|
 1971 ND Nova MkII Restoration (56k Warning)Moderators: Jump to page : 1 2 3 4 Now viewing page 3 [25 messages per page] | |
| Gallery-> Non Metro gallery | Message format |
Paddy |
| ||
 Elite Veteran Posts: 837    Location: Gillingham, Kent | Marv_666 - 5/1/2014 6:08 AMHoly sh*t!!I've seen some rusty Beetle tanks in my time, even welded some...but that goes beyond the norm!!Looks like you've put the gearbox in the wrong way round too!?!Go on... mid-mount it... you know you want to!!  That wouldn't be nearly as much fun as hanging the engine out behind the rear axle lol, it'd almost be safe Yeah I did wonder why it smelt so strongly of petrol... | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Small update: Started stripping the donor Legacy for as much as possible. EJ25 removed, looking remarkably clean, and placed up on engine stand for working over. We'll be removing the heads to check and replace the gaskets as a precaution, and we'll be able to tell if it's the 155 or 165bhp engine when we can see the cams.     Dash removed, we'll be trying to use as much of the instrumentation, switches and controls from the donor as we can, whilst keeping a retro 70's feel to the interior, which will be black with red highlights out of interest.  Loom removed, again we will be using as much of this as possible. With the Nova being truly rear engined then there aren't any standard straight fit looms and anything we use will need to be adapted to fit, so by using the standard Subaru loom we keep the ECU hassles etc down to a minimum.    | ||
| Marv_666 |
| ||
 '88 MG METRO 1300 Posts: 1117  Location: Dudley, Midlands | |||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | I have considered the fact that it's going to want to pivot around the rear axle - once built we'll see how manageable it is, wheelie bar could be added, but I'll avoid if possible  | ||
| Gandi69 |
| ||
| Expert Posts: 11052  Location: Wolverhampton | |||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Gandi69 - 24/1/2014 8:13 PMwhat kind boots are they that you have used on the shafts from the box? seem to be secured with bolts along the length of them?  Axle Boot | ||
| Gandi69 |
| ||
| Expert Posts: 11052 Location: Wolverhampton | |||
| Marv_666 |
| ||
'88 MG METRO 1300 Posts: 1117 Location: Dudley, Midlands | |||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Engine pull down and sump modification pics:  Reversed water manifold thing             | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | New front beam and dry fit of Red9 Coilover kit - slight modification will be required as it doesn't exactly fit  Apparently they say this happens occasionally on the replacement beams as they are slightly thicker than original parts.   Edited by Paddy 27/2/2014 12:06 PM | ||
| mk5cortinaestate |
| ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | mk5cortinaestate - 28/2/2014 8:20 PMReally cool little project you've got there. Thanks  | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Kennedy Engineering adapter plate, high torque starter and funky flywheel and clutch all here from the states - more shiny Few mm's ground off the gearbox cradle to facilitate fitting the adapter plate           | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | More update! Modifications to the front struts to accommodate coilovers. Welded up modified sump. Engine reassembled. Oil pickup modification. Engine dressing.                  Edited by Paddy 24/4/2014 6:23 PM | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Further engine assembly update - looking amazing        | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Anyone for a huge milestone?       | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Time to progress the Nova in ways that will make it look no different externally whatsoever.... The 'you're not meant to have that engine' corner!  So we've got a crackin' flat-4 banger from Subaru here, but what we really need is to make it run. First thing we need for that....wiring. Que fun times....  All the loom you see going into the Nova has been harvested from the Legacy donor car. there will be the odd strip here and there which has been added, but although it took a while to remove it all from the Subaru, it means the original wiring pinouts and connectors can be kept, meaning the majority of it will be compatible with Subaru wiring diagrams. Great..........as long as you can find them!!  So here's a strip of loom that used to go to the front of a Legacy going to the rear of a GRP bodied wedge with a jet-fighter c**kpit!  Original Subaru ECU mount, heavily modified (it used to have legs!)  We'd done plenty of pre-work on the engine loom, so this is a case of getting the body loom to meet with the engine loom, and then shortening/lengthening as required and keeping it all looking like ADD were a mass-manufacturer and that it came from an assembly line. Or at least, that's the target!   Insert custom designed fuel tank here  More fuseboxes and control panels find their way into the Nova. They'll be easier to get to in here....you just move the seat forwards!  So there we have it.....wiring! Never promised it'd be exciting, but it's one of the most important aspects of the build. So far, it's going very nicely too!  First thing we did last week - take a grinder to the front.............boot??  Making fibreglass dust.   And removed! Now what?  