My project

[Sirnixalot]

I aquired a 1.2L merit from a friend with a very sound shell. During the summer the 1.2 ate through the cam followers and a friend was doing an xe swap in their SR so in went the 1.3sr lump and 5speed!

So far ive done the suspension up a bit with Koni adjustables and 60mm avo springs and a GSi rear arb. I have a set of GSi side skirts that im waiting to put on once i get some tar and glue remover for the bump strips.

As for the interior I've swapped in SRi gauges and changed the bulbs for diy led's and have a Sparco flash 5 steering wheel.

I also have a set of 16v brakes (waiting for me to find some 14/15's to fit over them), a corsa gsi master cylinder and pedal box waiting to go on and a Cobra Suzuka bucket seat awaiting sidemounts and a harness.



I dont plan to do much to the current engine other than regular upkeep. I eventually want to drop a c/x16xe in some time later on this year/early next year. I'm not really that big on fwd so i just want something that handles and is relativley quick.

I dont have too many pictures of it at the moment but i figured it was time to post up. Progress will probably be slow as im at uni, cant afford the big stuff for a while ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/mini-DSC01976.jpg
Engine bay after a few hours of degreasing (there is still loads on the transmission and engine block)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00192.jpg
sorry for the crappy night time phone picture, AND its dirty but this is right after i got the suspension goodies on :D, goes like stink around roundabouts now

Will update with better pictures tommorow :thumb:

[draper]

looks very good condition fella, make sure you keep it that way lol

[BigStan]

Looks nice, should look nice when its done !

[Sirnixalot]

thanks for the comments guys :thumb:

havent had the time to do anything much to it. I need to find a metal worker near me that i can get some angle iron from for the seat mounts. Anyone know a place?

a few more pix
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/DSC00205.jpg
I really need to get some cav gsi wheels on it :cry:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/DSC00214.jpg
the start of the de-rubstriping

[Nova_one]

ive got some black cav slabs lol there nice :)

[Sirnixalot]

yeah i want to redo a set in black eventually :thumb:

did some more today, fully de-rubstripped and took the red vinyl lines off the bumpers. still have some glue to remove though.

Also i got a sportex back box with the car, it must be for an MK1 or a GSi or something as it doesnt quite fit right lol might have to sell it and get a proper mk2 one, not sure what to do though as its a MK1 1.3 SR down pipe and mid section?

I also got another pierburg off a friend in the mail, has a manual choke conversion :) but the secondary choke is semi seized :(. I may take both to bits and get one proper carb (mines a bit boned, the usual problems)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00217.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00218.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00219.jpg

Next thing on the list is redoing the bumpers in flat black and putting on the gsi skirts.

[Sirnixalot]

way to bring it back from page 4 lol

discovered the bottom of the sills are funked whilst putting on the side skirts

gave the old girl a wash after i put the skirts on

used some back to black (more like grey) on the bumpers so it looks a little better, ill hopefully be painting them black next month.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00296.jpg

rusty ass doors
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00297.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00295.jpg

I also got some angle steel to make up a mount for my cobra suzuka. i dont have access to a drill at the moment so this will have to wait as well :(

[vaughanmc]

all have to start somewhere...looks like a not bad wee project!

[Sirnixalot]

update!
Bit of a slow mover this one ey?

Today i installed a manual choke i had laying around, i also finished making the seat mounts for my Cobra suzuka.

Turns out that wickes drill bits are ****, took me 2 days to dill 16 holes and couldnt drive any where as i couldnt bother to put the standard seat back in. Also what i bought on ebay as standard nova subframes werent, so i had to modify those as well.

I still need to shorten the "legs" on the side mounts and paint it but the finished product is worth it :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00316.jpg

Also i bought a delrin rod off ebay and turned some shift knobs out from it. They are a bit small (40mm diameter) so the next batch i will probably do 50mm.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00318.jpg

[Sirnixalot]

A little update. I've discovered an oil leak near the distributor and its sputtering so i decided to give it a proper service.

I've got a head gasket kit, head bolts, dizzy cap & rotor, engine oil & filter, gear box oil, spark plugs, timing belt and some valve lapping paste.

Going to do it next tuesday as im off uni for 3 weeks :thumb:

Oo, i also just picked up some 14" steelies off ebay for 99p:D

They are toyota wheels and are 45mm offset so its only 4mm out, hardly noticeable. After a dry fit with the 16v calipers/disks everything clears just fine.:)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00354.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00355.jpg

[Sirnixalot]

well i got down to it today and started to strip the engine down.

nothing eventful really...the only thing is that there is about half a mm or carbon on the piston tops and valve faces and its being a bitch to get off.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00363.jpg

The exhaust valves on cylinders 1 and 4 were white as were the plugs, im guessing its because they arent exactly a straight shot from the carb like cyl 2 & 3 are.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00364.jpg

In the intake ports on these heads are damn good
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00365.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sirnixalot/Nova/DSC00366.jpg

So far i've re-lapped 4 valves, changed the camshaft seal, cleaned the head and deck surfaces.

Tommorow its more lapping, de-carbonizing the piston tops and combustion chambers and putting everything back together. Should run miles smoother, though i think i might have lost a whole point of compression ratio from removing all the carbon lol