Scottish Nova - time for a rebuild!

[BlueNova]

Similar experience here too. ....... As with many things choose your MOT station wisely. Those with an understanding of engineering and real cars tend to be more flexible if they realise you know the car well.
.......
For any lightweight kit I think the flexibility of brake adjustment is essential. ......

Thanks Jim. All very re-assuring, and I agree re MOT station. I’ve been going to the same place for years, and it only does MOTs, not repairs. They know me well and have passed my welding (thanks to you and others on the Forum who persuaded me to learn to weld!) so I’m optimistic about their level of understanding. I’ve already told them that I’m rebuilding the Nova and intend to take it to them for its MOT. The biggest difficulty might be a short steep concrete slope at the entrance to the garage.... I might need to take some ramps to actually get the Nova into the garage!!

[BlueNova]

Nice sunny day today, so I rolled the chassis out of the garage and tinkered all afternoon .... after which I got an old bucket seat out, imagined a steering wheel in my hand, and made some 'brrm brrrm' noises

Seriously, there's not much left to do till I can fix the body onto the chassis

[Phill]

Yes you're within a bawhair* of getting the body back on. What's left? Plumb and bleed the brakes? replace the fuel tank? Then it's ready to be bolted back down isn't it?

Looking forward to stretching my Nova's legs again and taking a run up to see you now that the better weather and lockdown restrictions are headed our way


*Old Scottish engineering term meaning just a fraction more to go

[Mikemrb]

Looking good nothing like a bit of sunshine to boost the enthusiasm to work outside

[BlueNova]

Looking good nothing like a bit of sunshine to boost the enthusiasm to work outside

The forecast looks pretty settled for the next couple of weeks, so I should have her finished by the end of March!

Yes you're within a bawhair* of getting the body back on. What's left? Plumb and bleed the brakes? replace the fuel tank? Then it's ready to be bolted back down isn't it?

Looking forward to stretching my Nova's legs again and taking a run up to see you now that the better weather and lockdown restrictions are headed our way

*Old Scottish engineering term meaning just a fraction more to go

Yes Phill, plumb & bleed the brakes, fit the new fuel tank to the body, and sort the accelerator pedal. To get the pedal to sit in a more vertical position I fabricated a link with rose joints between the pedal and the accelerator shaft on the pedal assembly. I was quite pleased with it until I tested it and found that at about 2/3 pedal movement, the geometry makes it 'click' forward to lock at full throttle so a bit more work required to get it right. Certainly one job that must be 100% right before fitting the body .... but I'm within a bawhair right enough!

[steve]

Great pic!

[islandman]

Well done Alistair!

I'm soooo jealous as I can't get anywhere near my cars to start progressing the long list of jobs

[BlueNova]

Another '5 mins' on the Nova today...

I sorted the 'clicky' accelerator pedal by fabricating a bump stop ... after I had removed the stop on the back of the pedal! Anyway, it now works fine.

I fitted the Limebug steering stops to the steering box (thanks to Mike who suggested this part to Barry as an option in his 'restoring mk1' thread). I went for the bare metal option, primed it, sprayed it gloss black, and then bolted it on. So much simpler than all the faffing around I'd intended to do to set the position of my old steering stop (after rotating it on the beam) and then welding it in position.

Once I've plumbed and bled the brakes I'm going to fit a temporary steering wheel on a basic frame so that I can drive the chassis and test the brakes, etc, before fixing the body in position. Hopefully more on that very soon!

[MartinB]

sorry, wrong post, so I removed...

but looking good `¬)

[BlueNova]

Had another '5 mins' on the Nova today

Nothing major, but an awkward wee job I'd been putting off. I removed the gear shift rod from the chassis tunnel because I suspected that the bushing beneath the gear lever might have perished ... which indeed it had! Eventually I managed to insert a new one, once I realised you need to overlap the gap in the side of it and compress it into a smaller circle.

I then wire brushed the shift rod, slapped on the grease, inserted it into the tunnel via the frame head, and pushed it through the bushing with the help of a plastic pipe taped to the rod.





Whilst I was removing the rod I noticed that the front gearbox mount has a crack in it. Further prodding confirmed I need a new mount! OK, OK, I know ... I should have replaced it before I fitted the transaxle!

Another thing I noticed that's worth mentioning is I've still to fit a new tunnel drain valve at the rear of the tunnel. It is designed to let water out of the tunnel but not in. Might be worth checking if you've got one fitted on your own chassis ... it's a cheap way of reducing the risk of internal rust, along with the frame head cover plate at the other end of the tunnel!