trick little touches

[philly]

what kinds of nieat little toches have you got on your nova? inside or out.

need some inspiration, you put a screen instead of your heater vents? gauges instead of headunit..

pics too if ya can. you know it makes sense :) :thumb:

[RJM25R]

Used to have 2x head units. Sold the dash panel to Keith Robinson and he had it in NDZ before he broke it....

[ade]

I'm redesigning my nova - see styling thread.

New lights (Punto mk2), extended bonnet, custom grill, bumper, side skirts, rear bumper, custom interior including in car PC (got my touch screen today), MG ZR (last model stylke) round air vents and digi dash.

for starters...

[Lee]

did this before I got rid of the dash completely. Removed the centre console and relocated the leccy window switches. It was a spur of the moment thing lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/Bottlethroddy/Car%20Pictures/IMAG0007.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/Bottlethroddy/Car%20Pictures/IMAG0002.jpg

[peester]

this was something i was going to do to my old gsi, but never got round to it so not sure if it works - i might miss something really obvious..
Go and buy off ebay.de or f.a.o any members on here off the continent a left-hand-drive nova rear tailight drivers' side - so your uk model has a matching pair of rear fog lights and no reverse light basically. Don't need reverse lights for mot...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/peester/ingarageshooped.jpg

Splice some new wiring into the top/stop and tail live wire on both lights and join the other part of the new wiring into the fog light position on both lights. Change the 21w fog light bulbs for 5w/21w stop and tail bulbs and.. hey presto a) You got better looking matching lights (simply tint the amber indicators red for an all red-euro look, or black or leave as is) and b) When u switch ur sidelights on and/or brake u get x4 lights come on - gotta look better than 2?!

btw- can't photoshop 'lights on' well i can't.. so cannot get an idea of what that'd look like. If anyone wants a lil wiring diagram, no prob - ill draw one up.

[Lee]

You may not need reversing lights, but you DO need a fog light

[peester]

bugger..

-can still do it so its switchable back for mot - but u'de only have the one fog light, unless u rang wring from the one orginal foglight too the other, then it just starts to get bit meh..

[hendrix]

im fitting a 7" screen into a custon made pod where my cold air vents and clock are and then gonna try to put a corsa display where my interior light is and then put 2x corsa interior lights somehow on the B pillars. well hopefully

[Nova_Houch7]

Not very trick, but i had a 7"tv in my old mk1 dash where heater controls would be.

Tryin to think of proper lil tricks to do next.

Id thort bout elec window swtiches sumwhere else, but i dont have elec windows lol

L

[Nova_Houch7]

ive had to relocate my hazard switch if that counts, its now in the hole which the choke comes out if u have a choke, which idont....so i put it there.

L

[Will F]

Bottlethrody I am hereby annoucing that I am stealing that e/w switch idea. Having removed the centre console, I have nowhere to relocate the switches....

Sorted!;)

[Matt2107]

I'm having a screen in the heater vents, chopping up an xbox and spreading the various parts around the dash so no one can tea-leaf it and will probably mount some screens in the rear quarter panels, possibly moveable hidden ones.

The key is finding something different that hasnt been done before. ;)

Oh and I forgot to mention the forward facing camera that will be hidden in the passenger bonnet vent.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/Matt2107/Picture.jpg

[Jack]

I think I'll forget the hatch for now, that wasn't "trick little touches", that was just plain chavved lol

The saloon had opel badging, Astra Mk4 reapeaters, and Euro twin reverse light clusters on the back. GSi dash and other colour coded bits inside.

[DI4BLO]

Not sure how trick, but the cavalier dials are a nice touch.

And when i put harnesses in and removed the original belts so i moved a spare set of tweeters the sound was really good and covered everything in alacantara LOL.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/harry03/Dash1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/harry03/P8300001.jpg

[Mike]

Chromed door catches and door locks mech's, chromed boot catch etc. Tidy up all the engine bay, heat shrink the cables up and tie them back neatly.

Loads of stuff really.

[Matt2107]

I like the tweeter idea.... they'll be pointing right in your ear.

[Ste L]

tick little tocuhes i've got are.....

shorty mirrors, no side repeaters, or wing ariel
http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/5031/pict007.jpg

dials where the head unit goes

http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/5031/DSCI0014.JPG

[Mike]

shorty mirrors are the future :thumb:

[Matt2107]

I have one of those little dial dooberies that I'm willing to part with if anyones interested.

