750MC Classic Stock Hatch GTE

[kbf71]

So today I picked up this little beauty from Devon, 307 miles away from my house by road. It's done just 1 race, and that was in 2007. Despite this, the car was worked on as recently as 2011 with a view to returning that year and unfortunately has spent the last 6 months living outside in the rain and cold. 1 little battlescar from that 2007 race has turned rusty, but nothing serious.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG-20130125-00056_zpsfd0bdefd.jpg

So the aim is to build a car with the tech and techniques used to make my old GTE so successful, but into a straight shell for the first time! All within the strict regulations package of course ;) Hell, we'll even try and make it better!

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/oultonphoto_zpsda0ae5f3.jpg

So this is how the new girl sits for now, plenty to do but the hard stuff like restoring the shell and caging it are already out of the way! This car has a better cage than my old one, coming through to the chassis legs.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG-20130125-00058_zpsc2e7c37e.jpg

So she could do with a good clean, and getting it on a lift one Saturday is top priority. Then it needs some fuel lines so we can try and start it... Will hopefully keep you all up to date with pictures and progress - just like I should have done last time! :d

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG-20130125-00057_zpsb2438bdf.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG-20130125-00059_zpsfbb11da6.jpg

[nova_pipi]

looks like its a good place to start from and hopefully it will get you some good results :thumb:

[phunkynova]

One more motorsport Nova :thumb:

[novajamie]

good build u entering the 750 classic stock hatch again this season as u seem have a bit do before season starts on the 1 april at mallory

[kenny_afh]

any updates??

[kbf71]

Now that I've finally told my girlfriend that I bought another car (which it seems I've had since January! LOL ) I can start work on it - after selling my old Saxo (HURRAH!)

Shell prep for now, had all of the sealant out of the inside - 6.4kg of black gunk! :eek: Tempted to take the underseal off too. Done some welding on the back panel, and just a little bit to do in one of the rear inner arches, and she'll be ready for some proper work :d Pics to follow!

[kbf71]

So pictures are tough to come by - as a Blackberry owner my phone is only "mobile" in that I can take my charger and plug it in somewhere else - let it be known that welding is in progress! One thing I can show you is a recently condemned rally car (sadly the shell is beyond feasible repair) but that I will be stripping for the parts I want and selling the rest. It is an MSA logbook'd rally car after all - so the ID in itself should be worth something! Going to treat myself to a camera soon ;)
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_8622_zpscf354f56.jpg

So at least one should rise from the oxides of two! :)

[kbf71]

So FINALLY a real update! Hard to come up with updates without pictures to prove it ;)

Anyway, got the engine + box out of the racer to see what I was up against. The front end of the car is in great shape!
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/DSCN0064_zpsffbea405.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/DSCN0061_zps74941b24.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/DSCN0062_zpsb773fe4d.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/DSCN0063_zpsfd5c8904.jpg

So apart from a good clean, I've no reason to spend an time on the front apart from a small patch behind the o/s/f wheel in the inner arch.

I've decided to weld up a lot of the rubber bung holes for the sake of staying watertight in wet races, as well as the usual floor a rear spots that haven't already been done! I've left 5 bungs though so I can drain the car if by some unfortunate circumstance it does fill with water. My dad showed me how to use the MIG and I set about trying to weld it up!

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/DSCN0066_zpsedb08b4c.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/DSCN0065_zpsacb03602.jpg

Obviously it all needs a good clean, and I started at the back so the front wouldn't look as bad while my welding was getting better! I also welded a patch in the n/s/r rear arch (usual spot near the spring base) but didn't get a pic.

I'm not sure to what extent I'm going to go to with tidying up the interior. I've learned the most important thing with racing cars over the years is not to get too attached :roll:

[kbf71]

A little more progress today. Got the last patch welded in, so that's the rust sorted!

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/DSCN0067_zps32d79f14.jpg

Then while a friend was over (a fabricator, so I can't take any credit for the following welds! We looked at how the seat was going to be mounted. The usual compromise here is - as in the normal seats - sitting to the right of the steering wheel and pedals. After racing the Saxo for 2 years this felt like it was going to be really uncomfortable. Having sat the seat on blocks when the car was at work, I put it on the corner-weighting scales with the seat in standard (for me) position with me sat in it. Then moved the seat nearly 3 inches to left - the maximum I could go before the seat would spoil access to the handbrake, and foul the gear lever. This brought me in line with the steering wheel and pedals, as well as making a surprisingly big improvement in the balance across the front axle! The hard part would be fabricating - which is where James comes in...

It's not the prettiest build I admit, we were using old bits and offcuts (this is a proper budget build lol) But You can see the old seat brackets which are woefully thin (but at least the front ones were attached to a piece of angle), the original seat runners, and the new piece of angle to take the right-side seat bracket. The other bracket will be bolted to the tunnel, with a spacer under the front of the bracket to tilt the seat back a little and bring it in line with the other side. There is a chalk line on the tunnel so hopefully you can see where the bracket is going to line up...

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/DSCN0068_zps033580d4.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/DSCN0069_zps8d049fa0.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/DSCN0070_zps38fb7817.jpg

I'm interested to know if anyone else has gone down this route of moving the seat across. I just prefer the driving position like this, and it give me more "room to work" too, as well as moving me further from the door incase of a drivers side impact. Obviously I'm not worried too much about passenger comfort :p

The brackets are in now as well, but I don't have my own camera so pictures are grabbed as an when people pop their heads through the garage door :roll:

[cornish]

Love this, can I ask where you got it from? Wasn't from a scrap yard near Teignmouth in Devon (I forget the name..) was it?

