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

[EyesWeldedShut]

10 hours ago, brownnova said:

 They do seem it. I saw this one at a show in September

 

Very like mine.

WHEN I get it going you’re welcome to one.

Aiming to be soon.  The Highlander sale was to fund work on this. I’m fed up with it sitting around! 
 

Loving the Nova memories! 

Ooooh, A Giffer Reminisces .... Silver Moss was the colour name, my 2 door had the fancy wheel trims like that (demarcated the 1.2L from the lowly 1.0) 
Mine went down to Nice/Monte Carlo absolutely fine on non-Peage routes. Joys of youth.

[brownnova]

I believe with the map of France found and the period GB sticker mine must have been en France at some point! 

[brownnova]

More fuel sloshed in, and still no dice. Will run fine with easy start or fuel put directly in the the carb. So will remove the fuel pump as a suspect next. Wouldn’t surprise me if that’s packed up after so long stood. It’s a long way from the tank too! Potentially it could have caused a restricted flow of fuel which would answer the poor running before potentially. One can hope!

Fuel pumps are easy to source and cheap so I’ll get ordering! 

[Scruffy Bodger]

3 hours ago, brownnova said:

More fuel sloshed in, and still no dice. Will run fine with easy start or fuel put directly in the the carb. So will remove the fuel pump as a suspect next. Wouldn’t surprise me if that’s packed up after so long stood. It’s a long way from the tank too! Potentially it could have caused a restricted flow of fuel which would answer the poor running before potentially. One can hope!

Fuel pumps are easy to source and cheap so I’ll get ordering! 

If an electric pump check you have actual amps as well as volts at the pump while you are at it, the wiring on old Vauxhalls can get a bit dodgy. A mate who was heavily into Mk2 Astras has had it happen with 2 different cars which stopped running. A temporary feed from a rear light got him home on both occasions.

[brownnova]

It’s a good old mechanical pump. 

[brownnova]

Looks like the fuel pump is knackered. 

Removed the pump and turned it manually, no fuel pumped, so I connected the input end to a jerry can of fuel and replaced the pump on the engine and span it… nothing.

Final check, is the line clear of blockages, connect syphon pump to the fuel line and the fuel flows perfectly fine.

New fuel pump time.

Having made the time (due to a deadline) I’ve enjoyed the fault finding… even if I’ve not solved it and got it running yet! Although… it was properly Baltic working outside today! 

[brownnova]

Always nice to come home to a delivery from the postman… 

NOS rear seatbelts as found on eBay to fit!

New fuel pump should be here tomorrow with a new coil too. 

[brownnova]

Had a little more time on this today… although it pissed it down the entire time!

Fitted the fuel pump and a new coil (Lucas… eeek!) to the Nova and…. Nothing. Still no fuel reaching the carb. I tried of an external tank and still no dice.

Walked away for a few minutes to gather my thoughts and wondered if the new pump may need priming. Google said generally no, but I did it anyway and it worked! Ran it off the external first, and then connected it all up and it ran! Not only did it run, but it ran on less choke then ever before which was a big bit of progress. I was soaked through by now, and the radiator started emitting a fair bit of steam, so decided that water clearly wasn’t getting round well enough, so time to switch it off!

My aim by this point had been to have got this far plus renewed all the fuel lines, refurbished the steel wheels, put new tyres on to aid moving and ready for MoT, and to solve some of the non working interior elements.

Alas my deadline has now been reached, and tomorrow it goes off for a holiday, to get a few bits done. In a way a shame a I was building slow, but purposeful momentum! 

[brownnova]

Bye Nova 👋

 

See you soon. 

[brownnova]

Since the Nova had been away on its hols I hadn’t heard anything. Today I did… 

And it was a message I was not hoping to receive…

 Bollocks.

The first pic was the bit I knew about, but the rest is quite the surprise as I had thought it was pretty solid. There was a video too which showed that there is a fair few bits in the floor pan and inner sills which would need new metal in. Plus all the work on the other bits which I had planned for.

Sadly, don’t think my pockets are deep enough for this one. 😢

[wesacosa]

oh no. sorry to hear that

[mk2_craig]

7 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Sadly, don’t think my pockets are deep enough for this one. 😢

 

[loserone]

Could you fund it by selling a couple of 2CVs? 👀

[juular]

38 minutes ago, loserone said:

Could you fund it by selling a couple of 2CVs? 👀

[brownnova]

Probably… but I’m just not sure it’s worth it.

2 possible plans: 

a) sell it on as a project with rust disclosed 

b) Keep it, put it in storage for now and wait for it to become MoT exempt work through the other jobs and then pay for the welding and/or learn to weld. 

[PhilA]

Re fuel my mate's 1.2 exhibited that trouble and it was that cloth covered U section before the pump had cracked under the cloth and the pump was sucking air.

That's not substantial welding for a Nova. Most of it is still there.

[brownnova]

6 hours ago, PhilA said:

cloth covered U section before the pump had cracked under the cloth and the pump was sucking air.

Thanks, good tip. I replaced that as part of the new pump process in case.

6 hours ago, PhilA said:

That's not substantial welding for a Nova. Most of it is still there.

Indeed, it could be a lot worse, but once you start cutting it only increases. If I could weld I’d just slowly work through it. 

[BorniteIdentity]

I think it depends whether you’ve got lots of holes, or big holes. Remember - when it comes to weldering - it doesn’t really matter how big the hole is. Whether they’re splicing in 6cm or 6” or 6 acres* doesn’t make too much difference. It’s when there’s a lot of independent stuff to do that things get pricey. 

