985cc Turbocharged Nova Sprint Car

People who've followed this thread will recall that I got a quote for building a rear beam in titanium, which was going to be made to accept some lighweight KAD Mini brakes and hubs that I bought.

That plan was abandoned due to the absurd cost of making a bespoke rear beam.

So I am now looking at modifying a Nova rear axle to accept the Mini hubs.

A friend of mine has got a book which details every possible combination oif wheel bearing, so he's taken away the measurements of the Nova stub axle, and the Mini rear hub, and hopefully he can find something to match the two together.

Failing that it will be a question of machining out the hub assembly to accept whatever he can find to suit (note to self - check a Nova rear wheel bearing, just in case it miraculously fits straight in!).

I've been doing a bit of mocking up on a spare axle just to see how it will all go together;

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...cort/031-3.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...cort/029-4.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...cort/032-3.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...cort/030-5.jpg

If the right bearings can be found it should be pretty straightforward, obviously the main thing will be modifying the existing caliper bracket, or making one from scratch if that proves easier.

A Nova rear drum weighs 6.5 kg with the shoes, cylinders etc. The alloy Mini rear hub, with caliper, pads, mounting bracket is 2.5kg.

So a very useful saving of 8kg in total.

lol, theyre just a bit sweet arent they..

http://www.trailertek.com/acatalog/S...on_Spares.html

the stub is basically a 22mm straight shaft to suit a mini hub. maybe the old lathe could wizz the nova ones down a bit

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mowgli

http://www.trailertek.com/acatalog/S...on_Spares.html

the stub is basically a 22mm straight shaft to suit a mini hub. maybe the old lathe could wizz the nova ones down a bit

---

Great idea, thanks.

Machining the stub axle has got to be a better plan than machining the hub. Plus I've already got a set of Mini wheel bearings. The magic of the Internet allowing you to bounce ideas off the World.........

I will go and take some measurements off the Nova stub axle, and hopefully it's bigger than 22mm.

the only issue you might have is getting the track correct. that mini one looks a lot narrower than the nova one...

can you do anything with the top half of the bulk head etc, i know you have things bolted to it...

drill holes?

and is it allowed in your cat

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bmw156

can you do anything with the top half of the bulk head etc, i know you have things bolted to it...

drill holes?

and is it allowed in your cat

---

No, no lightening holes are allowed in the bulkhead, and I can't remove any of it either.

darn it lol ill go back to the drawing board :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mowgli

http://www.trailertek.com/acatalog/S...on_Spares.html

the stub is basically a 22mm straight shaft to suit a mini hub. maybe the old lathe could wizz the nova ones down a bit

---

The tapered part on the Nova stub axle starts off at 22.4mm, and goes up to 29mm at the back section, so it could have been made to be slimmed down to 22mm right the way along its length!

The section that the bearing sits on for a Nova is 40mm long, so I need to check that against a Mini to see how far back it needs to be machined to.

Definitely looks promising though.

Nice setup. It makes that that beam look like something from Steptoes yard.

Please powdercoat or make it look sexy when its being done for real.