[kbf71]

Love this, can I ask where you got it from? Wasn't from a scrap yard near Teignmouth in Devon (I forget the name..) was it?

Nah I got it from the guy whose name is on the window in the first post! I suspect he has seen many Nova's from that yard though... he's a grasstrack racer now lol He had quite a few Nova's at his lockup, from road-going ones, a red top, 2 grassers, and his old deceased Stock Hatch shell which is where the engine came from for my car :d

[kbf71]

Some progress in the last few days!

Been painting the interior, but not finished yet. It is literally just red oxide primer though, brushed on to protect the welds and tidy the thing up. Probably will leave it like this too. Looks better than it did!
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0005_zpsda8b0efb.jpg

Got the engine stripped down. Some bonus features! Already has +1mm pistons (the maximum allowed) and ARP rod bolts. Block looks good internally apart from having been sleeved in #1. Always weary of sleeved blocks, but it seems like a good job. Crank didn't look too bad, it had already been ground to +0.25mm and bigs and mains, but there were some slight grooves in the #1 big end, and a general kind of 'rough' feel on the mains. I took it to Alex E Carr Engineering in Hull, and they checked it out while I waited. Said it could do with the big ends ground, but I should just about get away with the mains polished. With this being a race engine though, I decided to have both big ends and mains ground down to +0.5mm, and worry about finding another crank should it ever go wrong! Less friction, eh? lol
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0009_zps4419691d.jpg

Disaster with the cam carrier! One of the belt cover bolts was seized in, so I though f*** it I'll just snap it off... The bolt remained, but the ally snapped :tard: Fortunately the lad that owns my old Nova racer is coming up this weekend to buy my spare rollcage, so he's bringing me a spare. Cheers mate!
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0010_zps52ebd43d.jpg

After that, it was just meticulous cleaning of parts until 9pm. Decided it wanted a new sump as the one with it is bent and pretty scabby, checked the pistons out - looks like they have been balanced but I'll check them anyway. Then decoked the head and cleaned valves, etc. Hopefully things will be happening a lot quicker from now! :d Was going to take a fair bit off the head, but I might have to take a slight surface off the block to make sure the sleeve is flush, so just a light surfacing for the head to make sure compression isn't too high with the bigger pistons.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0014_zps66bbbf9e.jpg


One problem I have encountered is the brakes. The car came with 256mm brakes, which it can't have by Stock Hatch rules. I got the callipers and brackets to suit the 236 Vented ATE set up, but the brackets sit too far out from the disc :confused: Do you need different uprights when to convert to 256 from 236, and vice versa? Seems odd to me. I'll get some pics tomorrow.

[kbf71]

More progress today! Crank back from machine shop, ground to 0.5mm, and got the shells. Think I have all the parts now apart from an oil pump gasket - if anyone has a spare ;)
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0015_zps823caffe.jpg

Decided to take 0.003" off the block and see if it brought the whole surface flush with the liner in #1. Passed the miller over to find that it hadn't QUITE got it, but the block had other 'low spots' on the exhaust side. I pretty sure the block must have been decked before as the engine code was gone already when I bought it, and I wasn't keen on skimming it any more because I might have to mill the piston tops now to be safe! This pic is the first pass of the miller.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0016_zps76a20e21.jpg

In this pic you just just see there is still a slight lip around the top of the liner. The second pass got it though. Took 0.005" off in total. On max piston size, max crank regrind, and decked block, I don't think this bottom end will take another blow up! lol
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0017_zps8365e272.jpg

Will have to wait and see with the pistons! Got +1mm rings coming (pretty much got all the parts from Euro Car Parts, including a ready-baffled sump for £40.50 +vat!) which I couldn't get with FPS or Stanwoods who normally supply all our engine parts at work. I took the head to a local guy for the valve seats, and he's going to fit new valve guides if he thinks it is necessary. Next job is to get the crank, flywheel, pulleys, rods, etc balanced ready to put back together :)

Still not got anywhere with the brake situation. Going to remove the uprights and compare them to the ones on my Corsa which should be similar. If anyone can shed any light on this, please let me know!

[merv beckett]

Keep it up mate and thanks for cage :)

[kbf71]

So a little more progress this week while waiting for the head to come back. Cleaned up the block ready for paint, made a ton of mess lol The rest of the paint wouldn't budge so that'll do lol
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0045_zps9489b610.jpg

After that it was on to balancing. Weighed all the pistons (with rods + bolts) and ended up with the following:
1 = 774g
2 = 769g
3 = 774g
4 = 771g

So I went about getting 771g down to 769g, which was pretty easy. Just whizzed it off the bottom of the rod.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0043_zpsbb29c5a1.jpg

774g down to 769g wasn't so easy. I didn't want to take too much from the end of the rod, so I used a flapper disc to just "tickle" the sides of the rod as equally as I could until it was right :)
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0044_zpse0248034.jpg

So the rods were ready. Just needed the crank doing! I could have paid somewhere with a proper electric balancer. Instead I borrowed this old school home-made rig!
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i150/kennybrackfan/IMG_0046_zps6ab1c104.jpg

It takes so much longer than at a pro machining shop, but the result is the same! You spin the crank up to speed then watch the dial gauges for movement. Then use plasticine to add weight and see if it gets better or worse. If better, you try to remove the plasticine's weight in metal from 180degress around from that point. Got it down from .0014" out to .0002" before I couldn't get it any better. Fortunately I managed to get it right after adding and balancing the front pulley too, which took a lot longer than expected! Then it turned out the flywheel has been balanced properly before as it made next to no difference. Bonus! This rig has been checked against modern machinery before, so I'm pretty happy with how it turned out :) Saved myself a couple of hundred quid! Just required patience.

So that was like a full day's work. But at least it was free lol