?500 3 Week 12 sec 1/4 mile nova build

[Jonlem]

A few of you may of read about the nova a friend and I have put together for a bit of a laugh.

For some reason I totally forgot to start a thread on here so I'll just post the pics for everyone to have a giggle at :D


Firstly you need a nice cheap road legal nova donor car !

Hey presto !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR4.jpg

131k ?130 tax and tested till next year :thumb:

The original plan was to just stick a xe in it with some nitrous and have some fun but after we started to strip it down we found it was slightly more rotten than it first appeared lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR6.jpg

To cure this problem we removed the firewall and after some alterations we made ourselves a new battery tray !

Whilst we had a pair of grinders to hand we went a bit mad and started to dig out all the rot and underseal etc..

This left us with this :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR10.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR9.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR15.jpg

Whilst in the process of sorting the shell out we were still looking for a powerplant and a helpful fella on mig offered us a Calibra with a well cared for xe in it for ?200 ! A trip to Ipswich gave us the well needed engine and rolling shell to load up with metal and weigh in to get some cash back !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR11.jpg

[carls nova sri]

yeah i read about this one whats it like now

[burgo]

theres still plenty of excess metal in that shell, get it out....

looks like a kool thing to tinkle with tho

[Jonlem]

To get the car onto my mates truck we had to slightly modify it which was made easy with a nice disc cutter lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR20.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR23.jpg

After the Calibra had been dealt with it was time to get back onto the nova, most of the rot was now dealt with so we started to lighten anything we could :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR17.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR16.jpg

The rear quarters were slightly knackered so we purchased some repair arches and fitted those, the doors and wings were completely shot to bits so after a quick trip to the breakers we got ourselves 2 doors, 2 wings, facelift bumper and headlamps for ?50 !

Once again the hole cutter came out and we lighetned the doors by a extreme amount LOL

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR31.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR30.jpg

The car was now near enough ready for paint, first plan was to paint it matt black but we were then offered some free primer and paint so we decided to be brave and take a gamble with a bit of a rare colour.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR43.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR44.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR50.jpg

[burgo]

ok ignore my comment abour excess metal lol

[Jonlem]

Next up was primer !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR51.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR55.jpg

Then paint !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR61.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR59.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR60.jpg

A sheet of 8x4 perspex was purchased for ?35 from ebay to make all the windows and we started to refit the car and get the engine in

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR65.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR71.jpg

We were now well on track for getting it ready in time for Saturday Night Special on the 13th Oct so with a few long nights after work we got round to getting all the smaller things done

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR74.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR75.jpg

[Jonlem]

More pics :

Custom engine mounts

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR79.jpg

Rare grill

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR73.jpg

Nearly complete :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR76.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR80.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR82.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR83.jpg

A night was spent finishing off the nitrous and fuel system which was 1 of the final things to be done

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR81.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR84.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/NCR85.jpg

[burgo]

that is awesome. 1 quick question, what is that in your engine mounts?

[coombsey]

i was going to ask the same question^^^

[Jonlem]

At this point we ran into a few teething problems, it was the friday night before Santa Pod and we had a lot to do if we were to make it there on time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/p11.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/p10.jpg

Pod pics :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/rwybtb015ym6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Night%20Racing%20Santa%20Pod/PODpea2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Night%20Racing%20Santa%20Pod/podpea4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Night%20Racing%20Santa%20Pod/podpea5.jpg

And obviously the all important videos ;)

Gavs 12.8 run : (ran out of nitrous but was 2/10 quicker by the 1/8 than I was on my 12.5 run!)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/th_13102007045.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/?action=view&current=13102007045.flv)

My 12.5 Run

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/pug106/th_13102007066.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v647/pug106/?action=view&current=13102007066.flv)

Not bad for a 3 week turnaround LOL

A huge thanks to everyone that helped or donated parts to our project, next stage, 11's ;)

[Jonlem]

Final pic !

The pair of us after being up for 48hrs LOL

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/meandgavpospea.jpg

[hendrix]

Thats awesome, wish I could do things as quick as that!! Its taken me since Feb to get a running 1.6 8v in. now its coming out again haha

[Lee]

Top work chaps. Love the colour too for some reason lol

[Jonlem]

Cheers guys !

thought it would be rude not to share it with those who don't use Migweb etc..

[hendrix]

fancy doing mine lol lol lol. Yeah i love the colour too, dunno why!!

[Jonlem]

The paint was free so we really didn't care what it looked like !

Funny thing is though that it does look good with the other parts painted black lol

Certainly not bad at all for a completely fre respray

Hendrix- Got our own projects to sort out now !

