Steve's Class 6 Autograss Nova
Steve raced a class 1 mini, with a Jungle prepared engine for a season, and then decided he wanted to compete with the big boys, and purchased a Nova with a damaged 1600 engine. A replacement 2 litre 8 valve engine came with the car, and he asked us to see if we could extract some more power for him.
The
bottom of the engine is fairly standard spec, with the addition of ARP
big end bolts, and a custom made sump baffle. The cylinder head has
been
modified by us, along with the inlet manifold and the hottest cam we
could use with the hydraulic lifters. A 4 branch exhaust manifold
and custom
exhaust gets rid of the gases. A Ford Edis coil pack was
used with Mondeo plug leads,and a V3 ECU.
Engine management is by M-Tech Automotive of Westbury who supplied the V3 ECU.
Then the real fun, and stress began as Matt ran the engine right up to the 7200 rev limit at least 30 or more times as the map of fuel and ignition timing was plotted. The sound of the engine bouncing off the limiter was rather addictive.
Another silencer has now been fitted as we felt the car was to quiet, and the whole car will be lowered about 2 inches, and softer front springs will be tried, to try and increase corner speed.
Race meeting 20/09/09.
Heat 1, and the competition is fierce, a full grid of 8 head into the first bend and Steve is running 5th. It is a good hard race and a 6th place in a very hard scrap with some quick cars is a good result. The car seems to be handling ok, but it was running a bit low on fuel causing it to heisitate slightly in the top bend. We add as much fuel as the tank will take, and get ready for heat 2.
Race Meeting 18/10/09
Last meeting of the season, and we have done a few tweaks to the suspension, and sorted the shocks at the rear of the car. The engine is running sweetly, and the weather is fine, so it should be a good meeting.
Heat 1.
Back in the pits, the body has damage down the side, and the impact caused a core plug to pop out of the manifold, which is why the engine won't run!
We can't find the core plug, so we make a temp repair with a plastic cap and a load of tank tape!!!
Heat 2.
Again the car is quick at the start and manages to make it around the first corner without being tagged. A 6th place is the result in a hard but fair race and Steve is enjoying himself. The suspension work is making the car much better in the corners.
A quick look round the car, top up the fuel and check the wheel nuts and it's ready to do battle again.
Heat 3.
Another good start and the Nova is 3rd into the first bend and makes up another place on the run down to the bottom bend. Steve is now 2nd and having to defend the place with all his skill. A wide line at the top bend scrubs of a lot of pace and he only just hangs onto 2nd into bottom bend, but a good drive sees Steve take his first podium spot by finishing 2nd. Very little battle damage from that heat, so just top up the fuel and wait for the next race.
The Final.
8 cars and 8 laps make up the final.
Again, Steve gates well and is in the leading pack into the top bend. He turns in and gets an almighty T bone hit from a runaway Micra which throws the Nova into the air and the heavy landing breaks both rear suspension arms!
The race is stopped and the Nova is picked up and placed on the Transit ready for the trip home, and some serious repair work. That's the end of 2009, and a 2nd place best finish is a good way to end it.
Lots more to come in 2010.
September 12th 2010
Steve raced a class 1 mini, with a Jungle prepared engine for a season, and then decided he wanted to compete with the big boys, and purchased a Nova with a damaged 1600 engine. A replacement 2 litre 8 valve engine came with the car, and he asked us to see if we could extract some more power for him.
This
engine was the low power, 20NE unit producing 116 bhp at 5200 rpm
and 118 ft/lbs of torque
at 2600 rpm. We agreed to a high torque engine spec limited to 7200 rpm which would enable the hydraulic lifters to be retained, keeping the cost sensible as the lower rev limit should mean a lot less stress on the engine .
at 2600 rpm. We agreed to a high torque engine spec limited to 7200 rpm which would enable the hydraulic lifters to be retained, keeping the cost sensible as the lower rev limit should mean a lot less stress on the engine .
Engine management is by M-Tech Automotive of Westbury who supplied the V3 ECU.
A
trip to their workshop was required for Matt Thorne to Map the engine,
and an exciting day it turned out to Initially, the engine
would
only run on 2 cylinders, but with a bit of wizardry from Matt, he soon
had it running sweetly on all 4.
