84 Beige Nova (Project parchment) Op rust must die

Hi everybody! ;D

I've taken this from another forum and decided to post it up here to see what you good people make of it?
The story thus far is basically that I was after another Kadett about a year ago and couldn't find one so decided I would go for this nova (as I also had a strange passion for them too) then after getting a good way through the nova build (as you will see) my porsche turned up for sale out of the blue, i've always wanted a 944 and the money was right so I went with it. This basically ment the nova hit the back burner big style as I only have space to work on one car at time
Then to make matters worse a Kadett that I liked and was close and the right money turned up just as the porsche was coming close to being finished. Like any fool would do I purchased that too
Now the porsche is basically done and i'm getting on with my kadett but I would really love to see the nova do something more than sit and rot so I thought I would post the details up for some inspiration or just for the hell of it either way here she is.

The car in question is a beige MK1 on a B plate and I just like it plus it was very reasonably priced .

Plans for it in the beginning were a snow plough front bumper known as 'The Plough' this I have and intend to run with, a new engine (not 100% decided what but I didn't really want to go down the 2lt 16v route all be it a good one) perhaps 1.7td isuzu engine (this I also have with all the bits needed to fit it to a nova), rear arches or full 1/4's, prob sills, a respray (in the same colour) corsa B servo and M/C, coilovers and some other bits and bobs.

Here are the first pics once I got it back to the shack (my shantyish workshop).



























That explains why its full of water



Sneaky repair on the lower front panel



Got it jacked up for a peak underneath











Not as bad as I thought it would be



How or why would it rust there ffs - that will either be repaired of removed





I didnt even know it had a special sticker









Then I gave that bung a poke and it started to pee on me





Bit more of a prod





And the state inside the car



Catch tank fitted lol



So after some general poking around it was time to let the strip commence

Side strips off on the O/S



Grabbed hold of the O/S rear arch to see wtf it consisted of and guess what Filler ahoy!





Then as I kinda need the car mobile still for a couple of days I started on the interior



The spaniel in the way for a change



Out



Then the lower dash tray



And the other side



The underlay was soaking wet



Carpet out and looking grubby



Much better inside now so I can dry it out



Rear seats and carpet out





I then hung them out to dry



Wiper linkage off and black plastic thing out



Then on with the dash





And the rest of the back seats



Quite clean









Front bumper off



Mouldings off



Lights out



Here comes the crisp hiding in there



DOH!





Better on this side



The inner wings are clean though





Rear bumper off



Rear panels not the worst



Up in the air and fluids drained



Anyone want this?



Wiring loom removed



More curse word removed





And all the loom stuffed back through in to the cabin out of the way



Stripped the suss out and drained the brakes



Hoist in position



Engine weight taken up and mounts unbolted



Engine removed through the bottom (the correct way)



And free from the car



This needs a new home....anyone?



Much better



Sus completely stripped off both sides



Lowered the car back down to a more accessible height



And removed more cables, wiper motor etc from the bay



Then back inside to remove the steering wheel - I couldn't find my puller so I had to give it the bear to get it off.



The last bit of wiring removed along with the stalks and the heater controls



All out





Battery removed and there's that hole again



I've seen worse though - plating for the Corsa b servo will sort that out.



Now its nearly ready to start some repair work

Bonnet off



Wipers and linkage off



Heater blower out



Brake pipes removed - brake pipe spanners are so useful



Servo and Master cylinder removed



Steering column removed



And heater removed



These will soon be modified so a quick snap for reference



Rack removed



And tailgate removed



And one pic as I was leaving just because



Removed both doors





Then back inside and out with the trim etc





Removed the rear lights



And the loom



Rear windows out







This made me laugh



Exhaust off



All side strips and clips removed





Both the doors are scabby but this ones sh!te



As I didnt have any were else to put them and they were in the way I decided to hang them up



Next job was to remove the fire wall to gain access to the battery tray area - it will be replaced once all the repairs are done.



I removed the easy spot welds first





Then the battery clamp



And then the trickery ones behind the o/s turret



Daylight!



Nearly there



Just the awkward ones in the n/s corner left



Out!



Much more accessible now





Gave the battery tray area a quick wire wheel to see what I was dealing with



And found another hole - which was to be expected



The it was on with removing the black s h I t which is a pita but most of this came up with a scraper as its so old





Then another quick wire wheel to tidy it up a bit



Better



Now back to below the battery tray in the front o/s inner wheel arch and that hole



predictably worse that it first seemed





Back inside again this time to remove the head lining, it already had several hole in it so there was no point saving it





out





And out with the original pedal assembly and brake balance bar ready for modification







I was fed up of pi$$ing around inside the car so got the back end up in the air



Quick pic for reference



And slipped the axle off



The next victim



Spot weld drill out - zip zip



much better



And the other side





As I was about to move on the the rest of the brackets the battery died on the drill ffs so on charge with that and on to the next job.

This black sh!t



Heat gun and scraped go!



Nearly there



Much better



Then while I was at it I started on the passenger foot well





Getting there



And the drivers side



This was more difficult to get up fook knows why





Finally I gave the area a good clean off with white spirit



Bling!



Cleaned up the pass side





And in the back





I decided I wanted to get the car a little more mobile so on the roll over frame it was.

First I wanted to strengthen up the brackets I had previously used so welded in the triangular section below



Both complete



And fitted to the car



Then fitted the frame front and rear







And an over all shot just because - its a mess I know and the dogs looking at me like wtf are you doing!



The take 4 castors



And weld them here, thus giving mobility



Then to aid the mess issue I knocked up a shelf for some storage



After much procrastination waisting my time tidying up I finally got round to doing something.

Started here and removed this



Then I decided to tackle the rust hole in the battery tray and the base for the corsa B brake pedal assembly

So I began with this - removing a few obvious spot welds



Then out with a few more less obvious ones and most of the rusted metal



Gave the general area a clean up to see what I was dealing with



cut some more out





Followed by further cleaning



And the removal of the last of the battery clamp



Then decided to take out a little more of the original battery tray so the servo had plenty of new thicker material either side of it.





I gave the hole a good measuring and cut up a new piece of metal to go in there



Then on to a spot of friday night bending with my make shift bended



Bent





More to follow later ;D