It's like a giant airfix kit crossed with a nova.....(56k unfriendly peeps)

Jimbo · 07-01-2007, 20:00

Well I thought I might just show you what been happening for the last 3......maybe 4 years

I noticed my old valver nova had started to split around the front end and to be honest I'd never been happy with the last rebuild a bit to rushed. So for some reason possibly drug induced I bought a few bits to tidy the old girl up....

As the sharp eyed amongst you will have spotted they're all indeed genuine vauxhall and ,so I was told, include the last two complete chassis legs ever! unless that was an excuse for the lenth of time they took to land.

The next thing was to take what I though was quite a tidy shell and pack it off to the shot blasters to see what lies beneath the many layers of paint etc.

Not to bad but in some places it was a bit poor. Like both rear inner arches/chassis legs.

The passenger side ****shield had had a poor repair at some time

Also there was a small hole in the inner sill on the drivers side. I dunno if you can see in the pic but............

Next thing it was chucked on bit of a spit (cheers Mr Dale

) and all the stone chip that wouldn't come of with shot blasting was scrapped off by hand.

Trust me when I say this is a p1ss poor ball ache of a job that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Next let the fun begin!

The plan was/is to remove ALL rust rot and replace with nice new panels or hand crafted parts if needed. Novas how ever aren't shy with rot! Ho-hum...........

That's the rear quater panels and both sills and the back panel along with large bits of boot floor and rear chassis legs etc... Nice

A few left overs for the scrappy...........

More uploaded soon...................

projectjordan · 07-01-2007, 20:14

good work, those parts must have cost a few quid...

neo1 · 07-01-2007, 20:17

Nice i like these type of threads keep the pics coming yeah.

Jimbo · 07-01-2007, 20:35

Hacking cars to bits can only be described as chuffing ace fun. Alas not so fun is putting the thing back together...........

Firstly the large and common as muck rotton nova floor is replaced with new metal. There needs to be a new "lip" fabricated so the rear panel has something to mate to and for an original unfecked with look when you look in the boot.

You can see I've re attacthed the brackets for the bumper mounting holes and the rear bumper clip/mount..

Here's some pics of the inner quarters been repaired the drivers side all ready to go....

I'd also repaired the hole in the drivers inner sill it took forever making the triangular renforcement grooves and the picture never came out. But it's done.

Here some piccys of the passenger side inner getting made/done....

A quick lick of primer..........

Some of you will of noticed I haven't welded a lip on the rear inners. This is because for wheel clearence the new rear quaters will be folded around the inners the welded for a neater lip..

The it was just a case of welding a back panel and a couple of quarter panels on...

More to come............................

andyb · 07-01-2007, 20:52

Awesome Project Jimbo!! Nice Work!! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the pictures!!

Mark330d · 07-01-2007, 21:42

wow thats what i call a proper rebuild:O

**RobJenko** · 07-01-2007, 21:54

crazy! but will be worth it in the end. well done fella for having the balls to take on such a masive job!

Rick Draper · 07-01-2007, 21:56

Is this the same Jimbo that used to have a conversion guide to fitting a C20XE in a nova up on some site?

Looking good, must have cost you a fair few quid for those new panels and legs!

ashtal · 07-01-2007, 21:59

Are all your panels genuine vauxhall parts ? Nice work mate, bet you can wait to fit the chassis legs !!!

Jimbo · 07-01-2007, 22:12

Some quick answers..........

Yup they're all vauxhall panels and yes they cost a chuffing fortune.

Which means no in monetary terms nope it aint worth it by a long chalk!

Why? Because I can do it and I will most likley never do it again!

Yes I did a conversion guide back in the day when 16v nova's was a big deal and interesting! Like 2000..........

Oh and the shell is almost done just i'm slow at scaning and uploading pics (I'm oldskool no digi cameras or turbo's...)

Drizz · 07-01-2007, 22:17

How on earth do you do that? Chuffin Awesome fella

Rick Draper · 07-01-2007, 22:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Yes I did a conversion guide back in the day when 16v nova's was a big deal and interesting! Like 2000..........

I remember that guide, is this the same white GSI? I always wondered what had happened to it.

God i remember reading that guide over and over just as i was getting ready to fit my XE in my gsi.

stuartp · 07-01-2007, 22:23

Feckin great work mate just what alot of people on here and beyond need to see proper preperation!! Keep us posted!!! lovin the pre chassis leg mod!!

Jimbo · 07-01-2007, 22:25

lol Yeah this is the same white gsi that ended up rio verde green for 18 months before my driving style at crail and the open road caused a bit of spliting along the old and soft front end!! How time flies eh??

Jimbo · 07-01-2007, 23:12

Well here are a few more pics for you (quite suprised anyone's interested!) a few pics of the new quarters and sills in place.....

On the bottom of the A pillar is a bit of a soft spot on most cars let alone a nova so I removed it and cleaned and strengthened them before reattaching them........

Same on 'tother side our kid...........

With ref to what I said about folding the rear arch lip over............. Dunno who the gimp giving the "V" is it's that long ago!

Had a small leak from the windscreen as the car had had an aftermarket windscreen fitted that didn't fit so well! So as I'm at it I took the dash box section off. Blimey makes you wonder dunnit??

Lets rip the front end right off!!!

I tell you the spot welds are an ar5e to drill out as the floor is much thinner than the chassis. This means if your out slightly the floor tears as you "persuede" the legs off.... never mind eh?

A piccy of the spot welds that attach the leg to the bulkhead/battery tray area......

The floor minus a chassis........

That's one side off nearly there............

Bit'o'scrap for the rag'n'bone man etc..........

Full frontal nudity! get in nova porn..............

More soon

Scoobler · 07-01-2007, 23:27

Awesome project - love watching threads like this, nice detailed photos Jimbo! Keep up the good work!

braders · 08-01-2007, 00:11

this thread must be inspiration for us all, you couldnt do a restoration to a greater extent if you tried. Keep the pics coming and nice work.

Ginge · 08-01-2007, 00:45

Awesome is the only word i can use to describe the work so far!

Keep the updates coming,

Ginge

Steve! · 08-01-2007, 00:56

hello

Gaz86 · 08-01-2007, 01:00

sheer car porn

you must be mad or seriously obsessed
keep up the good work (and pics)
good luck

DaleScaife · 08-01-2007, 02:49

wow is all i can say!!!

CortraGTE · 08-01-2007, 09:39

Nice pics mate, gonna be minted once its done!

**spanishfly** · 08-01-2007, 10:00

awesome bit of work

TonySR · 08-01-2007, 10:34

Talk about not doing things by half....

Fair play for takeing on such a huge project!

Kepp up the good work

AL · 08-01-2007, 11:21

Wow, a serious amount of work in there chap! Look forward to seeing the rest