big gra's 1.6 nova

[big gra]

seeing as my old project thread was making my nova like an sr and my new one is having a gte engine, thought i would start a new thread!!

just to remind you, heres what it was like when i bought it!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_0835.jpg

then bought a rusty 1.4 sr and transferred the bumpers, wheels and engine into mine!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_0843.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_0842.jpg

lowered it 60mm and added tsw alpines, and thats how it is now!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/nova4.jpg

[Ste L]

im liking the mk2 bumpers on the mk1...

prefered the grey grill to the colour coded one also prefered the cav slaps

[big gra]

got my 1.6gte engine today, just need to sort the wiring out (which is scaring me) and get it thrown in!! gonna do pump and belts first though!!

[Dave.]

lookin smart gray..

might have a drivers mk1 wing aswell.. pmed you

[big gra]

engines going in today, hopefully if the part i need comes!!

[bigbened]

come on then wheres the pics it should be in by now lol

[Iain]

Get some pics of the new engine in! :D

[big gra]

yea boys, the engine is in, found my camera so will get pics tomorrow morning! thanks to riggy for the engine parts and fuel pump, top guy!!

[big gra]

as promised i have pics after a long day of geting the thing together! just need to fit fuel tank and shes ready to roll!

old engine!
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1009.jpg

new engine in but not wired or connected up!
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1013.jpg

engine in and everything connected up, radiator, electrics etc
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1017.jpg

then put the front end back together!
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1020.jpg

[big gra]

wooop,, engine is now running, ran fuel lines to a pump, and then into a jug filled with petrol! got to swap tanks tomorrow and fit fuel lines,, and then take it for a blast!!

[craig green]

2nd pic of it in (middle) looks like the engine is on the slant, on the mounts?

[big gra]

i thought that when i ggot it in, but checked everything and it was all ok!!

[big gra]

been out for first drive tonight, was running like a bag of bolts until my mate notices a spark coming from one of the leads, taped it up and ran fine, shafts need looking at, knock really bad when you turn, other than that im really happy so far!

[Adam]

Outer cv gone?


Sort that ht lead out! Lol

[big gra]

i have 2 spare shafts so once i find a socket big enough to get the hub nut off i will replace them, along with new wheel bearings!!

[craig green]

Should be able to get the hub nut off with a pair of adjustables......

Screw driver down the centre of the disc..... (stop the hub turning)

Arcing HT lead sounds pikey!

[Adam]

It might not be a cv, if it happened as soon as you did the engine, it probably isn't.

Check for things rubbing the shafts/track rods etc, shafts rubbing the chassis or something.

[big gra]

not much progress this week because im away in bristol staying at a mates,, anyone in bristol wanna meet up give us a bell, although im not in my nova!!

[big gra]

back off holiday now. found out what was wrong with the nova, it wasent the cv joints, when i was putting the engine in i put the wheels on quickly to move the car and forgot to tighten the wheels up, haha!!

last few things that need doing im going to do tomorrow so will get some nice pics!!

[Dave.]

you wolly lol.. couldve ended in disaster

get some good piccies bud.. looks smarter with the tsw's on

[big gra]

well the engines running fine, using it as my daily car again now after about 3weeks of being sat around! still few bits of wiring to do, then start making it look nice, finish bodywork off, fit the skirts again, new engine makes the fromt sit even lower so im lowering the back a bit more!!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1030.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1032.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1031.jpg

[tony k]

nice little project mate i used to have them wheels on my first nova still look good tho keep up the good work fella

[Dave.]

tidy bay lol :thumb:
looks cleaner than mine lol
smooth that hole in the bot over and as you said drop it a tad lower on the rear. then it will look spot on :thumb

[big gra]

deciding on weather to remove the splitter or not!!

[Mike]

looking good gra, all it needs now is a wash + polish and some rear window surrounds :D

[big gra]

im still waiting for someone to spot the temporary earth wire on the drivers side of the car, and the grey wire going to the battery is the ignition live, still havent found somewere to connect it to!

