a girl in need of help

[parrycakes]

i just bought a nova yesterday it is completely standard and i want to get it lowered next weekend,do i need to buy both the shocks and springs or would i be ok just buying the springs?how could i get the stickers off the sides of the car?is it a big job changing the waterpump?ill try get pictures up of it later but it isnt much to look at at the mo!any advice ya have for me would be great!:thumb:

[BIGS]

you can put justthe spring on as i have. but if you got the money get the shocks aswell.

[Driver]

shocks and springs is best, just springs will eventurly kill your shocks

take stickers off with hairdryer and a buffer

waterpump is easy if you have a little know how, if not go to a garage shouldnt be too expensive

hope i helped

[ANDYRACER]

If its purely lowering for looks just get springs, if u want it to handle well buy the uprated shocks aswell.

The rubstrips come off best with a heatgun or hairdryer, just got to be patient.

Also whilst ur doing the water pump u might aswell also do the cambelt. :thumb:

[Jack]

Stickers/Vinyl: hot air gun or hairdryer, small amount of white spirit or meths, and a plastic scraper.

Lowering: Dampers and springs would be best, although if you're on a tight budget and only going down 30-40mm you could get away with just the springs.

Water pump: pass lol

[parrycakes]

thanks everyone.

[london_chris]

water pump isnt too hard to change enless its rusted it and then you will need a hammer

[big gra]

my waterpump had to be done by a garage last week, they had to smash it to pieces to get it out, they put a new cambelt on at the same time, shame im swapping the engine this weekend!

[Jon_nova1]

ooo i've just done my water pump, it was so rusted i couldn't undo the bolts.

do you have a dremel multitool or similar? i found the easiest way, which is really easy, is to get a dremel or something that gets in tight spaces and grinds.

grind the washers that are on the bolts holding the water pump into place, grind them along where the gap between the water pump and engine block is, when you've done this on the three bolts and washers just hit the water pump with a hammer and pole, this will snap the washers where its been grinded and the waterpump just falls out, then just get an allen key on the bolts, they should come out quite easy now theres no pressure on them ;)

you could try getting an allen key on the bolts first if they aint too bad?

[mikey14sr]

The easiest way to remove a seized in pump is to hit it from behind. Sounds daft 'cause if you look at it how are you going to get to the back of it?
Takes the starter out, then remove the oil breather box. Remove the metal/plastic water pipe that goes around the back of the engine, along with the short rubber hose that joins it to the pump housing. Now you need a bar that you can get into the hole at the back of the pump, a half inch drive extension is about right, if you've got the head off, if you havent, you'll need to find something longer with a bend or two in it to go around the manifold. Needless to say it'll have to be made of fairly strong stuff.
Once the bar's in there, hit it a couple of times with a good size hammer, and out it comes!

I have spent hours smashing little pieces off pumps to no avail, using this method they have allways flown out of the block within 5 hits!

[ade]

PLEASE dont just fit shorter springs to standard shocks - they are TOO SHORT! The back ones wont stay in and the ride will be absolutely sh1te!

Get a set like GMAX 60mm - theyre only about ?150 nowadays. OH and if youre fitting them yourself you'll need a 19mm swan neck spanner for the strut top and a set of spring compressors to save damaging yourself when the spring uncompresses!

Haynes is the best to follow...

[parrycakes]

fixed the waterpump but the car is still running like ****?its chugging along like theres dirty petrol in it or something grrr so annoying.havent got it lowered yet want to get it running properly first!

[Welsh Dan]

Check the timing and try putting some redex or similar through it.

[Jon_nova1]

is it running on all cylinders?

[parrycakes]

is it running on all cylinders?

i cant answer that..dont know that much about the mechanics of the car:confused:

[Mike]

i cant answer that..dont know that much about the mechanics of the car:confused:

simpilest way to check, with the engine running, open the bonnet, does the engine move like fcuk, as in rock MEGA so one side or back & or forth? if it does, its running on 3 cyclinders or less ;) OR

[Mike]

i cant answer that..dont know that much about the mechanics of the car:confused:

simpilest way to check, with the engine running, open the bonnet, does the engine move like fcuk, as in rock MEGA so one side or back & or forth? if it does, its running on 3 cyclinders or less ;) OR the timing is out MEGA lmao!

[Philsutton]

retard way of telling if its running on all cylinders is to pour some water on the exhaust port, just as it comes out the head. The ones that are firing the water will turn to steam straight away, if they arent firing then it wont simple really.

[parrycakes]

ok i dunno what the story is with the car i didnt read yer tips on how to tell bout the cylinders til now,i put water in the car today and when i did i squeezed the pipe that omes out of the waterpump alot of murky brown water comes out of where you put the water in,is my car doomed?

[Philsutton]

it will always be dirty rank water even if you put fresh in, unless its like a thick poo like substance, then its doomed.

[Jon_nova1]

hardly lol the pipe that comes out of the water pump that you can squeeze is where the water goes down from the tank :p

what are you actually trying to do? is the car overheating or the water pump making a grinding noise?

try the water thing on the manifold, when the air comes out of the cylinders it will be really hot so warms the manifold, but if its not igniting on a cylinder it will stay cold, i've found the shaking of the engine can be uneven compression in the cylinders

[parrycakes]

how thick and pooey does it need to be before its dooooooooooooomed?:(

[Philsutton]

very poey to be doomed

[Jon_nova1]

it wouldn't be doomed, how do you mean thick and pooey? come to think of it it should be relatively clear as the water pump has been changed so the water would have come out when you took the pump out, is it that colour in the header tank?? whats the oil like? and the underside of the oil filler cap?

if the water pump was dead the head gasket may have gone too as the water wasn't circulating

[parrycakes]

i think the head gasket might be gone so...ahhhh!!!

[ade]

Take it to a garage and stop talking about poo!

you would know if it was misfiring - would chug, there would be absolutely no power, it would sound awful (like an old aeroplane) and wouldnt run smooth like a normal engine and would probably cut out. It woud probably overheat too - If head gasket had gone you'd probably go through water tons too and it would be smoking.

A decent garage will tell you one way or another - probably without charging much to diagnose it.

[ade]

you could always pay Keith Robinson to come and take a look (not sure how far galway is from belfast but if you made it worth his while!)