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tis a good find; quite local too... i luv the old skool/retro ness and its genuinity.. been for a lil ride it (pottering thru pv, not at speed) and just seems mad to sit in an '85 full spec nova hearing and feeling that motorsport-mount'd XE rattle and boom throughout the shell..
old sKOOL indeeed.
Very nice, talked to you at PV briefly. Was chatting to the previous owner, a friend of mine, I think he's regretting not keeping it and doing something similar for himself! You've done a nice job though.
The interior is cool in its own horrible way too. lol
Cheers for the comments guys,
I don't intend to do a lot exterior wise, apart from a set of widened 13's, and hopefully, if i can afford, a complete exterior respray. (original colour) The snow plough needs some adjustment too. Oh and the interior IS staying put, when was the last time you saw something so hideous, yet mildly appealing as that!
if your running 13's, what you doing brake wise, as you'll need 14" min for valver brakes?
Erm i haven't got that far yet ste!!! Possibly four pots, will depend a lot on the rims when they're done.
i suppose if you can get brakes that are small enough to fit behind mini wheels, and still stop and xe powered mini, should be a problem to get brakes for some 13's
Ok, first things first, the day after peester collected the blue nova, i ripped it's heart out!
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1279.jpg
here's the xe as i bought it, out of a late cav sri,
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/103_1026.jpg
I decided to give the engine a freshen up before i fitted it, a partial strip revealed a leaky core plug......
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/103_1037.jpg
So a new one was fitted.....
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/103_1039.jpg
2 new cam seals, new gm thermostat and cts.......
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1045.jpg
And a new cambelt kit and water pump.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1046.jpg
The old oil filter and sandwich plate removed,
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1068.jpg
C20ne adapter purchased....
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1069.jpg
..and fitted...
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1070.jpg
along with a new filter;
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1071.jpg
seeing as the cav was multi v driven, i had to bin the bottom pulley and alternator, along with it's mounting bracket, and fitted the bottom bracket....
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1073.jpg
....Along with the early top bracket from a scrap mk2 gte xe i had.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1072.jpg
The scrap astra also gave up it's bottom pulley, which i had machined, then fitted, along with a new belt.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1320.jpg
The cav pot flywheel was binned, (bottom) and again a mk2 astra flywheel fitted, with a new clutch kit. (top)
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/103_1030.jpg
the whole lot was then bolted to this f20, again from said astra....
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/103_1027.jpg
.... Along with these 22 splined gte shafts with cav 1.6 inners, new gm boots fitted.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/103_1029.jpg
The brian sidebotham rear mount and linkage was then fitted ( i modified it so that the gearbox level plug was still accessable)..
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1317.jpg
..and reversed the guide bush.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1316.jpg
a fresh rubber c20ne sump gasket was then fitted, along with a late mk2 astra front pipe, with the hole for the 02 sensor.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1319.jpg
with the whole lot built up again and m-tech powercap fitted, it was ready to drop in...
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1281.jpg
But not before i had dressed the o/s chassis leg. I decided not to box it out properly in case i ever reverted back to the 1.2.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1323.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1324.jpg
And cut back the o/s matrix pipe.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1329.jpg
The n/s front tie bar mount also needed a plate, as the bottom hose on the old rad had been weeping, and had caused a hole about the size of a 2 pound coin, resulting in an mot fail if i left it. I made the plate the same size as the existing one and welded it in. I have a genuine vauxhall cross member to fit at a later date,
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1325.jpg
the f20 lower casting was then removed so as not to foul the tie bar..
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1327.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1328.jpg
And the o/s engine mount fitted to the block.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/100_1326.jpg
More pics soon!...