Just bought another Nova.

[Matt GTE]

Having been Novaless since July last year the withdrawal symptoms have been becoming too much to handle despite having a Vectra GSi and LETed Mk3 Astra GSi to play with. I recently went halves with a mate on a Mk2 Astra GTE with the intention of restoring it to something vaguely resembling it's former glory and either selling it or using it as a track car but after the bumpers and skirts came off we came to the conclusion that it needed far too much welding and we wanted to do a Nova instead.

The GTE is now half broken and we stand to make a good profit on it having only paid ?300 and it having various uprated parts and the hallowed Coscast head and this afternoon we went to see a Nova and will be collecting it next weekend. It's a F plate 1.0 absolute lowest spec (has never even been fitted with a radio!!) and is pretty tidy for it's age. I'm not sure on the exact plans for it as yet other than the 1.0 lump will be going straight in the bin along with the seats and Mk1 dash.

I'll get some pics up when we collect it next weekend and start a WIP thread.

[SRlew]

LET'd mk3 astra sounds fun lol, seen one going round near me. the way it shifts when on boost or somthing is stupid!

[Matt GTE]

LET'd mk3 astra sounds fun lol, seen one going round near me. the way it shifts when on boost or somthing is stupid!
It is :D, it's quite good for upsetting people too as I've deliberately kept it as subtle as possible. Ran a 14.9 at Santa Pod in October, not bad bearing in mind I only had 2 runs (messed the first up) and it's standard apart from a Frontera intercooler and 2.5" exhaust.

http://premium1.uploadit.org/MattGSi/Astra/DSCF0683a.jpg

[draper]

nice astra !! glad to see youve seen the light and bought another nova

[Matt GTE]

Well here it is.

http://premium1.uploadit.org/MattGSi/Nova/Nova-002a.jpg

http://premium1.uploadit.org/MattGSi/Nova/Nova-003a.jpg

http://premium1.uploadit.org/MattGSi/Nova/Nova-006a.jpg

http://premium1.uploadit.org/MattGSi/Nova/Nova-007a.jpg

...one 18 year old BASE spec Nova with 1.0 (complete with knackered timing chain tensioner) and 4 speeds of pure tarmac ripping power. My mate James drove it back and worryingly absolutely loved it (and disappointingly completely failed to kill it although he did somehow manage 85!!). Within 10 minutes of getting it back to the workshop the interior was stripped and in the bin apart from the drivers seat and dash, the bumpers were off and I'd managed to put my hand through the rear chassis rail on the drivers side... oh dear!!

So where does it go from here? While I'm wondering exactly what the hell we've done James is jumping around like a 17 year old who's just got his first car. We're already arguing about whether it's staying Mk1 or is having a Mk2 facelift, it will definitely be getting a Mk2 dash though along with the GTE's digidash and some Cavalier Cesaro alloys. The 1.0 will be going in the bin once we decide what to put in it's place, we won't be going for anything bigger that a C16XE from a Corsa GSi though. Watch this space, it could be interesting (but probably won't be).

[Adam]

LET mk3 looks sweet, nova looks a good project.

[lee 16v]

the astra looks like my mates 1, his is a turbo as well

[SRlew]

that astra looks awsome! nice cars indeed, espiecialy with an let!

[SRlew]

lol also the most inportant thing lol

plans for the nova sound good, looks like a good base!

[NOV4_SPORT]

cool project mate, keep the progress reports coming and plenty of pics please.

[Ash]

turett the rear - no need for the rear chassis legs then ;)
Coilovers - but dont lower it

and

C16XE supercharged :>

proper sleeper, you could also check 'spainishfly' s thread on migweb

A

[Karl M]

Im changing my shell its just had a new slam panel am i right in thinking all i need to do is fix mk2 wings and headlights and grill is that all i need to do cheers astra does look mint....:thumb:

[superfu-kingnova]

turett the rear - no need for the rear chassis legs then ;)
Coilovers - but dont lower it

and

C16XE supercharged :>

proper sleeper, you could also check 'spainishfly' s thread on migweb

A

any engine and supercharging gets a big :thumb: but i thinks he's valvering it , (breaking astra gte) ..

[Matt GTE]

Nope, the GTE is being broken to finance it as we're on a very tight budget and the XE was a non-runner but has a Coscast head so I'm breaking the engine as well as the car. Ultimately I'd like to get a C16XE in there but in the meantime it'll probably just end up with whatever I can lay my hands on for little to no money just to get rid of the rattly 1.0 thing.

Thanks for the replies :D.