Brownnova’s eponymous vehicle... It might be over for my Nova.

[scdan4]

Nope.

its a nova. 

Wider wheels, chopped springs and a shitty induction kit first before you hack holes into it to fit the 6 x 9’s for the banging ICE which was supplied second hand from a mates older brother.

 

(Or get it legal so you can use it)

 

[RobT]

Having seen where you live, definitely brakes first.

Otherwise just fresh pez and belts if they look very ropey, and try it for a test.  But then I'm an idiot, so...

As for the choke, is it an auto on these?

[brownnova]

Thanks gents, good pointers. I agree with @Six-cylinder that getting it roadworthy will make it easier, but as the common consensus seems to be Service first that’s probably what I’ll do. Hadn’t thought Of doing the water pump though, actually very little clue if the condition of the cooling system. 

I’ll hit up the Internet and order some service parts... 

[brownnova]

42 minutes ago, RobT said:

As for the choke, is it an auto on these?

No it’s a manual choke on this one, my original brown nova was an auto choke though. 

[RobT]

Yeah that's a good point.  You don't want it boiling over whilst the tester runs it for the emissions.

[Fumbler]

Give it a nice good service and check if the radiator pipes get warm at all. Could help you diagnose whether the thermostat and temperature gauge is working properly. Still looking for saloons on the market thanks to this...

[beko1987]

I guess when their at this age and neglect you've got to service it as part of the recomissioning. Otherwise it could spit some treacle through the oil pump on the ramp and cause all sorts of fun... 

Would you trust revving it for the emissions pass as is? 

[brownnova]

Since buying the Nova I’ve made a total lack of effort into getting it back into the road (I keep buying other things and have had another child since buying this ) . It’s been sat under a cover on the drive since I initially got it running quite some time ago. 

But the cover got damaged at the beginning of the summer and the weeds are threatening to take it back to nature. I made a deal with myself. Progress by the end of the summer or I’m selling it.

So in that spirit, I needed to move it so I can work on it more meaningfully. But last time I had it running a few months back it would not shift at all.

I identified the offending wheel by jacking each one, and the front drivers was seized. Dragging the car wasn’t possible as it was at 90degrees to the tow car and was just digging into the gravel. So a series of hammers and dropping it onto sloped rocks was deployed and the seize was unseized.

Tyres look good to go… lots of tread on those! 😬😳

Still took a lot of pushing and rocking to get it out of where it had sunk into the gravel! But…

Its now out of its corner of the drive for the first time in a good while. It’s not massive progress, by it’s a start, and psychologically it’s a big move. 

Supposed to be going to car shows sunday and Monday… but I might only go Monday and stay home tomorrow and play with the Nova. 

[dave j]

Good to see some progress. If you can get it running again and give it a wash that will also give your motivation a boost 

[brownnova]

3 minutes ago, dave j said:

Good to see some progress. If you can get it running again and give it a wash that will also give your motivation a boost 

Yeah, had planned to wash and even polish it today, but my front garden needed a lot of clearing and that’s taken most of the day! It should run without too much bother. It tends to need a little fresh fuel and a little easy start when it’s been sat for a few months. But did need fresh fuel each time, which makes me think maybe the tank Is leaking.

I really could do with getting it over the pit to check into that one. 

[brownnova]

All clean… 

[vulgalour]

Getting going again on a project is the hard bit.  Once you're rolling it's loads easier.

[brownnova]

Sunday didn’t quite involve as much Nova time as possible, and getting time to write up what occurred has proved even harder!

So… firstly and most importantly we have it running again.

This wasn’t totally straightforward. I’ve been under the impression that the fuel tank is leaking. When I got it the fuel gauge was reading empty and all the non starting symptoms pointed to running out of fuel. Popped fuel in and got it going. Next time the same, and the time after the same. On Sunday I started putting the Jerry can’s worth of t fuel in and it started leaking out, the tank was full. I’m guessing that the fuel in there must be 18 years old. Might not be the best. So I’ve put at least 15 litres of modern fuel in since I’ve had it, wondering if draining the tank is worth it .

Its also evident that the pump runs dry when standing. So history says that it’ll need priming with some easy start/fresh fuel into the carb a few times, and eventually it’ll go. But it was being stubborn this time. I wonder if it was because it was warmer than the last time I did it: the choke seemed to be fussy about where it was. Eventually after we got it running for a few seconds on what was in the carb, it sucked enough through from the tank to run reliably. It was a little lumpy and surgey at points but mostly ok, and I couldn’t get it to let me take the choke off much movement at all and it would die off, even after running a while. Temp gauge also appears dead. 

The video makes it sound far more tappy than in real life… 

So I shuttled it up and down the drive a couple of times, and great news it drives, clutch is great, it stops (brakes do feel a bit wooden, but they’ll be replaced before any proper use).

So now we have a running driving moving and stopping Nova. This is progress, and up and down the drive is the furthest I’ve driven it. If I didn’t live on a hill I may well have chanced a run round the village… (on a private road obviously). 

I then spent a couple of hours going through it and trying to work out next steps to getting this roadworthy.

 I’ll go through that in a future post! 

[brownnova]

So what did I discover….

Let’s start with the clear and obvious front runner… rust.

Novas have a reputation for arch rot… mine is no different. But isn’t horrific.

What the second pic doesn’t show too well is the fact that the worst Rusty bit is the section behind the wheel under the bumper, that needs doing. 
Other than that there are a few cosmetic bits such as…

The bottom of the door is holed. But not unrepairable. 
Underneath looks very solid! 

