View Full Version : Bulgarian - ish Nova GSi Time Attack / Trackday car (C16SEi)
Hi, guys, I am Stefan, some of you know me from the Vauxhall Nova Facebook page where I have been buying and searching a lot of parts for my 2 Novas.
Little bit of history, bare with me, I will try to be brief. I moved to UK to study Automotive & Motorsports Engineering in Huddersfield , West Yorkshire and throughout my years there I learnt a lot about the industry, spent a placement year at Helical Engineering near Blackpool as an applications engineer and bought and brought a lot of parts for my Novas in Bulgaria.
Now graduated and back in Bulgaria I finally managed to put together my first (rotten really) Nova GSi and finally start racing with it after dreaming about this for almost 5 years.
Here is the Nova I bought, it is a 1991 GSi Irmscher C16SEi engine (It uses Bosch Motronic 1.5, I do not think you had these in UK)
It is a Corsa A here of course but that don't matter now.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880789.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880791.jpg?r=0
Little did I know how rotten it was
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880727.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880737.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880738.jpg?r=0
That should be solid :D
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880739.jpg?r=0
If you are interested, I will go on with details on the restoration.
Ended up with a new front end with turrets
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880722.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049992.jpg?r=0
And hit the track on 12th of September this year
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037400614.jpg?r=0
I did not know that I can wind down the GAZ Coilovers at the back to make ET49 wheels fit, so I fitted ET30 7J 15" inch wheels and in order to avoid rubbing the car was set up very high. The car is also poly bushed with Powerflex all round, GAZ Coilovers all round, 256x20mm front brakes, Engine is fitted with a C26NE throttle body (63mm) , AFM from C20NE and lightweight flywheel of 4.1 kg. Also fitted GTE body kit on it as I want to keep the GSi one spare for the other Nova.
Our first race was horrible, there was too much air going in and not enough fuel and the engine was very sluggish so finished last in both 1.6 N/A and 2.0 N/A class, the alternator broke down so we got on our way back to the garage and after I parked it starter gave up as well.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5625/037493163.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5625/037493165.jpg?r=0
Will continue in the next post.
So we fixed the problems, went on an Edurance race where the car managed to go 5 hours of constant racing speed without even a single technical issue apart from the tyres that had to go to the bin.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5645/037533712.jpg?r=0
Last weekend we were at another race track nearby, I spoke to some of the lads on the facebook page, think it was Ben who gave me the tip to lower the back as much as possible and fit ET49 wheels which with lowered GAZ height will not interfere with the springs.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5645/037533713.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5645/037533714.jpg?r=0
The car now has much more power after I fitted a 4.0 bar fuel regulator and injectors from X20XEV, still needs to go to a rolling road though as now power starts coming after 3500 RPM.
On some corners it felt sluggish so I took out the headlight to allow for more air to come in.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5645/037533716.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5645/037533717.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5645/037533718.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5645/037533720.jpg?r=0
It is running 350 LBS front springs and 250 LBS rear, I adjusted the front dampers on 15 clicks, the rear on 11 and the car had sort of good balance.
There were big problems with accelerating with the steering wheel turned, you can see from the onboard video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKdpnHBNo3w
Otherwise the weekend well, I think the bouncing on the front wheels on accelerating can be cured with harder dampers or better tyres for next year.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5645/037533723.jpg?r=0
Currently I ran Cooper Tyres ZEON XTC but they are not suited for trackdays (cheapos)
The car is also running 1.2deg camber using Eibach Camber Bolts but I use standard top mounts as I fear if I use camber plates it may damage the chassis.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5645/037533726.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5645/037533727.jpg?r=0
If you are interested, I will give out some more info.
totalnova
26-10-16, 05:09 PM
I'd love to see any rebuild pics that you have.
Great to see you saved this.
Jonesfach
26-10-16, 06:24 PM
I'd love to see any rebuild pics that you have.
Great to see you saved this.
Seconded.