[Mike]

im still waiting for someone to spot the temporary earth wire on the drivers side of the car, and the grey wire going to the battery is the ignition live, still havent found somewere to connect it to!

that tiny little wire that goes over the bulkhead lol and are you missing a jubilee clip from the upper hose on the expansion tank or is it just me?

[big gra]

yea, so when i want to stop the car i have to stall it because it dosent switch off with the ignition, my step dads friend is coming later to sort it out and wire it to the ignition, hes good at electrics, im only basic!!

[Mike]

Ive also noticed, where did/have you mounted your ECU gra? This is my conversion, and you can see the ECU mounted to the bulkhead/fiire wall bit.

Is yours mounted how GM do it, inside the car?

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/mikenova/engine%20convo/PICT0051.jpg

[big gra]

mines tempoarily zip tied to the bulkhead, just behind the inlet manifold, not sure were i am going to pput it once the wiring is sorted? is it best in the car?

[Mike]

well, GM fit them in the car, but wether its best in there i dont think it really matters tbh i was just wondering where yours had gone lol

[big gra]

haha dont worry, its there somewere!

[big gra]

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1036.jpg

[big gra]

random piccy!

[pul16v]

well, GM fit them in the car, but wether its best in there i dont think it really matters tbh i was just wondering where yours had gone lol

no they didnt not on the e16se the bolt eathier where yours is or just behind the throttle body as std they have a holder aswell if yours hasnt

phil

[Mike]

look back in this thread, youll see where mines mounted lol

[pul16v]

i did thats why i put " where yours is "

[craig green]

Theres a plastic clip on holder for the E16SE's to have the ECU on the bulkhead.

Looks good Gra.

[big gra]

thanks everyone, having trouble getting last few bits sorted with the weather, need to wire fuel gauge up, and an ignition live to the ecu, because at the moment ive got it wired to the battery, and i have to stall the car to stop it!

[Mike]

Theres a plastic clip on holder for the E16SE's to have the ECU on the bulkhead.

Looks good Gra.

Ah ha, thats what mine must be missing then! I dont suppose anyone has a spare, or even a part number?

[Riggy]

lol looking good fella :thumb:

tis a clean shell from what i seen of it , just sort them repairs and you'll be laughing

and pmsl is that youre fuel pump earth wire goin to the sill

[big gra]

cheers riggy, still not sorted that stuff out yet, too busy finding somewere to live!!

[big gra]

sproosed the front bumper up today, going to fit the skirts and back bumper aswel, and get them fitted!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/bumper.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/bumper2.jpg

[Mike]

looking smart now Gra! Looks tidy in the bottom pic chap

[big gra]

cheers, will look good once ive got some new wings!

[big gra]

afetr all the work ive done today making it look nice, ive gone and crashed it!!!

[big gra]

this is how it stands at the moment! it shall be fixed!!!!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/crashnova.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/crashednova2.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/novawheel.jpg

[craig green]

ooh. could be worse.

Check the mounts for the beam & front arm arent bent on the shell. Pointless to spend out on fixing it if the shell is bent.

[big gra]

mate is coming around later and were gonna asses the damage to front arms and rear beam!

[big gra]

ok, rear beam is defianely bent so picking one up of craig green on saturday and hopefully a new wing! front lower arms look to be ok, just need the steering re-aligned, but will get that doen once ive sorted the camber out! not much in the way of work ggoing on at the moment as im packing a house full of stuff ready for moving out, currently in the middle of clearing the garage, what a daunting task!!

[big gra]

more parts to pick up now, going for the gte look, ive allready got the skirts, picking front gte bumper and boot off craig green when i pick the wings and rear beam up! should look better soon!

[Dave.]

will look ace when its a gte.. ive still got them clocks and gte steering wheel bud if you want them

[big gra]

tried geting my steering wheel off today, need some pullers, but yea ill have than and the clocks off ya!!

