Project Hungovernova [KET]

Bought Balley's old 17TD SX [L393KET] about month or so ago :) and the poor thing is in desperate need of some major TLC!
Here's how KET currently stands before she gets stripped once again for a proper paint job and a major suspension/steering overhaul.
Ive already clocked up 4K miles since I bought her and is not fun to drive at the moment, rattles galore, its like driving a Ford Granada :tard: goes like stink but handles like a bus!

So the plan is to strip her back to her undies.
Complete Rewire
New Doors
New Wings
New Bumpers
New Paint [In & Out]
Install Front Upper & Lower Strut Braces & Front ARB [Why there is no front ARB on it I have no idea?]
Rear Strut Brace
New Suspension all round
Polybush All the suspension, Steering etc
Corsa Epas Column [It needs it!]
Exhaust
Refit the bulkhead sound deadening & install dynamat inside coz its noisy as ****! and probably loads more.....
It certainly wont look "Standard" anymore and hopefully will handle better than bus and be a lot quieter without the rattles ;)


http://photos-d.ak.instagram.com/hph...75119227_n.jpghttp://photos-c.ak.instagram.com/hph...13724313_n.jpghttp://photos-a.ak.instagram.com/hph...40872281_n.jpghttp://photos-g.ak.instagram.com/hph...65085370_n.jpghttp://photos-e.ak.instagram.com/hph...56141047_n.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TOZNOVA81

strip her back to her undies

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^ lol

1.5 D to 1.7 TD was that ? .. must go pretty well :)

if your staying with the rally look, it could use big bugger mud flaps up the front too :cool:

unfortunatly nova's arent the queitest of cars, you might not be able to do a great deal about about the noise, but give it a go, it might help a bit.

does this only get worked on when your hungover by the way ? lol ... or are you always hungover, haha

Nice! Considering the weight up front a front ARB should be on the cards... either that or hard front suspension! But without one it may lean a lot but should grip well!

As for making it quiet and refined I can't confirm 100% that using a bucket of sound deadening will cure it. But I am doing the exact same thing, engine bay bulkhead sound deadening, cabin sound deadening (the stuff under the carpet that goes up the bulkhead) and finally a ton of the tar-style sound deadening. I am not using Dynamat but a local company to me, having had a lengthy conversion with them and seeing an example of a Mk2 Golf fitted with their stuff I think it will work wonders. Not only does the stuff kill the sound but drastically reduce rattling!!
I bought one of their full-car kits, I took just one of the 1x1ft tiles and slapped it onto the boot floor of my running XE Nova and went for a drive - with just one tile the exhaust noise from the boot was noticabily reduced! I can't wait to see what 42 tiles will do!

Also EPAS will be a massive improvement in refinement and drivability - both my Novas are fitted with Corsa-B columns.

Jimbob She certainly does go well :thumb: haha nah I've ditched those mudflaps now for genuine GM ones all round. Hungovernova is something my gf came up with ;)

Johnny Ye there's so much oversteer its scary atm, the front grips like glue but the body roll is ridiculous. Ye the noise I cant stand, its driving me insane, its got solid engine mounts too which dont help at all with rattling the poor thing to bits haha so lots of soundproofing is a must.
I decided against the epas column and instead fitted a Corsa GSi rack and Saxo epas pump.

Did a bit over the weekend, modifying & installing the pas rack...

First I had to remove the inner track rods from the GSi rack and shorten them by an inch on each as the corsa has a wider wheelbase & re-thread them

http://photos-h.ak.instagram.com/hph...88771805_n.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.instagram.com/hph...12520450_n.jpg

Removed the old rack and laid them side by side to check they were now equal lengths

http://photos-g.ak.instagram.com/hph...72258854_n.jpg

http://photos-h.ak.instagram.com/hph...09118633_n.jpg

Old rack out, not much room with the engine still in there :O

http://photos-e.ak.instagram.com/hph...92363474_n.jpg

Then figure out how much bigger I needed to make the hole in the bulkhead for the valve on the PAS rack to fit.

http://photos-d.ak.instagram.com/hph...33032121_n.jpg

That should do it :P

http://photos-a.ak.instagram.com/hph...38856150_n.jpg

It fits :thumb:

http://photos-c.ak.instagram.com/hph...93550442_n.jpg

Connected up to the standard nova column, I will tidy up the hole at some point.

http://photos-c.ak.instagram.com/hph...04024616_n.jpg

The GSi bracket was an absolute **** to fit, ended up having to drop the rear gearbox mount & gear linkage off to squeeze it on, even then it was close.

http://photos-h.ak.instagram.com/hph...17256813_n.jpg
Rack pipes bolted on all snug :)
Just waiting for my local hydraulics place to make up my new hi pressure pipe then I shall be installing the pump :thumb:

Nice progress, but why hydraulic over EPAS?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Johnny A

Nice progress, but why hydraulic over EPAS?

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Had the PAS rack just laying around collecting dust in the back of the garage, so thought sod it I'll use it :thumb:

Fair play, will be interesting to hear your findings compared to EPAS

Hydraulic PAS or EPAS. Both a fair bit of fiddling to install. I had the hydraulic setup on my GSi, found it great apart from the whine of the pump.

Not sure if you have ordered your hoses yet, but I got ripped off by my local hydraulic hose specialist & got urged to use incredibly over specced piping. It was so stiff it was impossible to mount. After discarding it I ended up sourcing some far more suitable hose for a fraction of the cost.

I have never driven a Nova with hydraulic pas. I'd like to do a back to back comparison at a meet or something in the future