Craig's XE track Nova

[Craig-S]

Couldn't resist uploading these 2 pics today, They are the first and last pictures in the DIY wheel refurb guide im writing, but there are about 50 pics in-between so it'l take a while.

This is the worst wheel, which i saved until last to do the guide on. (its been on fire a little bit)



They are very nearly all finished now, just need some minor touches and the stickers applying.

Very pleased with this one in particular. Its been wet sanded to within an inch of its life..... Bonus points available if anyone can tell me whats on the Tv channels 1 , 2 and 3

[corsacraig55]

Is that the wheels from that burnt out corsa xe

[Craig-S]

Yep

[Melv]

You should paint them black next

[Craig-S]

Im never painting another wheel in my life

I was tempted to laquer them when they looked like this though..... But then remembered i was normal

[Craig-S]

Just spent an hour or so uploading this to you-tube. My mind went blank and i completely forgot how to do it.



Then on another note im not sure if i will get it to billing or not. Not feeling very motivated at the moment and the car has no tyres, a shagged engine mount, a sloppy gear linkage and a massive oil leak. maybe il get it together, or maybe will just go to billing in comfort this year

[Craig-S]

Took the morning off today as i had a guaranteed delivery booked. Been jumping up to the window every time i hear a diesel..... and here it is



Opened it straight up like a kid at christmas. Very happy



Looking forward to fitting it, then the test drive, and i need to do the gearbox mount anyway so will be the perfect opportunity.

On another note i collected these last night. All in they stand me at £90, which isnt bad considering they all have around 3mm left. Decided not to fit them to the comps though as i dont want to risk scratching the paint. They would only be on there for a few hundred miles so would be looking at on - off - on agian, which would almost certainly result in some sort of scratch

Instead im just going to fit them to the oz's and use those on the road for a bit, then buy some new T1r's for the comps and start using the Oz's on track again when these wear down.

[Kev_G]

you SWINE id love a set of them for £90.

Am how ever watching these at the moment - Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Tyres X 4. 205/50/15. Race/Rally/Trackday | eBay

[scorge01]

Wheels look amazing mate when will they be done and on the nova wanting my white nova on comps fix

[Corsamitch]

Awesomeness

Pm'd

[Craig-S]

you SWINE id love a set of them for £90.

To be honest i got 2 of them for free and payed £75 for the other 2. used a quarter tank of diesel collecting them which is how i came to the £90 figure

Wheels look amazing mate when will they be done and on the nova wanting my white nova on comps fix

I should have kept up the momentum on the wheels really. Two still need wet sanding and i cant face it. I wanted them on for billing, but as mentioned above only want to fit new tyres on them so they last. I could have fitted these toyo's, but then they would have to come off relatively soon which increases the chance of ruining the paint by 66%

Awesomeness

Pm'd

Cheers pal. Just had the 888's fitted to the Oz's. As usual..... not straight forward

[Corsamitch]

Beginning to dislike them wheels aren't ya...

[Craig-S]

Who would have thought that a set of 6x15 et49 wheels on a Nova would be such a pain in the ass.

The trouble is again that the spring pad on the front strut touched the sidewall. I could raise it up, which looked gash, or space the wheel by 5mm which will no doubt cause problems of its own. If i put in a special order for 6" front springs my problem will be solved, or the slightly more expensive route would be eccentric top mounts to tuck the coilovers inwards a bit more... Neither of which will be done in time for billing, so hopefully i dont get carried away on the drive up there because im now worried that heavy cornering will see the sidewall foul the front arch.

The rears were also touching the springs, so had to be 5mm spaced,

[vxlgsi]

Great build thread, im just about to stick 45s on my astra gte, can i ask what fuel pressure you ended up running?

[Craig-S]

Thanks. I run 3psi through 8mm ID hose.

Finished early today so decided to tackle the alternator problem. basically it has been running squiffy and wearing out belts in no time. Also far too close to the chassis leg and has been making contact on heavy left handers.



I was hoping to swap it over for this one, which appears to have the pulley further inwards which would solve the problem instantly.



