nova saloon project

[sjb6268]

Hi there guys I'm just about to start a nova saloon c20let project, I've already done a bit styling wise, got mk1 escort alloys on it (which look mint) and had to extend the arches which has thrown in a new set of problems, in the engine package I got it comes with spas rsx coilovers which obviously lower the car, and sat in my shed are a set of koni adjustable dampners which I can use the standard springs on and just stiffen it up to be harder than Dwayne Johnson, can I use standard springs on coilovers as with the wheels and the arches I can't have the car any lower, any help or opinions would be appreciated, Sam

[sjb6268]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/24/u3uruma2.jpg
This was her at her first cruise in which the organiser took this pick and put it on their web page

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/24/8e7e3ave.jpg
This is just after pvs when she finally got the wheels on and whilst there I picked up the nice astra grill which took a bit of doing to make work

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/24/my6aty9e.jpg

[Johnny A]

Question 1: How did you fit 4x108 stud pattern alloys on a 4x100 pattern car?
Question 2: If you have both standard springs and coilovers in your possession why are you asking if standard springs will fit coilovers?

[sjb6268]

A) I had a company in Essex machine some pcd adaptors, got them rather quickly to
B) I haven't got the coilovers yet they are being shipped with the engine gearbox etc. And am wondering more which would be stiffer so as the suspension is like steel rods, no movement, don't mind it being a bone shaker this is only my weekend car, daily is a mk1 cav so me and my missus are building this one up for something to do

[Johnny A]

Ok that's fair enough, coilover springs are different in size to factory springs. Coilover springs come in a couple of popular widths (will be 2.25" or 2.5"), lengths (various from 4" upwards but most for this application hover around the 8 or 9" mark) and poundage (the hardness of the spring, measured in pounds)

[sjb6268]

Ah ok never used coilovers on previous cars most I used were lowering springs as money was tight at the time, and now on this nova I like it too much to get rid of it and the 1.3s engine in it is having a few problems

[sjb6268]

Also trying to put up some pictures , but I can't seem to post them from my phone

[Southie]

Liking the Astra grill ;)

Not keen on the wheels with the offset being too wide. Are you getting wider arches fit because it won't pass an mot with them sticking out so far.

[Benn]

Sorry dude, the wheels dont look good. They stick out to far...

[Nobby]

wheres the pics?

[Southie]

wheres the pics?
For some reason unless your admin they aren't showing up, maybe due to the OP having less than 15 posts :confused:

Here's the pictures...

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/24/u3uruma2.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/24/8e7e3ave.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/24/my6aty9e.jpg

[Johnny A]

Yeah that grille is awesome, loving the paint colour too. But yeah wheel are too farout. Either loose the wheels or fit some jdm arch extensions

[Nobby]

man them wheels look saft and the wipers n wing mirrors apart from that aint too bad just my opinnon of course lol

[burgo]

Ops pics should now work ;)

[millworm]

You can get alleycats in 4x100 you know

[Rab]

Yeah that grille is awesome, loving the paint colour too. But yeah wheel are too farout. Either loose the wheels or fit some jdm arch extensions

Would agree about the arch extensions tbh, has good potential right enough bud!

[sjb6268]

The arch extensions are on just not smoothed and painted yet, and I was given the alleycats by a friend who restored a few escorts, the mirrors and wipers are from how I bought her, was debating having them done the same colour as the car

[sjb6268]

Finally got some pics of the arch extensions on, but she still needs a respray
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/26/yde2ujy6.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/26/a2ehatu9.jpg

[Southie]

That's looking better already, standard wiper setup would be best.

[totalnova]

looks good what did you use to extend the arches?

[sjb6268]

EBay fiberglass arch extensions, fiber glass filler, and surface filler,

And will be putting the wipers back black at some point, and mirrors colour coded, but engine is taking priority atm

[sjb6268]

Anyone got any suggestions for a decent intercooler for the c20let to go in this nova, the engine I bought comes with everything except the intercooler relevent hoses

[burgo]

Frontera intercooler is a popular choice

[Johnny A]

^ what the Burgo said

[sjb6268]

Cheers for that, just finished unloading the engine from the back of the lorry looking forward to being able to start on getting it in
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/28/a2ysu8um.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/28/6uqyna4e.jpg
Lovely to see my first redtop, glad I went turbo

[burgo]

Epic parcel

[sjb6268]

Epic parcel

I know it feels like Christmas today :D just now got to get it in the bay, gonna be fun

[sjb6268]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/14/932f1bb6a7f4a2259822044a50a3811a.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/14/86259d0e81dae7617c6ddf10e73574bd.jpg

Finally got her up in the air and the old engine out can't wait to get the let in should t be too long now

[sjb6268]

Finally got the engine bay cleaned, prepped, painted and 90% of the stuff back in
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/19/4669654bdde9193af636e042dd5c1061.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/19/f88bc3aa89343b915c310370d007f5f7.jpg

Makes a great coffee table atm until its all connected up
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/19/a9368bf2ecdb0305f1906562ba72f284.jpg

And now all the radiator is back in http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/19/de872706b0b245427e8efc0bf8f2f162.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/19/32947a0697b076a4148719823eb23807.jpg

Tomorrow should have the suspension back in and the track rod ends replaced (for good measure) and some of the intercooler piping in, gonna be a busy evening after work

[Benn]

Bay looks nice, where do your IC pipes run?

