My nova: 1.55 bar = 457bhp, 2.1 bar = update on page 5
04-01-2010, 09:02 AM
#164
Yeah lovely subtle looking motor that, reminds me a lot of my old red C20LET nova I had about 8 years ago, that just looked like a totally standard GTE other than some 15" astra wheels and a bigger tailpipe and a tiny bit of lowering, proper sleeper it was 
04-01-2010, 05:19 PM
#165
10K+ Poster!!
Isn't that Andy Bishops nova ?
Thats been around since my first days in a nova ! recently had another massive overhaul iirc.
Whats he done to the engine now to get it over 300hp ?
Sorry if I have the wrong car.
Look forward to seeing this video of yours Chip
Thats been around since my first days in a nova ! recently had another massive overhaul iirc.
Whats he done to the engine now to get it over 300hp ?
Sorry if I have the wrong car.
Look forward to seeing this video of yours Chip
04-01-2010, 05:31 PM
#166
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04-01-2010, 05:49 PM
#167
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I know Andy still has his, he is friends with a few people I know, the blue one I guess you mean is Mark Beesons, I'm quite sure he still has that too.
They are the oldschool crew along with Karl Rowntree obviously.
Just seen your location, I think their all from that area aren't they ?
They are the oldschool crew along with Karl Rowntree obviously.
Just seen your location, I think their all from that area aren't they ?
07-01-2010, 10:23 AM
#168
Video taken by one of the lads from Mtech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxx7SgmF-0I
Annoyingly it doesnt show the exhaust, which is a shame as it spits flames, lol
Not got sound on work computer to check, but hopefully the sound has come out ok.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxx7SgmF-0I
Annoyingly it doesnt show the exhaust, which is a shame as it spits flames, lol
Not got sound on work computer to check, but hopefully the sound has come out ok.
07-01-2010, 10:28 AM
#170
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20-01-2010, 08:02 AM
#172
Trying my best to get it quiet enough for bedford, still seems fucking noisey to me though 
It still maxes out the db meter on my iPhone (101.3 db max reading) which is too much for bedford.
Going to take it anyway though and hope its quieter than the iPhone says, after all its fucking shite as a phone so why should it be trusted as a decibel meter
It still maxes out the db meter on my iPhone (101.3 db max reading) which is too much for bedford.
Going to take it anyway though and hope its quieter than the iPhone says, after all its fucking shite as a phone so why should it be trusted as a decibel meter
20-01-2010, 10:39 AM
#173
3dr Cosworth owner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S8O-Eoaprw 
That day rocked!
That day rocked!
20-01-2010, 10:42 AM
#175
Well it was more like "sideways to defeat" as Si B passed me with ease the moment he stopped playing camera car and going slow to stay behind me.
But im positive I had more fun than he did, and thats all that really matters to me, I dont care much about laptimes on a trackday but do care about having fun
20-01-2010, 11:08 AM
#180
I know Andy still has his, he is friends with a few people I know, the blue one I guess you mean is Mark Beesons, I'm quite sure he still has that too.
They are the oldschool crew along with Karl Rowntree obviously.
Just seen your location, I think their all from that area aren't they ?
They are the oldschool crew along with Karl Rowntree obviously.
Just seen your location, I think their all from that area aren't they ?
20-01-2010, 02:31 PM
#184
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Good power Chip
FPMSL
Originally Posted by Chip
....It still maxes out the db meter on my iPhone (101.3 db max reading) which is too much for bedford.
Going to take it anyway though and hope its quieter than the iPhone says, after all its fucking shite as a phone so why should it be trusted as a decibel meter
Going to take it anyway though and hope its quieter than the iPhone says, after all its fucking shite as a phone so why should it be trusted as a decibel meter
20-01-2010, 03:30 PM
#186
10K+ Poster!!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S8O-Eoaprw That day rocked!
That day rocked!i would have thought youd of gained some on the straights though chip ?
20-01-2010, 05:08 PM
#189
Too many posts.. I need a life!!
20-01-2010, 10:32 PM
#192
. Thanks for re-igniting the memories!
Cheers
RW
30-01-2010, 06:51 PM
#195
Well, Ive been out today in the nova, with the boost wound up to finish off the mapping and see how it went in preperation for going back onto the rollers for a final power figure next saturday when im meant to be renting the rollers again at mtech.
Have increased boost from the 1.55 bar to 2.1 bar, and fuck me it was going well, in fact so much so that there is NO way I would ever want to use it like that on track anywhere other than a bloody long straight (it was a big dual carriageway I was using it on and even there it felt fast!)
Came back home after a really good session out just enjoying driving it on a dry day at last, its handling SO much better now, ive altered the front suspension to give me more caster which seems to have worked well, and I was just generally over the moon with it.
When I left it idling to cool down though, I noticed that there was a bit of steam coming out of the exhaust, which was obviously a very worrying sign.
Compression tested it, and 2/3/4 were all perfectly on 11, exactly where they always are, but number one was up on 13, so I feared it had done the head gasket.
Me and gary ripped it apart figuring that if we could get it apart today, get my old man to get the head skimmed in the week and get a new gasket off steve we could get it all back together on friday ready for the rollers on saturday.
The head gasket looked mint though, no signs of any problems at all, so I started inspecting the head very closely, again no signs of any problems, so I finally turned my attention to the block, the mating face looks perfect, but when I wound that cylinder number 1's piston down the bore and cleaned the bore off very carefully, I can just make out a slightly darker coloured wiggly very feint line about an inch long, which can only be one thing, a crack!
