bruce's nova gte

[brucer]

hi guys.while having my nova off the road for the winter id thought id do some engine work and tidy up the rest of the car.

heres my nova.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00004.jpg

first off i started with the suspension.painted everything red and fitted poly bushes, new bearings and trackrod ends.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00454.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00460.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00615.jpg

then i started on the engine
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00539.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00555.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00563.jpg

whilst it was out i thought id paint the engine bay.
painted it black.but wasnt happy
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00575.jpg
so i painted the top half blue
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00581.jpg

back to the engine.i fitted new piston rings,big end shells and arp rod bolts

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00583.jpg

[brucer]

painted the block,gearbox and the inlet manifold silver

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00604.jpg[/URL]
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00582.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00585.jpg

refitted gearbox.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00601.jpg (http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00604.jpg)

i ported and polished the head myself. still waiting to have it skimmed.
bought a 4-1 manifold and coverd it in blue exhaust wrap.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00625.jpg

had my flywheel sent away to be lightened aswell

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00638.jpg

painted my cam cover in chrome paint, cam carrier silver and my rad fan black
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00644.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00645.jpg (http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00644.jpg)
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00655.jpg

managed to refit block
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00643.jpg[URL="http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00643.jpg"]

[brucer]

and thats how far ive got with it till now.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00656.jpg


http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/nova%20progress/DSC00657.jpg

[Ash]

awesome looking car you have there, only thing i'd do is smooth the lines in the bumper.

Reconsie that AFM from somewhere...

[brucer]

i was thinking that. that bumpers got 2 dents either side of the number plate to.. and yeh got the idea for the afm off someones avatar on here.think it was "last of the nova sr's".lol

[SKoob]

I was expecting this to be the black GTE with a grp a engine lol That looks like a very clean shell, and a lovely example of a laser blue gte. :thumb: I'd love one myself but they don't often crop up for sale :(

[brucer]

it used to be laser blue (well white before it was laser blue) but know its subaru sonic blue..

[draper]

lovely example mate

[vaughanmc]

Nice example there :)

[peester]

good times,.. i luv the blue heat wrap.. what happens to it when it comes under heat tho, over time..???

[raymond]

awesome looking motor mate and a nice example

[M17BLH]

Cracking looking mk1 fella

[cavlad]

nice mate keep it up i thinking bout doing that to my cav

[NOV4_SPORT]

looks really smart mate, would suit the bumper lines smoothed out thou.


iain

[brucer]

yeh im looking for a new bumper cus it would look good with them smoothed out.thanks for the comments.ill keep you posted

[brucer]

got some more work done on it today. fixed the rust hole in the n/s wheel arch.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00672.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00671.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00676.jpg


took some random pics.also stripped interior ready for the cage.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00677.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00684.jpg

[brucer]

managed to strip all interior to start fitting roll cage.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00698.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00709.jpg


started to primer floor ready for a bit of paint and new sound deaden material.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00710.jpg

[FUSION X16XE]

looking good matey, keep up the good work.

[twistysnovagte]

looking nice m8:thumb: i have the mk1 gte fancy doing minelol

[Matt2107]

Won't be long now till your sitting comfortably. ;)

[greg1.4]

sweet nova!

looking good mate..love the colour. could be one of my favourite gte's!

keep us updated.

[clarke frazer]

lovely car mate keep it up fine exanple

[brucer]

got the cage in properly today.going to take it out and paint it red.will get picks of that shortly.

and yes matt i will be sitting comfortably thanks to your seats.haha..cant wait to get them in.

[Ryan5cyl]

Paint the cage white!, and are you re-fitting the carpets? Stunning car and I love the colour :eek:

[stuartyj21]

awsome project love the colour..
keep upthe good work:thumb:

[DW-Nova]

Looks really tidy mate and a nice colour, are you painting the floor body colour then? good luck with the rest of it.

[brucer]

got a fair few things done recently.

stripped rear arches and re-waxoyled them and painted drums/rear beam.

got all the floor painted.now fitted all carpets and some interior trim.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00860.jpg


re-upholstered the rear quarter cards and the parcel shelf supports in black acoustic carpet.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00869.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00909.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00940.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00941.jpg

then i made up some templates for the rear area of the car.i still wanted a boot.where i can have a bit of a sound system,which is still out of site from theiving scum bags. will get some more pics up next week where hopefully i should get the front leather seats in.:)
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00944.jpg

[brucer]

took a day off work so i could get more done to the old nova.

fitted my new dials.(thanks matt2107) which i bought some blue leds for.think they look quite nice.


http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00961.jpg
after i got them in i gave it a hoover so i could get the front seats in.

bought them off matt2107(thanks again)they look absolutely mint inside the car.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00962.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00963.jpg
carpeted my rear bulkhead.need to do the lower panel but waiting on my harnesses so i can cut the holes to were they bolt to.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00965.jpg
received my new decals for my cage as i removed them so i could paint it.
think the red and green gave some type of compliment.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00969.jpg
still wanting a smoothed gte front bumper but as time is getting on i dont think i will get one intime for when i plan to use the car.due to cost of rebuilding the engine.etc.i thought it be best to put my old one back on.so it looks half decent.

