JonnyNova360
22-02-12, 11:46 AM
Just thought I would show everyone where i'm up to with all this time off work at the moment…
About 3 years ago when I was 17, I bought a 1.2 Nova Merit and I loved it. But I really needed something more reliable as I started doing more and more miles, so I bought a totally standard Lupo instead. And played with it:
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/37242_135516669809749_100000542512297_278358_60867 74_n.jpg
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/37456_135517479809668_100000542512297_278388_67672 9_n.jpg
I wanted another Nova ever since and when my Golf spat an injector out destroying the cylinder head I though now was the time to buy one. I was sick of fixing the Golf; it had been through 2 engines, a gear box, a sub frame, power steering rack and 3 lots of suspension.
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/225769_214244425270306_100000542512297_800442_2115 583_n.jpg
So now my insurance is pennies being 20 and living in the sticks I went and bought a lovely 1.5td SX off NoVaBoOt26 at the end of December.
Here it is:
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/393231_339338696094211_100000542512297_1273096_229 374862_n.jpg
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404424_339338832760864_100000542512297_1273099_335 328201_n.jpg
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404876_339338862760861_100000542512297_1273100_689 892131_n.jpg
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/376141_339338966094184_100000542512297_1273102_120 5866714_n.jpg
It is a well loved and fairly solid little car with only the odd bit of corrosion on the sills and surface rust on the arches. It had absolutely minimal amounts on the strut tops, chassis legs, slam panel and boot floor. However, it does need a new cross member on the front… The ideal base to start tidying it up and making it into a daily run around.
The most obvious thing that was wrong to start with was the oil sump which had become porous and kept leaking all over the drive so this seemed the best starting point. I bought a new one from eBay, fitted that and reduced my oil consumption from 1-2 litres a day to none =]
Next I started on the stereo as all I had was an old Sony unit with one door speaker. After pulling the old unit out I found this was going to be a much bigger job than I anticipated because all the wires were butchered and messed up… Therefore I went back to eBay and bought a standard ISO cable and began wiring every wire behind it from scratch including all the speakers that were in the car when I bought it. I finished it off with my all singing and dancing Bluetooth Sony head unit out of the Golf. In the future ill be adding my 10” Focal sub and Kicker amp. However I am going to have to get new Focal door speakers as my current ones are 6” and do not fit.
Few boring little bits that I sorted next included replacing the handbrake cable that snapped, wiring the boost gauge in and mounting it correctly, replacing the rear wheel bearings that had started “whirring,” mounting the cooling fan correctly and replacing the bushes in the alternator as even though it had just been refurbished had packed in…
Seeing to how it was normal to be dishing out money repairing the Golf; when nothing drastic had gone wrong with the Nova I decided to start changing the look of it subtly to what I wanted.
First I had to change the exhaust… This may sounds like the childish first thing to do (especially on a diesel) but it was all rotten and the back box was pretty much falling off and to pieces as you can see from the pictures of when I bought it. So I set about fabricating a new one as they are hard to get a hold of new. I removed the cat, left in the mid box and (don’t call me a chav) opted with a cherry bomb 2.5” outward rolled tip back box. So it is now all new and solid and in my opinion sounds very nice. It’s quiet on tick over whilst audible on the revs up until the turbo kicks in at 2500rpm and then is all induction noise. Ill get a better pic when its next up on a ramp.
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/430547_370580662970014_100000542512297_1353622_130 4707706_n.jpg
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/419092_375776689117078_100000542512297_1365866_187 0964217_n.jpg
Next thing I wanted to change was the wheels. I liked the Cav Slabs but also fancied the Speedlines that everyone seems to opt for… After trying a set on that my friend runs on a Corsa I decided that to keep the car at its quite low ride height I was going to keep the Cav Slabs.
About 3 years ago when I was 17, I bought a 1.2 Nova Merit and I loved it. But I really needed something more reliable as I started doing more and more miles, so I bought a totally standard Lupo instead. And played with it:
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/37242_135516669809749_100000542512297_278358_60867 74_n.jpg
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/37456_135517479809668_100000542512297_278388_67672 9_n.jpg
I wanted another Nova ever since and when my Golf spat an injector out destroying the cylinder head I though now was the time to buy one. I was sick of fixing the Golf; it had been through 2 engines, a gear box, a sub frame, power steering rack and 3 lots of suspension.
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/225769_214244425270306_100000542512297_800442_2115 583_n.jpg
So now my insurance is pennies being 20 and living in the sticks I went and bought a lovely 1.5td SX off NoVaBoOt26 at the end of December.
Here it is:
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/393231_339338696094211_100000542512297_1273096_229 374862_n.jpg
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404424_339338832760864_100000542512297_1273099_335 328201_n.jpg
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404876_339338862760861_100000542512297_1273100_689 892131_n.jpg
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/376141_339338966094184_100000542512297_1273102_120 5866714_n.jpg
It is a well loved and fairly solid little car with only the odd bit of corrosion on the sills and surface rust on the arches. It had absolutely minimal amounts on the strut tops, chassis legs, slam panel and boot floor. However, it does need a new cross member on the front… The ideal base to start tidying it up and making it into a daily run around.
The most obvious thing that was wrong to start with was the oil sump which had become porous and kept leaking all over the drive so this seemed the best starting point. I bought a new one from eBay, fitted that and reduced my oil consumption from 1-2 litres a day to none =]
Next I started on the stereo as all I had was an old Sony unit with one door speaker. After pulling the old unit out I found this was going to be a much bigger job than I anticipated because all the wires were butchered and messed up… Therefore I went back to eBay and bought a standard ISO cable and began wiring every wire behind it from scratch including all the speakers that were in the car when I bought it. I finished it off with my all singing and dancing Bluetooth Sony head unit out of the Golf. In the future ill be adding my 10” Focal sub and Kicker amp. However I am going to have to get new Focal door speakers as my current ones are 6” and do not fit.
Few boring little bits that I sorted next included replacing the handbrake cable that snapped, wiring the boost gauge in and mounting it correctly, replacing the rear wheel bearings that had started “whirring,” mounting the cooling fan correctly and replacing the bushes in the alternator as even though it had just been refurbished had packed in…
Seeing to how it was normal to be dishing out money repairing the Golf; when nothing drastic had gone wrong with the Nova I decided to start changing the look of it subtly to what I wanted.
First I had to change the exhaust… This may sounds like the childish first thing to do (especially on a diesel) but it was all rotten and the back box was pretty much falling off and to pieces as you can see from the pictures of when I bought it. So I set about fabricating a new one as they are hard to get a hold of new. I removed the cat, left in the mid box and (don’t call me a chav) opted with a cherry bomb 2.5” outward rolled tip back box. So it is now all new and solid and in my opinion sounds very nice. It’s quiet on tick over whilst audible on the revs up until the turbo kicks in at 2500rpm and then is all induction noise. Ill get a better pic when its next up on a ramp.
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/430547_370580662970014_100000542512297_1353622_130 4707706_n.jpg
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/419092_375776689117078_100000542512297_1365866_187 0964217_n.jpg
Next thing I wanted to change was the wheels. I liked the Cav Slabs but also fancied the Speedlines that everyone seems to opt for… After trying a set on that my friend runs on a Corsa I decided that to keep the car at its quite low ride height I was going to keep the Cav Slabs.