985cc Turbocharged Nova Sprint Car

[C612DNM]

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.

[novarally]

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).

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.

[novarally]

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;



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.

[toymex]

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)

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.

[novarally]

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)

Hi Toymex (sorry I don't know your real name).

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

[toymex]

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

[novarally]

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

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.

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.

[C612DNM]

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).

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.

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!
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).

[novarally]

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!
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.

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.

[novarally]

No going back now........I've spent the weekend stripping the car down to the bare bones;