Right, I can make the album, where I have got all the pics from, public so you can see it or I can upload it all here, the thing is I have more than 350 pics in that album, but of course if I only share the album a lot of the valuable info will be missed out. Any thoughts ? I just don't want to make a 6 page thread full of pictures of rust dust :D .
totalnova
26-10-16, 08:26 PM
We love rust on PNG lol this is why it's easier to do a project thread while your doing the car :thumb:
Yeah, but even I lost all hope that this car would not end up beeing a stack of Pepsi cans :D so I did not find any point creating a thread for a car that finishes in the scrappy.
Alright here it goes :
In February 2013 my mate started stripping it while I was on my placement year
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880728.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880730.jpg?r=0
Fitted a rust free door as the previous one had the hinge that was gone, I even went on a date with the Nova which also went excellent apart from the car refusing to start but turned out to be a bad earth. I started to take in the fact that this car probably has a mind of its own.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880732.jpg?r=0
Snapped bolt when taking out the head
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880734.jpg?r=0
The cylinders look sort of okay, more to that story late
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880735.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880736.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880740.jpg?r=0
I went back to Bulgaria the weekend before he started stripping it and was bashing it with around 100 miles around town .. suicidal ...
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880743.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880747.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880751.jpg?r=0
He cut out all the problematic pieces and ended up with this
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880729.jpg?r=0
Meanwhile looking at the ads someone was stripping a 1.2 . so I bought this :
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880701.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880702.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880703.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880704.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880705.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880706.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880708.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880709.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880712.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880714.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880718.jpg?r=0
Jonesfach
26-10-16, 10:35 PM
Tidy that 1200 shell.
Nice project. Glad you got the wheels/coilover issues sorted and better ET wheels on.
Oh , glad to see you have noticed the thread here as well, Ben, you had a big part in our last results, again a very big THANK YOU !
Continuing with the rebuild part on the car :
So I was now again back in UK and called this guy to cut off the front of the car , I wanted to take the whole shell but then he would not be able to de-register it from our DVLA ( yes, everything in BG that requires even a single documents takes a week to process, you have to take a day off etc. and all kind of bullsh!t )
So he got the front end cut and I sent my dad on a trip to the other side of the country with his Fiat Stilo hatch to pick it up. Amazingly it fit right in lol
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880722.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880723.jpg?r=0
Unfortunately the budget had to be spent on other stuff and project stopped on hold there.
So come January 2016 my friend gave me a call and asked me if I had sorted out the money and I was like yeah sure, so my christmas gift from him was taking the car to his new garage.
That was the car when I bought it
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880783.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880784.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880785.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880786.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880790.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880792.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880793.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880795.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5318/036880796.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049945.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049946.jpg?r=0
So we cut off the rest of the front end and I start clearing up all the rusty places and patches in order to repair them and prepare it for the new front end
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049947.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049948.jpg?r=0
My buddy taught me a lot of skills on how to disassemble the panels without cutting them out too much but instead drilling the spot welds with a special Wurth drill head (costs 30 EUR here) but it takes much less time that way.
Before starting the project I looked at the floor of the car to make sure it is actually worth restoring it.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049949.jpg?r=0
It was not too bad
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049950.jpg?r=0
This is what the Wurth drill head does
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049951.jpg?r=0
Started cleaning it up
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049952.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049953.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049954.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049956.jpg?r=0
Practiced some welding and started making the first patches
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049957.jpg?r=0
The MIG welder that they had was not very good but I will make them a nice Christmas gift this year with a new one
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049958.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049959.jpg?r=0
Battery tray started to take shape
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049960.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049962.jpg?r=0
Started cleaning up the new front end
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049964.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049965.jpg?r=0
Made the new mud cover protector (sorry do not know what it's called)
Now the orange thing is something you might find interesting, it is Lead oxide powder, it costs about 20 quid here for 0.5 kg, I spent about 3 kg on the whole car I think, in order to mix it, you also need LINSEED OIL, that one is the cheaper one about 2 quid a bottle here , I mix them usually 50:50 , by adding more lead powder, you can then swipe it off, meaning it does not stick well, too much linseed oil does not dry fast enough.
