Craig's XE track Nova

[corsadonk]

Needs some holes drilled into it, to reduce the weight.

[Craig-S]

Drilled in where? body?

Might do, looks pretty cool - doubt it saves much weight though. Thinking about DIY'ing some lexan windows next. Havent even driven it since combe though....

[Craig-S]

Braced the carbs up yesterday morning to stop them slipping off the rubbers. Have done 100miles in it this weekend with no hic-ups.



I did go and watch the national hot-rods today though and now have a really strong urge to build an xe on twin 45's.......

[corsadonk]

Throttle bodies, cough, cough.

[Craig-S]

Throttle bodies, cough, cough.

Might not be a bad idea. Burnt off £35 worth of super today in about 80miles

[HOMEE]

Orange. Orange and white are like pizza and cheese

x2!!!!!!!!!!!

[Craig-S]

looks more like a tube of colgate lmao

[HOMEE]

thats my dayli ajajajaja this is my vaux.. (chevy) in my country

[Craig-S]

Still enjoying it for the time being. Have done 460miles in it now. Lost the gear linkage the other night in my good clobber but luckily a random AA man supplyed a bolt to get me on my way.... Found this in a scrappy on saturday.... which ive wanted for ages



But then immedietly after in the next scrappy found this.





Have no reason to believe the milage isnt genuine.... the car couldnt be more standard, even had 4 matching tyres which in my book is rare these days



Its a nice early block.... i did wonder if maybe it was a bit "too early" for the car considering it had a cat and lambda style loom.



But needless to say i bought it anyway. They wont let me take it out myself so i did the next best thing. removed the loom and all coolant pipes clean. I got it for a reasonable price with lots of bits included. Although most of it i dont actually want i thought id take it and sell it on to reduce the cost of the engine in the long run.

It wont be going in for a while yet. Going to strip it down and rebuild it. 90% sure it'l be used with a pair of 45 dellorto's, but will source parts over the next few months and plan to have it together next year. Just going to enjoy the 8valve for now. It is a lot of fun

[Prey001]

Looks like a good buy on the xe there - and a neat idea on bracing the carbs! If you can get hold of the narrower hose clips they don't pop off - the fatter ones tend to.

[Craig-S]

Thanks. It wasnt the cheapest... the bloke was really hard to deal with but ended up getting it complete with all ancillary's for £250

I reckon i can get £150 back selling the mint loom, ecu, AFM, sensors, Bosch creams, Dizzy etc etc.

Yea theyre pretty solid now. can hold the carbs and rock the suspension..... (dont try it though mike)

[Kev_G]

jammy bastard comes to mind

[Craig-S]

jammy bastard comes to mind

lmao No, jammy is the c20let i had for £200 from about 20 yards away last year lmao

[Craig-S]

Dragged the xe round to the shed yesterday to give it a checkover.



I really wanted it to have an early crank and forged pistons



I lost out on the crank but it does have the Mahle 86p forged pistons which is a relief..... I will keep it now.

Stripped it of all exterior parts, just need to sell the Let now so i can put it on the engine stand.



Still not decided wether to use twin 45's or Tb's...... But theres no rush so il have a good think about it.

I did take the aux pulley off though which was easier than i thought it would be

[Prey001]

Not tempted by r1s on the xe? They seem to work well.

[Craig-S]

Na ive done the whole bike carb thing now... theyre good and cheap and do work well, but i want to go down a different route.

[Prey001]

I see where youre coming from there, i would like to try bike bodies and megasquirt at some stage but it wont be on my current car.

[Liam1805]

Slam some NE pistons in machined down and bang a turbo on there mate

[Craig-S]

But if i wanted to turbo it id have just put my LET in.....

Pretty sure it'l be xe on 45's, But I took it for a drive last night and it still puts a massive smile on my face as its so im in no hurry.

May have a fiddle with the needles this weekend to richen up the mid-range. Got a bit of a flat spot before it comes on cam.

[Craig-S]

Bit of a change of plan now, Which is probably sensible.

I was going to plough the money from the LET sale into the XE. But thinking about it it makes no sense atall. The 8v is still massive fun and is capable of staying with much more expensive stuff. So ive spent the money on the shell instead.

Sent my spare drivers door off to the bodyshop, Bought a full set of AVO coilovers and a full set of Polycarb windows with sliders. Will be buying a new fiberglass boot in the next couple weeks

I reckon a bit of weight loss and sorted handling would make it faster than just dropping an xe in anyway.
It currently weighs 810kg so looking to get it down below 750kg

Just hoping to get the door back and put it all together for PVS. Otherwise il be in my mrs corsa C which isnt very cool.

Oh and ive managed to sell all the bits i wont need off the xe for £197.50 so far with a few bits left to go. Meaning the 80k engine stands me at £52.50. Bargain.

[Liam1805]

Seems to be a wise choice there mate, weight reduction is a massive help. Nothing wrong with a Corsa C mate just dont compare to a Nova haa, will look forward to seeing you fit your new purchases

[Craig-S]

Looking forward to fitting them, not looking forward to living with them....

Harsh ride and no more maccy D's drive through's

But its for the greater good. "the greater good"

[Murray]

Orsum thread.

Had wee read of the whole thing. Some really nice progress happening there. Also......

Sport Steelies FTW!!!

I'm planning some for my Nova with some MK1 Astra centre caps.

[corsadonk]

You don't need to have a harsh ride, just put them on soft.

[Craig-S]

Ill have a play with them. Just bought a used fiberglass bootlid today. collecting it on the weekend, and sending for paint monday.

Hinged at the top, pinned at the bottom. just what i wanted.

Thus meaning PVS will be the usual mad rush.