Thought I'd pop a thread up for this.
I bought the saloon blind off eBay last month after I got a bit of money from work (underpaid for 3 years ;D ) It was a bit of a whim and it probably would have done me well to wait around for one to come up. I was impatient, what can I say.
The plan was to trailer it back ( Stafford to Bristol ) but It's a bit of a palava getting the trailer up the drive so decided to risk it and drive it back instead. All legal mind but I had no idea what kind of condition it was it mechanically.
Drove back fine despite having tyres from 1985!
It was pressed in to daily services immediately, mainly because since I killed the torque tube bearings on my Volvo 360 I'd been forced to drive a 954cc 106. A hateful car.
All was well for the first week or so, then the starter died so replaced that. Only to then have a few charging gremlins. I suspected a loose connection that I'd come across whilst replacing the starter was at fault. The battery light would flicker dimly and sometimes brightly when I'd hit a bump etc. When I was testing it and wiggling the connections the male part of the connector fell off the back of the alternator. This shorted out the alternator and electrocuted me slightly
So I replaced the alternator and loom but still had a battery light on constantly despite the alternator charging. More detective work ahead I think.
Now, while making the car work as it should is all well and good what we really want is it to look badass ;D Cue some 13x8 ET6 compomotive MS's
They seem to fit rather well, a full set of 175/50 A539's shall be popped on once I paint them.
This brings us on to the the front suspension. As far as I'm aware the front coils are standard cut springs. I've got a set of piazza springs lying around so I'll chop them down to size at some point and pop them in. I also have the piazza hubs and brakes so I'll rebuild them and fit them along with some nice new ball joints and polybushes.
Exhaust next! It hangs MUCH lower than the floor and thus gets a beating from 90% of Bristol roads. In addition the lack of a flexible joint was putting a lot of pressure on the manifold and as a result it was blowing all over the place.
Rich stepped up once again (fourth car now?) and did a lovely job at Area 52.
The flexible joint was put in as far forward as possible and got rid of the mid box, had to make an over axle bend which was a bit of a pain but Rich got there in the end. As it turns out you can't fit much of a back box on a Chevette! The only box that we had lying around was a straight through glass pack. It's very loud!
Whilst it was on the ramp we did the usual try-silly-wheels game.
...hmm
I actually really liked these and sought to buy them but alas I'd need ~20mm spacers to run them and I wouldn't have any lock
I think that's about it as far as the car itself goes. Where I really get excited is the engine conversion I have planned.
I was offered a 940 2.3 turbo for £very cheap a while back and snapped it up as the idea of building a 2.3 slant four chevette with a turbo was just too much to resist. The car was taken to Area 52 and was stripped of its engine.
It was very shortly after the second photo was taken however that I noticed the engine was a 2.0 not a 2.3 as it stated on the log book. Weird. I was a bit annoyed but it was VERY cheap and still around 135bhp. So that was the plan until I was talking with Speedy88 when he mentioned a 760 2.3 turbo that was for sale. I inquired about and it was for sale. Turns out it was a relatively rare B23ET engine which as standard has forged pistons and crank, lairy cam, a Garrett T3 turbo and around 190bhp. Much more like it.
So I sold my 360 (to Speedy) ...
... and a few weeks later the 760 was delivered to a nearby storage place.
So the next phase will be to get rid of my hatch shell (£100 if any anyone wants it) and get the 760 in my garage to pare down the loom to essentials. Then sell as much as I can from it (doors, interior, glass etc) to make my money back and send her over the weigh bridge. Also the saloon should be going over to Low Brain Speed Shop in Lydney to have to cage towers and bucket seat put in hopefully next month.
I will of course update you as things progress.
Apologies for the epic pic dump!
Dave.
I bought the saloon blind off eBay last month after I got a bit of money from work (underpaid for 3 years ;D ) It was a bit of a whim and it probably would have done me well to wait around for one to come up. I was impatient, what can I say.
The plan was to trailer it back ( Stafford to Bristol ) but It's a bit of a palava getting the trailer up the drive so decided to risk it and drive it back instead. All legal mind but I had no idea what kind of condition it was it mechanically.
Drove back fine despite having tyres from 1985!
It was pressed in to daily services immediately, mainly because since I killed the torque tube bearings on my Volvo 360 I'd been forced to drive a 954cc 106. A hateful car.
All was well for the first week or so, then the starter died so replaced that. Only to then have a few charging gremlins. I suspected a loose connection that I'd come across whilst replacing the starter was at fault. The battery light would flicker dimly and sometimes brightly when I'd hit a bump etc. When I was testing it and wiggling the connections the male part of the connector fell off the back of the alternator. This shorted out the alternator and electrocuted me slightly
So I replaced the alternator and loom but still had a battery light on constantly despite the alternator charging. More detective work ahead I think. Now, while making the car work as it should is all well and good what we really want is it to look badass ;D Cue some 13x8 ET6 compomotive MS's
They seem to fit rather well, a full set of 175/50 A539's shall be popped on once I paint them.
This brings us on to the the front suspension. As far as I'm aware the front coils are standard cut springs. I've got a set of piazza springs lying around so I'll chop them down to size at some point and pop them in. I also have the piazza hubs and brakes so I'll rebuild them and fit them along with some nice new ball joints and polybushes.
Exhaust next! It hangs MUCH lower than the floor and thus gets a beating from 90% of Bristol roads. In addition the lack of a flexible joint was putting a lot of pressure on the manifold and as a result it was blowing all over the place.
Rich stepped up once again (fourth car now?) and did a lovely job at Area 52.
The flexible joint was put in as far forward as possible and got rid of the mid box, had to make an over axle bend which was a bit of a pain but Rich got there in the end. As it turns out you can't fit much of a back box on a Chevette! The only box that we had lying around was a straight through glass pack. It's very loud!
Whilst it was on the ramp we did the usual try-silly-wheels game.
...hmm
I actually really liked these and sought to buy them but alas I'd need ~20mm spacers to run them and I wouldn't have any lock
I think that's about it as far as the car itself goes. Where I really get excited is the engine conversion I have planned.
I was offered a 940 2.3 turbo for £very cheap a while back and snapped it up as the idea of building a 2.3 slant four chevette with a turbo was just too much to resist. The car was taken to Area 52 and was stripped of its engine.
It was very shortly after the second photo was taken however that I noticed the engine was a 2.0 not a 2.3 as it stated on the log book. Weird. I was a bit annoyed but it was VERY cheap and still around 135bhp. So that was the plan until I was talking with Speedy88 when he mentioned a 760 2.3 turbo that was for sale. I inquired about and it was for sale. Turns out it was a relatively rare B23ET engine which as standard has forged pistons and crank, lairy cam, a Garrett T3 turbo and around 190bhp. Much more like it.
So I sold my 360 (to Speedy) ...
... and a few weeks later the 760 was delivered to a nearby storage place.
So the next phase will be to get rid of my hatch shell (£100 if any anyone wants it) and get the 760 in my garage to pare down the loom to essentials. Then sell as much as I can from it (doors, interior, glass etc) to make my money back and send her over the weigh bridge. Also the saloon should be going over to Low Brain Speed Shop in Lydney to have to cage towers and bucket seat put in hopefully next month.
I will of course update you as things progress.
Apologies for the epic pic dump!
Dave.
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