Awww :( damn loopholes! 4 for a hug and a tea at nats?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike
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Awww :( damn loopholes! 4 for a hug and a tea at nats?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike
I might be in Australia in the summer doing Indycar stuff :/ its all TBC :/Quote:
Originally Posted by MK999
Thumbs up for the carbon shifter!
how come?..... the new indy car is a dallara, and i didn't think they were doing the indy car abroad thing any moreQuote:
Originally Posted by Mike
I dont know its just what Ive been told at work, theres loads of hype going round work about it all :/ I really busy next week too, going to Bentley on Wednesday, Noble Thursday & then onto Aston Friday. All to do with race car/le man type stuff. I dont get to work on any of the prototypes yet :( Williams F1 were in this week to so I got a feeling its gonna start to go manic soon!Quote:
Originally Posted by mowgli
I feel it is time to throw my hat into the ring here!
Colin - long time no see!! Bloody hell, it must be over 20 years! I think the last time I came up (in Barroway Drove!), you were still working on/with Rob Shepherds Nova - with it's lary pink etc.. stripes!
Now then! Lightweight. Oh yes. I'm looking to resurrect my Nova GSi next year, and the aim of the game is to get to 500Kg with that too. I've looked at what you've done, and according to the regs I will be working to, I can change the roof skin, and remove all of the old rear wings. I have to watch the strength of the chassis, and there are a few things you've done there that I like.
I'm going the 18" wheel (9" or 9.5" wide) route to take advantage of the development in Michelin GT rubber - with the far fetched goal of coming to Paddock at Brands and just twitching the wheel, without even thinking about lifting!! Total "Dont-Lift.Com"
I want wide panels, but as I'm going to 18's, that means a fair bit of butchering to let them in. I've looked at National HotRod panels as a basis for the bodywork. Underpinning, the Nova has to remain a "steel shell" but can have composite panels covering it.
Bottom line, I reckon that my 8v 190ish HP should be most competitive in the 1600cc class of a few championships (which put 1600 16v cars up a class!) if I can get it down to 500Kg = around 380bhp/tonne - which is a fair lot more than a BTCC car.
So - other than our friend in Cleveland that does lightweight panels - who else is doing wide lightweight/composite panels?
Rob.
Oh yes, back to the engine - solid lifters - I've run with these since I started racing in 1990. I've used the old Kent "take-em-out" type, and the top-adjustables. I prefer the former type, even though they need threadlock to make sure!!! I have mastered setting them up, and have doctored tools to do the job to do it without having to remove the cam carrier.
The issue with using the later 1.2 block, with the old 1.2 crank leaving 1024cc. The easy solution is to get the crank offset ground to lose a few mm of stroke. Get steel rods made to take a smaller big end - which will have a smaller amount of rotational drag. OR get a steel crank made to give you the right stroke to retain the standard rods.
I used to think that the cost of going steel was prohibitive, but balancing that against rebuilding/replacing engines that have standard "rubber" internals that have blown to bits, it's a small price to pay. What tipped me over was have half a dozen engines in three seasons, all with rod failure. 1600 GTE/GSi rods don't take to in excess of 150hp / 8000 rpm for long before they cry havoc and unleash the dogs of war, and make a bid for escape via the sump, or what ever gets in their way.
God I love Chevy V8's, parts for them are soooo cheap! I can have a steel crank, 8 rods, and 8 pistons for less - a LOT less than a crank & rods for a Nova/Ford/other European 4 pot. I just bought a set of race spec rings for my Carrillo pistons for $108 - ONE HUNDRED and EIGHT DOLLARS for a set of 8 Total Seal rings!! The last time I bought rings for my Cosworth pistons, they were £210 a set of 4 - and that was in 1995!!! Time to bore a Nova out to 4.137"......
