The Nova now has an engine and exhaust

The Nova now has a body, just

The Nova now has an engine, exhaust and half a body. I have had a break over the winter, as i had to have the car out in the open to work on it (the Nova is quite big and I’m bigger). I have this week fitted the rear lower panel and one of the side pods. The wheels finally turned up, got a real good deal on them, not much choice (these or none). I have opted for 275/60/15 rears and 195/60/15 fronts, I just hope they fit. I hope to have the engine running some time next week, say about the 15th May.

The Nova now has wheels, and they sort of fit

As I have said, I opted for 275/60/15 rears and 195/60/15 fronts. The fronts fit fine but the rears are a bit tight. I will need to make some minor alterations to the rear panel to make the arches a bit wider at the back of the tire. Its only a small bit of cut and shutting of the arch lip, should be quite easy (famous last words).

The Nova is slowly taking shape

I have now done the modification to the rear wheel arch and I was quite suprised, it worked!!!! I have come across some major problems on the electrics (nothing unusual if you have ever tried to do it yourself). A small bit of advice here. Never rely on what the last owner did to the wiring. Some of the circuits on mine were just a complete joke, changing through 3 different colours from one end to the other. Oh and nothing went through the ignition. I have ended up buzzing the loom to find the matching ends. I will have a new wiring diagram by the time I have finished, it might help next time.                   I’m not happy with the exhaust i have, so I think I will have to redesign it a bit. Oh and one more thing, the engine now runs. When it saw a bit of petrol it sprang into life.

The Nova has a top on but looks bad

Well, as you can, the roof is now back on but its in a bad way. The side windows have had it and will be replaced with glass ones. The screen is cracked from top to bottom, straight down the middle. the wiper mech were all rusted together and the wiper arm snapped off. But not to worry. After taking the engine off again to put a new clutch on (now works great), i actually drove the car for the first time. Just out of the drive, turned it round and back in again. This might seem strange to some of you out there but it really felt good to just drive it 20 feet. I have had the car 14 months and its nearly done. Oh, there is one small matter, I dont fit in it, i have to put my head to one side but never mind, I will bolt the seat direct to the floor.