[big gra]

well, a bit of progress, after a long drive on saturday we made it to craig greens and collected boot, bumper, wings, rear beam, and wingmirror!

got the boot and wings on, putting the rear beam on today hopefully and picking a set of wheels up off 5 door owner, so its almost back in one piece! :)

in process of spraying the front bumper!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1090.jpg

new wing

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1092.jpg

boot

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1091.jpg

[Iain]

Good to see you're returning it to a mk1 look! Looking good again!

[Mike]

looking good Gra, good see your putting her back together again :D

[Ste L]

looks good..

keep up the good work fella

[vaughanmc]

Should look mint and proper as a GTE mate -- Keep it up :)

[big gra]

this is how it stands at the moment, not going anywer until i can figure out what to do with the brakes!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/100_1093.jpg

[big gra]

note the axle stands and the ramps, just incase,, allready had a car fall on me when i was 15, dont want to do it again!

[Welsh Dan]

What's wrong with the brakes?

[Iain]

^ I think he's struggling to remove the rear brake hoses to remove the rear axle.

I reckon you should do what the others said in your technical post, just cut them off and replace them with braided lines. Well worth it, and you can get on with your axle while the new braided items are coming.

[big gra]

well i chopped the brake lines and went on fitting the axle, going to book it into a garage asap and they can sort the brake lines and handbrake!

[big gra]

well i gave in and sent it to local garage, should be done in the morning hopefuly!

[cooltom31]

any progress?

[big gra]

ok people, some very bad news,, the car is now a complete writeoff,, lost control in the wet going round a rounabout and hit a wall! i ended up in hospital and the car is on its way to the scrappers, there was nothing useable off it at all, the front end was crushed, as was the roof and doors! id juast put a new set of wheels on it, they were all buckled, new bumpers which were crushed, and just paid a ?200 bill to a garge this week for doing some work on it aswel, im very upset at the moment!!!!!!

[Welsh Dan]

Thats bad news mate, I feel sorry for you.

You gonna drive more carefully and get some better tyres on the next car though?

[big gra]

just had a set off brand new tyres on! was ina bad mood though, just been done for speeding, oops, there goes my 6points!!

[Welsh Dan]

Brand new doesnt mean good though, no offense.

[gammienov16v]

looks better with cav gsi slabs, good look wit the engine:thumb:

[big gra]

doesent look good anymore! will try and get some pic up of how it is now!

[5_door owner]

devastating mate, u alright yea?

u getting another?

[big gra]

yea im ok, sore shoulder and swolen knee! shame it looked good with them alloys on that i got off you! should have anotgher soon, just sold my old land rover so have enough money!

[Adam]

Brand new tyres are lethal to drive on(covered in releasing agent etc)
They have to "wear in" which is why some people purposely have the top section of tread cut off before using the tyres.

Bad news about the lastest crash.

[big gra]

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83912

going to have a look at that tonight, its only down the road!

heres local coverage of my crash!
http://www.southportforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50375653

[Iain]

http://www.southportforums.com/forums/pics7/ots/w216.jpg

That fireman makes me laugh for some reason lol That red one you're going to look at looks good hope it's okay

[Dave.]

gutted for you mate.. was a really nice car that aswell.. lookes really good in the flesh

get some pics up matey

[Ernie]

That aint good sorry to see this happen to another nova get well soon and good luck with the new 1 once sorced.

[Lee Page]

that sucks, looked really nice with the cav rism on too.

[big gra]

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g201/biggra/SP_A0932.jpg

only descent pic of the nova when it was writen off!

[Dave.]

dam that looks bad.. hope you salvaged the side skirts lol.. as i need a spare set lol

[big gra]

luckily the skirts werent on when i crashed it. still got them, there in my kitchen, dont need them, new car already had them on!

[SRlew]

haha unlucky gra

[Dave.]

gra... ill have them if you dont need them?

and ive seen the new motor before... even driven it lol