Paul's Nostalgic X16XE Nova

[Paul X16XE]

Hi all i thought i would get a build thread going as i am now underway. I Have wanted another nova since i sold my last one back in 2005.


I picked myself up a MKII 1.2 Merit on a 'J' plate for the grand sum of £370 on ebay. The shell is clean and has been garaged for most
of its life and has only covered 42,329 miles.


My plan is to fit the 1.6 16v x16xe engine from an 'R' reg Tigra which i also recently purchased for a whopping £461.50 (another ebay special).
This car is also in great condition for the age with 2 owners from new and Mileage only 42,159.


I thought the mileage was a bit of a fluke as normally with an engine swap the mileage is completly different so i have been using the Tigra
as a run around for a bit and the mileage for both the nova shell and the donor engine are now identical!!




So far i have Stripped the Tigra for all the parts i will need and have the engine ready and waiting to be built.
Back in the summer i bought myself a white Sri and had planned to restore/modify that. But upon further investigation the shell was in a really bad way, had
limited history and has covered around 160k miles. So i stripped the car to use as a donor and sold the shell. I now already have alot of the parts
i want as the Sri's shared many of the uprated Gsi parts which will make life easier and i have been slowly collecting parts and panels.


I am now in the process of removing the engine and box from the nova ready for a dry fit of the x16xe before stripping and respray.


thanks for looking :thumb:

[kevy.m]

Hi buddy good luck with your build :thumb:

[Paul X16XE]

Thanks man :)

[mk1nova_rich]

Good luck with the build, hopefully you can get some photos up soon :thumb:

Was just looking at Tigras on eBay, they are so much stranger looking than I remember lol

[Paul X16XE]

Good luck with the build, hopefully you can get some photos up soon :thumb:

Was just looking at Tigras on eBay, they are so much stranger looking than I remember lol

Thanks buddy. Yep I was thinking of making a pickup out of the shell for laughs but got rid for the room.
Pics on the way, made a photo account and attached some last night [emoji1303]


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[Paul X16XE]

As you can see the panels are a bit worse for wear but underneath the shell is pretty tidy as far as I can tell at this stage lol


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[mk1nova_rich]

As you can see the panels are a bit worse for wear but underneath the shell is pretty tidy as far as I can tell at this stage lol


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Nope can't see lol photos aren't showing if you have tried to upload

[Paul X16XE]

[emoji23] oh well.. it said last night I need admin to check to allow attachments maybe it's that..
I do have the pics I promise lol.
I'm sure it will be up and working soon [emoji4]


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[torquey]

You need 15 posts to post pics don't you?

[Andy]

Are they still on with that shit even though there's nothing to post on half the time it'd take months

[torquey]

Pretty sure it still stands.

[totalnova]

I'm sure a MOD will be along at some stage and sort the pics out, or just go and be a post whore for a few minutes lol

[Paul X16XE]

ok didnt realise that. I can manage that im sure.

[Paul X16XE]

7

[Paul X16XE]

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[Paul X16XE]

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[Paul X16XE]

10 yawn!

[Paul X16XE]

11

[Paul X16XE]

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[Paul X16XE]

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[Paul X16XE]

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[Paul X16XE]

15 yeah lol lol

[Paul X16XE]

lets try again..

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_2621_zpsvko341am.png (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_2621_zpsvko341am.png.html)
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_2620_zpsarmu0lvp.png (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_2620_zpsarmu0lvp.png.html)
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_2616_zps2t8rwo91.png (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_2616_zps2t8rwo91.png.html)
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_2981_zpsex58vies.jpg (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_2981_zpsex58vies.jpg.html)
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_2980_zpsfiljvsbo.jpg (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_2980_zpsfiljvsbo.jpg.html)

[Paul X16XE]

thats how it looks at the minute, heres a few pics of the tigra engine donor..

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_2571_zps6sbrsuqs.jpg (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_2571_zps6sbrsuqs.jpg.html)
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_2954_zpsbe9lqg1l.jpg (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_2954_zpsbe9lqg1l.jpg.html)
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_2955_zpskjezwhbc.jpg (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_2955_zpskjezwhbc.jpg.html)

now have the engine out and most of the unwanted bits removed:

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_2969_zpsfty0ekgz.jpg (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_2969_zpsfty0ekgz.jpg.html)

will keep the updates coming.
thanks for looking and thanks for the help with the pics to guys :thumb:

[mk1nova_rich]

Doesn't look too bad a shell other than the obvious lol are you keeping the X16XE fairly standard or got a few upgrades planned?

