Iain's 20XE Trackday Nova

[Benn]

Garage is lovely.

[Mazz]

Awesome man cave there dude!

[nova_stee]

Screaming for a c20let this, nice car as it is mind

[turbojolt]

Screaming for a c20let this, nice car as it is mind

ive said that to him more then a couple of times but he wont do it


proper jealous of the drive and garage they are huge!!!

[leggattr]

After seeing this garage today, it is just perfect. I wish my house could be this big, and fit novas in too!! Nice to meet you today, shame I couldn't hang around longer.

[Iain]

Think I'm sorted for my PV/trackday prep now, other than a service and new cambelt and pulleys.

As promised in my feature the rear disc setup is on and working. Start with a Corsa C rear disc beam:



Whip off the whole stub axle, old vs new:



As people already know, the bolt pattern is the same:



If you try to bolt it straight up, it sits wonky on the axle:



This is because of two locating lumps in the rear of the Corsa stub axle:



Tickle with a grinder sees them gone and flat:



Stub axle bolted up:

[Iain]

While I was tinkering I figured it was a good time to remove the beam, found a Cav ARB in the scrappy so that was mock fitted:



Then using the very helpful parts list in the Articles section, the relevant bits were ordered and fitted:



M10 U bolts, U bolt plates from a trailer company, universal 19mm ARB D bushes and brackets...



Rear of the ARB didn't look fun to drill, so I've bent the original brackets over the end of the beam and drilled for a small bolt on the other side, keeps it secure and as per Vauxhall's design (new end bushes available for £1.88 from Vauxhall):



Beam back on, calipers bolted up and original braided lines modified to suit the new calipers:



Rear coilovers back from refurb so looking complete again:



Looking shiney and motorsport Hammerite red now



Handbrake lines weren't an issue with the coilovers, I've pulled it straight down and P clipped it to the axle, the end of the Corsa sleeve butts up to the original Nova guide so it doesn't move:





I used a new Nova handbrake front piece, Nova adjustment yoke, and Nova adjustment screw on the yoke. I joined these Nova bits to the Corsa ends half way along the beam using U clamps from a boating shop. The U clamps seem to hold it fine as long as you remove the teflon/plastic sleeve off the Corsa brake cable first:

[Iain]

Rear end finished with a stud and nut conversion (little long but oh well):



Front calipers got the same red treatment and some new flexis with 90 degree unions on the end to try and stop them from rubbing:



Front coilovers back from refurb, both with new pistons and full service:



They included some new smaller bumpstops as I told him I had travel issues, which is nice!



All done, fitted with some new Mintex 1144 pads!



Chav calipers ftw






So initial test drive was last night, the brakes got properly bedded in and left to cool down. Bite is strong and I have a lot of confidence in them, however there's a fair bit of pedal travel now. Not sure if I can adjust some of it out or just learn to live with it...

Also I have mega Wilwood pad rattle from up front, it sounds like my suspension is hanging off Need to try and find some anti-rattle shims for them.

The rear Corsa setup does gain a hell of a lot of track width, I used to run 5mm spacers and now they look similar if not further out without any spacers! Fingers crossed my slicks still fit.

[8valve-craig]

Welcome to the club.

[toymex]

Looking good Iain ,did you weigh the disc setup at all to see if there is a weight saving