(that’s leaves on the ground not rust… honest) 

Mechanically… 

I think a good refresh is in order. The basic mechanicals all seem to work. It goes, it stops. I intend to replace the belts (I worry about the aged cambelt every time I run it) , the lines and the bushes ahead of regular use

The carb may need some fettling, and with the choke not being able to be pushed in I slightly suspect there is some air getting in to the mix. The vacuum advance unit looks very old, and the air filter housing has seen better days. Time for a K&N?

Inside

The interior is in fairly good condition, the seats have been covered, I wonder why… 

I plan to uncover and clean up those original seats. Beige seats, small children… wcpgw?

The slight fly in the ointment interior wise is that none of the dash instruments seem to work, heater also seems inoperable. Levers are stuck and the rotary switch achieves naught. Radio also not working. 

Ill also be fitting rear seatbelts as we have none presently, but the mountings appear to be there.

So all in all: 

Good service, carb fettle, belts, new brakes, brakes and maybe a bit of work on them, investigate cooling system make sure that works properly, bung in for a test and see what comes up. Need to make a proper plan and then follow it to ensure success! If I’d had a proper plan I would have achieved more. 

Bit of car-chaeology too, and found that the GB sticker looks as if it was used in France… 

And that a previous owner may have had an attachment to a Neil… 

Genuinely cannot wait to get this back on the road, got the excitement again for this! 

Have a bonus running video… started right up again yesterday no bother. 

[brownnova]

I started it after 24 hours and it started no bother. I left it a couple of days and now… won’t go. 

I reckon it’s old fuel which has gone bad and contaminated the new I put in, so looks like I’ll be draining the tank. 

[hairnet]

theres no pez in it cos the mini novas have been ripping it round the yard

[brownnova]

You may have may have noticed (or probably not) that I deleted my for sale ad for the Nova… 

After a day dealing with marketplace queries, it dawned on me that I really didn’t want to sell, and my stepson pointed out to me that the satisfaction from getting it done would outweigh making the time.

Looking back at my previous posts, it appears that all I ever do is make plans about how to go about doing things on this car… so here’s my deadline. 16th September 2023 marks 20 years since I passed my driving test in… a brown Vauxhall Nova. I need to be driving it that day. I popped to a local classic car restorer to have a chat, and following the chat I realised that at least 50% of what we had talked about was totally within my ability, and at least 25% more was skills I can learn easily, and the other 25% I can either farm out or learn at a later date. 

So with the sun shining yesterday I set to making a big list of parts. 

 

Then I priced it all up… gulp. Thankfully it’s solid structurally, so the refresh should just focus on brakes, rubbers (fnar fnar), fuel system, exhaust and other bits which need replacing as we go. Bodywork can wait.

Main thing I need to do however is get it in the garage, if it was in there in a way I can work on it I’d make more progress, as for example today it’s raining, so no progress can be made. So I need to find an alternative storage solution for 2CVs and/or the Yugo.

Very very determined there will be Nova progress in the coming weeks… 

[brownnova]

Although mostly, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I got it up and running and driving up and down the drive… I thought that was a couple of months ago… 😳

[hairnet]

kin teachers

finger out

 

[brownnova]

I needed wiper blades for the Saab, so I bought a set for the Nova too… 

Goodbye 20 year old perished and rusty items… 

Hello lovely new Bosch blades.

Would I normally post about wiper blades? No. But this is symbolic. A job has been done. A tiny job which is really something for much later down the line… but… symbolic. 

22 weeks until deadline. 

[vulgalour]

Progress is progress, no matter how tiny.

[hairnet]

8 hours ago, brownnova said:

 16th September 2023 marks 20 years since I passed my driving test 

thats a week before a significant birthday

fkin feel old now 

bassa

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Christ alive, it's been 17 years since I passed my driving test this year.

Thanks for that chilling reminder.

This Nova is fabulous.  It's absolutely prime shite in the perfect colour.  I hate Vauxhalls, I hate Novas and I love this.

[brownnova]

6 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

I hate Vauxhalls, I hate Novas and I love this.

This is no ordinary Nova… this is a shite Nova

[JMotor]

Glad you're getting on with the Nova. 

I love it! Such an unusual model now. 

[N19]

I'm a great fan of lists. They help immeasurably in tracking where you are and what's to do. Especially if you're coming home from work and have, say, an hour you can spend that evening on it... You can quickly see a little job and get it sorted. Rather than go out, scratch head, try and remember where you were, fiddle a bit, give up. 

[brownnova]

12 minutes ago, N19 said:

I'm a great fan of lists. They help immeasurably in tracking where you are and what's to do. Especially if you're coming home from work and have, say, an hour you can spend that evening on it... You can quickly see a little job and get it sorted. Rather than go out, scratch head, try and remember where you were, fiddle a bit, give up. 

This was exactly where I was going wrong with this, each time it’s a “what can I do…?” So I ended up doing nothing. So I do now have a list, I’ve got myself a little notebook for each car which will have a list on page 1. I lose track of what needs doing because I have too many to pay attention to! 

[cms206]

At times I'm enormously pleased that I mercilessly bullied you into buying this. It is ACE.

I'm 20 years driving next July 😳

[Rustybullethole]

Still out in the elements? Drizzle and down pours on the wain fingers crossed though as a curb side fettler I would recommend a gazebo. 
 

[brownnova]

1 hour ago, cms206 said:

At times I'm enormously pleased that I mercilessly bullied you into buying this. It is ACE.

I'm 20 years driving next July 😳

It will be even more ace when it’s on the road.