realistic ???'s for an let

[shy witness]

after a bit of talk through the week there .....


my mate is kind of thinking about building an let nova.

we're not talkin about a mint showstopper here....but at the same time....he's wanting it 2 b built well and kept tight


how much would it take 2 do this..........roughly???

bear in mind....he can do the work himself..and its only the mechanics that the money needs spent on as he's not 2 worried about looks/interior etc etc

could someone even supply a shortlist of wots required

and wot would b the minimum requirement for brakes(without going 2 mad)



thanks folks:thumb:

[Ste L]

v6/turbo brakes min...

few k to do it proper i would of though, thats inc buying engine

[Lee]

LET engines are still making good money, expect to pay a grand for a goodun. Dave Marshall on PVG normally has a few kicking about. You can also PM him on here.

Add to that a charge cooler, unless he wants to chop the front about to fit an inter in there, thats his decision. IMO, Standard LET = Chargecooler, Lots of boost = Intercooler. Prices vary, ebays a good place to start.

Valver fitting kit or a collection of parts to do the job. (find a c20xe fitting guide). Gearbox wise, again, an F20 on a standard engine, F28 for one running high boost, or an F20 running quaife internals.

Custom exhaust = 350 quid ish

Valver brakes minimum with good aftermarket disks and IMO Pagid FR pads or Mintex equivilent = 300 quid ish

The rest should be doable himself if hes handy, namely stich welding and plating the engine bay minimum (Harry Hockley kit abailiable with all plates needed), and a bit of modding. Dave made the front panel easily removeable to easily get at the turbo which is a very good idea!

[shy witness]

i dont think he's worried 2 much about running extra boost and that

just 2 really run the standard engine i think would b enough......

and keep the car pretty standard,with no big interrcoolers and the like stuck on

welding isnt a problem either as far as sorting the engine bay out and wotever

could an exhaust not b made/modified easily enough(and cheaply)????

wots a chargecooler???wheres it normally situated???and how much would 1 cost????


also wots its purpose..........is it 2 keep the inducted air from the turbo cool...(or does that sound 2 much like a ronseal advertisement) lol

[Lee]

Yup exactly that, but a chargecooler uses water to cool the inlet temp rather than air to air therefore the rad can be a lot smaller and fits subtly in front of the engine rad without any choppage being required.

Exhaust can be made / modded, but id always go the stainless route if i was doing the job properly. Remember that the biggest exhaust that fits a nova id designed for a 1.6 8v, not a 2.0 turbo lol. Id expect him to go with at least a 2.5 inch system.

[Jack]

If you go the charge cooler route you'd be wanting a bonnet vent as well.

[Lee]

If you go the charge cooler route you'd be wanting a bonnet vent as well.

Thats not true matey, they work perfectly well without one. Dave's is on CS2 software on a courtenay charge cooler and the inlet temp is perfect!

[The Simps]

See my thread mate - http://www.novaload.net/forum/showthread.php?t=61345. Its like a diary of my car which i'm now converting to LET.

Personally I wouldn't want to run the standard intercooler on a nova, its rubbish, simple as that.

An let conversion is not something that can be done in a weekend like a valver conversion. There's also lots of little bits that need changing and doing and the cost soon builds up.

I already had a valver in mine and my swap has gone well in excess of ?2.5/3k already. If your starting from scratch it will likely be more.

Just my opinion.

Simps.

[shy witness]

ouch

but thats what i'm wanting to hear.....some honest opinions

i know its not straightforward.......thats why he wants to do it...

as i said he's more than capable with the mechanical and welding work etc etc...so there will b no cost there ...just time

its just all the extra items that ur talking about....its the cost of them that may b the problem

i'll have a readthrough ur build anyway mate,as i'm sure it will answer some questions..

and thanx for the reply

[krobinson]

Yeah, its definatly not cheap.

Your talking a good ?3500 for a decent job, and ?5000 for a mint show job.

Keith

[Ben]

It is straight forward, just dont rush it and take your time, find a cheap calibra turbo and do it that way and save a fortune.

