Hi guys and gals, right, after making my 1st post the other day with my thread about my MK2 Cavalier, I thought I should post this about one of my other projects, my Nova GSi.
If you have a spare hour or so, you can read the full story so far on my Nova here: www.novabug.co.uk/MyGSi.html
I set that site up back in 1999 so all my old cars are on there if you want to have a nosy.
I've not updated the site for ages and some parts are not complete with pictures missing etc.
I'm in the process of totally re-doing the site.
Nova's have always been a passion of mine, from watching them rallying through the forests in the hands of Colin McRae, to riding in them as a kid when my Dad used them for his driving school cars!
I even passed my diving test in one!
I've had a few over the years and I've owned this GSi since 2004, but it's been off the road since 2005 lol
It's been up for sale a couple of times since, but in the end, I couldn't part with it and with the prices that these are now starting to fetch, it's not going anywhere!
As the pictures below show, it does need a lot of work, but it's my long term project and I like a challenge :-)
It's not too bad really though, not when you see some of the other projects on here!
The main thing that's been holding me up is my house, which needed a lot of renovation, but thankfully, there's only the kitchen to go, so once that's sorted, I can get this started properly!
Anyway, on with some pics:
Looking nice after a wash and polish:
Peco Big-Bore 4 SHALL be going for something a bit more subtle!
Bilstein Suspension in foot well, shall be going back on eventually. I took it off when I was selling the car.
Interior is pretty mint:
Needs a new gear knob lol:
NOW THE RUST!
The usual front panel, head light area, which always rots!
Inner front wing:
Filler and rust chopped out to assess the damage:
Inner wing to strut-top!
Another inner wing shot:
Near side, slam-panel to inner wing area!
On a plus note, the battery tray isn't too bad:
Off-side rear sill to arch!!! Nasty!
The rear arches need doing, which is of no surprise to anyone who knows Novas lol:
The original 1.6 8v shall be retained.
It's tempting to go down the usual red-top route, but I want this car to handle like it should, so a small-block engine is the way to go.
It shall get a complete rebuild as I'm sure the rings are going as it smokes badly now, despite a new head gasket and new valve spring oil seals:
More photos can be seen in my Facebook album:
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428041168658.220443.694738658&l=759051e517&type=1
My plans are to do this properly and to take my time.
It looks a lot worse than it is to be honest and there's not a lot that's going to be that difficult to fix. I've done rear arches on a Nova before and done loads of welding over the years, so I'm really looking forward now to getting stuck in.
The first plan, once my garage space is available and cleared up (long story), I shall start a complete strip down to an empty shell.
At that point, I shall assess weather a re-shell would be the best route! BUT, a re-shelled GSi isn't really a real GSi, so I shall do everything I can to repair the original.
Anyway, I shall keep you up-dated on progress as it happens.
Rich
If you have a spare hour or so, you can read the full story so far on my Nova here: www.novabug.co.uk/MyGSi.html
I set that site up back in 1999 so all my old cars are on there if you want to have a nosy.
I've not updated the site for ages and some parts are not complete with pictures missing etc.
I'm in the process of totally re-doing the site.
Nova's have always been a passion of mine, from watching them rallying through the forests in the hands of Colin McRae, to riding in them as a kid when my Dad used them for his driving school cars!
I even passed my diving test in one!
I've had a few over the years and I've owned this GSi since 2004, but it's been off the road since 2005 lol
It's been up for sale a couple of times since, but in the end, I couldn't part with it and with the prices that these are now starting to fetch, it's not going anywhere!
As the pictures below show, it does need a lot of work, but it's my long term project and I like a challenge :-)
It's not too bad really though, not when you see some of the other projects on here!
The main thing that's been holding me up is my house, which needed a lot of renovation, but thankfully, there's only the kitchen to go, so once that's sorted, I can get this started properly!
Anyway, on with some pics:
Looking nice after a wash and polish:
Peco Big-Bore 4 SHALL be going for something a bit more subtle!
Bilstein Suspension in foot well, shall be going back on eventually. I took it off when I was selling the car.
Interior is pretty mint:
Needs a new gear knob lol:
NOW THE RUST!
The usual front panel, head light area, which always rots!
Inner front wing:
Filler and rust chopped out to assess the damage:
Inner wing to strut-top!
Another inner wing shot:
Near side, slam-panel to inner wing area!
On a plus note, the battery tray isn't too bad:
Off-side rear sill to arch!!! Nasty!
The rear arches need doing, which is of no surprise to anyone who knows Novas lol:
The original 1.6 8v shall be retained.
It's tempting to go down the usual red-top route, but I want this car to handle like it should, so a small-block engine is the way to go.
It shall get a complete rebuild as I'm sure the rings are going as it smokes badly now, despite a new head gasket and new valve spring oil seals:
More photos can be seen in my Facebook album:
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428041168658.220443.694738658&l=759051e517&type=1
My plans are to do this properly and to take my time.
It looks a lot worse than it is to be honest and there's not a lot that's going to be that difficult to fix. I've done rear arches on a Nova before and done loads of welding over the years, so I'm really looking forward now to getting stuck in.
The first plan, once my garage space is available and cleared up (long story), I shall start a complete strip down to an empty shell.
At that point, I shall assess weather a re-shell would be the best route! BUT, a re-shelled GSi isn't really a real GSi, so I shall do everything I can to repair the original.
Anyway, I shall keep you up-dated on progress as it happens.
Rich