V8 parts are ridiculously cheap, when we did a 351 Cleveland in a mustang a while ago, the full cam kit including timing chain and appropriate gaskets, lifters, new rockers etc etc was about half what you'd pay for a pair of 4 pot 16v cams
There is a saying.... "You can build two Chevys for the cost of one Ford. You can build two Fords for the cost of one Hemi" (Dodge/Chrysler/Mopar). When you look around, there is a vast amount more stuff available for Chevy V8's than the other two put together. And because of that, it's where the development has gone, Chevy V8's lead the way in just about every field (we're talking pushrod V8's here). The LS series is light, grunty, and very economical in production trim. In race trim - amazing! The Big Block dominates top fuel drag racing to the point that all of the leading teams use them, regardless of whether they are a "Ford" or "Mopar" team - they just have rocker covers that say "Ford" or "Mopar" on them, but the rest of the motor is very much Chevy!! A serious case of "if you can't beat them, join them".
Hi Rob.Quote:
Originally Posted by C612DNM
I think you may have me confused with someone else?.........Barroway Drove means nothing to me, and I don't think I've ever owned or worked on Rob Shepherds Nova.
500kg is one hell of a target, even if you are allowed to remove more metalwork than me, and even more so with 18" wheels.
But it will be good to see how you go about it!
I have a fair bit more weight in my rollcage than is ideal, it's all CDS tubing, and there's a lot of it. It's a very stiff and safe structure though.
I suspect the 500kg goal would be more realistic if you started with a simpler cage in better materials (T45).
Crikey! two Colin Smiths!! I was sure it was you! Hey ho! Never mind, no animals were harmed during this mis-identification!!
Rob Shepherds Nova (now I've brought it up) was a Dimma panelled 2.0L jobbie - and pre-dates the 16v engine by a couple of years.
Now you've got me racking my brain..... aha! Carquip were at Barroway Drove, near Downham Market, well still are... - run by someone called Richard these days, used to be a Colin (sure it was Colin - I have an old diary here with Colin Smith at Carquip, Barroway Drove....)
The older I get, the better I used to be!!
Back to the plot.... 500Kg is a target, how close I get, not sure. You must be close now - with the numbers you were quoting, and all this extra chopping you've done.
If I get to 550, that's still a LOT better than the current 770 in ModProd trim. Steve Quenby used to run a 1600 carb'd Nova in BARC ModProds many years back which tipped the scales at as near as dammit 700Kg.
Mine is currently a more simple cage, but will need extra stuff adding as I chop stuff away. And yes, T45 will be the order of the day.
It was Colin Hawes at Carquip if I remember rightly, responsible for the first Big Block Nova in the UK I believe (using a 1.8 Astra GTE engine).Quote:
Originally Posted by C612DNM
I'd be very curious indeed to see some photos of your Nova..........Dimma panels?!!
My Nova will be 540kg after this latest round of modifications, and there's really no room to go down from that within the regulations, unless I miraculously find a large pile of cash to have various steel items re-made in titanium.
No actual progress at all in the last few days, but the new seat rails are now with me and ready to be cut to size and welded in place;
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...cort/040-3.jpg
Really must get on with it as it's meant to be going off to have all the paint stripped soon, and clearly al the metalwork needs to be done by then.
Can i ask what series you hope to race in that allows a fibreglass roof ,i have built mine to run in the DMN ,but the roof has to say original material and you are not allowed to remove any internal metal work,i would be very interested if you find somebody to make lightweight wide wings etc as the ones i have are not the lightest, i agree with Colin i think you will struggle to get to 500kg,hopefully you will put a WIP thread up so we can see your progress (sorry for the hijack Colin)
Quote:
Originally Posted by C612DNM
Hi Toymex (sorry I don't know your real name).Quote:
Originally Posted by toymex
I've looked at your Project thread (excellent car), and you clearly need wider arches than the ones I have on this car in order to run your 10" wide wheels.
Did you see the Hot Rod kit that I had a while back? Photos and details are somewhere on this thread I'm fairly sure.
That bodykit was designed to cater for 10's, I had the full kit and moulds for the front arches and bumpers, which I sold to Steve Porter off this Forum.
As far as I know Steve still has them, check out his 4x4 wide arch Nova thread for more info.