So i started taking it apart, only to find that the alt wont come out without either removing the carbs or the exhaust manifold. So i chose the exhaust and pulled it out from underneath.

In went the new one, only to find that despite the pully location the dimensions were the same so it was exactly as it was before.

The only option was to make a new alternator lowering bracket with the lower bolt holes offset towards the n/s, thus pulling the belt straight and getting the pulley away from the chassis leg.

When i took off my old 3mm effort, i noticed it had gone out of shape a little, so as i only had 3mm steel for the new one decided to make 2 and double them up.



Trail fitted them to make sure the bolt holes all lined up. 15mm to the block and 13mm to the alt with nuts on the back



Once i was happy refitted it all. Looks to have solved the problem, could have probably got away with a fem more mm to be honest, but im happy for now.



It was now 8pm and i was black so threw in the towel, left it on stands and walked away. No test drive, but i cant really see there being a problem. Got a good 7mm more clearence here now too so can attack the chicanes harder without that horrible noise of metal on metal.

[dewismotorsport]

Getting there mate keep at it

[vxlgsi]

Thanks for the info

[corsadonk]

Straight cut box.

[Craig-S]

Yeah it was a bit of an impulse buy if im honest. Im not going to fit it until a few other issues have been addressed though.

Spent a few hours this evening sorting some niggles. That loud banging noise i had under heavy braking turned out to be a loose bolt on the n/s box mount. Quite pleasing really, must have just worked loose over time.



I found some 3mm spacers in a yard today, so went home and removed the 5mm's which i wasnt happy with. They pushed the wheels out too far in my opinion and even with BMW 5 series wheel bolts they would tighten after 4.5 turns.

So instead i fitted the 3mm's and quite drasticly carved away at the spring seats with a grinder.



This gave me around 5mm clearence between the tyre and spring seat, and most importantly gave me 6.5 turns on the wheel bolts now only using 3mm spacers.

I did buy a stud and nut conversion, but they are only 50mm. Perfect for the sport steels, but now sadly too short.

Here's how it sits now.

[Gordo]

That's still not enough thread engagement - you should be able to pick up a set of longer bolts from your local tyre/wheel shop.
failing that, demon tweeks will get you sorted within a couple of days - bit more expensive, though.

[Gordo]

That's still not enough thread engagement - you should be able to pick up a set of longer bolts from your local tyre/wheel shop.
Failing that, demon tweeks will get you sorted within a couple of days - bit more expensive, though.

Oh, moving the top mount will make no difference, as the strut, spring pad, stub axle, etc, are all fixed in relation to each other.

[Craig-S]

Yeah it was a bit worrying as when it was on steels i could get nearly 9 turns.

Still getting a good fixing on the rear due to the drum brakes, But wont be using it for anything other than a slow drive until the fronts are sorted properly. Instead of messing around anymore im going to get some springs special ordered 1" shorter. They are currently 7" so some 6" items should allow the spring seat to sit above the tyre.

I dont have any trouble sourcing different sized bolts due to my job, but once i have everything where i want it will buy a more suitable stud and nut conversion.

[Craig-S]

Oh well, Today was fun. Took it out for a blast and it flattened the battery. Turns out the alternator i fitted was Fubar'd. So jacked it up, off came the manifold, swapped the alt over for the old one and recharged the battery.

Loaded it up for billing and took it for a quick blip, only to find that the rear left tyre rubs the arch now. removed the 5mm spacers and swapped them for 3mm and went for another one where it only rubs ever so slightly if you get a bit over enthusiastic.

Gave it a quick wash and brought it home with me this evening so we can have an early start. Just hoping now that the wheels dont get nicked tonight.

[Corsamitch]

Looks so cool on them rims man!!! No matter how much of a bitch they are...

[Craig-S]

Thanks. everyone who has seen it today has said how cool they look. I might re-furb them and keep them for the road. They would be fine with a set of T1r's on, Its just the sidewalls on track tyres seem to be more bulky.

That pic looks a bit gay as there is a Bmw diff and all my camping gear in the boot weighing it down.

Are you still going up tomorrow afternoon Mitch?