985cc Turbocharged Nova Sprint Car

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06-03-11, 11:31 AM
Jonlem

Looking good Colin, nice brakes.
07-03-11, 10:05 AM
ste porter

couple more pics that may help and be of interest colin
also if you want to pop over when your next this way on for a peek your more than welcome mate you know where i am.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...g?t=1287535589

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...g?t=1287535671

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...g?t=1287535892

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...g?t=1287602585

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...g?t=1287602585

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...g?t=1287602681

Also mate will give you a call mid week so i can arange with you when your about to collect that shell and and doors ect if thats ok mate
07-03-11, 10:37 AM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by ste porter

couple more pics that may help and be of interest colin
also if you want to pop over when your next this way on for a peek your more than welcome mate you know where i am.

Also mate will give you a call mid week so i can arange with you when your about to collect that shell and and doors ect if thats ok mate

Thanks Steve, very useful.

Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are looking like good days for collecting the shell.

Tuesday and Thursday are not good at all!

I eventually remembered where that place which does all the composite moulding is that we were talking about - it's at Binbrook (Market Rasen/Grimsby direction).
07-03-11, 10:44 AM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by lee303

coilsprings 89 will supply Ti springs colin, not sure on cost obviously and their website appears to be down for me at the moment, but they definitely do them, some of the supertouring cars may well have used them, don’t think the regs specified steel

I've spoken with Neil at Coilsprings 89, and he reckons around £300 per pair to make titanium springs to my specifications.

I'll have to weight my springs, and see if a 40% weight reduction on them would justify those sort of costs.
07-03-11, 04:04 PM
MK999

Quote:

Originally Posted by novarally

I've spoken with Neil at Coilsprings 89, and he reckons around £300 per pair to make titanium springs to my specifications.

I'll have to weight my springs, and see if a 40% weight reduction on them would justify those sort of costs.

Considering a spring must weigh around 2kg+ £300 to lose 4*0.4=1.6kg is a bargain when you get to the kind of level your car is at colin!
07-03-11, 04:32 PM
lee303

Quote:

Originally Posted by novarally

I've spoken with Neil at Coilsprings 89, and he reckons around £300 per pair to make titanium springs to my specifications.

I'll have to weight my springs, and see if a 40% weight reduction on them would justify those sort of costs.

seems pretty reasonable to me tbh! and imagine the spec list kudos!:thumb: glad they were of use though, great company to deal with in my experience
07-03-11, 06:30 PM
t45_ste

Your getting some nice bits together now colin. What dampers are you running on the front? Just wondered if you spoke to gaz about getting some short bodied dampers made with less travel would save you a bit more weight?
07-03-11, 06:39 PM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by t45_ste

Your getting some nice bits together now colin. What dampers are you running on the front? Just wondered if you spoke to gaz about getting some short bodied dampers made with less travel would save you a bit more weight?

The fronts are off the shelf Leda ones (2.5" springs I believe).

They are an area I plan to look at, I can't see why it wouldn't be possible to use 1.9" ID sturuts/springs to save weight.
07-03-11, 06:42 PM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by MK999

Considering a spring must weigh around 2kg+ £300 to lose 4*0.4=1.6kg is a bargain when you get to the kind of level your car is at colin!

Agreed, except it's £600 to save 2kg!

I weighed one of my 1.9" ID rear springs, and it's about 2.2kg, so there would be a bit more to be saved than 2kg in total, especially as if I remember rightly the Ledas use 2.5" ID springs on the front end.
07-03-11, 06:45 PM
t45_ste

There is definatley quite a bit of weight to be saved then. Next time im down at the unit i will measure the body of mine and the amount of travel and let you know how much they weigh. They are certainly a lot lighter than a standard coilover.
07-03-11, 06:56 PM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by t45_ste

There is definatley quite a bit of weight to be saved then. Next time im down at the unit i will measure the body of mine and the amount of travel and let you know how much they weigh. They are certainly a lot lighter than a standard coilover.

Thanks, that would be really useful information.

I'm sure a custom built front damper could save 2 or 3kg per side, and would be well worth doing.
07-03-11, 07:06 PM
16xe_chris

Quote:

Originally Posted by novarally

Agreed, except it's £600 to save 2kg!

I weighed one of my 1.9" ID rear springs, and it's about 2.2kg, so there would be a bit more to be saved than 2kg in total, especially as if I remember rightly the Ledas use 2.5" ID springs on the front end.

You can save 2.5kg's per side roughly using fiberglass wings, much cheaper option lol

I have some old wrc siera or cossy rear shockers in the garage and they are made from titanium, they are seriously light :thumb:
07-03-11, 07:54 PM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by 16xe_chris

You can save 2.5kg's per side roughly using fiberglass wings, much cheaper option lol

I have some old wrc siera or cossy rear shockers in the garage and they are made from titanium, they are seriously light :thumb:

I'll be going full fibreglass front wings when I fit the wide arch kit, and I have yet to do a weight comparison between steel and fibreglass.

