The Super Nuova...

[roguetoaster]

They are just trying to give you the authentic Italian experience. Just throw whatever you have in the box, send it, ask for forgiveness later, hoping they will just forget.

[glnr13]

how much lighter is the ultra vs the regular? just out of curiosity wondering how much weight is saved from all of those drilled holes.

[2mAn]

They are just trying to give you the authentic Italian experience. Just throw whatever you have in the box, send it, ask for forgiveness later, hoping they will just forget.

Id blame it on the Euro 2020 finale, but the parts were sent prior to all that. The missing front lightweight spring pans are annoying but less annoying than the wrong rear pieces because I have to send this other one back now or something...

how much lighter is the ultra vs the regular? just out of curiosity wondering how much weight is saved from all of those drilled holes.

Not sure, but I will definitely be weighing everything. Keeping my expectations low, but regardless the change will be quite nice and Im eager to test out the go-pro. Videos should be quite fun since the one thing I was nervous about with the go-pro turned out to be what I hoped so thats all good!

[2mAn]

The stock Nuova seat was nowhere up to the task of my driving demands and I’ve had this Beard Racing seat for a long time. Long time followers will remember these seats from the Roadster. They almost made it into a certain brown E30 while I was living in Seattle.

Long story short, it’s in there now and after another run up to Newcombs Ranch, it’s a huge improvement.











The final version of the new seat mounts







I’ve been called a weight weenie, I don’t mind. I’ve been called worse.




I also made a video, this is actually Episode 3 of the Nuova Project playlist haha

https://youtu.be/iInl1ag0te0

Feel free to follow if that’s what you’re into, or follow me on Instagram @tuman_show however you won’t miss anything as this is the home for everything on this car and it’s build...


Oh, I finally got a GoPro.So that’s cool. This is a screenshot, no driving videos yet

[roguetoaster]

I have some concerns about the efficacy of your DS seat belt if you plug it in over the seat bolster, and it doesn't look practical to pass it through each time. Maybe get a shorter receiver with a plug in belt extender to make it happen.

[Reichart12]

Haven't watched the video yet, but those seat mounts look awfully tall. How comfy is the final driving position?

[2mAn]

I have some concerns about the efficacy of your DS seat belt if you plug it in over the seat bolster, and it doesn't look practical to pass it through each time. Maybe get a shorter receiver with a plug in belt extender to make it happen.

I originally had the buckle sliding into side slot but it didn’t feel right, but maybe I’ll play with a little more because that’s the ideal way to do it.

Haven't watched the video yet, but those seat mounts look awfully tall. How comfy is the final driving position?

I originally had it flat mounted but it dropped me way too low, I literally was looking up through a gap under the steering wheel. That’s what prompted the second phase where I brought the seat up a few inches. It’s a little too close still for my right foot to sit comfortably on the throttle, but luckily I have one more notch to move the seat back. Hopefully that does it. If it works out well, I might just go buy a matching seat that I’ve never been able to find until just recently. We’ll see. I’m more eager to get cracking on the suspension and will probably start that this week.

[2mAn]

Tip of the iceberg.

Time for more tools.

Time to start a swear jar.

[Reichart12]

Watching intently how you fix this and taking notes for when I tackle the rust on my e30.

Side note, what welder do you have/use?

[2mAn]

Watching intently how you fix this and taking notes for when I tackle the rust on my e30.

Side note, what welder do you have/use?

I plan to start with the driverside rear corner as its not structural and we'll see if Im really up to the task. If I manage to get it done myself, then my "rocker repair" fund money can go into the "engine swap" fund which will be quite nice!





We'll see, for now I need to get the suspension done. This distracted me from the task I just started.

As far as a welder, its an Eastwood MIG 135, Harbor Freight cart and locally-sourced Argon bottle. I bought it ~2014. My skills are very novice, hopefully I will be not-a-novice by time I am done with rockers.

Only pic I have of it, pre-cart / VW Days haha

[Reichart12]

As far as a welder, its an Eastwood MIG 135, Harbor Freight cart and locally-sourced Argon bottle. I bought it ~2014. My skills are very novice, hopefully I will be not-a-novice by time I am done with rockers.

Cool thanks for the info. I would like to tackle my rust not this coming winter but the winter after that. Maybe pick up a welder next summer to start practicing. We'll see...

[2mAn]

#1 thing I would do is start collecting the replacement metal ASAP. Luckily there are plenty of vendors of replacement metal so both inner and outer rockers and even a lovely stamped metal rear driverside corner piece.

[Reichart12]

For sure. Eventually I'll really go through the car and find the spots that need replacement vs just surface rust areas.

[2mAn]

Well, progress has been slow, but Im plugging away.

Step 1 was getting the bushings pressed into the trailing arms. I took them over to DV Mechanics to do it. Im sure anyone couldve done it, but I only want their hands on the car besides me, so this was worth the drive.





With those in hand, I was ready to tackle the removal. Driverside had the fun surprise (see previous posts), but ignoring that I continued on and soon was looking at this. Quite a nice change. I weighed both setups, but I will post all the weight savings in its own post once its all done.




Sadly the passenger side seemed to also move smooth, until the rear trailing arm bolt wouldnt come out. The bolt was frozen to the bushing... repeated heating and hammering only frustrated me and I ended up mushrooming the threaded area. ****




With a 'new' bolt en route (Thanks Andrew!), I busted out the cutting wheels and went to town. It was slow going because the best tool wouldve been a sawzall, which of course I dont have. My trusty Ryobi cutting wheel also died mid cut which slowed me down even more. Borrowed a tool from a friend which also couldnt cut it...


In the end, the Dremel and the mini metal cut off wheels did most of the heavy lifting and now I can continue


The carnage...









With that, I took this pic and called it a day




The T-bar is already out and the Aluminum one is ready to go in too, so hopefully a few more hours and I will be done.

[Northern]

Fresh TAs and suspension look good in there. Are you just waiting on the sheetmetal to do the rust repair?