[Paul X16XE]

Doesn't look too bad a shell other than the obvious lol are you keeping the X16XE fairly standard or got a few upgrades planned?

Yep not bad shape underneath the dented panels. I already have most of the panels I need. Still on the look out for some new unpainted doors and passenger rear quarter.

I'm currently planning for around the 180bhp mark. So starting with jenvey throttle bodies and then later cams, pulleys, head work etc.
Will upgrade over time as and when I have the monies [emoji857][emoji857][emoji857][emoji857]

Thanks for looking


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[torquey]

Looking good these engines seem to be getting popular now! Shell looks clean.

[Paul X16XE]

Just unpacking after a bit of shopping [emoji847]


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[Paul X16XE]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170109/21e0d9c89ad5e87ae4f531428f130a4d.jpg


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[totalnova]

Oooohhhhh expensive shiny bits, what management will you run?

[Paul X16XE]

Oooohhhhh expensive shiny bits, what management will you run?

Will be just running the base map that comes with the SBD ecu to start


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[Paul X16XE]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170109/55bfb6637f7e6e647db44a5393e72657.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170109/a35a2231dfdb2c7d4b1a1b7643f0a312.jpg


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[Paul X16XE]

The plan is to bolt everything together and mount the engine so I know what I want and where before i strip it down completely for respray
Thanks for looking all [emoji1303]


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[totalnova]

Ah, so it comes with an mbe ecu with a base map, sounds pricey. I've gone the pikey route and gone with gsxr throttle bodies with a custom manifold and plan on using an omex600 ecu. Looking forward to see this progressing.
Nick

[nova_niek]

I'm sure you've looked into getting ARP rod bolts and SBD oil pump gear? With a goal of around 180 bhp, cams and stiffer valve springs are the order of the day. Oh and maybe a set of delicious steel rods? Nom Nom 😊

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[mk1nova_rich]

180bhp baby 16v will be lovely :cool: can you open the ports and manifold right out into more of a triangular shape?

[Paul X16XE]

Ah, so it comes with an mbe ecu with a base map, sounds pricey. I've gone the pikey route and gone with gsxr throttle bodies with a custom manifold and plan on using an omex600 ecu. Looking forward to see this progressing.
Nick

Thanks Nick [emoji1303]


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[Paul X16XE]

I'm sure you've looked into getting ARP rod bolts and SBD oil pump gear? With a goal of around 180 bhp, cams and stiffer valve springs are the order of the day. Oh and maybe a set of delicious steel rods? Nom Nom [emoji4]

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Hey nova_niek,
Yep rods pistons and head bolts with aim of raising the rev limiter. All to come, after respray and quite a few wage packets and pennies later but it will get there. Watch this space bud, thanks for looking [emoji4]
Paul


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[Paul X16XE]

180bhp baby 16v will be lovely :cool: can you open the ports and manifold right out into more of a triangular shape?

Hey Rich,

Thanks I think 180bhp will be awesome too. I will definitely be matching the jenvey manifold to the head using the inlet gasket. I might wait though as will prob be swapping the head at some point for an earlier type as the ports are larger. SBD have a whole section about the heads made for this engine on their website and it can make a huge difference depending on the one you have. Mine is in descent condition but not the best performing type. So will at some point swap the head and match the tb inlet to that. Sorry for the long answer lol

Paul


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[Paul X16XE]

So i didnt get much time out in the garage this week so i thought i would tidy up the dials a little. I bought some fluorescent paint from ebay and im pleased with the result so far, think i will prob end up doing the clock too. Seems to really brighten up the old faded white needles.

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_3034_zps2pbs3kmj.jpg (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_3034_zps2pbs3kmj.jpg.html)

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_3033_zpsnlzwpg6q.jpg (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_3033_zpsnlzwpg6q.jpg.html)

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_3036_zpst2llwwfu.jpg (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_3036_zpst2llwwfu.jpg.html)

and the end result.....

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u421/pauldanielferris/IMG_3245_zpshzhbfqlc.jpg (http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/pauldanielferris/media/IMG_3245_zpshzhbfqlc.jpg.html)

thanks for looking once again :thumb:

[mk1nova_rich]

Looks cool :thumb:

[nova_niek]

Nice little upgrade, like it.

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