My mk1 nova show/track car little project

[peester]

*Update* - including stripped out pizza!
The combination of payday, trax and watching the fast and the furious on itv2 or 3 last night (mostly prob the cheesy film, mainly) inspired me to carry on with the car a bit more today; it being my day off..
I haven't done anything in a while, ive needed the parts - prefered to wait it out until the right parts and the right prices came my way rather than willy-nilly spending on whatever i get my mits on first..
Anyway; big big thanks to colin (novarally) for the door glass rubbers; theyve done the job spot on.

I did think they were the incorrect ones when opening the parcel, however a nights sleep later i checked again to discover i was lookin at them the wrong way round.. lol

Old, standard 3/4 glass rubber with glass about to be removed..

New, framed 3/4 glass rubber, glass about to be fitted to it..
I cleaned everything up; did the swap then went to the car..

Ide already made a start weeks ago; as seen in last update. In between all ive done is painted the 3/4 window post. Anyway like a man on a mission i went at it in one swoop.. neglecting to take many pics along the way..

Then we was done, lol..



Looks loads better - all in all went ok, the car now has the symetrical/balanced look back and i hope the satin black breaks the sea of blue down a tad, even if its only subtle ..

Then i retired for lunch..


Found this.. - But i dont like vegetables.. or spices..

So 2 mins later; all stripped out. Unwanted weight in a nice pile then thrown away. lol..

Yum.

[peester]

*Update
Success!! It stops...


Spent the weekend finishing the brakes.. been a long time coming but finally got it hooked up - things went well, weather, mood etc etc...


Also, ive made a start on refitting the seats..
Previously fitted on 'tailoured' cobra subframes, where the rear mountings have to go through the floor..
That way sucks; there is too much play/flex in the poor old floor for anyone to be happy never mind safe etc etc..
So im going to mount them differently, for now all ive done is removed one of the seats to guinea pig another, better way to fit them. Grometted the old holes up..


Lastly, we did a little more to the one bit of major rust on the car; inner arch edge - was fibreglassed ages ago; now undersealed - but will layer more unseal again soon...


Thats it pics.. Have one or two more short vids of the car tootling in the street; tho fascinating for me , its not massivley exciting viewing, testing brakes lol..
The car is soon to move to new premises; a lil lock up where its properly out of the weather.
Ill be continuing to tinker over winter; but once the seats are back in to a degree im happy with; theres not much left to do really..
I keep ya posted.

[Benn]

Is comming along well dude, shes looking very nice.

[Eck]

Nice project.

[peester]

Update i missed:

Car has been moved. We did it this afternoon. Chuffed its gonna stay mint now; out of the elements just as its gettin bad out..

hello..
So, thats the winter hibernating sorted. Over winter plans:
I need to finish the interior on the car. Just one part of it (interior, exterior, engine) needs to be 'done'. So ignoring everything else for a bit; this is my main focus for next few months.
Starting with those stupid subframes. I'm fiddling with them again. As you can see (passenger side at least,) the cobra 'thru-the-floor' frames are out and, off camera, theyve been chopped up to be refitted a better way soon hopefully.

Here sits the O.E nova frame, we're measuring up at the mo; working out ways of gettin the cobra frames adapted to sit in hopefully, a lot lower and not using the floor; than before.
Ill keep posting updates, as per.

-------------------------------------------
and meh.. most recent Update..
Thought ide update, even tho not a lots gone on really…
havent updated since end of October(!))
Ive kinda gone through my ‘break’ with the nova; both to allow funds to recover and with it bein sooo cold out, to work on it.
I just visit the car every so often to ‘thaw’ it out a bit lol..

But, one annoying thing – a bit of ye old mould is starting to set in L grrrr…

It does just clean off with upholstery cleaner, right?? Anyone use of those fish-tank like moisure powder/box things?? Does it work?

Anyway; here’s the little I have been getting on with:
Making steady progress with the interior; seat subframes are still slowly being bodged..


Also; ive acquired a mk1 dash which im messing with indoors – getting it to look how I want it to..


(digiclocks pictured are a spare, one I got hold of to mess with)
..landed what I think looks a bit like a ‘poor mans’ fearless rear strut brace lol:

Also, prior to both the above - these winders I got from colin smith a while back..

Be fitting those soon too.. many thanks again col.

My time is being taken up by the other cars in my life, lol – one of them; the calibra, im readying to sell..

When the it’s sold – I can turn my attention fully towards the nova again; as mentioned, I hope to spend February finishing the interior then March the exterior for MOT in middle to end of March.. gives me a few months lee-way (sp) then for any ‘surprises’. Hopefully not tho, then thereafter I will give the engine a good going over.. that’s what im really looking forward to lol

[Benn]

Looks good dude, Sturt brace would do alt more if it was bolted to the metal of the arches rather tat the strut tops tho.

[peester]

^^ yeah i know, but turrets are too nice at the mo to go welding at, something ill do in future tho.

