Please note that most of the work was done by friends, as it is not easy for me to do everything for some years.
I have been asked to put this in as i have not given credit to some of the people who have worked on this for me, although most do not want to be named and others have either moved away or left the scene.
Well it's 2012 and the Nova has no engine, I took it out as water was getting in through an airfilter I think. This has then caused a hydrolic lock when turning the engine over, so i stripped it down to see if any damage had been caused.
Well the only thing I can see was a bit of rust on the exhaust valve top, but this will be laped in and I will rebuild the engine up. I will renew most of the electrics as it had an intermitant habbit of going onto 3 cylinders, the wirering will also be tidied up and I may look at putting the HT leads in the fan shroud, also fastening the fuel filter and coil onto the fan shroud as well.
June 2010
I have balanced the webers and altered the timing so now
it ticks over with no hicups, acceleration is now better with pickup smoother.
I have also altered the headlights thanks to a friendly Nova owner,
I have put in Ford Capri Mk1 rectangular headlights with an
orange bulb in the attached light to link to the indicators.
upgraded the bulbs so now I can actually see at night,
perspex covers now fittes with stainless screws and washers.
Just a dec 2009 update the Nova is running well but asleep for hibernation, will have to be started in jan 2010 as I need to get passed it with furniture.
It ticks over at about 650-700rpm and I have still not had time to set the carbs up, despite having the mixture and balencing bits to do it with.
Went to Stafford Kitcar show in September and ran faultless all the way there and back, will have to get it ready for stones in May.
I have thanks to another fellow Nova nut a set of Mk1 capri headlights that I intend to fit, as these were original fitment on the Mk1 novas back in the 70's.
It has been far too long since i did any of this on here, so here goes with some bits I have and bits I will do in the future.
It has passed it's MOT with no problems and tax with FOOTMAN JAMES is £130 fully comp with a 3000 mile limit, as it only did just over 800 miles I should be OK.
I have upgraded the front lights to 100 watt, not legal I know but the ludicrous amout of light they put out is pathetic. I can only now see a patch of liht on the road in front, but with the side and lower body getting in the way every ray is essential.
I have upgraded the rear camera to a more compatable type, the screen is a 7" widescreen which also incorperates a DVD player, radio, CD blue tooth and TV.
Things in the pipe line are as follows.
I have a corsa Electric steering column on the way with a new boss for my original steering wheel, i have the indicator and wiper stalks so I should be able to match the wires up but it not being my strong pont I may have a head ache coming..
I also picked up a sheet of carbon Fibre ( pretend sorry ) at Stonliegh this year to make a new dashboard, I also plan to move the switches to a position where I can reach them. I also want to move the CD player as it is hard to turn on, it has a remote but needs a manual push to start.
I have a host of new bits to overhaul the rear axles ( brakes,bearings and seals.
There is also the engine to tune as it now has the finished bits on it, earlier this year I put on some Weber ict 34 carbs. I found these worked well after only being setup by hand and the increase in power and reliabiltiy was worth it.
I found a CSP exhaust on the Volksworld for sale forum, was close by and only had to travel 6 miles, friendly chap who supplied all new gaskets and clamps.
It has a ceramic header 4 into 1, coupled to a pair of stainless cans which exit in the normal beetle place. i will have to modify them later to exit out of the Mk 4 back panel cut outs.
I have the tappets to check then the timing to set with a new light, I can then set up the mixtre on each carb with a colout tune kit and then balance the carbs with a flow meter kit.
Just a short update and sorry for so long, it has been on the road for about 10 months now. Will update as soon as I get time.
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The rear panel is now finished and back on the car, the square bit in the centre is a rear view camera and the black dots are parking sensors. The lights are off a Mk 2 vauxhall cavalier and are the type with black lines, next is tidy wiring and connect up the oil temp sensor.
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Well latest bit is the engine is out, I wanted to renew the tired transmission mounts and guess where Volkswagen put the nuts. Yes inside the bell housing, had to move the gearbox forward as well to get the front mount out.
The chassis is plated as a 1970 but the mounts turned out to be a 1973 onwards variety, but as long as they stop the transmission from shaking when I power away. I have also ordered a strap as extra support for the box, hopefully they will arrive early enough for me to get the engine in this week and finish the back end off.
I have fitted parking sensors as a back up for the camera, work as they should on a mock up I did.
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The lights are now fitted into the rear panel and all wires are connected, I have replaced the junction plug with a larger one to acommodate
any extra electrics I want. The rear camera is it but its final position will have to wait until it is on a flat surface, the screen is in the middle of the dash as there is a flat portion just right for it.
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The screen is now flush with no bumps and all sorts it had around the edges, the bonding agent was good but it was never finished.
The first of the aero catches is in, so now I can lock the bonnet, well one side anyway.
The lights I used are Mk11 vauxhall cavalier and I cut 2 of them up (old ones) to get the fittment, I have 2 brand new ones ready to modify as the ends need to be levelled to the rest of the body and new seals fitted.
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Bit more done today.
I fitted a external switch and a key switch so I can turn the power off, all fitted in the drivers air intake, took some wiring as the first switches back came off under the waterproof enclosure and all the bits spilled out, luckily I had an exact spare.
I also filled the gaps in the windscreen and side windows and covered the hacking that a previous owner had done, but this will be hidden by the canopy trim I just had delivered.
Also took to cutting holes in the rear panel for the cavalier lights, to make sure they fit I had 2 sets of lights 1 set I have cut apart to make sure the new set fits. There is some MDf backing boards clamped on with sikaflex to hold the lights in place. I found out there are 3 variations of lights they used on the Mk11 and the new set are different so now feelers are out to track down a matching pair.
One of the best buys has got to be the power file, saved me loads of hassle and time, well done Black & Decker.
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