Nova News - Tidying Up

[phil_lihp]

Fair enough, thought it might be a bit too vague, I'll get the last few bits done then book it for MOT with someone I know will do a good job, if it does end up being too much to justify at least I know he'll tell me before getting the welding torch out.

 

Agreed about prep, I'll see what I can do!

[phil_lihp]

Fair enough, thought it might be a bit too vague, I'll get the last few bits done then book it for MOT with someone I know will do a good job, if it does end up being too much to justify at least I know he'll tell me before getting the welding torch out.

 

Agreed about prep, I'll see what I can do!

[phil_lihp]

Sorry for the pea roast, I'm just hoping someone can show me the way here! The car's now nearly ready for its 9 mile trip to a nice chap with a welding torch and an MOT bay but frustratingly I now have a problem I can't work out an answer to. Pretty fed up now, this thing seems determined to make the simplest jobs a nightmare (oil filter took hours to get off...), but I'm so close I can't let it defeat me.

 

The new brake master cylinder has a pair of identical brake pipe unions on the underside, both 10". This is a headache, because the original has one 10" and one 12" union and of course the pipes have joints to match. Aside from either buying another master cylinder which has a reasonable chance of being the same or replacing the whole brake pipe, is there anything I can do? I have scoured the net for an adaptor to no avail.

 

I promise this is the last stupid question

[M'coli]

Verbatim from my response to this in SQA thread:

Just changed the brake master cylinder on the nova, turned out the old one was mullered. However, the brake pipe unions on the old one are 10mm and 12mm, the new one has two 10mm ones. Aside from changing the whole brake pipe for one with a smaller union, is there anything I can do to get the 12mm union to fit the 10mm fitment? I haven't seen any adaptors for sale unless I have looked in the wrong places.

I had this problem with the Cavalier, so: assuming you have a pipe flaring kit, I used the pipe cutter to cut the flared end off of the pipe, swapped the 12mm union for a 10mm one, and flared the pipe in situ and bolted it all back together. And yes, the pipes were factory fitted steel ones.

[phil_lihp]

Thanks, alas no I don't have a flaring kit but I do have the next best thing, someone else who does.

 

Having discussed the problem with the guy who's going to be welding & MOTing it, we've agreed that the best likely plan is for me to refit the original master cylinder so that the brakes do work (mushy but useable) so it can be driven to him, then he'll remake the end to fit the new cylinder for me. Could be worse, he's also quoted about half what another bodyshop did for repairing the battery tray so I'm not unhappy with that and I know the work will all be done to a high standard

 

Following some early morning inspiration, I'm going to look at whether I can rebuild the original cylinder with the seals from the new one first but not sure that will work so will probably go to plan B.

[phil_lihp]

I know the vast majority of you have been on the edge of your seats waiting for this, and I can finally put you all out of your misery.

 

It finally has an MOT

 

Yes, break open the cava, I picked it up earlier this evening after a month-long wait. In the end it needed quite an enormous chunk of the battery tray and surrounding area cut out and replaced which in turn required the removal of throttle & choke cables etc., even the bits that looked solid were rotten. The hole in the above pictures is only part of it. The total cost is not quite known yet and is something I would rather not think about, suffice to say that when the bill arrives I will open it in private, no-one likes to see a grown man cry.

 

I chose this route rather than the much cheaper bodge-and-patch option because frankly, I hope it will add some value to the car come sale time to be able to say with honesty that it's pretty much rust-free. I really didn't see the point in bodging it because it wouldn't be much of an improvement and if anything would make matters worse as any shortcuts would just make a proper repair all the harder (and less likely to ever happen).

 

On the plus side, feedback from my mechanic and his MOT tester is that it's in generally excellent condition and they haven't seen one as good in a long time. He's had a lot of positive comments on it so I feel slightly better about the whole thing. Oh, and he also said my brake repairs were spot-on, the air-lock never existed and was probably coming from the caliper bleed nipple, the brakes work really well so I'm quite chuffed with that considering it's all new to me.

