Nova Plans

[Festerfly]

Right..

My parents have given me a very cheap/free Clean 1988 Nova 1.0 Basic 3DR for my wife to learn to drive in /me to travel to work in etc...

I want to upgrade it without being silly and making it look like somehting off of blue peter...

I want it to handle well, be reliable and go well.. at the same time i dont want it to be more attractive theft wise and it must be on the strictest most tightest budget you have ever seen!!!!! http://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

My first thoughts....

16v GSI Front brake callipers, discs and pads etc...
GTE Suspension (used of course) possibly lowered but inc roll bars (i know this is a debatable item)
Wheels to cover the new brakes ( i was thinking either a set of GSI wheels but might just go with a set of 15" steels from a cav as more unassuming..)
Strut brace's front and rear.

Any other thoughts?

Im not a chav but would like a nice little day to day car which handles/goes well etc... im not looking to drop in a redtop (althought that would be lovely! http://www.cavweb-forums.co.uk/images/smilies/wink_smile2.gif) dues to insurance and associated problems... but might consider a 1.3/1.4 SR lump down the road...

any thoughts?

Ta

[mikey14sr]

16v GSI Front brake callipers, discs and pads etc... Best solution for nova brakes (IMO).

GTE Suspension (used of course) possibly lowered but inc roll bars (i know this is a debatable item) New gte shocks from local motor factors wont be too expensive, with used -35mm springs?

Wheels to cover the new brakes ( i was thinking either a set of GSI wheels but might just go with a set of 15" steels from a cav as more unassuming..) 14" steelies from astra or cav will be enough to go over the brakes, and might be easier to find as 15" steels were only fitted to later model corsa's, astra's and vectra's.

Strut brace's front and rear. Front yes, rear no unless it bolts to the inner wings, NOT just sits on top of the damper threads as these offer no stiffening whatsoever.

[Festerfly]

cheers for that..

think the steelies are the way to go....

Didnt think about the suspension as you mentioned.. might be the better way to go.... was thinking about the age old ARB situation aswell.....

[dannyb]

I have a set of 14" 5.5J Cav steels that are fine on my Nova, they are actually wider than 3 spoke GSI alloys (they are only 5") so are the better choice as you can fit 195 55 14 tyres safely or have 185 50 14 tyres . I got a set for ?40 with decent tyres - then sprayed them satin black (pm for pics). You can get 15" off a later astra (like a V reg shape) but 14" look more stealth! Even Cav 2.0 brakes are a decent upgrade and wont cost the earth and will definitely fit under the wheels. GSi/GTE shocks will give you and automatic 25mm drop over standard but are, more importantly, stiffer. These will keep the stealth thing going on and will be really cheap to buy new.
Both ARBs will work really well with the GTE/GSi suspension, seeeing as Vaux prob spent a few quid develpoing it, I should think they would.
And of course, good quality tyres and new bushes and you'll be sorted!

[Festerfly]

thanks Danny... thats basically what i had in mind.. nice set of bushes also which is one thing i fogot to put down! lol

one of the reasons i said the gte/gsi setup was because of the standard stiffness improvement and drop etc... also, saves messing around with the cheaper shock and spring kits on the market.. ARB's too.. was thining the exact same thing...

i do quite like the idea of 15's steelies though.. ot fussed about holding out for later astra/veccy ones.. just thought you had to have 15's for the brake conversion and the larger the steel wheel the cooler it would look at the same time...

i guess it aso depends on whats available at the time and tyre costs and the like....