Colin
Hi Colin do you have a link to Steves thread? i did see the arches when you had them they look exactly what i need but would need someone to make them as i havent a clue,i cant believe that your car has a cds cage there must be a fair bit of weight to save there,a t45 cage will be my next big purchase but im not sure wether to fit it to the shell ive got which is very very clean but has all the front end strenghtening plates welded which must weigh a fair bit and i think i could strengthen it in different ways that will be of more benefit and weigh less or try to find a new shell and start again but you must be able to lose 20kgs with a t45 cage, i keep looking at the rear antiroll bar on your car and thinkingthat i could do with that ,do you know what car and its off ?i am also loving the rear brakes but they are a bit rich for me so i will have to go an alternative route
Cheers
Jezz:thumb:
The rear anti roll bar on mine was fabricated from scratch, it's not adapted from another car. That was the work of BTEC Racing who built the car originally.Quote:
Originally Posted by toymex
As for the rear brakes, take a look at what the Autograss racers are using. A couple of the Minis I race against are using the same equipment - look for Berrisford (on Google), they make a lot of specialist Autograss stuff, and it's mega cheap compared to the KAD set-up I've used.
If I had known about it sooner, I'm sure I'd have gone down that route as well! Don't forget my commission..........
Steve Porter's thread can be found here;
http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthr...t=steve+porter
It's not been updated in a fair while, so I'm not sure where he is with it now.
Yep, you're right - Colin Hawes - why I had Smith in my old book I don't know! I've been to sleep since then!! Luckily no animals were injured in this mix up of identities!Quote:
Originally Posted by novarally
Therefore - nice to meet you Mr Smith!
It wasn't my Nova - it was Rob Shepherds, I'm sure it was a 2.0L, may have been a 1.8 - it was back in 1989!! He was quite successful with it, and thinking hard about it, it wasn't Dimma, it was the other mob - Mattig.
At that time, mine was just a plain 'Sport, though in '89 it was a 1400 as it went pop big time in '88 and I bored it out to 77.8 and put 1200 pistons in, etc....
To answer Toymex's question - Intermarque allows pretty well "run what ya brung" as it allows spaceframes, etc.. in. I did look at DMN, but the rules have been changed so much in recent years to keep Rod's Escort at the front that it's no longer allowed. At one time you could have had a plastic roof as they allowed spaceframe cars in, but no more as they pushed them over into Intermarque. Castle Combe GTs, and Northern Sports & Saloons would also allow it.
I have been talking to a number of people about creating a GM-based series - like the "Blue Oval Saloon Series" but for any GM based car - with classes to cater for road saloon spec up to mental. Everything from Chevy through Holden, Isuzu, Pontiac, yeah even Cadillac (love to see a CTS-V on track over here!) mixing it with Vauxhalls and Opels.
Initially it would run as a sub-class of something like Classic Thunder, to help get it on it's feet, then if enough enter, it can run it's own grid - the same way BOSS does.
Now, without wishing to hijack this thread any more talking about the sport.... back to this car....
So, Colin, going back a few pages, you were lower than 540Kg before - I seem to remember seeing 516 on a set of scales. You have lighter wheels, you have chopped out more dead metal, you're replacing bits of ally with carbon, surely it's going to be lighter than that?? Or did I miss you bolting some extra iron in somewhere? I recall you having to change your 2mm windows for 4mm, but that's all so far...
The HotRod kit you mention - is that the one that Mr Porter has the moulds for? Do you have any pics you can point me at?
Rob (Compton).
Hi Rob.Quote:
Originally Posted by C612DNM
Sadly my Nova has never been as light as 516kg......I did post up some comparisons on the weighing scales with a Westfield that I also own, so possibly that's where the confusion came from?
When I first got this Nova back in 2009 it was around 615kg, and the weight has gradually been chased out of it, and 540kg will be where it sits when it goes out again next year.
That makes more sense if it was a Mattig kit, I'd never heard of a Dimma Nova before! (would have been interesting though).
Yes, Steve Porter has (some of) the moulds for the Hot Rod kit. There should be lots of photos of the kit on Steve's thread, the link for which is above.