 

So how did it repay all this kindness and expense? By trying to kill me, obviously, albeit rather half-heartedly. Halfway home along a windy B-road, the throttle jammed open. Luckily I was only doing about 30-40mph and there were no other cars around, so I just knocked it into neutral and switched off the howling engine before coasting into a builders yard entrance. I couldn't see any reason for the high revs as it all seemed fine under the bonnet, tried starting it and it turned over very fast but wouldn't start. I yanked the throttle cable around a bit to see if it was stuck and checked the lever on the carb but couldn't see anything obviously wrong. Tried starting it again and it turned over normally but still wouldn't start. Eventually I got it going on full choke, it ran appallingly and wouldn't idle but then settled back down with the choke back in and proceeded to behave itself for the rest of the 8 miles home. I'm guessing this was just lack of use and/or a stiff joint exacerbated by the cables being removed & refitted but suffice to say I will be giving it a thorough checkover in daylight before it goes anywhere again. Incidentally, a brief stop on the way home for £20 of finest Sainsburys unleaded also confirmed that the fuel gauge doesn't work.

 

As you were.

[Cavcraft]

WINNER!

[Morgan84]

Could be the cables not quite where it used to be,but that will soon be sorted I'm sure;glad you finally got the MOT done,so you can now enjoy your latest addition

[Morgan84]

Here's my engine bay

Photo0154 by autoshite, on Flickr

[vulgalour]

That's excellent news

[phil_lihp]

Here's my engine bay

 

Photo0154 by autoshite, on Flickr

 

Looks a lot cleaner than mine! One job on the list is cleaning that up a bit, it doesn't look like it's been touched for 24 years, plus of course it needs a liberal dosing of red paint on the new metal.

[Morgan84]

Mines as it came,would probably look nice with a clean,but its 'natural' and presentable

[dollywobbler]

Nice one. You are to be applauded for your efforts, though it's a tough old world on here at the moment as there seems a battle on to restore the biggest pile of shite out there!

 

Hope the killer-throttle is a simple fix. Well done for the quick thinking! I had the throttle jam on the 2CV on the M6 once. I didn't really notice until the traffic started slowing down. Thankfully we were approaching Corley services, so I just turned the engine off and silently coasted into the car park. Non servo brakes FTW!

[phil_lihp]

Cheers but I think I've been massively outshone in the shiteing stakes here! OK, it had been off the road for 5 years & was destined for the weighbridge but really I've done very little to it, the welding was fairly significant but I didn't do any of it so can't really take any credit and it wasn't the heroic weldathon of a certain Y10 on here, nor is it two halves of polish pickup!

 

I would also admit I am nowhere near skilled or brave enough to tackle Citroen hydraulics so take my hat of to you and the others on here who run them, a CX is a nice thought but not in my immediate plans! Off topic, don't the hydraulics add an interesting dimension to a sudden loss of engine? You're right about non-servo being a blessing, I am hoping a liberal coating of WD40 in the right places will be enough to avoid any more shenanigans.

[Morgan84]

WD40 and wipe over the whole engine bay once you've done any required painting to clean and protect

 

I think you've done pretty damned well

[dollywobbler]

You don't have to be a welder to be a shite-hero. Saving the unloved is enough!

 

(And Citroen hydraulics should hold enough power for two bursts of braking at least if the engine dies and if that fails, those Citroen folk cunningly made the handbrake work on the front wheels...)

[rml2345]

Hurray! Well done man, hope the rest us plain sailing*

 

 

 

*Might have just jinxed it. Sorry.

[fordperv]

Well done, im glad to see a bit of nova shaped shite gracing the queens highway once again

[Split_Pin]

Great news, better knowing your capabilities and getting a proper lasting repair done rather than bodge it in the short term. The repair will last a long long time now and thats the rust in that area put to bed now.

 

The fact that it was destined for the bridge and you saw the potential in it. Who cares who did the work, its a better car than ever now and its on our roads!

 

I got a brand new crossmember and rear valance welded in on my Corsa, together with the whole floor de-rusted and undersealed. I'm so glad I got it done professionally as they showed me the job up on the ramps and it was amazing. No more rust worries there! I'll be keeping the car for a long time.

