Introduce Yourself...

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Spacenut
Posts: 1205
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:43 pm
Location: Hampshire

Introduce Yourself...

Post by Spacenut »

I thought it would be a good idea if we introduced ourselves and our cars.

I'll kick things off, shall I?

OK, my name is Lauren, and I have a Nova kit car.

Image

Here it is. Only strictly speaking, it isn't a kit car any more, at least not in the accepted sense. I didn't buy a kit of parts from the manufacturer and build up the car you see here; instead, I bought an already-built Nova, stripped it of its chassis and running gear (including the engine), and designed a new chassis to fit under the original bodyshell.

Now, if this sounds like a lot of unnecessary effort, let me explain that the chassis and running gear in question was from a Volkswagen Beetle, and I wanted to replace it with something, let's say more consistent with it's looks.

For me, that meant tubular double wishbone suspension, with fully adjustable spherical joints (after all, I had no idea what settings I was going to need), an Alfasud boxer engine and transaxle mounted behind the seats, and those inboard brakes, combining low unsprung weight with a handbrake facility!

My starting point was a 1978 Series 2 Alfasud 1.5 Ti which my friend Smudge bought complete at a car auction. Suffering from the usual terminal rust, the logbook showed that the car had originally belonged to HRH the Duchess of Kent. Smudge stripped the shell of everything I might need, engine, gearbox, brakes, driveshafts, front hubs, pedal box, cooling system, heater, dashboard, the list goes on. Suffice to say, a large pile of parts was building up in my garage.

I designed the tubular steel chassis (I can't call it a spaceframe, Frank Costin would turn in his grave) to keep all the parts in the right places, and lacking the necessary equipment got my friend Neville to weld it up for me out of 30mm box section steel. Keen to get involved with the manufacturing process, I became sufficiently proficient with Neville's welder to successfully attach all of the suspension mounting points.

Time passed. The Earth cooled and the Dinosaurs came and went. After 15 long years and a replacement engine (the single-carb 1.5 had a siezed thermostat and cracked its block while I was test-running it), the completely re-engineered Green Machine finally made it back onto the streets in 2006. The initial driving experience was terrifying – poor visibility, dodgy brakes, chronic bump-steer and headlights pointing anywhere but the road were just the start. But slowly, inexorably, these problems (and a host of others) were solved to get to where we are today – a car that hasn't turned a wheel for nearly two years :shock:

Yes, the Green Machine is off the road again, this time while I completely re-design the interior, with a new steering wheel, custom instrumentation, heating/ventilation and dashboard. A new canopy, featuring a removable sunroof panel (aka “escape hatch”) will also be fitted, together with a new windscreen and side windows, and the whole car will be treated to a re-spray as the canopy is a very dull red colour and the current paintwork was done in the late 1990s. There is also a new engine to put in, this time a 1.6 stroker originally built by Alfatune, but apparently further modified after it left Gus in the mid-1990s. That needs a bit more engineering before it can go in, for the moment I will continue to use my 1980 1.5 Ti engine, which I bought, unused and still on its factory pallet some 22,000 miles ago...

While I was at it, I have fitted a 1.2 Ti gearbox (which used to belong to Kev) to bring the gearing down to something more reasonable. 15” wheels with 60-profile tyres made for very poor acceleration, although I couldn't grumble about the 45mpg fuel economy!

So that's where I am at the moment. So what have the rest of you got? Come on, don't be shy!

Lauren
Last edited by Spacenut on Tue Jun 11, 2019 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PETROLHEAD
Posts: 3045
Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2013 7:51 pm
Location: Nottingham

Re: Introduce Yourself...

Post by PETROLHEAD »

Marvelous Lauren!

thank you for kicking things off, and i hope more will soon follow with such an introduction.


great car, and shows what can be done and achieved,

and the old adage, "greater than the sum of its parts" certainly applies here i think,

Intelligent use of available components, parts and abilities, Superb!
SHREW

I AM the Law!


Alfasud 1.7-16v, Charade Turbo SR, & The Dirty Diesels - GT Cloverleaf, 159 Ti Sportwagon, Saab 9-3 Sportwagon

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Johnboy
Posts: 1828
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:32 pm
Location: Margate kent

Re: Introduce Yourself...

Post by Johnboy »

Morning Lauren
Great intro ,you've got a very car there , love the attention to detail on this 8-)
Hopefully I'll see your car soon it's been a while ;)
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Spacenut
Posts: 1205
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:43 pm
Location: Hampshire

Re: Introduce Yourself...

Post by Spacenut »

Thanks guys - yes, I'm looking forward to getting back on the road again. But being off the road is the natural habitat of the kit car, isn't it?

Lauren

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