Operation Saloonatic

[Maka]

Evening ladies and gents.

I haven't posted on this forum for many years, some may know me others may not, however I have recently rekindled my passion for all things nova. Much to my Wife's distress [emoji23]

So, which Club Member is going to own up to letting go of this beautiful three door E-registered Saloon?

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I have many more pics and info regarding the project to come, work and family permitting I am planning on documenting the full build here [emoji106]🏻

It seems the Club still has never lost the old friendly, helpful vibe which it is always thrived on.

Having said I've not posted here for I while I have however used the forum on more than several occasions for references to Vaux wiring diagrams etc for jobs for which it has always been ideal [emoji106]🏻

Would be nice to get acquainted with some like minded folk with the love for novas, a few chaps around my local area are still into them, one of them is very well known with a certain Pin-Up nova from "back in the day" [emoji23][emoji23] which he has possibly been talking about bringing out of long term storage...

So go on, who had the heart of stone / poor circumstances to let go of this old girl??

For now [emoji106]🏻

Tom

[paul james]

Nice saloon, wheres all the rust though?!
Got a plan for engine choice?

[Southie]

Wow a blast from the past, hope your keeping well Maka ;)

So what else you getting done to it? Sleeper?? Same Colour??

You should have bought a 5 door in-case family life gets bigger lol

[bazzap8389]

Looks good! Doesn't look like it needs any rust sorting which is a boost.

[totalnova]

Looks good! Doesn't look like it needs any rust sorting which is a boost.

I thought the same thing about mine............

[Will F]

Please keep the colour, truly epic!

[Maka]

Thanks for the replies.

Southie- I hope to find you well Chap, I saw your old D-registered hatch a couple of months ago, resprayed since the era when I first saw you coming past Skipton on the A59 that night in her... Sidelights ring a bell?....!!! Some of the things I used to do whilst driving scare me senseless nowadays...

Gents- All of the rust on the vehicle is shown on the pictures above. There is literally the last 2inches of the rear sill as it blends into the upsweep for the rear wheel arch that has been welded since the factory.
There is slight surface corrosion around the battery location itself in the tray, however no corrosive rust as such- i.e. no holes whatsoever.

A good friend of mine bought this vehicle approximately 12months ago with the intention of building a C20LET fast road / track car.
Unfortunately due to his work commitments he only got as far as stripping it to a rolling shell then it has proceeded to get in his way for 9months+ while he expands his business (and family too).
Ultimately it has ended up getting in his way for long enough, at that point he has offered it to me along with a small collection of nice parts for a princely sum.

I have owned a black G-registered 1.2merit hatch for almost five years now. It has been stored at 7 different locations, had 3 different engines fitted to the point they are usable, then taken apart again for various reasons... Components from it being needed to complete customers jobs, work related time constraints etc etc...
Cutting to the chase, I have owned it 5 years in February, and I have only ever driven it onto and off a trailer once!
It's awful really, she is a beautiful example of a vehicle which is being hunted to the point of extinction nowadays, yet I have never found the time to finish her.

Now that I have changed my line of work I find myself away from home Sunday evening through to Friday afternoon most weeks. Predominantly I will spend Friday night and all of Saturday with my Wife and Daughter at home, then spend all day Sunday riding Motocross at the local track with a group of friends.

I have a relatively good sized garage in my back yard- 18' square, in which I have been storing my G-reg, storing/maintaining my dirt bike and running my business from for the last 6 months.
This is where all Nova related works in this project will be undertaken. I served my time as a mechanical maintenance engineer, stayed on for another 6years after getting qualified then proceeded to add ribbons to my bow in areas including vehicle repairs- cosmetic and mech/elec, fabrication, civil engineering, dirt bike repairs/servicing and engine/full bike rebuilds, welding, CNC tool programming/operation/maintenance, and much more.

I learn and perform best when I am challenged with something new. Unfortunately for the G-reg, since I began working on her those 4+ years ago I have opened my eyes somewhat to what I consider is a good quality in a vehicle, what is not, and how to take the view that every project vehicle is merely a blank canvas and as to what route you take with a project is completely up to your personal choice, opinion, capabilities and determination.