[sjb6268]

Bay looks nice, where do your IC pipes run?

not worked that one out yet waiting on the mishimoto intercooler, proberbly mounted on 'the snowplow' with the pipes going either end, we're kind of making up as we go :)

[Johnny A]

I shall keep an eye out if you venture into Oxford lol

[sjb6268]

I shall keep an eye out if you venture into Oxford lol
I have a few times, mainly near kassam as my mate live literally round the corner, but I'm up there in the mk1 cav atm until the novas done

Oh and a quick update

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/21/534cf62ef30b7f237e442472c7953a3f.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/21/ac1696995307f592c4ee03afd830cb53.jpg

Konis look nice on her

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/21/2ade87deaa663f09b1fa2d0cf199bc0f.jpg

Hopefully tomorrow can get the new bumper (old one was damaged and missing clips) and the intercooler on, then got to work out what pipes I need to connect it up

[Johnny A]

Never seen a mk1 Cav around here, but its very rare I venture near Kassam

[sjb6268]

Ah fair but it stands out lol, not in showroom condition (next project when the novas on the road) but still turns heads

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/21/c51bc5393e935a63d7174ee267f41a75.jpg

[Johnny A]

Yeah I definitely wouldn't have missed that!!!

[sjb6268]

But the nova is my pride and joy, was a gift from my fianceé and was a bit of a junker when I got it she had been badly treated and now to be able to say between me, my dad and my fianceé we've managed to do this is a nice feeling

[sjb6268]

Got the new intercooler on, hope to have some pics up tomorrow, looks a little weird atm, waiting on a new bumper to come and for the stainless piping for the intercooler then it shouldn't look out of place, didn't get a pic atm, started p*$$ing it down when I was putting the bolts in, well have one up tomorrow

[sjb6268]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/26/988e79f5cdc82653617aa6557a659556.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/26/9a50737715fe29a04d62ad142c5295b9.jpg

Intercooler and new bumper, now just trying to source the clips that go on the wings to hold the bumper, as mine never had them it was just a long screw through the bumper and wing :/ bit getting there slowly :)

[sjb6268]

Been a slow time recently, with work taking over and my old man out for holiday, but had a bit of a push today, got all the wiring for the dashboard sorted, just gotta make heads or tails of the wiring loom and how to connect that up to the nova, but that's a headache for another day,

Also been cutting holes today
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/07/b950576e2fc479237c83075bdaba01c0.jpg

So finally got the intercooler connected up, and ran the pipes the easiest way we could think of without millions of twists, bends and joins

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/07/6fcf8da245717e7dc87317526d211b03.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/07/ec2053410e7e2d2e8b8e4bae50f3235e.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/07/2d0eb90f638062881566a7e480811e2b.jpg

Hope to have the fuel pump sorted out next and may eventually get round to the wiring looms :/

[Balley]

Looks neat pal.

[Johnny A]

Looks nice, but where does the air go after it exits the FMIC?

[sjb6268]

Looks nice, but where does the air go after it exits the FMIC?
In through the "snowplow" then up and enters the engine bay where the coil used to be, just going to remount that somewhere else

[Benn]

Looking good, IC is very on show, carefull of stones and stuff.

[sjb6268]

It's supposed to be hardened against them, but unsure how true that it's

[sjb6268]

Right me and my old man got cracking with this on Sunday and decided to sort out the dash, and some of the wiring

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/16/0c3dbbb88570be81a606c13a2d00efc1.jpg

Had a bit of a funny problem when we wired in the digidash, as you indicate left, or put the hazards on, the wipers started

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/16/1d6bebfa56ba34262a89483c255dacda.jpg

Thankfully was an easy one to find, one wire wasn't earthed, and although it's not the biggest moment for the car, also got the new headlights

New and old

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/16/102b1fc308a26a3c65fca79f0cf52c4a.jpg

[Iain]

In through the "snowplow" then up and enters the engine bay where the coil used to be, just going to remount that somewhere else

I think the point Johnny is trying to make that if you've mounted the FMIC flush up against the original crossmember air will be flowing into the front of the FMIC and won't have an easy route out, reducing it's effectiveness without a proper air flow.

[sjb6268]

Ah I see, no it's raised forward, to help air flow, bit I am debating putting some holes in the snowplow to help it, but was unsure as thought it would weaken it :/

[Johnny A]

When you say 'snowplough' you mean the front crossmember right?