The other thing to bear in mind is storing it outside whilst you save up is only going to make it worse. If you’ve got inside space then fair enough, but if it’s going to be sat on a grass verge I’d probably cash in now. 

Wishing you good luck. Really, it comes down to whether you want it on your plate right now or not. 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

The other angle on things is to clean and polish the old girl until gleaming and sell with an emphasis on the low owners/miles/MOT/tax exemption/originality. Obviously you'd mention that it's looking like it'll need some tickling with the magic metal stick but the mindset for some when presented with a clean, original motor which hasn't been messed with, and which is exempt from tax and ticket could well be enough to make them bite. 

The fact it's not been dicked around with is going to make it more appealing to interested parties than the barried equivalent. 

[dollywobbler]

Very true. Someone looking to restore will definitely prefer something rusty but untouched to patched up. Sad times but definitely been there!

[loserone]

40 minutes ago, brownnova said:

If I could weld I’d just slowly work through it. 

So, now is surely the time to learn?  What better first project than your own brownnova?

[grogee]

 Sorry to read about the rustiness. My first instinct was to do as you suggest and wait for MoT exemption then sell. 

Or learn to weld... I managed it and I'm an absolute cretin. 

[SEATMad]

Sorry to see and read about how bad this is. I agree with the others. Try and give learning welding a go. Will be proper rewarding once you’ve learnt and done the work yourself o imagine. 

[Dobloseven]

Actual welding is very easy to do.It's getting the metal there to stick together that's the difficult bit!The better the preparation,the easier the welding.Be a pity for it to die,though.Harks back to a time when car makers had saloon mania and had to make booted versions of everything.Sad too, to see cars rusting away in gardens waiting to be "done up and worth a lot of money".

[juular]

It's the perfect excuse to learn to weld. As others always say it's not the welding, it's all the messing around to get to the point of welding that's the time consuming bit. Note I didn't say difficult, because separately the tasks are pretty simple, it just takes 40 times longer than budgeted for when you put them together. For example I'd be taking the seats and carpet out from what I can see.

Can you still get outer sill panels for these? That looks like the most annoying bit to fabricate. The rest would probably just be the odd bent bit of 1mm steel.

Overall I don't think it's a full on resto project, probably about average for something that age.

Get it fixed I say!

[Dobloseven]

12 hours ago, Nyphur said:

A photo of it bending around the lift is never pretty

That's obviously a cover sill that's been stuck on over the rust at some point.All doable though.Probably cost a fortune for someone to do it,but DIY, it's "only metal "as Steve Harley might say.And gas and grinding discs and wire and ........!

[Talbot]

Just a couple of thoughts:

• That's not a lot really.  Rust looks spectacular when it has run a meter up a sill, but in reality the time it takes to sort an entire rotten sill vs a "50p sized patch" is completely disproportionate.
• As Juular mentioned above, it's not the actual act of welding that takes the time, it's the stripping out of the interior, the cutting back of the rot, the fabrication of replacement/repair panels and making them fit, the making sure you don't set fire to anything (trust me on that one) and the having somewhere to do all that work.  The actual *welding* bit is maybe 5% of the overall process.  Probably less
• I would not recommend learning to weld on rusty car bodywork.  It's one of the most difficult things to weld.  Access is often terrible, you have old paint/underseal/primer/etc. floating about, the fit of the panels is often rough, you're usually having to weld upside-down, and can never quite see what the hell you're doing.  Workshop welding on a bench on thick (5mm plus) sections is where you ideally start, and then work towards more difficult stuff.  To say "i'm going to learn to weld on a rusty car" is like saying "I'm going to learn to drive (from scratch) in a formula 1 car.  On a racetrack.  During an active race."

Whilst I am in absolutely no position to take on any projects at the moment, I'd say that with the interior stripped out, a new sill available and a load of sheet metal (plus maybe a box-and-pan folder), that's maybe a couple of days' work to sort.  Especially if you have access to the 2-post lift it's currently on.  Makes life about 9.74 times easier.

[brownnova]

5 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

I think it depends whether you’ve got lots of holes, or big holes

Herein lies the issue. I think we’re at at least 8 different spots of welding… possibly more.

5 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

The other thing to bear in mind is storing it outside whilst you save up is only going to make it worse.

Another key issue, the indoor storage is currently full. So I’d need to hire some, as one of the reasons for getting someone else to do it was because it’s been outside under a cover and I couldn’t bear seeing it deteriorate any further.

5 hours ago, loserone said:

So, now is surely the time to learn? 

The inclination is there, heck I can afford a welder and know I a college that offers evening classes… but alas I also work at least 55 hours a week (including working nearly every evening) often more, have two small children under 4, who I want to spend as much time as possible with whilst they still want to! Plus a house which has “character” and requires fettling regularly. 

So much as I would love to, at this time of life, it seems a bridge too far time wise.

2 hours ago, juular said:

it's all the messing around to get to the point of welding that's the time consuming bit.

And I think this is the key here, I didn’t have the time to complete the bits I could already do with my skills over the past three years…  

1 hour ago, Talbot said:

Especially if you have access to the 2-post lift it's currently on.

Alas not… that’s the lift at the classic car garage… no lift for me!

Temptation remains to squirrel it away in a container or something, and return to it in a couple of years where more time might be available. 

[brownnova]

Plus… this means I can buy something else to enjoy 😂😂

[captain_70s]

Also, spending £350 on a welding setup and learning how to use it opens up a lot of future misery will save money in the long term if you intend to keep living the chod life…

Of course if time is the big enemy you’re kinda boned.  There is a reason cars are often a retirees game…

Having said that, every job can be completed if time is given, even if only an hour or two a fortnight, it just takes longer…