What I am proposing to do with this gorgeous piece of Spanish metal pictured above has never been done (as far as I am aware) in this country.

More of that on my next update, almost time for work again now...

Following shortly are a few snaps of my 1989 1.2merit+ in different stages of progression over the years.

Will, she will be receiving a full respray in Gazelle Beige nearing the end of the build rest assured chap!! It would be criminal to paint it any other colour IMHO.

For now [emoji106]🏻

Tom

[Maka]

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[Maka]

Had a bit of a mild tinker this morning, she looks a little more my cup of tea now [emoji106]🏻

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[Maka]

Found two mind blowing documents in the service history...

This is the 14th Nova I have owned, yet I have never seen any document that comes close to these!!!!

Feast your eyes Folks;

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Forget Service History... Purchase History is where it's at [emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻

[7ova]

Nice history with the car
£4449. And 68 pence

[Maka]

Spot on Chap. I've never seen one of these original sales receipts... Blew my mind away when I opened the folder!

Signed the V5 over today, the second to last registered keeper is Mr Scott Parker. I'm presuming he is still with the club? I've known of his vehicles for many years but we have never met personally. Stands the reason that the PNG club key ring that came with the car belonged to him [emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻

[Royston]

He's still kicking around!!:d

[Maka]

Good to hear. As mentioned earlier I used to post a bit on here. Never a great deal, but have most certainly been off the proverbial PNG grid for a good while before starting this project [emoji106]🏻

[Will F]

Ha - if this is Scott's old one - he bought it from me!
I bought it from a 92 year old chap from Bournemouth or somewhere near there!

[Maka]

Brilliant [emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻 Your not wrong mate...

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[Maka]

First incision made, one of many to come;

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[scott.parker]

Ha - if this is Scott's old one - he bought it from me!
I bought it from a 92 year old chap from Bournemouth or somewhere near there!

Will, it certainly is the one and only..

Poor things had all its guts bind after I sold it, but! I'm glad it's in the hands of some one who want to do something with it! :thumb:

Here's more pics of how it once was.

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread.php?181875-Gazelle-Beige-MK1-87-Saloon&highlight=

I'm glad it's back in the club, where about are you based dude?

Scott.

[Iain]

Yay grinder action! What's occurring in the tunnel? RWD gearbox?

[Benn]

Very nice starting place. Why the big hole?

[Maka]

Glad you have commented mate, I was going to PM you but know your an active guy in the club + busy.

Pics won't load on that thread mate just shocked imageshack logo. I'm interested in seeing them if you could possibly PM/email them to me? patrol89@icloud.com

You'll be pleased to know I purchased it as a full car Scott and it will be restored to its former glory in an OEM+ fashion [emoji106]🏻

[totalnova]

So what's with the hole? Different linkage idea?

[Maka]

Now then chaps.

My intention is to build a RWD nova saloon.

I have bought;

- 1973 4HA axle originally fitted to a Reliant Scimiter.

- Full rear end from a V12 Jaguar

- Opel Manta 1.8 Bell housing

- Mazda RX8 CR 6speed transmission from a 192hp model

- Sierra Cosworth clutch

- Sierra Cosworth propellor shaft assembly

- A lovely 2dr saloon in Gazelle Beige


I have fabricated;

- A conversion plate to mate the Mazda 'box to the Manta BH assy.

- Heavy duty engine mounts to fit a Vauxhall 2.0 bottom end

- Heavy duty engine mounts to fit a Nissan RB25DET

- All my "floorpan" assembly is cut to size out of various differing sizes and thickness of bright mild box sections.

- All my "cage" assembly is cut to correct lengths and all ends are profiled ready to weld in situ


Hope this gives you all a good taste for the build ahead. However this evening I am having to leave to go to work tonight for nearly a fortnight much to my disappointment in terms of the nova build progress.

All comments are welcome, opinions criticisms etc do not hold back.

For now Chaps

[emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻

[scott.parker]

Glad you have commented mate, I was going to PM you but know your an active guy in the club + busy.

Pics won't load on that thread mate just shocked imageshack logo. I'm interested in seeing them if you could possibly PM/email them to me? patrol89@icloud.com

You'll be pleased to know I purchased it as a full car Scott and it will be restored to its former glory in an OEM+ fashion [emoji106]🏻

Wow sounds interesting lol

Do you have Facebook? Add me, I've got most if not all on there, if not I'll try save them and re send..