Then the real fun, and stress began as Matt ran the engine right up to the 7200 rev limit at least 30 or more times as the map of fuel and ignition timing was plotted. The sound of the engine bouncing off the limiter was rather addictive.
The engine held together and produced no
leaks or other problems to spoil the day. Considering that this was the
first time
the engine had ever run. figures of 138 bhp at 6800 rpm, and a flat
line of 140 ft/lbs of torque from 2000 rpm to 6000 rpm was very impressive.
Steve
says it pulls like a train from low revs right up to the limiter, and
in his first race meeting at Stroud, he gets a 3rd, a 4th and qualified for the
final and came 6th. Not a bad result for his first time out in the car!
Another silencer has now been fitted as we felt the car was to quiet, and the whole car will be lowered about 2 inches, and softer front springs will be tried, to try and increase corner speed.
Sunday
races at Wessex Raceway, and Steve just gets faster and faster. The
engine does not miss a beat, only needing fuel between races, and
a tyre pressure adjustment.....Smaller wheels on the back has lowered
the car, but the front springs are still way too hard, and need
to be replaced. A good days racing for JRE.com. More tomorrow!
Monday
is overcast to begin with, and then the sun comes out and the track
dries so hard, it turns black from all the rubber being laid down!
Steve
has some really good hard races, in one heat he is in third place when
he drifts out a bit wide, and gets on the loose stuff and brushes the
armco barrier, but he keeps his foot planted and the car recovers with
only a few scrapes on the rims to show how close he was to a big
incident.The engine never misses a beat, and is proving to be
almost as quick as some more exotic machines in the class. A change to
throttle bodies will certainly up the game. Work on the suspension
settings is starting to pay off and we now have a better idea of the
direction we need to go with springs and shocks.
More corner speed will
be possible with the new set up, and that's where Steve is losing out at
present. 3 weeks until the next meeting, and lots to do. Race meeting 20/09/09.
Dry,
hot and lots of sunshine, a great days racing was in store for all.
We had not had
time to try out the suspension changes made to WS811, so Steve was just going to have to hope we went the right way with spring rates. The exhaust was also lenghtened to comply with the scrutineers rules.
Heat 1, and the competition is fierce, a full grid of 8 head into the first bend and Steve is running 5th. It is a good hard race and a 6th place in a very hard scrap with some quick cars is a good result. The car seems to be handling ok, but it was running a bit low on fuel causing it to heisitate slightly in the top bend. We add as much fuel as the tank will take, and get ready for heat 2.
Heat 2.
Again,
8 cars go hurtling into the top bend, with Steve about 4th or 5th. The
car in front of Steve makes contact with John Young,(more of John and
some pics of the Fiesta to come), and chaos erupts, John ends up facing
the way he came, Steve cannons into the car that hit John, and a huge
cloud of dust hangs over the corner, but out of the dust hurtle the
cars still facing the right way, and Steve is 3rd! and going for it.
Luckily, the race is red flagged, and stopped, and we see the Nova is
losing water from a damaged radiator.... We
don't carry a spare one so that was it for Steve, we load up the car,
and plan on fitting the new one in the rear of the car during the winer break to prevent this
happening again.
New
radiator is refitted to the car but with some break-away mounts (cable
ties ) as the damage was caused by the mounting bracket pulling a chunk
of plastic out of the side of the radiator. Steve travels to Penhow in
Wales to test the car and gets two, third places in the heats, but
pulls out of the final to preserve the car for the next local round. The car is running hotter than it should and on flushing out the radiator, a whole lot of sludge is found to be the cause.
New rear shocks are on the to do list for the next meeting as they are not working correctly.
New rear shocks are on the to do list for the next meeting as they are not working correctly.
Race Meeting 18/10/09
Last meeting of the season, and we have done a few tweaks to the suspension, and sorted the shocks at the rear of the car. The engine is running sweetly, and the weather is fine, so it should be a good meeting.
Heat 1.
Steve
has changed the way he gates the car, and he gets a demon start and
turns into the first corner in 2nd place, and is going for the lead
when the Micra behind makes contact with him and keeps pushing until
Steve is going backwards down the straight and they both eventually
come to a halt.
