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There's a whole bunch of minor jobs to be done now, including a lot of cosmetic tidying after being stored in umpteen different barns, garages and workshops in the near-5 years which have passed since it last ran. Eventually I think it will get stripped to a bare shell once again and re-painted completely. But that can wait.
More importantly, it is essentially ready to go, the engine is sweet, all the electrics are functional, and the suspension is pointing in the right direction.
I am going to have to sort out the gear selection, I'm not happy with the existing arrangement. And I need to create some sort of functional wiper system.
As has always been the case, I have a long list of future developments I want to undertake, which is one of the most fun bits to owning a car like this. However, these really need to wait until I get the car out on track again and learn to drive it all over again.
I can't belive its been 5 years since it had that unfortunate crash. The car has come back better than ever though, it looks amazing already. I think it would be a shame to cover up all that carbon with paint (and adding weight!)
Keep up the good work, its inspiring to see, making me want to get on with mine again.
The carbon won't be getting painted!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by paul james
If I do anything it will be the inside and roof/rear end that gets re-done. I've never been 100% happy with the finish on the inside, and the exterior might as well go black as there's so much carbon now :)
In the process of re-making the anti-roll bar adjuster, after I managed to knock the lever and break it;
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A line lock and some fancier Aeroquip fittings that are going on;
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The current 13" Force Racing rear split rims;
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And a little experiment I'm doing to see if 10" Mini wheels might be a way forward for the back end (they're only 0.5" less on overall tyre diameter, and these KAD magnesium ones would save me another 3.5kg);
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Really impressive, looking forward to seeing it at Gurston again so let us all know when it is planned.
Do you really need to adjust the roll bar in car? Just thinking there's a job and some weight to be saved if you adjust it manually and make a log of the results / setup.
I do agree there's no need for adjustment, it's one of the things that may get ditched to save weight in the longer term.Quote:
Originally Posted by 8valve-craig
I've not had much time to work on the car, but I did start on a few things today. I'm fitting the polycarbonate windows into the carbon fibre doors, and sorting the rear screen as well.
For ages I've wanted to replace this monstrosity;
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With this which I've had sitting on the shelf for years;
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Turned out to be a far bigger job than it should have been as the bolt going through the bush had seized solid. It's not easy cutting through a titanium bolt which I'd used to secure it!
But job now done and it looks a whole lot better, as well as saving more weight;
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I've got a few other unexpected things to tackle, I found that the pipe from the sump which circulates oil through the breather system was going into fresh air. Unfortunately there aren't enough outlets on the breather tank so I'm going to have to find a way to add another one. The tank is carbon fibre so it isn't as straightforward as it would be if it was metal.
The other rather fundamental problem is the exhaust is way too loud. For some reason the guy who crafted a lovely new exhaust for it decided to only put one silencer box in, and it really is offensively loud. I'm going to have to add another silencer and the only place I can fit one is behind the rear axle. It looks like there will be enough room but it's a delay I could do without.
I've also discovered that because my engine is lowered (and of course the suspension sits low), the BTB exhaust manifold is perilously close to the ground;
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There's no obvious solution to that one I can think of (bigger wheels and higher suspension are not options).
I like the stabiliser bar Colin,what is it from ? That exhaust looks like it could be a problem ,mine isn't as low as that but I have worn the wrap from the underside of it
It's a KAD engine brace for a Mini (proper Mini). Very nicely made, like all the KAD stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by toymex
Short of finding a manifold that sits tighter to the sump i don't know what to do about that.
I have just looked at my manifold all 4 pipes are parallel as they go under the sump so could offer a bit more ground clearance ,just one problem I don't know who makes it
Breather tank's an easy fix. Bond an ally take off into it. Jobbed.
Ive done it a few times on re-jigged hypercar/f1/indy tanks & intakes etc over the years.
I've just taken my car down from static noise test 97dB to 82dB just by repacking the back box with Acoustafil. Might be worth investigating if yours needs repacking.
New engine brace looks very light, I think it would look better with the misalignment spacers the proper way round even if you don't need any misalignment. Or better still, the allen head on the RJ side on the gearbox and do away with the spacer.
Could you not go over the top of the gearbox with the exhaust?
As mike says, bond an alloy outlet into the carbon, will be the easiest way.
As for the zooster, can you not run a 4x1 layout instead of the 2x2 stack? that will gain you some room, i know its a BTB one so would be the best around but if your having to pack another silencer in, it might be worthwhile getting the manifold copied into a more height friendly design. In regards to the 2nd box, can you not fit it in at the front of the tunnel where a normal nova cat would be located?
I did think about that but it's a lot of extra work, and I'm not even sure if the regulations allow the exhaust to be routed inside the car (even if it's then boxed in).Quote:
Originally Posted by t45_ste
Good ideas, I've done exactly that now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Iain
Fair points Ben, but I think if I was going to the trouble of having a whole new manifold and system done (maybe even in titanium one day) then I might be better off doing it with a dry sump system installed, which would let everything work better.Quote:
Originally Posted by boffer8
Nice to see updates Coiln, so do you reckon you'll get to abuse your Nova this year and if so where at?