[bazzap8389]

It's going to be an epic build by the sound of it mate. Will go well with the skyline engine too.

[Maka]

Thanks mate.

I am struggling to come to terms with the fact that for the same money as buying and rebuilding a C/Z/ LE T/H I can "overnight" a low mileage RB25 straight from a Japanese breakers fully certified and mint. And buy the RB30 bottom end if I do then so wish to build the hybrid "RB30DET"

Weight is not as issue as I am positioning the engine wherever I see fit. Not "where it fits".

I have strong connections to major F1 stock car racers and have commissioned the use of corner scales for the purpose of positioning the full lump (whatever it may be...) in the correct position to clearly achieve maximum handling potential for whatever obstacle it may be facing i.e. drift, drag, fast road...

Work depending it will be drifting in 7/10 weeks [emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻

[Maka]

PS this is me, 3 days a week [emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻

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[Southie]

Nice to see you've calmed down these days lol

Interesting plans, sounds very complicated and the deadline your giving is short but it will be bloody good fun when done. :thumb:

[Benn]

OOoooo very interesting. Gonna be a fun project to watch.

[mk1nova_rich]

This sounds very very promising....:thumb:

[Maka]

Good morning Chaps,

As I predicted at the beginning of this build progress may well have been inhibited by work be family commitments. What an understatement that was.

Not a very emotional character in an outgoing sense of the word to anyone I don't really know but to sum up the bullshit I have endured this week my loving devoted Wife of two years has been lying to me since we met about various things. She is now purely the Mother to our Jasmine and that is the only way our relationship will stay for certain.

I have been asked (forced) to move out and as a result of that I have proceeded to move to my best mates in Exeter, a region I hail from in a roundabout sort of way.

Operation Saloonatic is currently on hold for 48 hours while I facilitate the transport of her for the 270 odd mile trip, along with my basic personal effects and every tool I own. It's a big job to say the least.

Never anticipated being in this situation ever, I am functioning perfectly but feel broken and cut deep inside. I am going to proceed to channel all my anger/hurt/general negative emotions into enthusiasm for this build and fuel myself as a result of it to aspire to build the best RWD saloon the UK at least has seen.

Watch this space ladies and brothers some serious engineering experience will be laid on the table in layman's terms for everyone to interpret in their own way and take their own spin off / references docs or diagrams related to this build.

I have had apprentices work under me in the past and they have all gone on to do well. The only thing I've ever asked of them is to pay attention and be willing to do things they don't understand at the time in situations of emergencies in production systems where downtime is lost profit then be taught the theory later at the earliest possible opportunity.
I plan on documenting this build for you all to see in the same respects of these principles and also, primarily, for my own use whatever it may pose in the future.

Had to treat myself today so picked up a new track bike. Spannered on it this aft for 2 hours, 45min of which was applying t-cut in a furious manner to every inch of it three times...

Here she is

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For now [emoji106]🏻

[Iain]

I've never seen a RWD saloon in person so you can build any of crap and it'll be the best in my eyes lol Glad you're channeling frustration into motivation, look forward to seeing the fab work going into it.

[Southie]

That's shit news Maka but glad you've kept your chin up high and getting on with it, looking forward to this build massively and nice to see your fronting your frustration into what could be a bloody good project mate :) All the best.

[NovalutionGSi]

That's pretty shit Mate. but at least your channelling the emotion in a direction we all can enjoy.


I'll be watching this build, 2 RWD saloons on 1 site.... The Simps needs to crack on with his, let the Saloon battle commence!

[scott.parker]

Dude sorry to read that, best to try stay of fb like you said on there.
Glad your going to try keep on with the nova, the only reason I had to abandon the project was getting a mortgage...
Keep your head up dude.

[The Simps]

I shall be keeping an eye on the progress in this thread, hopefully it will inspire competition to get mine finished first! :thumb:

[Plug]

Hey sorry to hear about the ex mate, I'm only down the road in dawlish so if you ever need a had just give us a shout,

ive got a trailer if the nova needs bringing down bud