if any one has a cheap one or standard gte/sr bumper please pm me.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00973.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00975.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00976.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00977.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00979.jpg

hopefully going to buy my cam/valve springs etc either next week or week after.will book some time off work so i can get it all running.will get some more pics up soon as.thanks for looking

[7ova]

Hi mate
looks like you spent alot of time and money!
looks cool
great wheels, "just bought same ones"
keep up the hard work :thumb:

[twistysnovagte]

a good polish and sheel be looking mint very nice m8 just wish i had nice little garage to do some work might be soon i hope?:thumb:

[Matt2107]

Dials look superb with blue led's mate... and the seats.... i miss them. lol

I'm sure you've sat on them by now but the leather seems to stiffen them up a bit. They are the most comfy seats I've sat on next to my FTO seats.

[draper]

i have a smoothed SR/GTE bumper in my shed, make me an offer if you want

car looks spot-on

[brucer]

pm'd draper!! yeh them seats are great matt.cant wait to drive the car.the engines still not back together yet.

only got 55 days to get it all finished.money is slowing me down at the moment. trying to save to go the manx rally aswell but the cars more important.haha

got some harnesses off ebay coming so interiors nearly finished.just got to concentatre on the motor now.

[brucer]

back again.got a fair bit done now.majority is all complete.

received my harnesses.were a bit grubby but cleaned them up.had to wait a couple days for my eye bolts to come but there all bolted down.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00999.jpg
ive carpeted all the rear bulkhead and lower panel were the harnesses go through.kinda hard to get a pic of it but ill try get one soon.

finally got my double valve springs fitted and the head bolted down.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC00996.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01004.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01005.jpg


still got to order my cam,clutch and roose hoses.not too sure which colour to go for.either red or blue.

hopefully order all them this week and get it running the week after.but will have to see.will update soon.

thanks for looking

bruce.

[brucer]

got my manifold fitted today,just got to connect it to the rest of the system.got to modify part of the systm due to it hitting on the gear change linkage housing.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01012.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01013.jpg

pickd up my clutch today so got that to fit.sending my cam off to autosprint tomorrow to be re-profiled so hopefully early next week i mite have it running and moving.....about time too!!lol

[Leeboo]

Nice, I've followed this but only commenting now.

Red hoses for definite, blue might just be overkill.

[brucer]

i thought that too.but glad someone else agrees.cheers chap.

[FUSION X16XE]

looking good bruce, love that interior.

[brucer]

thanks,hows yours coming along?

[brucer]

been lyin on my back for the majority of the day.managed to get the clutch in. so went inside the car to see what it felt like....utter sxxt.

so further inspection went down.cable was to blame.got one ordered up.fitted that and now its like butter!!!

so thought id re-fill the gearbox. searched my work hi and low but we didnt have the grade i needed.got my boss to order some up and let me use it for free.very nice of him..

then decided to fit my strut brace.re-painted the strut top mounts on it.
still not sure if i should leave the bar the standard colour or re-spray it..

heres some pics.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01018.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01019.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01020.jpg

[Dave.]

that dent needs pulling out the front bumper, other than that looks spot on.. dont go pins for the bumper lol

[brucer]

ive got a new front bumper which i got off novarally.nice and straight but he neglected to mention the crack in the corner.

smoothing it off,got my bonnet and front and rear bumpers booked in to be resprayed on the 17th of march.so car should definately be ready for 1st of april!!

[brucer]

had autosprint re-profile my cam to 270degrees.so in preparaton to this i got the valve tooly job bolted to the cam carrier.

received the cam and lubed it up an slipped it into the carrier.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01038.jpg
proceeded on with the rest of the engine.fitting the vernier and cambelt.got it all timed in correctly so got the distributor,leads,new plugs and the afm on ready for start up.filled with oil and bolted down the cam cover.

being advised i should crank it over first without the kinglead on so i can get the oil pressure light off was a good idea.at this point my heart was beating due to me thinkin im going to break something.

cranked it over for a few seconds.nothing broke.so put the kinglead bakc onto the coil and cranked it.......didnt start.....cranked a again.bit of a splutter then fired into life.its got an ever so slight misfire but it should aparently disapear when it gets used.if not then i'll have to investigate.

couldnt leave it running for long as i didnt have any coolant or pipes in it.
waiting on my hoses to arrive then should be away.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01040.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01041.jpg
thanks for looking

bruce

[mattecogsi]

really nice nova are they 15 or 16inch alloys?

[nova nick]

ie'd say a job well done there mate.

[brucer]

there 16inch mattecogsi.

[Plug]

leave strut brace as is and also Red hoses cause blue will be a bit to much

[brucer]

i would prefer red,but as a cheap set of blue smaco hoses came up on ebay i bought them..they'll do for now.