What this thing does is protecting the bare metal, it does not stick very well on painted surfaces but apply it on rust and my god it makes a difference, after sealing it with Primer and paint on top and it will never rust, we found that by accident on my first nova, we applied the mixture on a piece of metal and we welded some patches on the backside of the now orange metal and left it in the rain, 3 weeks later it was still orange and the welds were still white like you have just made 'em. So basically this kills all the rust once and for all. Applying one hand is enough, never do more than 1.
Back to the restoration now
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049967.jpg?r=0
Big hole at the bottom left there LOL
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049968.jpg?r=0
I decided to seal those
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049969.jpg?r=0
And started lining up where I would do the final cuts before giving the car the new front end
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049970.jpg?r=0
Clutch cable on the LHDs goes here
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049971.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049972.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049974.jpg?r=0
This is what happens with the welds after lead has been applied before them
Now it is not a good idea to apply it and weld it after that as the welds are not that perfect as they should be due to impurities created.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049975.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049976.jpg?r=0
Hey I finally started getting the hand of it
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049979.jpg?r=0
Finished cleaning the new front end
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049982.jpg?r=0
So that whole thing took me about a month's work even though I was at the workshop garage every day from 9 to 5 and then working nightshifts .. painfull times but worth it
We started aligning the front end
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049985.jpg?r=0
And we started measuring diagonal lines and we took measurements from the other Nova
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049991.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049986.jpg?r=0
Did some only minor spot welds as we would weld some 3mm thick plates in order to make it nice and solid
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049987.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049989.jpg?r=0
Now we made a big mistake here, what we should have done is fitted the front suspension and take the car to a garage to check the alignment with wheels on. We did not do this but luckily when we got to the alignment stage we were bang on with the results. A big part of that was because we never really welded on one side of the car and we constantly switched from left to right etc. in order for the welds not to pull the car after cooling down.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049990.jpg?r=0
My mates sure did a fantastic job
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049992.jpg?r=0
The next couple of days it was raining so I put together the engine.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049993.jpg?r=0[img]
All standard apart from the throttle body and the Kent Pulley which I still have not adjusted and used and it is just sitting there looking shiny ... [Thanks to Bret Dta for sending it]
[img]http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049994.jpg?r=0
So the insides of the sills were cut deeper than the outsides in order for the welds to not put their stress on the same place
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049995.jpg?r=0
That is the same sill as the pic above , just the pic was taken on the inside
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049996.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049997.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037049998.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037050000.jpg?r=0
Started doing the strengthening plates
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5403/037050004.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5419/037081569.jpg?r=0
And started putting back the side sills that gounder the fenders
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5419/037081572.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5419/037081574.jpg?r=0
Same thing happened on the other side
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5419/037081579.jpg?r=0
Started cleaning up the panels for theStrengthening rally kit I bought on the bay.
Another hole gone
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5419/037081585.jpg?r=0
That was a pain in the A$$ to weld there
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5419/037081586.jpg?r=0
And then another mud protector (I know I know ..)
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203468.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203473.jpg?r=0
It started looking like a car again
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203474.jpg?r=0
I will go on with more details tomorrow, too fed up with typing ..
So I welded the strengthening kit panels in the engine compartment and applied a hand of lead powder on the welded places , left it to dry and started priming the front
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203476.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203477.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203478.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203479.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203480.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203481.jpg?r=0
Forgot to add, I have to bin the windshield now, it is full of holes because of all that welding but totally forgot about it.
