nova v6

[tiny]

I have a vectra b v6 available to me to use as a hillclimb car in production class this year before it gets scrapped and was wondering what the pros and cons of swapping the engine with my 1.2 spi that I have in my nova.

The long term goal is to hillclimb/sprint the nova and I have a cage and wide arch kit ready to fit. I currently have coilovers and a strut brace fitted and a set of black powerflex bushes for the front. I am quite open as to what engine to put in and have considered the saab turbo, redtop and nearly bought a 1.6 tigra to rob of its engine.

With the vectra being available at no cost it seems to me at the moment as a logical move to fit the v6 into the nova however I have read that the handling will suffer. My question though is by how much and what can be done to counter that? I also have 6 inch and 7 inch wide 13 inch weller steels to run the car in hillclimb spec so will I be able to reuse the vectra brakes under 13inch wheels

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

[8valve-craig]

An engine block change will put you in Sports Libre. A V6 Nova would probably be the slowest car on that class, just worth thinking about. It would be great fun but winning would be even better.

[tiny]

At the moment in the sports libre 'g' class over here is a space framed 2cv with a tuned zetec and a twin bike engined tiger...

However, the 'production' class the vectra will be in has a 700bhp plus gtr

I don't mind so much about winning the class, I am very much there to enjoy myself and have a fairly low budget hence using the vectra this year

From what I can see, the v6 is only about 40 kilo heavier than an Xe so can it really make that much difference to the handling? Could I not then just get the car corner weighted to balance it back out?

[Jack]

If you look at the weight distribution of the engine, it's not far off how a LET sits. A turbo is quite a heavy thing to have dangling off the front!

They can be made to handle pretty well, look at Hobbit's track car and the videos he's put up. He did pretty well going up the hill at Retro Rides the year before last too.

[jimbob-mcgrew]

Could I not then just get the car corner weighted to balance it back out?

dumping 100+ kilo's in the back, to balance it out, is a bit counter-productive tho

[tiny]

Is it not only 40 kilo heavier than a redtop

What would be needed to fit the engine? Is it just one engine mount that is different? I have managed to find a mount to fit the v6 into a corsa b, would that be the same?

[Jack]

I did read somewhere, might have been migweb, where someone had weighed a V6 and reckoned it was only 40kg heavier than an XE... not sure how accurate that is though

Think the corsa mount is different to a Nova one. You also need to fudge the exhausts to fit round the steering column iirc, push the radiator forward to avoid kinking the top hose, and cut a bit out of the slam panel as the front bank sits about 2 inches inside the panel lol If you have a 3.0 inlet it will need the throttle section flipping and some work to make fit, so easiest to use the cav or vectra 2.5/2.6 inlet. Wiring I think is the same as a 2.0.

If you want have a standard rev counter and want it to work, it will need changing to suit the 6 cylinder signal too - either fit cav dials or you could try a signal adapter

The Vectra V6 brakes probably won't fit under 13" wheels btw, mine only just squeezed under 15" Cesaro alloys

[tiny]

Thanks Jack, that is the sort of answer I was looking for.

Does anyone know if there is a v6 conversion kit available like there is for the corsa?

[Nobby]

there was a kit but i dont think you can get them now David Dixon sold them.