[phil_lihp]

Took the Nova for a spin this afternoon to perform mundane shopping duties and I have to be honest, it's a lot more fun to drive than my C'eed (although the Kia's an excellent car, it is typically modern and a the driving experience is a bit disconnected). I decided to make the most of a couple of spare sunny hours this afternoon and started cleaning up the grubby interior and boot.

 

After trying several different products on the faded bumpers to no lasting effect, I found peanut butter had a surprisingly good result if worked in properly:

 

 

Just as well there's one use for it then, seeing as it tastes weird and smells revolting.

 

Gratuitous shot showing polished and waxed bonnet and front wings - came up alright:

 

 

I've also been busy swapping over my 99p Corsa interior, just the front passenger seat left now. However, I now have a faint tinge of guilt that I'm spoiling the car's originality and I'm now wondering if I should just use the Corsa's much better seat foam and try to wash the original covers, which are stained with dried mould and look pretty horrible. I stuck the driver's seat cover in the washing machine and it's better but still not brilliant. What's the autoshite collective's opinion?

 

 

And one final dumb question: the sill repair: sand and paint, or fill to level it up with the original metal, then sand and paint?

 

 

I'm negotiating a price on a small pile of parts to finish the wee beast:

 

* Interior grab handles, as the originals have gone totally brittle and crumbled

* Front grill, as the original is cracked

* Fuel sender unit, as the original looks scabby and the fuel gauge doesn't work

 

Once that's done and I've finished the polishing and tidying, it might be for sale. Queue here!

[Morgan84]

Fill,sand and paint will look far smarter,and make it look more original.

 

As for the seats,you can keep the originals for anyone who wants them,but the Corsa ones in the photo's look nice enough,and you could always put the plasticy headrests on if you wanted it to feel more Merit like.The fabric on the Corsa seats is the same sort of velor my Luxe spec 92 Nova has

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Thats interesting, do Corsa seats fit straight in a Nova?

[meggersdog]

Autoglym bumper care is what I use on faded plastics.Expensive for what it is but good stuff.

[phil_lihp]

Fill,sand and paint will look far smarter,and make it look more original.

 

As for the seats,you can keep the originals for anyone who wants them,but the Corsa ones in the photo's look nice enough,and you could always put the plasticy headrests on if you wanted it to feel more Merit like.The fabric on the Corsa seats is the same sort of velor my Luxe spec 92 Nova has

 

Thanks, filler it is, shouldn't need very much to make right. As it happens I had thought of keeping the old covers and headrests, the change is totally reversible. Handy to know it's a standard sort of Nova trim anyway it's not too outrageous.

 

Thats interesting, do Corsa seats fit straight in a Nova?

 

No, they don't, but the front seat frames are almost identical, it's just the base mounts that are different, so I stripped both Nova & Corsa seats down to the bare frame and put the Corsa springs, foam and covers on the Nova frames, once reassembled they look completely standard. The rear seat squab is a straight swap, the rear back was a pain as they are totally different (60/40 on the Corsa, no split on the Nova for a start) but with a bit of fiddling they went on without any cutting (apart from my fingers, damn trim clips are sharp!).

[Morgan84]

I can't remember if my Nova has a split rear seat or not,but again,most people wouldn't notice,and the seats do go well with the remaining interior colouring

[mattblack]

After trying several different products on the faded bumpers to no lasting effect, I found peanut butter had a surprisingly good result if worked in properly:

 

Linseed oil FTW!

 

[Cavcraft]

Please put the original seats back in, they look so much better and they will clean up ok.

 

You really have done an ace job on that car by the way, hats off to you for not only saving it but also improving it.

[vulgalour]

That looks fantastic now and the Corsa interior doesn't look too much out of place though I do prefer the original aesthetic, especially those bizarre head restraints.

[retrogeezer]

yep, Linseed or Teak oil (cheap in wilko's) for the bumpers. Lasts ages too unlike that expensive autoglym stuff.

 

Car is looking gr9, another thumbs up for original seats here.

[Morgan84]

My 92 Luxe seats

Photo0155 by autoshite, on Flickr