No going back now........I've spent the weekend stripping the car down to the bare bones;
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/001-26.jpg
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/002-61.jpg
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/003-62.jpg
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/004-51.jpg
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/005-43.jpg
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/006-45.jpg
Various bits of cutting and welding to do now, including fitting the new seat rails and fittings for the harness.
There's also some tidying up to do of various bits I cut away previously, and I'm debating whether to weld up all the 'bung' holes in the floorpan. Previously I had covered them with bits of carbon fibre sheet and tape, but it's not very resilient to attack from stones/weather etc. Only problem is the weight of the steel circles I'd have to weld in instead.
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/012-30.jpg
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/011-28.jpg
Who can remember who it was who made carbon fibre VIN plates for Novas? I quite fancy getting one made up to replicate the '002' chassis plate above!
I've also been tinkering around with the pedal box, fitting an AP 'short' cylinder for the clutch, and I've modified the F1 carbon fibre pedal to be the new clutch pedal;
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/008-35.jpg
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/007-38.jpg
And the carbon fibre gear lever is basically done now, just needs a metal post to be machined up for the bottom end of it, where it engages into the linkage;
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ort/009-34.jpg
Now there's only one real problem remaining..............what colour do I paint it?
The interior is going to be done in metallic grey (a la BTCC cars), and I think I want the panelwork done a very bright attention getting colour.
All suggestions welcomed, but orange and green are almost certainly off the list as I race against cars done those colours already.
serious amount of work going into this!
could you pop rivet the carbon on to cover up the holes or tiger seal them?
How about just putting the original rubber bungs back in?Quote:
Originally Posted by novarally
Porsche Riviera Blue
Colin, couldn't you just get some carbon the same size as the vin plates of Mike and then vinyl letter them.
I found an old thread of someone who'd made the carbon vins btw.
http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthr...n-VIN-plates.&
Also what weight is your shell now it's empty lol
I did see a 911 on EBAY in that colour, and it does look nice. Good bright colour which is what I need.Quote:
Originally Posted by SimonTW
That might actually be the best option, now you've made me think about it!Quote:
Originally Posted by paul james
Thanks - I can cut myself a piece of carbon to suit no problem, but I assumed someone had engraved the lettering onto them, but evidently not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Southie
I'll just get myself some white on clear tape for my Dymo printer and knock my own up then. Cheers.
Not sure if I'll have chance to weigh the shell in its bare state, but if I do I will post it up, it would be interesting. I'd need to fiddle about with bits of wood to get it located on the weighing pads.
It would be nice to know the weight bare, then you can do some real math on each item as you put it back together to see where all the weight is or shouldn't be.
Looking forward to seeing this in a new colour though and putting a proper "Colin Smith" stamp on it.
Save some weight and just strip the paint off then lacquer it lol.
My real colour vote would be renault liquid yellow :)
It could be the right colour;Quote:
Originally Posted by SimonTW
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/758855-1.jpg
I'd previously been looking at British Gas van Cyan Blue;
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...vw-200x127.jpg
They look remarkably similar to me...........
Citrine yellow
Very early 90's.......but I'm not sure whether that will ever go full circle and be back in fashion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike
Something like £1.80 each from Autovaux !Quote:
Originally Posted by novarally
If I find another supplier that does a box do you want some ? I'm sure they are the same size as the Corsa ones.
Thanks for the offer James, but I must have several hundred of them from Novas I've dismantled over the years.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonlem
i agree with connor renault liquid yellowQuote:
Originally Posted by Connor
the trouble with renault blue is that it will look like jack has sponsored you...
Hmmm, I hadn't thought of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by mowgli
Renault Liquid Yellow is an interesting one, that could look really good against the carbon fibre/grey interior.
Certainly it looks good on one of my favourite cars;
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/822172-1.jpg
Anyone got any photos of Liquid Yellow Novas? I found this one, but any more would be good;
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l..._1304271_n.jpg
It was a good suggestion to weigh the bare shell, thanks.
The answer is................184kg.
That is totally stripped of every last nut and bolt, literally the only thing left in it is the steering column (which is only in there so I can get the positioning of the seat rails correct).
184kg :O and liquid yellow looks to be a good choice collin liking that mk2