After that started applying Body 999 stone chip protector
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203484.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203485.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203486.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203487.jpg?r=0
Nicely done, left it to dry
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203489.jpg?r=0
And my mate painted it
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203491.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203493.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203494.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203495.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203496.jpg?r=0
Тhe other nova sitting in the background
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203499.jpg?r=0
So put a scrappy suspension on it so we can finally start rolling it again after 3 years
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203500.jpg?r=0
Cleaned up all the tanks with sand and dirt
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203504.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203506.jpg?r=0
Started putting back the wiring
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203506.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203509.jpg?r=0
And got the car jacked up so we can put in the engine and fuel tank
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203510.jpg?r=0
At that point the sill panel gave up which meant we could not get the tank in so the car got rolled out again as I decided I will replace both sides.
Back end was also rotten in some places
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203511.jpg?r=0
But otherwise was not too bad
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5480/037203512.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231141.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231146.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231147.jpg?r=0
Bought a spare nova in mint condition , pic below
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231149.jpg?r=0
Revised the Corsa B 256x20mm Calipers with new pads and discs
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231154.jpg?r=0
The other side was slighly worse but again not too bad
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231157.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231158.jpg?r=0
Rear beam axle also fully revised and stripped
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231159.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231160.jpg?r=0
Powerflex going on it
I S2G I have about 5 spare revision kits for rear drums now ....
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231161.jpg?r=0
Strengthtening kit now applied on the other places as well
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231163.jpg?r=0
Orange magic and got the car out on the 13" tyres that I got from the Formula Student team in Hud as they were not allow to bin them lol and fitted the rear GAZ Coils
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231167.jpg?r=0
Looked like a Mini ..
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5494/037231170.jpg?r=0
So welded the new throttle body to the manifold as otherwise it would not fit and put the engine in
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399872.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399873.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399874.jpg?r=0
Fitted new side sills and my mate started preparing it for a black primer
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399877.jpg?r=0
Patched up the other places and now the shell was fully restored
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399878.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399879.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399880.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399882.jpg?r=0
Windscreen will be changed soon as from so much sitting in one place the top sunscreen layer was gone
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399884.jpg?r=0
Otherwise it looked alright.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399886.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399890.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399895.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399897.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399898.jpg?r=0
So 10 days before the first race, I sent that picture to the race organizers and told them we are coming to the 3rd round of Drakon Cup, it is a local former airfield type of race track and each year they make 5 rounds of races , pretty much like what Brands hatch cup will be, 5 rounds, all on the same track, spread throughout the year, the competition is really fierce however with a lot of 106s and Saxos occupying the tops spots in the 1.6 class and Honda doing the same in 2.0 with some 306s
So we got the rear beam out again to put the tank in
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399906.jpg?r=0
And my mate helped throughout the weekend neglecting his pregnant then wife so we can be on time for the first race
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399907.jpg?r=0
So we applied stone chip protection on the whole floor of the car, but we made one very big mistake as never tried starting the engine but more to that later
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399909.jpg?r=0
Got the car out to dry and fitted the front GAZ coils together with the new Anti Roll Bar from Wiechers that just arrived from Germany
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399910.jpg?r=0
BIG A$$ Throttle body
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399913.jpg?r=0
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399914.jpg?r=0
Fitted the other Wiechers at the back
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399922.jpg?r=0
Meanwhile I took out the whole interior to give it a good clean, now it is good as new and smells fresh.
http://media.snimka.bg/s1/5578/037399924.jpg?r=0
So, I had a couple of days off , thinking we only need to assemble the interior and fire up the engine, bleed the brakes and check the water system for leaks, nothing major right.