2.5kgs per side seems a lot though, I wouldn't have thought a steel wing weighs much more than that in total. Must check tomorrow!
07-03-11, 10:07 PM
lee303

my steel front wings were 5kg each and the standard width fiberglass ones i have now are 2.4 each side:thumb:
08-03-11, 10:04 AM
ste porter

it may sound a daft surgestion but had you thought about blow moulded or injection moulded abs front wings?

i dont know what your regs allow or how strong you would want them but a sheet of 1.5mm abs the size of the car would only weigh about 2 kg at the most so if you found someone that could vac form a wing for you cut a steel wing down to about 10mm all the way around the outer lip bond the abs wing wing to that and whola a wing that would weigh about a kilo at most

only issue is how strong it would be but abs is fairly impact resistant but how long they would last with cconstant gravel pebal dashing i dont know

as i say proberly not feasable but just a thought

also if you find some one to do it door skins boot lids ect would all be possable but again how flexable and stong they would be i dont know but the weight saving would be un beliveable

anybody know about the possabilitys of this?
08-03-11, 10:34 AM
bmw156

Quote:

Originally Posted by ste porter

it may sound a daft surgestion but had you thought about blow moulded or injection moulded abs front wings?

i dont know what your regs allow or how strong you would want them but a sheet of 1.5mm abs the size of the car would only weigh about 2 kg at the most so if you found someone that could vac form a wing for you cut a steel wing down to about 10mm all the way around the outer lip bond the abs wing wing to that and whola a wing that would weigh about a kilo at most

only issue is how strong it would be but abs is fairly impact resistant but how long they would last with cconstant gravel pebal dashing i dont know

as i say proberly not feasable but just a thought

also if you find some one to do it door skins boot lids ect would all be possable but again how flexable and stong they would be i dont know but the weight saving would be un beliveable

anybody know about the possabilitys of this?

it was suggested a few pages back, and a lotus was shown with a completely see through body :)
08-03-11, 11:32 AM
lee303

only thing with vac moulding is the part would have to be in its installed position when moulded, as the abs wont want to flex like fiberglass or even steel does, and as you know when you fit a nova wing you tend to flex it into shape when you fit the lower bolts, interesting concept though, personally i think you could make a really light fiberglass or kevlar front wing by making it just a single skin, but then you probably add back any weight saved making a frame to support it so it fits the car right, swings and roundabouts...
08-03-11, 11:42 AM
mowgli

vac formed nova wings would be a max 200g per side at a guess though... but would be real fun to make..
08-03-11, 09:31 PM
t45_ste

Hi colin

What flywheel/clutch are you running? Could you drop down to a 5.5" clutch to save a bit more weight?

Also noticed there is some excess wiring coiled up............ getting desperate i know.
09-03-11, 08:21 PM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by t45_ste

Hi colin

What flywheel/clutch are you running? Could you drop down to a 5.5" clutch to save a bit more weight?

Also noticed there is some excess wiring coiled up............ getting desperate i know.

I'm not 100% certain what spec. the flywheel and clutch is, but I believe it may be a standard flywheel, lightened and a Helix plate and cover.

So yes, there is room for improvement there, I'd like to go for a titanium flywheel and a 5.5" clutch eventually, as always it's a question of cash though!

The extra wiring is there in readiness for a traction control system which was originally planned, and may still happen one day.

The great news for today is that I've had a phone call from Andrew Bradley at BTEC Racing, and he's been running my Nova up on the rolling road.

With the new exhaust system (no silencer) we are seeing 219 bhp and 140 lbs/ft of torque at 7,500 rpm.

The power was still climbing as well, but it's not safe to rev it any higher than this with the standard bottom end which is in it.

We need to test the noise levels next to see if we are going to need to incorporate a silencer, which may steal a few horsepower of course.

I'm absolutely delighted!
09-03-11, 08:26 PM
Edd

That's very impressive !

Is that the level of power you were expecting ?
09-03-11, 08:26 PM
mowgli

that is fantastic... i hope you whallop those pesky minis this year...
09-03-11, 08:31 PM
bmw156

219BHP

OMG, who needs a let
09-03-11, 08:32 PM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edd

That's very impressive !

Is that the level of power you were expecting ?

It's way more than I had expected. I'd have been more than happy if we'd found 190 bhp.

If my estimate of 570kg is correct, that's going to give me 384 bhp/tonne.
09-03-11, 08:35 PM
General Baxter

that the wheels or fly?
09-03-11, 08:36 PM
Connor

Quote:

Originally Posted by novarally

that's going to give me 384 bhp/tonne.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
Thats awesome news colin, well done
09-03-11, 08:54 PM
t45_ste

That power figure is bloody impressive. You are taking this car to the next level and im seriously impressed (and a bit jealous lol)

Just think what weight you could get this down if it wasnt for the pesky regs, a few more bits of metal could be removed.

