engines?

[nova-lew]

right guys i havent passed my test yet but am looking to buy a car soon.

my bro's mate is sellin a 1.1 with no rust any where, but it would want a bigger engine, so how much do you rekon it would cost to fit an SR engine or GTE engine?
what do you have to change, gearbox, driveshafts, etc?

[Snowface]

u can't get a 1.1 Nova, most likely a 1.0.

[Adam]

Vauxhall didn't make a 1.1 Nova. OH! Snowface beat me to it!!!!LOL
As for the engine, if the car is a 1L, then it is pretty easy to drop in a gte engine or sr. Easier for SR(carb)

You can pick up a complete gte for probably about ?100( if in crap condition body wise, just make sure it runs sweet), then just unbolt the engine and switch it. i don't think you need to swap the gearbox but it would be best if you swapped the gearbox to a gte one. I don't know about the driveshafts, but if you selected a GTE you would need a new petrol tank for the injection unit of the gte, and you would need to wire up the engine loom( ecu etc).

The easier option is to drop in a 1.3/1.4SR, i would probably go for the 1.3 SR. It seems to have slightly better performance in some aspects. Then it would be more of a straight swap, carb engine to carb engine, same petrol tank,driveshafts, i would swap gearbox to a 5speed, instead of 1L 4speed.
Then fit a Weber 32/34 carb, Kent cam, vernier pulley, and full exhaust system and you could be reaching 90/100 bhp. probably slightly less.
BUT with 1.3SR insurance(group 5) and not GTE insurance(group 11), very valuable when you have just started driving.
Hope this helps you mate, and welcome to Novaload.

[Stuart]

before you get all excited about bigger engines, think about the insurance first. you dont want to spend a load on getting the car "fastish" etc and find out that you cant insure it.


a 1.2 is a suitable change from the 1liter lump, and its perfectly adequate for a year, atleast to get that killer year out of the way.

to be fair a much bigger engine and a very new driver = car in hedge

[nova-lew]

hey 'long live the nova' i think your right about the 1.3sr might do that.

i get carried away cause all my mates have got GSI's or XR2's. it would cost me just over ?300 a month for a gte so i'll be leavin that.

my mate was gunna sell me a 2.0ltr cav car for ?100 thats right ?100, so i was gunna have that for the engine.

cheers guys.

how much would it cost to fit a 1.3sr engine.

[Aragorn]

i would seriously advise against fitting anything more than a 1200 engine untill youve got some experiance behind the wheel

its all to easy getting caught up in trying to race your mate in the xr2 and ending up mangled into the side of a lorry or having some nice armco implanted in your forehead

i drove a 1.2i for a year then got myself a bigger engine and even tho it now seems "slow" as ive been driving it for a good few months - there are still times when ive hit a bend too quick or left braking a little late and thaught "fuck me that was lucky" to think what wouldve happened with a little more power and a little more speed doesnt bear thinking about...

dont wanna sound as though im lecturing you or owt just common sense :P

[Snowface]

its not even worth the hassle fitting a 1.2 in place as ur 1.0. u only gain 10bhp. i'd drive ur 1.0 for a year then put in a 1.3sr.

Or if ur dead set on a 1.2 then buy a 1.2 Merit. U can pick them up for as little as ?100 or around ?300 for good bodywork and lowish milage.

It's cost u nearly that much in time and buying engine/parts. Plus in a years time putting a 1.3 or 1.4 sr in is DEAD easy.

Plus the 1.2 will have a 5-speed box (if its 1989+).

[nova-lew]

yeah i think your right actually. i'm glad you put a post on cause it made me think. i will probably get a 1.2 cause my brother used to have one and people who drove it thaught it had a bigger engine than a 1.2

cheers.

[Jack]

Plus the 1.2 will have a 5-speed box (if its 1989+).

not necessarily....

[Ste_Nova]

The easier option is to drop in a 1.3/1.4SR, i would probably go for the 1.3 SR. It seems to have slightly better performance in some aspects.

fuck off..... thats an old wives tail... i was told it in college by all the 1.3sr owners.. then i got a 1.4sr they laughed at me... then i wasted them!

[Adam]

I said in some aspects, isn't the 1.3SR quicker to 60, but the 1.4Sr has a higher top speed

[Jack]

i'd heard the 1.3 responds better to mods... but then that was me mate with a 1.3SR trying to convince me not to get a 1.4 :P

[Ste_Nova]

if it is it's only due to the extra weight of the mk2

have a look at the stats for a mk1 1.3sr and a mk1 1.4sr

[Nath]

well i agree with everyone when they say stay to a small engined car i mean i had a 1.4 fiesta for my first car and that was way too quick for me and its only now after i wrote it off that i realise it was. stay with a 1.2 for a year like i have done and build up your no-claims plus the 1.2 is well nippy!

[nova-lew]

yeah i'll probably look at a 1.2 or a 1.3sr.

cheers guys.

[Barn]

i was thinking the same Ste...1.3SR or 1.4SR...hmmmm

I'm driving my first car and its a 1.4SR. It is nippy. And despite what other ppl think it would p*ss all over the 1.3 Ford Ka I learned in. But then a 1.2 would prob be 'nippy' to some. So..

what i say is if you want to go for an SR get one...but just don't drive like a c*nt in one. Thats prob how most others have wrapped their cars up.

Mind you, drive like a c*nt in a 1.0L and you will prob wrap it up...

choice is up to you only at the end of the day

[Adam]

But another thing you gotta remember is that a 1.3SR is always gonna be cheaper to insure, is two insurance groups more for a 1.4SR worth the few extra bhp?

[Barn]

i reckon mate, but that my opinion.

[Adam]

I personally think that the extra insurance is worth it, and i know that the 1.4SR is faster than the 1.3, but two insurance groups can be costly when you are the wrong side of 20

[nova-lew]

f*ck it i'm gunna get an SR. my brothers got a 1.4SR and i just wanna be able to catch him and beet him. there pretty nippy thou aswell so thats a good thing.
i'm not realy botherd how much i spend on my insurance, got nothing else to spend it on.

i was thinking of a GTE, got a quote for ?300 a month, i didnt think it was that bad myself.

[Stuart]

300 per month :o

i pay just over half that for an entire year lmao

[nova-lew]

hey cambridge, what do you drive? bet you been drivin a while thou.

[Stuart]

im old :( lol on the 5th april ill have 5 years no claims lol

[nova_rally]

what's all this 'nippy' going about? a 1.4SR is a FAST car - will leave quite a few of the 'respectable' cars standing with a little tuning. Out of all the car's in college my 1.4SR has been proven faster than the more powerful competion. VERY toigh cars as well - I was rear ended by a pug 205 last night in mine on a road rally (c*nt speccies chasing me) - not a mark on my car to say it had been hit.

Alan