On Wednesday night we tried firing it up, we had major problems with the spark and the fuel. Engine check light would not come on, turned out to be a bad wiring clamp, fixed all that and on Thursday night we tried again, still nothing, I called all of my friends for help as the schedule was getting tighter for Saturday morning, it turned out I have switched the plugs for the throttle body and the crankshaft sensor, hence why the fuel pump would not kick in, so did that, sorted out the spark, sorted out the timing and again it would not fire up, we decided to measure the compression and it was 6 on the first cylinder, at that time very thoughtfully my mates sent me to get some coffee, in the meantime they put oil in the cylinder and the compression only got up to 9. While I was out, they did this :
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It turned out the cylinders were badly damaged on 1 & 4 as well as damaged crankshaft, damaged big end bearings, damaged conrods, of course I took out the sump pan to give the engine a good clean but I did not take any of the conrod ends to check for engine health etc, I assumed it was okay, but as the car was rarely driven between 2010 and 2013 ( I got the insurance records for it but that was just 5 days ago ) [we insure the car here, not the driver like in UK], therefore I started to add up that the oil was probably never changed apart from me doing it when I assembled the engine and during that time the damage was done. Of course I drove the car when we bought it but that was 3 years ago. So, it was Thursday night about 11 PM , we decided to give the head tomorrow for a quick skim and trial the spare C16SE engine I just bought a couple of months earlier.
More to that tomorrow .
Impressed with the front end swap.
So it was Friday morning 8AM , 24hrs befoure our first race, we got the spare engine out , hooked it to a battery so we can measure the compression, it was not started in about 6 months now, the 1st cylinder gave 11, the rest were at 10.5 but gradually going up so we knew it was in perfect health.
The old engine block still in the car with the transmission
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The engine loom still was everywhere so we can be able to double check possible problems
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Taking the head off the spare engine
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The whole garage was a freakin' mess
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One is assembling the new engine, the other repairing the engine loom and packing it with isolation tape, while the third is grinding the car to prepare it for black primer
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So it was 4 PM and we finally managed to start it
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The sound was very healthy, measured compression again and it was 12 on all cylinders so it was a good healthy engine now.
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But now the difficult times came, I put back on the spare bumper I got, together with the rear lights and rear bumper and number plates all around.
at 11 pm we left the engine to run and the radiator leaked, so got the other spare GSi radiator , we swapped it and it leaked again.
While we were checking that , we also tried bleeding the brakes, no matter what we did, there was hardly any fluid going to the back wheels, we were doing this for the next 2 hours until the brake pump decided to give in and started leaking, so again, spare pump, another lost hour, it was already 1AM we have stayed quite a lot working the whole day on the car, Stanislav came in to see how we are we doing (he was going to drive the car in the 1.6 class as I hooked him up on those track day races) I sent him off home to get some sleep and told him I will pick him up at 5:30 AM to go to the track and be on time for the scrutineering stage at 8 AM. Little did I know ...
So new brake pump fitted in, we started bleeding the brakes again and it was the same, no fluid going to the back wheels, I had now changed everything apart from the front tubes, I have replaced the back tubes , all hoses, all cylinders either new or revised on each wheel, everything was new, but it looked like this pump was also not working okay, at 4 AM while bleeding the brakes, one of the front tubes gave in and started leaking, one of my mates was already on the brink of an emotional breakdown, it was that horrible, I got the spare tubes out, turned out, the one we needed was broken :( So we tightened the current one we had as a last resort and miraculously it stopped leaking and finally managed to get some fluid at the back, so it was 4:30 AM, the car was starting and running fine, cooling fans switching on and off, no leaks, we packed up and I got on my way home to take a shower and pick up Stanislav.
I had not driven the car in more than 3 years so I floored it to see how it goes and with a big surprise on my face nothing happened, it was that slow, very sluggish and would hardly accelerate under full throttle, it had a new fuel pump fitted with the injectors from X20XEV and the throttle body from C26NE but it was still running the smaller 1.6 AFM but we did not know it would cause the problem back then.
So, 100 miles later and we were on the race track , passed scrutineering , passed the instructions and all and at 10 AM the car hit the track having hardly been driven before that
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Was still smiling after a very long all-nighter.
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Needless to say it never went to an MOT or front axle alignment so we did everything using some old school methods .
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The car looked very funny though, really high, but really balanced through the corners with a very slight body roll.
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So I finished last in class 2.0 with 3 seconds off the pace from the guy in front and 15 seconds off the pace of the leading Hondas
Stanislav actually managed second to last, leaving a Corsa B GSi behind his back, still to this day I do not know what was the problem of the car behind us as we were a disgrace regarding trackspeed.