Game over for me for a while until I decide what to do, no point just rebuilding it exactly the same as obviously I am almost certainly going to run into the problem again on another block if I start using it as hard.
Im not aware of anyone using one of these engines for anything other than short bursts drag racing at this sort of power level (must have been well over 500 judging by how much faster it was on the 2.1 bar setting than on the 1.55 bar setting that made 457bhp) so I need to decide if perhaps I need to be using a different engine instead to get this power, or accepting running less power to prevent me killing another block.
VERY bad day sadly!
Looks like the snotty old clio is going to have to get dragged back out for bedford on the 20th now.
Might see about just putting a standard bottom end into the nova and just run at a bar of boost or something in order to just get it out and get some seat time so I can work a bit more on the handling.
Will have a go at getting a picture of the crack, but TBH its just such a tiny little line I suspect I wont be able to get the camera to pick it up even on the macro setting.
Have increased boost from the 1.55 bar to 2.1 bar, and fuck me it was going well, in fact so much so that there is NO way I would ever want to use it like that on track anywhere other than a bloody long straight (it was a big dual carriageway I was using it on and even there it felt fast!)
Came back home after a really good session out just enjoying driving it on a dry day at last, its handling SO much better now, ive altered the front suspension to give me more caster which seems to have worked well, and I was just generally over the moon with it.
When I left it idling to cool down though, I noticed that there was a bit of steam coming out of the exhaust, which was obviously a very worrying sign.
Compression tested it, and 2/3/4 were all perfectly on 11, exactly where they always are, but number one was up on 13, so I feared it had done the head gasket.
Me and gary ripped it apart figuring that if we could get it apart today, get my old man to get the head skimmed in the week and get a new gasket off steve we could get it all back together on friday ready for the rollers on saturday.
The head gasket looked mint though, no signs of any problems at all, so I started inspecting the head very closely, again no signs of any problems, so I finally turned my attention to the block, the mating face looks perfect, but when I wound that cylinder number 1's piston down the bore and cleaned the bore off very carefully, I can just make out a slightly darker coloured wiggly very feint line about an inch long, which can only be one thing, a crack!
Game over for me for a while until I decide what to do, no point just rebuilding it exactly the same as obviously I am almost certainly going to run into the problem again on another block if I start using it as hard.
Im not aware of anyone using one of these engines for anything other than short bursts drag racing at this sort of power level (must have been well over 500 judging by how much faster it was on the 2.1 bar setting than on the 1.55 bar setting that made 457bhp) so I need to decide if perhaps I need to be using a different engine instead to get this power, or accepting running less power to prevent me killing another block.
VERY bad day sadly!
Looks like the snotty old clio is going to have to get dragged back out for bedford on the 20th now.
Might see about just putting a standard bottom end into the nova and just run at a bar of boost or something in order to just get it out and get some seat time so I can work a bit more on the handling.
Will have a go at getting a picture of the crack, but TBH its just such a tiny little line I suspect I wont be able to get the camera to pick it up even on the macro setting.
Last edited by Chip; 30-01-2010 at 06:55 PM.
30-01-2010, 07:12 PM
#199
Yeah its a real shame.
What I need to do now, is decide what to do next with the engine, wether I just chalk this one up as me getting unucky picking a secondhand block that had an existing defect from manufacture or wether this is going to be indicative of the realistic limits for these engines for sustained use.
TBH I could happily turn the power back down to 1.5 bar and it still be brilliant fun on track with only the 450bhp it had before, so maybe thats the way I should be going, as ultimately the extra power wouldnt have been of any real benefit to me, and would have put massive strain on the box etc.
Sadly there are very few people using these engines at big power (ie 500+) in the world for anything other than drag racing, so Ive no other examples to look at to see if its a freak occurance the block crack with that sort of power for sustained use, or if its just going to keep happening.
What I need to do now, is decide what to do next with the engine, wether I just chalk this one up as me getting unucky picking a secondhand block that had an existing defect from manufacture or wether this is going to be indicative of the realistic limits for these engines for sustained use.
TBH I could happily turn the power back down to 1.5 bar and it still be brilliant fun on track with only the 450bhp it had before, so maybe thats the way I should be going, as ultimately the extra power wouldnt have been of any real benefit to me, and would have put massive strain on the box etc.
Sadly there are very few people using these engines at big power (ie 500+) in the world for anything other than drag racing, so Ive no other examples to look at to see if its a freak occurance the block crack with that sort of power for sustained use, or if its just going to keep happening.
30-01-2010, 07:16 PM
#200
Its been done a few times in drag racing, and in fact well beyond that power in some cases abroad.
No, it was fully blue printed (line bored etc) and was running arrow rods and CP pistons.
I can maybe look at going for some nikasil liners I suppose on another block, if I decide to press on with trying for this sort of power again.
Must admit, Im a bit gutted I didnt get it on the rollers first before it cracked the block as I would love to have known what sort of power it was actually running, can only guesstimate based on the fact it was seeing 20% more absolutely pressure than it made 457bhp at, which probably translates to about 15% more power (law of diminishing returns)
Certainly went like fuck though, was absolutely immense fun how hard it was accelerating!
was the bottom end standard
I can maybe look at going for some nikasil liners I suppose on another block, if I decide to press on with trying for this sort of power again.
Must admit, Im a bit gutted I didnt get it on the rollers first before it cracked the block as I would love to have known what sort of power it was actually running, can only guesstimate based on the fact it was seeing 20% more absolutely pressure than it made 457bhp at, which probably translates to about 15% more power (law of diminishing returns)
Certainly went like fuck though, was absolutely immense fun how hard it was accelerating!