[craig green]

That guage mount looks good Ste. Matches your white dials nicely.

You not have a head unit/sounds? Or the head stashed in a stealthy place?

[Ste L]

they not fitted properly yet, thats just a trial fit, need to wort the wiring for them, and also find a new place for head unit

[paul james]

I thought you needed side repeaters to pass an MOT?

[Nova_Houch7]

I thought you needed side repeaters to pass an MOT?

People have been through this loads, but your fairly new i take it.......

the front indicators are visible enough side and front if that makes sense...i know wat i mean, sumone else will give you detailed description im sure.

L

[Matt2107]

only MK2...mark1's are not visable enough

[paul james]

Yeah ive got a MK1 and was hoping to leave my new wings holeless when i get them

[Nova_Houch7]

holeless?

L

[paul james]

Yeah dont new wings usually come without the holes for side repeaters, so you have to drill them yourself?. I would like to not have repeaters as im trying to keep the styling of the car as basic as possible.

[Nova_Houch7]

oh right yeh i see wat u mean now, yeh they come holeless, i have a pair of brand new mk1 wings in my garage, never used! never even sprayed!

L

[cornish]

Smoothed the recess on my GSi front bumper, can't say i've seen it done before...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/cornidh/Respray66.jpg

[Nova_Houch7]

How about this golf front ended nova for trick touches, ok its not little, but still quite trick

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a153/nova_houch7/fd_1.jpg

L

[Jack]

IIRC pre-April '86 can get away without side repeaters.

Loving the Cav dials and tweeters in the B pillars though, fantastic touches :thumb:

[Dergnova]

Would give you a sore head after awile tho would it not,tweeters right beside your ears? lol, Some nice little touches in there!

[DI4BLO]

Would give you a sore head after awile tho would it not,tweeters right beside your ears? lol, Some nice little touches in there!

I thought they would but made it all sound so much better as they weren't drowned out by road noise and sub, just a case of getting all the levels right.:thumb:

[Gunzi]

The Cav dials definately look good :thumb:

[Aamir]

Smoothed the recess on my GSi front bumper, can't say i've seen it done before...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/cornidh/Respray66.jpg

Now That is Trick ! ;)

Any pics on the car yet ?

Shame you didn't get the towing eye on the rear bumper done.

[ade]

not sure about the golf headlights - novas a boxy things so need boxy looking lights - round ones look a little odd. Then again I suppose anything different makes you look twice - which is a good thing I suppose - gets you noticed...

[doherty]

this was something i was going to do to my old gsi, but never got round to it so not sure if it works - i might miss something really obvious..
Go and buy off ebay.de or f.a.o any members on here off the continent a left-hand-drive nova rear tailight drivers' side - so your uk model has a matching pair of rear fog lights and no reverse light basically. Don't need reverse lights for mot...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/peester/ingarageshooped.jpg

Splice some new wiring into the top/stop and tail live wire on both lights and join the other part of the new wiring into the fog light position on both lights. Change the 21w fog light bulbs for 5w/21w stop and tail bulbs and.. hey presto a) You got better looking matching lights (simply tint the amber indicators red for an all red-euro look, or black or leave as is) and b) When u switch ur sidelights on and/or brake u get x4 lights come on - gotta look better than 2?!

btw- can't photoshop 'lights on' well i can't.. so cannot get an idea of what that'd look like. If anyone wants a lil wiring diagram, no prob - ill draw one up.

ive went the other way...ive got 2 white reversin lights(R/H/S light out of spanish corsa a)...dunno wat to do about a fog tho..prob jus fire on some gay lookin thing for MOT:mad:

ive been rakin my brain for other wee touches...mabie some will apper on this thread;) :D

[Timmy]

i like the tweeter idea, wear did you run the feed from ? standard wire from head unit ?

[Jack]

ive went the other way...ive got 2 white reversin lights(R/H/S light out of spanish corsa a)...dunno wat to do about a fog tho..prob jus fire on some gay lookin thing for MOT:mad:

ive been rakin my brain for other wee touches...mabie some will apper on this thread;) :D
Use the twin reverse clusters, but put an LED bulb in for the foglight; or, if you convert to twin fog to avoid MOT issues, use two LED bulbs.

[novas.5u.com]

I had twin euro lights on my Nova and had them wired up so the top were side lights and the bottom were brake. Had the fogs wired so they came on at the top and never had any problems come MOT time!!

