing/89ae6bd8.jpg

[moffat]

nice to see another being saved

[pingu-turbo]

http://i517.photobucket.com/albums/u331/Brain_missing/89ae6bd8.jpg

lol nice one, oddly enough I found the dvd case to that in this car!? That is what I thought you'd seen in one of the pics.

Its probably that little bastrad pissin inside the leg that made it rust so bad!

[pingu-turbo]

nice to see another being saved

Im doing my best :thumb:

[Nick J]

Your a brave chap Mark!! I'm still shuddering looking at them pics though!! lol Looking forward to watching this one!

Nick.

[pingu-turbo]

Haha thanks nick, my SR that is crying out for some love (that requires your boot decal) is in a simular state. Maybe not quite so bad though, that will be my next project :(.

I have made myself do one at a time.

[pingu-turbo]

I started to remove a few parts, first up, rear1/4 glasses \/

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1316.jpg

^ I got the glass out ok, but the previous repaint saw the OS trim bonded in with black screen sealer which meant I twisted the hell out of it getting it off :mad:. I used my panel beating skills to clamp it back in place and re shape. Its not perfect but it is acceptable. Fortunatly the NS was fitted as it should have been.

\/ Unfortunatly the OS 1/4 glass had been leaking, alot. Here is the view of the inside of the inner frame underneath the 1/4 glass. Image taken from rear lamp hole. This means im going to have to sacrifice some of this from the donar shell, lucky I bought it really!

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1318-1.jpg

\/ This is what I was greeted with when the glass and trim was removed from the OS, more donation of panel from other car required.

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1320-1.jpg

\/ And finally I started to unpick the rear of the headlining.

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae350/pingu_turbo/Nova%20GTE%20retoration/DSCF1322.jpg

[Andy]

come on,thats a compliment being paid in "scrap money" for that?!
A reshell has to be on the cards now,surely?!

[pingu-turbo]

come on,thats a compliment being paid in "scrap money" for that?!
A reshell has to be on the cards now,surely?!

No chance, Im not giving out on it now. Anyway, I have started, so I must finish......

[Andy]

"A fukk was not given,today....."
Fair play mate,please make me eat my hat!

[pingu-turbo]

"A fukk was not given,today....."
Fair play mate,please make me eat my hat!

I hope to make you do that sooner rather than later :p

Planning to finish the strip within the next week or so, then get the bare shell over to the shot blasters! Then the fun will begin, cant wait! ;)

[Andy]

good,keep the faith bud,nice one!

[NOV4_SPORT]

Your a very brave man taking on the restoration of the gte, but iam glad you are doing it as many have already said it would be easier to re shell, but it will come a time when this wont always be possible.

I wish you all the luck buddy and will check back on progress.

+ rep.

iain

[bazil]

"A fukk was not given,today....."
Fair play mate,please make me eat my hat!

I hope you have 2 hats lol, one for this one and one for mine,

I do actually understand why you want to rebuild rather than reshell,

[LEWI007]

Making progress mate, i say fix that shell and dont scrap it.

Plus if youve bought a donor shell just cut everything you need off that and weld it onto the GTE and keep it as a GTE rather than using a normal shell with GTE bits.

You get my respect if you stick to your words and make it roadworthy though ;)

[pingu-turbo]

Plus if youve bought a donor shell just cut everything you need off that and weld it onto the GTE and keep it as a GTE rather than using a normal shell with GTE bits.


That was the plan :)

Iain, thanks for the rep :thumb:

Bazil thanks for those links earlier, Ive only just had time to read through the 'how to' guides. They are really good, credit to you and the author!

[bazil]

I am the author lol

I'm doing the same as yourself ( but a lot slower )

[simonm]

That's good progress on this it took me years to get mine as is it's nearly finished now I hope yours comes along a lot quicker there's some pics in my build thread putting to cloth back up but thatll be a little while away for ya not too long I hope tho

[16v-kev]

have you thought about having the shell dipped to find out where all the rot is ? i keep checking up on this and would love to see you finish it

[pingu-turbo]

have you thought about having the shell dipped to find out where all the rot is ? i keep checking up on this and would love to see you finish it

I would love to have it dipped an re electro plated, but i am on a bit of a budget. Shot blasting costs a couple of hundred, last time i looked into dip & e plate it was about 3k? I cannot afford that especially as i have a small family to provide for and sr in a simular state.

[LEWI007]

You can buy a sand blaster from machine mart iirc they arent very expensive, and sand from B & Q Works in them, we used to use it at the garage i worked at.

[pingu-turbo]

Ill probably end up buying one anyway, once the shell is blasted (kinda messy to do the whole thing at home) there will still be some parts that will need some attention once I start cutting off some other parts. Thats why I removed the rear legs to try and save the boot floor, Im going to just hack off the outer sills and the sections around the rear arches so they can be done at the same time as the rest.

That is a great suggestion lewi007

Was looking at one of these (http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cl-csb10-sandblaster/path/sandblasting-equipment-and-accessories), does anyone know if they are any good, just for the detailing of the remaing bits and bobs?

[LEWI007]

Thats similar to the one we had at work years ago, aslong as youve got a half decent compressor to power it.

It used to really strip anything and everything right back to clean fresh bare metal, we did a few old vw camper vans and other stuff with it.

You can buy a big bag of sand from b and q for 3 quid and that will last you a while.

[Novasport]

If you are removing the outer sills along with the rear chassis legs you are losing a lot of the shells strength. Are you not worried about the shell twisting or dropping out of shape, especially if you need to move it to the blasters.

[pikey1986]

best thing to do would be to weld a few brace bars in to help keep the shape of the shell

[gary_126]

I bloody love these proper restoration projects, people saving nova's rather than scrapping them, fantastic, keep at it mate!!

[Damo]

Good work mate very brave too!!

[raf24]

I see what you meant about the rust being nearly the same as mine mate lol