More to our on track stories later.
So we finsihed okay in Plovdiv, on the second session the alternator gave in and stopped charging the battery. Meanwhile I nearly fainted while waiting to go on track as I had not slept apart from during the travel to the race track and it was 25 deg outside in mid - September.
We decided to skip the 3rd session and packed up and went home, I left the car in the garage and then the starter gave up. This car clearly had a mind of its own, I never had a Vaux in my life that broke down so many things in such a short time but I guess its because it was just sat for a very long time.
So fast forward 3 weeks later, all the problems fixed, starter replaced, car went through MOT with a new properly revised brake pump and now braking excelleng, alignment done and we had it bang on, apart from one of the front wheels beeing 5mm off but I think I will sort this out this week as the camber bolts were not placed propely and the washers on them are also misplaced.
The alternator problem turned out to be a broken main supply wire, so replaced that, meanwhile we spent 2-3 days solving the problem with the power, so fitted a new fuel pressure regulator that is running 4 bar instead of 2.5, fitted new AFM from a C20NE and now the car goes like mad for standard 1.6 internals .
We spent early October Thursdays and Fridays on a local abandoned go kart track, we did about 100 miles on it without technical hiccups and on on 8th of October we went on the way to a military airport that is used as a race track during the weekends, yeah, it sounds mad right ? A bunch of guys driving around the track while next to us Mi24s and MIG planes responsible for our Air Defense sitting right next to us, well I think those guys can't even fend off a pack of geese but that's another story.
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So we did 5 hours of driving and the only technical issues we had were the brake pads giving in (they were Delphi, the cheapest ones I could find :D )
And also the tyres were very worn on the inside because of the cambers and high speed corners.
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The team
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Also the lower front Wiechers sway bar came in so we fitted that as well before the weekend
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So only positives around that weekend, we were much closer to the cars in front but we were still near the back of the grid because everyone else was running semi slicks and there was just one other 1.6 Saxo that was behind us, All the others we Hondas and Astra Mk3 GSi which were everything but not standard so we did not have a good chance for a good result.
But overall we achieved our goals to have a consistent and almost faultless car that can be competitive.
More info later on ...
totalnova
28-10-16, 11:46 AM
Loving the story so far, keep the updates coming.
Nick
Jonesfach
28-10-16, 01:56 PM
Fantastic story to this. Thanks for sharing.:)
So, we got back from Pleven and had some minor issues with the car, we replaced the front brake pads as the old one were overheated a lot and the car did not brake very good resulting in the backside always sliding due to more brake force applied at the back. All 4 of us managed to control the car really well and 3 of us were running identical lap times of 2:44 with about .5 of a second difference due to different driving styles and approach. One of my mates did not like the handling of the car, went out, hit 3 cones and took out the rear bumper, easy fix though, we sorted it out very quick so no real issues there. With the help of Ben I lowered the rear of the car and managed to fit narrower standard Vauxhall 15" rims at the back that do not rub at the arches and also fit withing 1-2 mm distance between the tyre and the spring, its a very very tight fit at the moment :
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So I swapped wheels and the Stilauto ET30 7J went on the front of the car in order to allow me drop the front with 4 threads on the GAZ Coilovers for our last session at Plovdiv
This time we prepared well, the car was all done on Friday afternoon around 3 PM, got the alignment done at 4 PM running -1.2 camber on both front wheels and the toe out set as standard per Vauxhall specs.
We got the spare parts and tools into another car and hit the road.
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Scrutineering went well but due to wet track Stanislav came out on the very first corner as he carried too much speed, he came back in the pits for us to check the car instead of continuing which I still to this day tell him it was a mistake as he missed the rest of the 10 minutes in this session. Everything with the car was fine and it was time for me to jump in.
I put ourselves the goal to come home with a lap time of 1.22 which would give us a medium result regarding the pace that the pack makes in the 2.0 class and I managed to do it in my very first lap, after that I hit traffic and I did not manage to improve my time of 1.22.5.
