Riggers' Nova 1.4SR Project...

Thought some of you may be interested so thought i'd start a project thread..



Went to the Tatton Park Classic car show hungover one sunday, i've had a thought about buying a Cavalier GSi and building my own kinda BTCC rep but not with all the graphics and sponsors, but they're very hard to come by and tbh the more i thought about it i didn't want a project from a totally standard car like my XR2 was (bar the suspension it came on). So anyways i was looking forward to seeing some Cavaliers and having a nosey underneath one in person for suspension ideas as there's nothing off the shelf for them really that's track worthy, whilst i've been researching them and looking out for them for sale i've been searching for Novas too as theyre obviously lighter then a cavalier, parts are easier to come by (i thought, will get to that another day)... so at the show i spot this nova, and with the bonnet up i didn't really take much notice until i noticed the For Sale sign in the window i instantly got chatting to the owner and the following night i went to pick it up aha...



So abit of info the car's only on 52000 miles, both previous owners have been mature, the one before last had the engine rebuilt and fitted with the mods, the previous owner i bought it off only used it on weekends for 6 months of the year for his 9yr ownership. The car isn't as mint as i first thought but it's a lot of car for the money and its 27years old so nthings perfect mint that's that old haha...

20170604_153314 by jamie rigby, on Flickr

20170605_211021 by jamie rigby, on Flickr

spec -



C20xe

Coscast (cosworth designed) head

Jenvey DTH 45mm Throttle Bodies

DTA management

Kent Cams and Verniers

ARP rod bolts

Ashley manifold

Sportex exhaust

GSI fuel tank

Cortney Motorsport Driveshafts

Some Samco hoses

GSi Radiator

Oil cooler



Seam welded engine bay

Solid top mounts

Mk3 Astra Fanblade wheels

Cavalier v6 front brakes

Raceland coilovers

Full GSi interior including clocks and dash





Home, first thing i did was remove the mud guards and parcel shelf -

20170606_172519 by jamie rigby, on Flickr


OMP wheel out of my integra fitted with OMP boss -

20170612_160611 by jamie rigby, on Flickr


new fan -

20170622_171837 by jamie rigby, on Flickr

20170622_174856 by jamie rigby, on Flickr

Oil cooler bolted in and rad postioned properly as they both weren't ideal -

20170618_162057 by jamie rigby, on Flickr


fully low on rear front to match -

20170618_130319 by jamie rigby, on Flickr

20170618_130309 by jamie rigby, on Flickr

covered up to stop it fadeing or getting wet aha -

20170614_153137 by jamie rigby, on Flickr


So, still waiting on the brake discs and new wheels that are at the powdercoaters, the track wheels i've got aren't getting powdercoated though they're not too bad plus for track i'm not that bothered about the finish anyways. I've gone for the common Cavalier Cesaros as they look decent, good for brake cooling, cheap and the same offset and width as the fan blades so loads of room for chunky tyres, test fitted not sorted tyres yet -

20170625_094732 by jamie rigby, on Flickr

20170625_094745 by jamie rigby, on Flickr

Got a mint condition sump off ebay, sent off to Dewis Motorsport (recommended, off MIGWEB) for baffling, ready to go on with a new sump and exhaust manifold gasket -



20170701_110703 by jamie rigby, on Flickr


Was abit of a mare to swap, vauxhall made plenty of room to get access to one of the sump bolts next to the flywheel but not the other so with help of a mate he brought a 1/4drive socket and extension, was tricky refitting the windage tray and pick-up pipe too so also much easier with some help! Oil in and filter swapped and jobs a goodun -

20170627_171710 by jamie rigby, on Flickr

tbc...