Below are details of our car's specification and how it was built

The car we use is a Vauxhall Nova 1.3 SR.  The original was bought in April 2000 by Graham as a bare rally prepared shell.  He built it over a period of 5 months in a barn at a local farm.  It started life as a pretty basic machine using an engine from a scrap dealer which came out of a car with 115,000 miles on the clock and everything else apart from a couple of vital safety components also from the scrappy.  Graham sought help from local mechanic Terry Dixon, who is also involved in rallying, for the more technical aspects of the build.  In September 2000 the car was taken to its first event at Great Orton, Cumbria.  It finished 2nd to last but never the less it finished (last was Steve Head!!).  We decided that more power was needed and began to develop the car a bit at a time as we could afford it.  First step was to put a slightly better Cam in the car, then to get more fuel in using a trusty pair of Weber twin 40 DCOE carbs.  We then found we needed better brakes to stop us quicker and then we uprated the suspension.  Like I say this was done over a period of time and we have now got a car which is becoming competitive.  In May 2002 we changed the engine for a faster one which gives us a pretty respectable amount of BHP.  In July 2003 the original car was written off in an accident at the Sweet Lamb rally complex in Wales and the car was re-shelled.  The spec remained as it was other than the seats, belts and cage.

Full Specification

Engine: Vauxhall 1298 OHC producing 95BHP@6000RPM.  Pro-Tec built Polished and ported head with Gp A valves (wasted stems), Kent high lift camshaft, ARP big end bolts with standard pistons.

Gearbox: Standard F13 (Close Ratio) GTE gearbox fitted with 4.53:1 crown wheel and pinion.  Fitted with a ZF plate type limited slip differential set at 40%.  Helix 3 paddle competition clutch plate with Sachs cover.

Fuel and Exhaust: Weber twin 40 DCOE carbs fed by two facet electric pumps from standard tank with 2" skidded exhaust system bolted directly to floor for extra strength.

Brakes: Astra 2Ltr 16 valve brake calipers and discs with Mintex 1166 pads, TAS anodised hydraulic fly off handbrake with drum brakes on rear with standard shoes.

Suspension: Harry Hockley 2.25" adjustable spring platform struts with Bilstein 41mm inserts and 190lb springs and Harry Hockley eccentric alloy top mounts, Bilstein struts on rear with pro-tec forest springs.  Poly bushed all round.  Bottom ball joints replaced with works uniballs (supplied by AMS).

Shell & Ancillary Equipment: Strengthened and seam welded shell with triangulated Safety Devices roll cage mounted to strut tops, internal quaife type gearchange linkage, Motordrive national seats and TRS 6 point 3" aircraft release belts, battery box mounted in rear, Lifleline AFFF fire extinguishers, Revolution RFX's with Kumho forest rubber and occasionally Michelins (or anything else that seems like a bargain at the time!!!)