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So time came for the second session and I got rid of the headlight to allow for more cold air to come in as sometimes the car was struggling with power coming out of some of the corners on third gear and then with switching to 4th there was a sudden surge of power.
We left the front suspensions settings of bump / rebound to 15 clicks and altered the rear from 7 to 11 clicks, also tyres were running F 2.2 BAR , R 2.0 and we altered that to F 2.4 and R 2.2 BAR and this now resulted in much better handling, the car stopped surging under 3rd gear but still we got a lot of horrible wheel spin coming out of the corners.
Stanislav got a best time of 1.21.4 in his second session so the game was on, I had to improve as well.
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So with my turn behind the wheel I managed to take the lap times down to high 1.20s with a best result of 1.20.466.
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So, we had a break and I lowered the front suspension with 4 threads to test how the car is going to behave as in some corners we had some oversteer after hitting bumps.
However "Irmena" once again had a mind of its own, it started cutting off the ignition , losing the fuel pump relay, losing the ignition coil, it hampered us both on both of our 3rd and last sessions and together with dropping the front the car was not as responsive to the cornering any more resulting in 1 sec slower laptimes for both of us.
So we got the car into the pits, I tried to see what the problem was checking all the connections and I noticed that when I shake the wiring harness during ignition ON on the key, the relay started clicking on and off so at least I managed to trace the fault.
We got on our way back, did 100 miles and just about 10 miles away from home the car started developing the same problems, no matter what I did it constantly lost ignition in town during traffic and cutting off right before the lights going green, the last 10 miles took us 50 minutes until it finally died at front of my home, drove it the past week now with no signs of the problem after again shaking the wiring harness ... weird thing that , I tell you ..
Anyway got another wiring harness plug cut off as I have traced the wiring plug between the chassis and the engine to be the problematic piece so will replace that now but overall there will hardly be any updates on the thread this winter until February as I will put the car in the garage and work on the XE Nova during the winter to prepare it for next season as well.
Thanks for the interest in the thread and I hope you guys enjoyed it so far.
P.S. Another problem I stumbled up on was the camber bolts coming loose and undone so I have put thread-locking seal on them now.
Here is a link to our YouTube channel with onboard videos of our 2nd sessions in Plovdiv :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEVVRNuarGbYKWqQRKihB7Q
Overall I finished 10/14 behind a Corsa B XE and an Astra mk3 GSi XE just about a second in front of me, with the leading Honda Civic 5gen about 9 sec in front of me (240bhp tuned B18C Type R Integra engine) , Stanislav finished 6/8 trailing two Honda Civics 6gen 1.6 in front of him with less than 1 second.
I've heard of a few people having the camber bolts move. Dont forget your putting alot of force on them. Might be better to bin them and go adjustable top mounts instead.
I am worried that the shell will not hold up with adjustable mount as it does not have a roll cage, only has the roll bars fitted. I have got the mounts at the garage though.
I dont think they would put that much pressure on the shell. Loads of people use them with out cages.
If you worried weld around the turrets.
Just uploaded a video of my mate's driving in the third session in class Street 1.6
https://youtu.be/S2LTwaTN8Jo
Do not know how to properly embed videos so please excuse me for this.
For this session the car was dropped by 4 threads on the front coilovers and even though I liked it better as it was more responsive and handling was more stabilized it actually produced more under-steer but we will look into this further next year, this time with proper semi-slick tyres.
_Tomiboy
12-11-16, 03:01 PM
You need other steering rack from Corsa B.
Is it shorter from turn to turn ? Or you mean to use the the linkage between the rack and the steering wheel from Corsa B to straighten the wheel a little bit.
_Tomiboy
12-11-16, 07:27 PM
Turn to turn. Your is 4.1, the hydraulic corsa b, and from 98 the racks with epas are 2.7. The later one you can use without epas, on the track you dont need servo.
Thanks for the valuable info, mate, will consider this, defo !
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