[shy witness]

thats an outstanding effort imo

it would take me about 3 years to do that ....the way im goin.....DOH

super stuff

[Adam]

As said on mig/vs, awesome project thread.
Shows you dont need mega bunce get good times

[NovaLad]

I'm liking that alot.

Very good work...

Love the colour!!!

[nova ian]

Followed this on Mig, Awesome build and can't believe how quick it was built!

Top work lads, muchos respect!:thumb:

[Jonlem]

Burgo- Engine mounts are filled with a resin used for sealing underground power cables !

They are rather solid now lol

Made to order if required lol

[nathan.]

Thats quality and great result too.
:thumb:

[Ste L]

as said on mig & vauxsport

fecking ace work, thats whats it's all about

[JSeymour]

yeah top marks mate, looks, sounds and goes well and in 3 weeks!

[Jonlem]

Well we have got to the bottom of our running faults, as expected it was the lambda which was sorted with a genuien Bosch sensor for ?40 :)

We done some on the road testing with a wideband and the car runs 12's all the way through the rev range off gas which is perfect, nice to see how tidy the closed loop works, far better than my mates GTR.

Off gas peformance makes it as quick as a friends E46 M3 to about 115 and the 410hp GTR gets a car length on me to 100mph, not too bad considering the nitrous was off at this point lol

So the following evening we got the nitrous back in and done a few more on gas runs. After setting the maximiser to the settings we had on the strip (whilst it worked) I done a quick run, 2nd felt strong as hell, 3rd nearly pulled me into a ditch so I had a fag and chilled out for 5 mins lol

The next testing I was more prepared for, no nitrous in 1st, pulsing it half way through 2nd then 100% up top nearly combatted wheelspin into 3rd and its 100% from there onwards, this however made it misfire like fook, looking back at the data logging you could see the afr had gone into the 9's, (richer than the queen)

We couldn't do much about that on the night so after a few more runs we took it home and worked out what jets we will need for it, they should be with us by tomorrow along with something that will make the most difference of every mod so far :)

Watch this space

[Lee H]

This is mental, total respect to you guys although I could tell you were nutters from meeting you at PV!!

[L33 LEG]

thats awesome, great work guys.

[Jonlem]

Hmmm, bit a update due I think.

Firstly we broke it last year lol but who cares, it needed a fresher engine tbh so here goes !

With the first Santa Pod of the year approaching fast it was time to get the green nova back up and running.

As I had nothing better to do tonight I grabbed a few bottles of beer and quickly stripped down the block so I can send it for machining on monday.

So, I started with this :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild2.jpg

As you can see its a typically normal xe with oil weeping out of every seal, within 20 mins I was at this stage :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild4.jpg

The bores will clean up with a hone which is a good start, the mains on the crank were immaculate but all of the big end bearings were slightly marked, number 1 big end has some severe scoring but hopefully it will just polish out on the crank, whatever it needs it will get though.

Crank pics :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild6.jpg

Big end bearings :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild9.jpg

[Jonlem]

Here's a picture of one of the pistons that failed, you can see its clearly smashed the side of it off, no signs of det anywhere.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild10.jpg

Before I started on the block I had spent a few nights getting the head sorted, all I need for that now is the headset so I can fit some valve stem seals and refit the valve springs

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild11.jpg

When I removed the pick up pipe I found quite a bit of silicone sealer stuck in the filter, most of it I had pulled out but you can see a bit in the picture below, this IMO is why you shouldn't really use it to seal sumps.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild14.jpg

So with all that done all that needs doing now is the machining and the obvious normal rebuild parts. We've opted to use a set of steel rods as were slightly concerned we may break or bend a OE one, fitted to those will be a set of the earlier xe forged Mahles, I think we have proved that the cast pistons aren't upto the job and hopefully these will survive.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild12.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/Nova%20Race%20Car/Rebuild13.jpg

So thats it for now, keep an eye on the thread as I expect by next weekend I'll be bolting it all back together :thumb:

[NovaLad]

Forgot to ask where can i get 1 of them ''HONK IF PARTS FALL OFF STICKERS'' lol

[Mike]

Fecking brilliant thread :D little money but still big results :D

[draper]

awseome work

[Steve]

Cool, saw this on vauxsport a while back, love the budget build of it! lol

[Jonlem]

Thanks guys !

Found a vid from the last rwyb !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8zVMde311w

[Steve]

Nice! what the fukk happened to the scirocco? Looked to be quick and then died! lollol

[Jonlem]

250hp NA, smashed the cwp to bits on first launch :(

Potential 12 second NA car though

[Martin]

250hp NA, smashed the cwp to bits on first launch :(

Potential 12 second NA car though

that was at york drag way last year, and he last event of the year


novas great tho

[Adam]

Should be good with the steel rods.


Any ideas why the piston broke?