[shy witness]

see originally we were talking about a ?1500 outlay maximum

thats wot i originally thought myself..........but if its gonna cost ?3500 + to build 1 as keith suggested, its not realistic......

sure if u really felt the need ..u could buy someone elses for that kinda money....

after them doing the work themselves

its the joy i'm trying 2 go through 2 keep some of my mates even slightly interested in nova's.....but if the expense is 2 much....i'm sure they'll just head down the normal v-tec civic or wotever else is in fashion.and just tune that....which isnt what i want

[Ben]

TBH with no offence to Keith but you can build one a lot less than that, its just Keith does everything VERY well and dosent skimp on anything.

If you look at buying a Calibra Turbo for around ?7-800 and removing the engine and gearbox etc, break the rest of the car which will pay for the car or even engine will owe you ?200ish.

Then you can buy the fitting kit for around ?150-200 for everything needed (eg shafts mounts etc) Then you just need to sort the Intercooler etc.

[The Simps]

TBH with no offence to Keith but you can build one a lot less than that, its just Keith does everything VERY well and dosent skimp on anything.

If you look at buying a Calibra Turbo for around ?7-800 and removing the engine and gearbox etc, break the rest of the car which will pay for the car or even engine will owe you ?200ish.

Then you can buy the fitting kit for around ?150-200 for everything needed (eg shafts mounts etc) Then you just need to sort the Intercooler etc.


Then add up the cost of all the other little bits like:-

timing belt kit
oil & filter
coolant
spark plugs
boost pipes and hoses
vacuum hoses
water hoses
boost guage
brakes
suspension
decent tyres

the list goes on and on. some items are only a few quid but they add up. Listen to the people who have actually done it not that who have an idea of what they think it might cost. Also, why do you think most of the people who do the let conversion have the car off the road for months on end?? ech conversion is slightly different depending on spec so a lot of head scratching is needed which takes time.

As for being one already modded. Personally, I would never buy a modified car, especially not something as lethal as a Nova LET! Someone elses idea of high standard can differ from yours a great deal.

Simps.

p.s. Also, how many abandoned Nova LET projects do you see being broken on forums and on ebay.

[Philsutton]

i built mine for about 3k and thats buying all new parts, car ect...I had a rollcage new coilovers, nitrous, lsd, and many other bits

[The Simps]

You done very well then Phil to get all that for the money. I'm not trying to discourage the lad from doing it I just want him to be realistic of how the cost can spiral.

Simps.

[Rick Draper]

Buy a cav or cally for ?1k, break it as ben says, keep the engine and gearbox.

Fit a new timing belt kit, ?30
Fit a new water pump, ?33
Sort the engine mounts out, ?50 and ?47
Use brakes off the cav/cally turbo,
Buy some used coilovers off mig or here (FK's are going cheap brand new),
Get a fontera intercooler ?100.

I believe you could do it for about ?1500 including fitting a F28 6 speed gearbox. You just need to know what you are buying and not buy needless things. All of those prices are ebay ones and the timing belt and water pump are genuine vauxhall ones.

[Ben]

You done very well then Phil to get all that for the money. I'm not trying to discourage the lad from doing it I just want him to be realistic of how the cost can spiral.

Simps.

Not at all, thats what it costs, As Rick says people get carried away buying crap they dont really need, Try to do it in phases, firstly buy the engine and fit it, get it running then worry about other things for the car later on.

You can buy decent suspesnion for a couple of hundered quid and some decent brakes for ?50-100.

Its only expensive if you want it to be.

[craig green]

Its already expensive.
LETs are well overpriced IMO. Most are past there best in terms of engine life & turbo's etc.
If I paid a grand for one, I'd expect sub 50k miles & or a new turbo. Most of em are circa 12yrs old now. The price gap between XE & LET is just daft IMO.

[Ben]

If you found a 50k one you would need more than ?1k to buy it.

I agree in the overpricing though, i would rather spend the extra ?1k on tuning a XE.

[NickWalliams]

you will also need at least one pacet cooling fan ?90each. It will cost at least ?2500 not to mention all the problems you will encounter along the way