Red flag comes out because the car won't run, and is
blocking the racing line.Back in the pits, the body has damage down the side, and the impact caused a core plug to pop out of the manifold, which is why the engine won't run!
We can't find the core plug, so we make a temp repair with a plastic cap and a load of tank tape!!!
Heat 2.
Again the car is quick at the start and manages to make it around the first corner without being tagged. A 6th place is the result in a hard but fair race and Steve is enjoying himself. The suspension work is making the car much better in the corners.
A quick look round the car, top up the fuel and check the wheel nuts and it's ready to do battle again.
Heat 3.
Another good start and the Nova is 3rd into the first bend and makes up another place on the run down to the bottom bend. Steve is now 2nd and having to defend the place with all his skill. A wide line at the top bend scrubs of a lot of pace and he only just hangs onto 2nd into bottom bend, but a good drive sees Steve take his first podium spot by finishing 2nd. Very little battle damage from that heat, so just top up the fuel and wait for the next race.
The Final.
8 cars and 8 laps make up the final.
Again, Steve gates well and is in the leading pack into the top bend. He turns in and gets an almighty T bone hit from a runaway Micra which throws the Nova into the air and the heavy landing breaks both rear suspension arms!
The race is stopped and the Nova is picked up and placed on the Transit ready for the trip home, and some serious repair work. That's the end of 2009, and a 2nd place best finish is a good way to end it.
Lots more to come in 2010.
Steve
has sold the car transporter in these pictures, but it has not gone far
as Nigel has bought it to transport his Micra to the meetings on.
Work on making up the replacement rear arms is nearly done, and new coil overs need to be mounted and the arms painted. These new ones should take a lot more punishment before they break!
Work on making up the replacement rear arms is nearly done, and new coil overs need to be mounted and the arms painted. These new ones should take a lot more punishment before they break!
Rear suspension is now sorted with new coil springs and dampers.
March 21st, and off to scrutineering.
All that has to be done is another door bar, passenger side to comply with 2010 regs!
Wessex Raceway 25th April 2010
Cool and dry morning with lots of rain showers in the afternoon.
Steve comes in 5th in the 1st heat after an intense race. The Nova is looking good!
Heat 2 and Steve is running a good third and going for 2nd when the
driveshaft breaks and the day is over.
We have now replaced the shaft and carried out a few mods to prevent a similar problem in the future!
driveshaft breaks and the day is over.
We have now replaced the shaft and carried out a few mods to prevent a similar problem in the future!
Race day 23rd May 2010
A very hot and dusty day greets us as we arrive at the track.
Steve has a very good day, the car running and handling very nicely.
Heat 1. 2nd place
Heat 2. 3rd place
Final. 3rd place
3 very good results, and the car is in one piece with nothing to do until the next race!!!
More news on Steve on the race day pages!!
September 12th 2010
South Somerset meeting at Highbridge track.
The track is ultra smooth, and a bit slippy, but this suits the Nova, and Steve gets 2nd, 2nd, and his first ever win in heat 3.
The final looms, and 8 cars tear into the top corner, and only 6 make it down the straight.
Steve is parked backwards up against the armco barrier with a Mini Clubman estate upside on top of his bonnet,
after traveling up the side of the Nova and over the roof.
To
make the event more dramatic, the Mini then bursts into flames. That
got the marshalls running, and Steve decided it was time to vacate the
Nova.
Steve is parked backwards up against the armco barrier with a Mini Clubman estate upside on top of his bonnet,
after traveling up the side of the Nova and over the roof.
We
have now sorted the damage and back at Wessex Raceway, and Steve takes
3 wins and a 2nd place in the final, after dropping off the pace to
save the car.
Final position in 2010
2nd in the Wessex Club and 5th in the League
November 2010
The Nova is back with us and we are going to extract a bit more power for 2011.
April 2011
The car is in the workshop, the cylinder head removed and checked and the fueling modified slightly!
A trip to Matt at M-Tech to do some magic with the management and I think it should be ok.
Matt said we need some ram pipes!
Much better..