Generally refering to a 'snowplough' means a type of mk1 front bumper for the Nova

[sjb6268]

Yeah, sorry a bloke I was speaking to told me it was nicknamed a snow plow, when I told him I had a mk1 saloon

[Johnny A]

Nah it's just a front crossmember, which is important - so cutting holes in it might not be a good idea. Basically most of your forward/backward propulsion and braking goes through the crossmember (via the tie bars) so it needs to be a strong bit of kit. In my opinion there are two ways to ensure a good bit of airflow through the FMIC:
1) Move the FMIC
2) Redesign and build a new crossmember, this is becoming more common these days. The new design should be sleeker and thinner so air to flow around it but still be strong - the general method is to chop the old one out and weld in a length of thick walled box-steel that is deep but not tall

[Southie]

Yeah, sorry a bloke I was speaking to told me it was nicknamed a snow plow, when I told him I had a mk1 saloon
As Johnny said, this is what Nova owners refer too as the snowplough bumper as I had on mine:

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p379/SOUTHIE01/MINE/IMG_0869.jpg (http://s345.photobucket.com/user/SOUTHIE01/media/MINE/IMG_0869.jpg.html)

[sjb6268]

Wow it really has been a while since I updated this, done a bit more but unfortunately this lil car did get shelved for a while and just started back up today

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/09/a8a2aecd39684c1b90a2261ff0cbcaca.jpg
We got bored a little while ago and decided this looked nice matching the car

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/09/8ad7a3b44e0c0b88efce1e664149432b.jpg
We just gave the arches a quick blow over so it didn't look as much of a mess until the respray

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/09/86439e00cfcf2f6e4611d1586ff0794c.jpg
Hopefully next week on my day off get this down the garage for its mot which is due this month and to have the tracking sorted out then it's on the road and in for an alarm and a little bit of audio in the new year, with the respray just after

[Southie]

My concern would be your alloys are still further out from the arches but not sure what the tolerances are, the turbo lump looks good though.

[sjb6268]

Thanks and they are legal (just!!) But as long as the tread is inside at the top they're good, so did have to get minorly stretched yoko on there but I did drive the car without the arches before doing the engine and police never said anything then, but depends what mood they're in I suppose

[sjb6268]

Right had the nova mot'd and sad to say she failed but has been Sat for months, front brakes seized 3 out of 4 wheel bearings worn out, the emissions where high and for some unknown reason the idle was erratic, but was fine when I drove it there and after I got there to pick it up she was still doing it so revved her up and she's been fine :/ oh and a couple of bits as a result of my own stupidity, the new headlights were out of alignment, forgot to put a new bulb in one of my side repeaters and put the number plate light back in, should've jad the car back together before booking it in instead of booking it for the following day and working on it until gone midnight in the cold and dark, really must learn to slow down and take my time, but pushed on with it today and fingers crossed it'll pass a retest either tomorrow or Thursday, would love to have it on the road for Christmas, May not be resprayed but at least I'll be back behind the wheel, missed driving it so much

[sjb6268]

Well this project stopped with the lack of garage space to work in with the bad weather and work running me ragged anyhow started using it and after a week or two a couple of noises started to get louder/more often so got it looked at and found out the turbo had been on its way out for a while and it had finally gone, so using this as an opportunity to get a hybrid turbo, so now have to play the waiting game

[sjb6268]

While he car is in the garage (turbo finally came back yesterday) waiting to be put back together, tuned and put on a dyno

I sat back and thought well the interior doesn't match at all, now I've never done anything like this before, the closest being some waterproof seat covers in a land rover :/

But I still had the rear seats picked up and started pulling them apart unstitched them and got stuck in

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/15/be0628758ba27f70c5d0f9f5b337b93d.jpg

This it the basics of the pattern justblaid out to see how it works

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/15/037b6f879bb46909b6d4b453f4e4ec4d.jpg

And this is the backrest of the rear seats 90% done just got to pad the back and actually attach it to the seat, but getting there

[karisma]

If you need any advice then pm me as I retrim car interiors.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/vinny6/CBAF8B71-8DFB-4052-A048-AACCC95EEED4.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/vinny6/media/CBAF8B71-8DFB-4052-A048-AACCC95EEED4.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/vinny6/07689C5E-5C8F-4C55-8D41-FA6D1D6FAC2D.jpg (http://s.photobucket.com/user/vinny6/media/07689C5E-5C8F-4C55-8D41-FA6D1D6FAC2D.jpg.html)

[Southie]

God that interior is ghastly lol If you like it then so be it though.

[conza123]

Is that your new interior or your new curtains lol lol lol

[paddy235]

Is that your new interior or your new curtains lol lol lol
Hahah I thought the same good on you for trying though

[sjb6268]

I like it it's different and its not leather diamond stitched or alacantara, so I'm happy with it besides nothing about this car is normal