My Projects thread

[Nick J]

Great work as always and I absolutely love this car even if progress is steady, it will be worth it to see the finished article!

Thanks.... I see your doing well with your own project nowadays.... Looks great!

Even thought they are little jobs, your prep and attention to detail, sorry perfection, is awesome!!

On the linkage side of things, just a heads up...

The nut underneath the RJ at the gearbox end of the linkage, i drilled though this (through the nut, RJ studding and out the other side of the nut) and fitted a spilt pin as the nut kept coming off. Not slating Grunts work at all. I am running an early Nova linkage with the smaller diameter bushes. Not sure of this makes a difference.

Thanks for advice I will bear it in mind. Always good to get a heads up!

Great updates Nick, good to see your still going with the novas!

Don't think I could ever be without one nowadays!

Wow, didn't see that updates coming..

Shame beasty broke it, but nice to know the engine is in good hands.

Yeah as said previously it was a shame but made life easier for me in a bulk buy of parts ready to go etc.

I'm not sure that nut under the RJ at the gearbox end is going to work with an f28 (assuming there is one as hard to tell on the picture). Mine was similar and I had to drill and tap the linkage to bolt it to instead as it is so close to the gearbox.

Cheers Lee, I think I will have to compare with the linkage Dan made for Andy and Keith for differences and if needs be copy it as they've had no troubles with theirs and the f28.

Cheers and yea, sure you use the F28 cover and the F20 plate, someone will know for sure. I just told them what i was running when i ordered it..

Yeah I've heard that.... From what I've been told pot is maybe best though.....

When i made them Lee i put a slight bend upwards so the nut cleared the box casing.

I will take note of this next time I'm at Andys etc cheers.

I would run the pot flywheel as then you can run a LET cover plate which is stronger than an XE one. XE flat fly and cover slipped like mad on mine with just phase 2 (so did a stock LET setup as well though tbh).

Thanks again Lee, I have since been told the same.

im sure with lots of boost, its better to have the slightly heavier pot type fly; keep momentum rather than gaining it a bit too quickly perhaps with the flat type.. if it is weaker?

As above cheers fella!

If Grant said it will be ok it probably will be mate, mine is with a F13 so totally different really

We'll see I guess..... As said above will have a compare and see what the differences are when I get chance.

looking good big lad

Cheers Fred!

More coming later keep your eyes peeled!

Nick.

[Nick J]

Hey guys,

So once the primer was dry a good block down was in order. I managed to get it all completely level apart from one area seen below which I ended up blocking right through the primer back to filler in order to get it to a stage were I knew once reprimed and blocked it would be level. This was initially caused by a previous repair marks bodyshop had done and as my paintless dent guy couldnt get in to lift it so I skimmed it with filler as shown previously. However it turned out to more difficult than I thought to re repair!...........





Vents inside and out needed a good flat as carbon quality is never great especially this old type......







Once I had it all rubbed down I could use a sealer to fill the gap on the inside between the vent and inside of the bonnet as It could'nt been done previously as the bare metal needed primer first....





After the sealer had cured it was time for a re prime.......






At this stage the vent areas were reprimed over the top of the sealer to give them a better build for me to re flat and make them even smoother.....






Then guide coated ready for a good reblock.........






Again once dry.... I used a dry guide coat powder as well as black aerosol already applied to allow me to see any flaws and block level it down to perfection...





Insides were re flatted too.......






Bonnet bolts were blasted to get all old paint of them and provided a key for fresh paint....





More to follow........

Nick.

[Nick J]

After a few weeks of working on this around business hours It was finally ready for paint yay!.........






I was quite lucky here as the place I work for now use the same spies hecker scheme as the old spot were I did the bulk of the car last year so I didnt need to worry about a colour match and just used the same shade I has prior on the rest of the car. Job done...............












Again left to air dry but it did look great the following morning......







Very pleased with the final result! The vents are now smooth inside and look a lot more asthetically pleasing regarding how well they've been fitted which is what I was after. The outside is now level and as straight as the rest of the body.... Result!

More on route..........

Nick.

[Nick J]

Later that week I gave the bonnet a flat & polish. Here's the finished article shots......









Later we had it fitted......






I fitted it straight onto the old bolt/hinge marks however it did need a little adjusting to be a perfect fit. I managed to remove the old soft close sponges from near the hinges on the old bonnet without damaging them. These were re fitted to the new bonnet with a new bonnet catch clip and safety pin Keith sent me over. I was rather dubious about fitting a modified bonnet to a mk1 as generally the suit mk2's more imo. However I am very pleased with it so its here to stay! opinions welcome however as always.

Again more to follow......

Nick.

[Nick J]

With the bonnet finished I turned my attention to somewere else which I wanted to do ages ago but was too lazy to! The inner arches at the rear needed some tidy up work from coilover fitting. At the time they were fitted I was busy moving house so just sprayed them with plenty of waxoil to protect them until I got round to it. After four coats under each arch front and rear we have the following.......







I seem to be missing pics from the front but here are a few shots with wheels back on.......






Hows It was looking on the whole then........





Really pleased with how Its coming on! I think freshly painted arches only show off a novas cleanliness even more and as Ive painted right round the back It will give them plenty of protection too. A good coat of wax followed by waxoil round the back lips of all four arches finished the job.

More updates to follow when I get the chance!

Nick.

[Edd]

I like the bonnet, looks stunning in the outside pic

[turbodrew1]

Very nice mate. Bonnet looks well on their.

[Acerliam]

Looking stunning mate, love the bonnet

[tahir868]

Hats off to you, workmanship is excellent! Really like the look of this car.

Are you able to paint cars for people now? If you can.. the 35K Calibre will be getting sent to you as a bare shell!

[Nick J]

So things were going rather well however when I had the front wheel off sorting the arches I noticed a small amount of brake fluid inside the n/s/f wheel causing concern. Further inspection showed us the main seal of the caliper was leaking. Pretty miffed by this as they were sold to me on the understanding they had been rebuilt. However I had bought the new kit from Mark so they were on borrowed time anyhow this just sped things up. The dvla were also causing me grief taking their time processing a refund of tax as I had to tax the car to put the new plate onto it but later cashed it in as I wasnt ready for it to be road ready. They took that long I was actually ready to then tax the car in the meantime to be able to take it for the brakes sorting!

Anyhow I eventually got the tax issue sorted and the new front brake kit is now fitted......





Whilst this was being sorted I also had the rear adjusted a further 5mm or so lower. The news tyres gave enough clearance to do so and Its still at a useable level anything more would be too or unuseable or for what I want the car for anyhow....






I was about out of products so did a little research and asked around ( Cheers Benn!) and ended up with these poorboys/Megs products....





Apparantly suitable for the darker colour selection including reds so I got to it......

Finished results with tyres tarted too......









The brakes work very well with a great pedal feel so Im very pleased with them. Obviously they wont see pain for some time yet but sure they'll do the job well once the motors in.

Next step was an mot...........

Nick.