Well done
09-03-11, 09:00 PM
BRoadGhost

She's a honey!
10-03-11, 10:35 AM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by 16xe_chris

You can save 2.5kg's per side roughly using fiberglass wings, much cheaper option lol

I have some old wrc siera or cossy rear shockers in the garage and they are made from titanium, they are seriously light :thumb:

I weighed a Mk.1 Nova standard steel wing this morning;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...cort/024-7.jpg

It's a shade over 3kg.

Chris, are your fibreglass Mk.1 wings weighing as little as 0.5kg?
10-03-11, 12:15 PM
lee303

hmm, seems you have more accurate measuring equipment than my bathroom scaleslol my metal wings appeared to be nearly 5kg, with the fiberglass coming in at 2.5...
10-03-11, 12:18 PM
mowgli

well, apart from putting helium in the tyres, there isn't much else you can do to it......lol
10-03-11, 12:30 PM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by lee303

hmm, seems you have more accurate measuring equipment than my bathroom scaleslol my metal wings appeared to be nearly 5kg, with the fiberglass coming in at 2.5...

Yes, I have some pretty accurate kit. Longacre corner weight scales for the big stuff, and for the small things, the sort of scales used to weigh drugs.
10-03-11, 12:31 PM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by mowgli

well, apart from putting helium in the tyres, there isn't much else you can do to it......lol

Helium in the roll cage......
10-03-11, 12:32 PM
mowgli

isn't that what porsche did on the 917, so they could wire up a warning light/sender to let them know when the chassis cracked during a race????
11-03-11, 09:38 AM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by mowgli

well, apart from putting helium in the tyres, there isn't much else you can do to it......lol

It looks like there may be something else.

Thanks to Gary C on here who gave me the idea...........

Some grasstrack cars are apparently running air shocks at the back end, Fox is one of the suppliers involved.

I fired off an e-mail this morning to a Fox agent, and they tell me that there are actually a few tarmac Nova rally cars using Fox air shocks on them (on the rear).

Anyone on here know anything about these Novas, or indeed any other tarmac cars using this sort of system?

Doing away with the coil spring has got to be a good move in weight saving terms.

But my only (tiny) knowledge of air shocks is on mountain bikes.
11-03-11, 08:14 PM
16xe_chris

Quote:

Originally Posted by lee303

hmm, seems you have more accurate measuring equipment than my bathroom scaleslol my metal wings appeared to be nearly 5kg, with the fiberglass coming in at 2.5...

Same here lol

Its was the mk2 wings i weighed which have a tiny bit more metal on them lol , but my scales are no where near as acurate as your matey :thumb:

P.s. i could try making you a set at 0.5kg if your interested ;) i could make them without the gelcoat so it was pure resin and 2 layers of 450gauge glass.

Did you weigh your wide arch wings?
11-03-11, 08:43 PM
novarally

Quote:

Originally Posted by 16xe_chris

i could try making you a set at 0.5kg if your interested ;) i could make them without the gelcoat so it was pure resin and 2 layers of 450gauge glass.

Did you weigh your wide arch wings?

I haven't weighed the wide arch wings yet, but they do feel fairly heavy (at least as much as a steel wing I suspect).

I'm pretty sure I'm going with the wide arch kit now, but if I don't, I would definitely be interested in ultra-lightweight Mk.1 standard wings. Thanks.
11-03-11, 08:55 PM
novarally

Nothing to do with the Nova directly, but it will make working on it easier.........I picked up this on Tuesday;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/006-29.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/007-24.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/009-21.jpg

And this is where it was to be fitted on Wednesday;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/008-23.jpg

Playing before the hard work started;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/010-23.jpg

Unloading it on my own was fun, it weighs a huge amount;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/011-19.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/012-20.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/015-18.jpg

When the fitter arrived eventually, we were able to get the baseplate down;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/016-20.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/017-23.jpg
11-03-11, 08:59 PM
novarally

I've got limited height in the workshop, and this beam was right in the way;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/020-16.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/018-22.jpg

But easily solved with the aid of the trusty Stihl chainsaw;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/019-19.jpg

Also had to make some adaptations to other woodwork;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/022-11.jpg

And it was up by lunchtime, with the aid of an engine crane, a few ratchet straps and a very large neighbour farmer!;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/021-15.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...cort/023-8.jpg

Just waiting for the electrician to come and wire it up now, as it's on a 30 amp supply. Can't wait to try it out.
11-03-11, 09:08 PM
Mike

Colin, dont mean to be a kill joy but be very wary cutting out horizontal joists :S they stop sideways movement in roof structures...

Other then that, top work :)

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