I appear to need a trip oop to the frozen north at some stage this week:
I was going to have a go about it being a Nova but I've always hade a bit of a soft spot for mini saloons.
If it were your usual pissed around with scrote special, then fair enough.
But it isn't - for all their sins I've never had any major issues with any of the numerous Novas I've had in the past, bar the one which the cambelt jumped on.
One new, correctly adjusted cambelt later, it was fine - no bent valves etc.
I've bought it because I'm aware that I may well need to tighten my belt in the near future, and this should be a fairly trouble free... bar the inevitable mocking for daring to own a Nova. ;-)
Massive boot for a small car.
Was that a 1.2 OHV lump, or one of the OHC lot (1.3/1.6 etc) ? In my Vauxhall owning days (which I'll never say for sure are fully behind me - you never know....) I remember several people saying how great the engines were in terms of not needing to overly worry about cambelts - got mentioned w.r.t 2 litre Carltons, a mate's 1.6 Cavalier, and my Astra van (1.3). Bloody good engines in their day, and the 1.3s were quite nippy for what they were.
You're right- the 1.3 of that time was brilliant. Quiet, and pretty nippy for the time- 75BHP IIRC.
Ah, you got it then. Looks rather tidy.
AFAIK, the 1.2 OHV never saw the light of day in the Nova - Mk1 Astra, yes... possibly the earlier Mk2 Astras although I believe these were OHC.
The Novas had a 1.2 OHC, with the only OHV in the range being the 1.0... which I personally wouldn't touch with yours. ;-)
Mechanic chappie has already been primed with a Waxoyl gun in the hope it'll stay that way for a while yet, and is also going to sort out the corrosion on the front panel. :-)
The 1.3 lump was fed with a single choke carb in the Nova, leading to 70bhp.
In the Mk2 Astra it was shod with a twin choke Pierburg and knocked out
75bhp.Even thrashed, the 1.3 Nova I used to use to commute about ten years ago always knocked out at least 40mpg but was quite fun to thrash as well. :-)
I'm almost certain that there wasn't a 1.2 OHC - that is, if we're taking the same family (xxSE, I think) as the 1.3, 1.6, 2.0 lot - hydraulic tappets et al - always thought the 1.2 was the OHV, and the 1.3 was the OHC - remember seeing in a handbook (probably one for an Astra) the list of engines and power/torque figures - huge difference in power outputs between the 1.2 and 1.3, and a *lot* less of a jump from the 1.3 to the 1.6.
Heh! Though I'm still not convinced that the 1.2 Novas were the same family of engines as the 1.3s (i.e. as fitted to the Nova SRs). Though I might be wrong....
I had a 1.2 OHV Mk1 Disastra The 1.2'E' for a few months. Worked perfectly. I drove it 6 miles in those months. Hateful POS if ever there was one.
Two of my mates had Nova's, 1 was a 1.2 carb and the other a facelift 1.2 injection. The injection was quicker. But then, the carb engine expired and just managed to drag the Nova to the garage, where our local friendly mechanic put a used 1.2 carb in it for him for £200 cash. Afterwards, it was so much faster than the previous engine had EVER been heh. And it didn't smoke nearly as much.
Whilst he's there, have him put a 2.0 8v engine in it :-p They're cheap as chips, and apparently it's a very easy thing to do...
Yup. Get a pre-1990 one though - despite de-catting the later ones making some difference, IME they (the C20NE - later ones) never felt as torquey as the 20SE lumps (C 20NE had a different compression ratio as well as just having a cat in the middle of the zorst). Plenty of rotten Carltons/Cavaliers about to find one in.....
Trust me, having had a brace of 1.2 Novas in the past, they're 1.2 (1196cc in the phase one non-catted models, and 1195cc in the phase two catted models, if you want the really anally accurate answer), and of the same family as the rest of the OHC four pots Vauxhall were knocking out at that time.
The difference in power outputs can be put down in part to level of tune provided by whatever carb etc, they fitted the car with, hence why the Astra
1.3 had 5 more bhp than the Nova 1.3.
No thanks - this one is staying original bar maybe the headunit, and even that will be sympathetically replaced with regards to the wiring, so the standard one just plugs back in at a later date.
Strange - Vauxhall were pretty shit at applying injection / cats to their cars.
IIRC, the later injected 1.2 had less bhp etc, than the earlier carb fed one... on paper at least.
Ah, but the carb'd one blew up shortly after remember :-) So it wasn't in best of health heh. The replacement carb'd engine was loads faster.
I quite liked Nat's TD Nova TBH and would even consider owning another one if money became a bit tighter. Just be careful the front suspension doesn't fall off like ours did ;)
Ah yes... sorry, was in a rush to get out earlier and didn't quite take it all in. :-)
I bought a tatty '1.2', or so I was told it was, years ago off a local Vauxhall breakers that used to patch up and knock out some of the cars.
Only it was a tad quicker when I opened it up - someone had slung a 1.3 in there. :-D
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.