We did it for airflow, as we need to fit a radiator - something the Beetle didn't have (unless you were trying to wind up a partsman at your local factors at 4:47pm on a Friday). But there is no airflow there, which means the bottom section also needs cutting open  One radiator! We did toy with the idea of fitting the Legacy's rad, as it's obviously fit for the job. However, sadly it didn't fit. Happily, this one did, and it's from another Legacy, only not the one we used as a donor. But like it. Just not the same. Make sense?  The lower nose section will be chopped and a 'tunnel' created for the air to travel through. We will then work out how to expell the hot air, being that for a decent cooling system, you need an air around a third bigger than the entry cross-section. Hot air expands, and all that physics jazz.  Moving inside, the dash is placed back in place to allow us to mock-up some wiring looms. Got some bits missing here!  Ah, that'll be useful!  Anyone fancy some wiring? It's pretty straightforward! Really? Nobody??  Much the same as the last time I stood in this spot and took a picture, only with slightly more wires.   Making its way underneath the car now, too. This area will be hidden by the side pods once complete.  That's all for now | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Double post  Edited by Paddy 13/8/2014 8:57 AM | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Here we have a nifty little piece of kit! it's a speedo module which hooks up to the original Beetle speedo cable and converts it into an electronic signal. This is ideal for Beetles running a stand-alone ECU, as it can take a speed input. The cable would normally carry on the other side, but in our case our new speedo is electronic, not cable operated. So we'll have end of this plugged into the speedo cable, and the wire to the ECU, and then a little spindle on the other end twirling away happily catching bits of wiring loom and ingesting dirt. Great! So what we'll do is get a piece of nylon, and pop it on the lathe. Then we'll make a really odd shape, and connect it to the other end.  Ta da! it'll be buzzing its nuts off in there and nobody will be any the wiser!  Moving onwards, it's time to tackle a biggie......cooling system! Being based on Hitler's only lovechild, the Nova doesn't have a cooling system as such, not a wet one anyway! The Subaru engine has a proper cooling system, so we'll need to modify the car to suit, and that begins with drawing on the front of it!  Like so.  And then cutting that section out, like so.   Then we make a frame to sit the radiator in. We've gone for a Legacy radiator, though it's not the version from the model we broke up as we wanted one with a central top hose position.   Radiator goes on here, like this.  Make sure it all fits nicely.  Then go about fitting the new frame in the nose of the Nova, now offered up the the car.  Yup, that works! Radiator will be at a hell of an angle, so we'll need to duct the airflow into it. We could have used a smaller rad and got it more upright, but then there's a good chance it wouldn't be man enough for the 2500cc iron-blocked Boxer lump.   The cradle bolts into the nose.  Now the ducting!  Carve bits of foam up to create the shape required.  Slot them into place.   Keep going until you've done it all (takes quite a long time!)   There, all ready for lay-up in fibreglass.    It'll change the look of the front slightly, but in my eyes at least, for the better! next time we update, it should have been layered-up in GRP.  | ||
| mayoturbo |
| ||
| Expert Posts: 2004  Location: Chepstow | |||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | mayoturbo - 18/9/2014 1:29 AMexcellent project! Cheers Dude And now... update! We've used the foam templates to lay some fibreglass matting down.   Kinda like wallpapering, only more itchy!  Some resin and gelcoat later....   In the meantime, we're bracing the front end. The Nova's body isn't exactly strong, and we're concerned the added weight of a big radiator full of water won't do the nosecone any good, so we're bracing it.  We decided to fashion some adjustable braces too, using rosejoints. This means once it's all finally fitted, it can be adjusted on the front end to get the panel alignment just right, as well as reducing the stress on the nosecone.  And it'll look something like this!  | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Work has continued on the cooling system. The final hoses will be new types, but for now, this is how the radiator plumbing is coming together.  Coolant hoses will pass under the chassis, conveniently nestled between the sunken floors we had to fit to the Beetle chassis.  At the rear, they branch off either side of the engine. There will be more to add on to both ends.  Well, it's not right now.....  Layout of the coolant piping, back to front  Same again, t'other way around  Clamps fabricated to stop them moving around.  | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Mmmmm, shiny...... | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | Got the wheels back from the refurbishersMmmmmmm... Shiney...       Edited by Paddy 25/3/2015 10:10 AM | ||
| Paddy |
| ||
Elite Veteran Posts: 837 Location: Gillingham, Kent | And some more gratuitous wheel photos now that revolution have kindly obliged with new centre caps (I'll, probably, stop banging on about the wheels after this, honest...)    Should be some proper progress photos coming up in the near future | ||
| Jump to page : 1 2 3 4 Now viewing page 3 [25 messages per page] |
| Printer friendly version E-mail a link to this thread Jump to forum : |
| (Delete all cookies set by this site) | |
| Running MegaBBS ASP Forum Software v2.0 © 2003 PD9 Software | |