[brucer]

right,been a while since i updated this.but tbh i havnt done alot.

had my bumpers sprayed with my bonnet.collecting bonnet tomorrow.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01058-1.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01060-1.jpg

got a set of samco hoses off ebay.so was able to let it warm up properly and get the distributor timed in correct.

even though im still getting a mis-fire and the emmisions being way out still.im kinda stuck for what to do.but seeing how th car runs fine when seting the timing.(due to the TPS being bridged and running basic ignition timing)so seeing how last year the car never had the TPS connected for some unknown reason i think thats why it was left un plugged because of it being funked.
going to try source another and see what happens.

took it for a quick spin round a yard at work an the brakes are pretty crap.pedal goes near enough to the floor so got to look at that too.

also the tracking is miles out,got half a day off tomorrow so hopefully sor that.

needs to be mot'd next week so i can tax it for the week after,then have it on the road!!!:D

gotta give it a good and proper clean,bit dirty.lol

thanks for looking.

bruce

[brucer]

right,been along time since i've updated this.

got all my body panels back an fitted,car looked like this when it was all back together,
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01065.jpg
needing to get it running properly kept me at my wits end.

having my alternator repaired and ordering a new throttle position sensor got it running at lot better than it was.still had a miss-fire though and eventually just gave up all together.

also seeing too much blue smoke from the exhaust ment i hadnt put the valve stem oil seals on correctly. thinking im a complete doughnut i had to bite my tongue an take it apart again.

using an old mechanics trick, i got the piston to TDC and compressed the valve springs down while i removed the collets,this ment i could remove the springs and see the seals.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01075.jpg
got the new ones back on and assembled everything yet again.deciding to use the standard cam pulley rather than the vernier for know ment i can make sure it runs how it should without all these variables which could affect the running.
having set it up and got it running again, i opted to get the ignition timing spot on.so,got the timing light out and it was way out, turning the distributor to get it to where it should be just made the engine run worse.so i gave up and went to cry.lol

looking around to find why it wudnt run correctly i found my coil was a bit duff.got a new one from my boss and fitted it. it ran alright but not the best.got back to ignition timing and this time i could turn the distributor to get it smack bang on the pointer.


inbetween all of this i had my new tyres fitted and got my hids all wired up and working.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01071.jpg

having the car run alright meant i could persuade someone at work to mot it..:).
having a nice fresh mot on it, i thought id take it for a test drive on my lunch break.got the trade plates out and arranged with my boss to come and get me if i broke down. hehe.


took it for a 5mile run out of town,was good to drive but didnt have as much power as i thought,but maybe it wants running in a bit more.i was coming back towards town i noticed a cop car at the first round about i came too.i assume he was waiting for some boy racers..unfortuanately he started following me.:wtf: taking it slow and gentle and keepin the revs down(due to my exhaust being way too loud.) i got closer to work and waiting for him to follow me in but to my surprise he drove straight on.made my heart beat a bit.not that anything is illegal on the car or i was doing anything wrong.just the luck you get i supose.

now i new the car was ok to use, i told the lady buying my shoddy astra she could have it today.

so having no time to clean the nova i employed my boss's son to do it for me.the quality of his work is immaculate,but for 4pound i cant complain.;)
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01078.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z24/bachilds1988/DSC01079.jpg
here are a couple of pics after the cleaning.

will get some better ones soon as my bruv woudnt lend me his digi cam.the big ghey.lol.

also got to choose which rear lights i want,clears,standard or euro twin reverse.hmmmm

until next time..
bruce

[7ova]

well done mate
nova looks well :cool:
maybe cop just wanted to have a good
look at a tidy nova?
whats the colour called?

[brucer]

yeh i like to think that 7ova.lol. its subaru sonic blue(world rally blue)

[NovaLad]

Your nova is the sex!

Must get some looks at college driving it.

Please please please don't write it off at anypoint in your life with it lol.

Keep up the good work

[Dave.]

not too keen on the red bonnet vent, but other than that it looks spot on, very very nice

is the rear bumper smoothed too? :thumb:

[brucer]

not too keen on the red bonnet vent, but other than that it looks spot on, very very nice

is the rear bumper smoothed too? :thumb:

its red mesh in the holes and no the rear bumper isnt smoothed.didnt have enough time to do it and not sure if it would look good?!?

hmmm....

[brucer]

Your nova is the sex!

Must get some looks at college driving it.

Please please please don't write it off at anypoint in your life with it lol.

Keep up the good work

yeh,get a few looks, especially with the noise from the exhaust.:D

ill try not too,ive learnt my lesson from novas and hedges.hehe.:)

got to take the engine apart again.its producing way too much blue smoke at idle.had some lil kid hold his nose when i was in traffic.lol.will be taking it apart again next friday and have it all back running with my vernier pulley on the saturday.

[walker-nova]

looking well and love it on softstar's :thumb:

[NovaLad]

Maby polish up them rims to a mirror finish :p

[brucer]

Maby polish up them rims to a mirror finish :p

i could do.but think ive spent enough this time round.bt who knows.need to save for a winter car again for when the novas off the road.