Hi. Yes, I plan to be out this year, but the issues with the exhaust and the gear change are holding me up. Pretty much everything else is done.Quote:
Originally Posted by Southie
My aim was to give it a shakedown at Santa Pod and then do a Hillclimb at Gurston Down at the end of the season.
A Vectra C in the local breakers yard kindly donated its cable gearchange set-up, which I attached to a spare F10 'box to try out;
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It seems to work rather nicely, so I shall now start trial fitting it in my Nova. There's a lot of stuff around my gearbox turret which may need relocating, water pipes, header tank, oil recirculation tank are all contesting the limited space in that area.
This is the old gear linkage I removed;
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When I look at that I can't help thinking it's no surprise that the change quality is poor, the route it has to follow with straight rods is so convoluted and indirect. Plus it has to go through a bulkhead tube with a nylon bush at each end. The potential for wear and misalignment must be huge.
I'm hoping that cables are the way to go.
Ultimately the weak point is the 4 mount points on the lever housing itself; you wanna fill that with as much tigerseal / solid bush it as possible. IMO you want it further back than I have it here, but the handbrake then must be relocated. The vauxhall cables are long & the route will determine how good / if at all it works; I went bottom right under the rack next to the clutch pedal to allow them to come up over a greater distance.
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If you want f off & die precision (not that it really needs it) you can go RJ if you do the work, this then however puts a greater strain on the shifter mount points (weak link becomes weaker...)
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I'd recommend a mod of the gate to ease 3rd into 2nd & just getting into 1st generally else you'll fuss with how precise you have to be ~ you can do it to 5th also with no ill effects.
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Thank-you Broadghost, very useful photos and information.
No handbrake at at all in my car, so nothing to worry me there.
Is is that a Vectra gear lever housing you're using? I've been told that the Astra H one has a shorter throw. Maybe other models are the same.
Have you done done anything to modify the throw on yours? I have an Astra H road car and the throw between each gear shift seems a long way.
Your gearbox turret is different to mine, what car did that come from?
I'd focus mainly then on optimising shifter location in the car meaning the cables have a good route.
Yes; I have also shortened the gear lever above the pivot point (maybe 25MM) and below (about 8MM); makes it short as you'd expect. ~ Below pivot shortening only effects up down motion not side to side.
You are right in spotting the other design of turret, but I have removed counterweights & reworked it so cables bolt up. I have had the plastic end pop off shifting hard (didn't ever want this again!) It's from a 2002 Vectra as I'm aware. TBH most important thing is all moving parts are oiled to F. Turret is internally sprung to return as is the shifter, I've just taken the spring off my shifter as it felt too strong returning & hindered 3rd into 2nd.
Nice set up BRG.
Does anyone have a tubular exhaust manifold for the 16v small block which isn't made by BTB or Tony Law?
if they do I'd be interested in borrowing/seeing photos of it installed in terms of sump clearance.
Thanks.
I'm still working on the cable gear change conversion, that is also being complicated by the fact that my engine has been lowered in the bay.
I will take a picture of mine when I get a chance but don't think it will be any good as it's not that tight to the sumpQuote:
Originally Posted by novarally
Cable gearchange conversion now (mostly) complete, and working very nicely right away (I haven't tinkered with it at all, and it's selecting all the gears very nicely).
I'm sure I will play about with things to shorten the throw, to stiffen up the gear shifter itself, and to prevent the cables detaching when shifting in anger, but it's immediately better than what I had in there;
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Love that, looks great.
Colin the Citroen rally team had a similar exhaust issue with the Citroen C2R2 max see the link below to see how they got around the problem
https://m.rally24.com/rally-cars-for...html?photos#p4
Thanks - that's an interesting solution. I think space might be too tight to achieve that routing on mine. I've spoken to Matt at Simpson exhausts and he's confident he can design and make something which sits much closer to my sump and will solve the problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by rallypvc
I borrowed a Tony Law exhaust manifold this week and it's nearly identical to the BTB one I have now, so that won't help me at all.
I don't think you will regret going with Simpson Race Exhausts. Mine is really nice and a pleasure to work on, it's never given me any hassle and has been on and off more times than I can count.
Cheers Craig.Quote:
Originally Posted by 8valve-craig
I was truly impressed by their professional attitude and the premises are something else. Just need to find some cash for the manifold now.
If they do make you a manifold maybe talk first about the coupling. Mine is a slip joint so the whole system has to come off to remove the manifold. It doesn't take long, but a V-band would make life easier at times.
Good thought, thanks Craig.Quote:
Originally Posted by 8valve-craig
As my system is is too loud anyway, I may end up getting them to make a whole new manifold and system, I've got a V band on mine already and it does make life easier.
Thanks for the PM regarding Ebay, I was not aware of the problems you mentioned.
Bracing up the gear shift lever as there's a reasonable amount of flex. I think it will need a bit more stiffening as well;
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And saved a bit of weight as well as moving it out of the way of the new turret etc., I made up a tarty bracket to mount the coilpack;
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