[Benn]

lol cool, whens sge out on track?

[peester]

eh? whens what out on track? the car? - after ive finished it, lol.. engine to do yet..

[Benn]

Oh is there no engine?

[peester]

there is, x14xe.. works ok.. Throttle bodies and management in the summer. Fingers crossed.

[Benn]

Nice, Sounds like fun.

[peester]

*Update
Seat subframe faffin the return..
Finally a ‘prototype’ lol has been mocked up. It nearly fits so just a little re-jigging and we’ve got one done.
The aim is a success.. the frame is more central, the seat will sit lower and without using the floor of the car. So we’ve improved upon the original design ; something ive not really done before.. Although over that original cobra design it wasn’t difficult.
Please note – welding is rough and tacked for the time being.. (mate has done the welding)

In car.. a little dark when we got there..


Will take better pics later in the week; hoping to finish it properly, painted up.. then refit the passenger seat in its new, lower position. Awesome.
Then gotta do the drivers frame lol. Hope to get that done in one day tho.
Harnesses will then be fitted up, nice and easy - just leaves the dash to do.
Elsewhere ive spent almost all my time sorting the calibra to sell. Progress is slow there lol.
More soon.

[peester]

lil update.. i faffed with rear suspension and fitted the seat since last update..
Today, just some pics really..

Done some 'trial fitting' this morning; mainly wanted to get the mk 2 dash out and prep to sell - i had it advertised ages ago, luckily the thread has out dated now, but i actually need to have it ready to sell this time.
I will be tidying the wiring up a bit too ..

The mk1 dash and new wheel were just offered into place to see how it would look.. - i think it looks far more rally-esque and old skool than before..

Dash will need modifying for my digi clocks, so ill be getting on with that next. Then whole lot gets sent away, so im not fitting the dash properly for a few weeks yet..

^This pic kinda shows the mark 1 dash in a dark colour looks more subtle than the mk2 grey that was in before, in my opinion..

Happy with how it will look; being sat behind the wheel, like a kid pretending to drive it - i felt much more as if i was in an old skool mk1 nova again.

Which is what i wanted.
More again soon.

[Benn]

Why the brown dash? Wouldnt grey look more at home?

[peester]

flocking it black me lion..

[Benn]

ooooooooooo sexy! Nice work.

[dafz]

It does just clean off with upholstery cleaner, right?? Anyone use of those fish-tank like moisure powder/box things?? Does it work?

Bit late, but I've got a "Air Dry" bag from Frost in my GTI, and it does help with the condesation and mould. My leather MOMO wheel use to mould up quickly, but it's fine now. What's good is they are only £10, but last for ever, since you just dry them out in the oven every 2 months.

Anyway, it will clean out just fine with some upholstery cleaner.

Great car BTW

[jay26]

lookin sweet mate lovein the color

[peester]

"Air Dry" bag from Frost in my GTI,

thanks for the tip - the typical moisture mates dont seem to be collecting sod all, but at the same time mould hasnt come back (i cleaned it up ok with warm water and upholstery cleaner)
ta

[peester]

*update..
'Fitting of the dash' day didnt quite go to plan; i spend half of the day buying in /collecting final bits n pieces - even having to 25 mile round trip for a pair of speakers (had to collect from local depot, near cheadle - hi john)
But it left me with just 4 hours.. needed to be somewhere by 5.
Anywho..
I needed to fit the speakers to the dash first, before fitting it all into the car, because of access.. so fitted those first..

Then retired for lunch lol. Ide started the day setting off at 9 am, it was already nearly 1 pm by now.

Got to the garage; i wanted to get the lot fitted in one day if im honest, and to get the car running for first time since end of january.. Dont know why, ide never get it done in one day.. im not that handy..
Firstly offered the new front strut brace up to check it'll fit..

Looks sweet, will sort that soon. Good lil bargain.
Then onto the dash finally,.. to cut a lot story short and to side step the-pain-in-the-ass the job of fitting was for me, its all in. In a fashion lol. And the car starts and was ran today, so not bad. There are a lot of bits still to do, i may need to back track a fair bit too, but ive not the energy, plus it'd be boring to whinge on about whats still to be put right..
But basically; the digidash does still need positioning better.. i want a normal nova indicator stalk.. need to route wiring/fusebox/ ecu round to proper homes... and just about every screw needs finding and tightening up fully lol..
Anyway, monday is next available chance, hopefully by then the dash will be done fully tightened all sort finished.
Some pics..

It was after this that i realised i need to fit the top couling part first, lol.. so all back out it came..

Then onto as i left the car today..



whilst running.. can u see smoke.?

[Benn]

Flocking looks very nice.
Shes sitting nice and low now.

[The Simps]

Flocking looks very nice.
Shes sitting nice and low now.

amen to that.

Don't see ,amu digidashes in mk1s either.

its probably just stem seals being a little hard that is causing the smoke. Its cos its been sat for so long. A good few long runs and they'll soften up again.