[rednova]

Smoothed the recess on my GSi front bumper, can't say i've seen it done before...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/cornidh/Respray66.jpg

dont want to burst your bubble but ive had one like that on my saloon for 3 years :( theres a few more iirc

[Stanley]

i have a chrome button on my GSI dash for popping the boot open where the choke cable hole would normally be situated - quite chuffed with that one hehe

i have astra MK3 wiper/indicator stalks with cruise control butons too and was thinking about wiring drivers leccy window to them.......u heard it here first:thumb:

[The Simps]

Digidash converted to red to match car colour..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/TheSimps/Nova/Interior/RedDash600x314.jpg


Dials in heater control holes..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/TheSimps/Nova/Interior/GuagesStereo2.jpg


Carpets sprayed with a rattle can to get them black (no black carpets made for novas)...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/TheSimps/Nova/Interior/P3190034.jpg


Simps.

[Mike]

Yeah ive deon that to the carpets in mine, but not the floor carpets, just the stuff in the back like

[loggyboy]

I like the tweeter idea.... they'll be pointing right in your ear.
terrible idea for sound quality tho - they need to be as close to the main speaker to achieve good stereo imaging

[Timmy]

where the feed for the tweeters coming from? i was think instead of useing the front speaking use the channel for the tweeters? << this work ?

[loggyboy]

Not exactly 'trick', but im pleased with my omega one touch sunroof and the blue luxe glove box lid.
still need to sort a stick on mirror tho! lol

http://www.loggyboy.com/images/breezer/InteriorDash.jpg

[draper]

im loving the dials in the heater controls malarky, take it youve took the heater out then ?

i was at availablecar.com the other day, sat in a new mini and i really like the switchs for fog lights etc

[dannyb]

Its not amazing but I made an SR rear bench seat cover to fit over the existing cushion as the originals don't go in a 5 door. Unpicked the original cushions, took 2 panels out and sewed them up. Took about 2 hours to do and now matches the fronts keeping a standard look.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/dannyblo/RedSRrearbenchhowitcoversphotobucke.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/dannyblo/RdSRrearbenchphotobucket.jpg

[novaco]

like that^^^ very clever

[draper]

just noticed the griffin in the clockas well simps, clever !

[philly]

push start buttons!! woooo lol


yeah the dails in the controls are very trick, did you relocate the nobs or leave them out totally

[The Simps]

yeah the dails in the controls are very trick, did you relocate the nobs or leave them out totally

The car went on a crash diet and was stripped out with buckets etc and as it was only used in the dry and at summer I removed the heater to save a little extra weight. Gone to a black GSi dash now and have refitted the heater so have lost the dials. Have thought about refitting the dials tho and fitting the heater controls in the glove box. Would invlove getting the cables lengthened tho.

Had the idea today to have a pop up TV screen that would come out of the shelf above the glove box. Could be concealed in the glovebox then with a flick of a switch it pops up out of nowhere! Not into my ICE tho etc so doubt I'll ever do it. Would rather spend on bhp than db.

Simps.

[DI4BLO]

terrible idea for sound quality tho - they need to be as close to the main speaker to achieve good stereo imaging

All about personal preferance i and many others felt it improved the sound.

As i can only equalise the path lengths for the sound on my head unit as i dont have time correction it gave good stereo quality without speaker bias.

Its usually best to have a direct line from the tweeters to your ears, and this lack of obstruction alone really steps up the level of detail and the quality of your stereo image. Although it is prefered they are close together in the doors with the mid range this would not be achieved.

I also reduced the level of the tweeter compared to the mid range to balance them out due to the differance in distance the sound needed to travel.

Also as the i had buckets in eventually and as i am so tall adjusted the seats so i was actually behind the tweeter the rear fill was just provided by 6x9's running at low level direct from the parcel shelf.

But above all they looked good and were an interesting feature and in a nova sound quality isn't going to be theatre quality anyway LOL

The feeds were taken from the crossovers that came with the speakers as they are a jbl comp set.

[novas.5u.com]

Simps, did the paint not rub off the carpet onto your trainers etc tho???????

[The Simps]

Simps, did the paint not rub off the carpet onto your trainers etc tho???????

Only when it was went! lol

Seriously tho its fine. Its a little course if you obvviously stroke it but with a set of mats fitted its fine. If it starts to wear thin just lash some more paint on!

I done my parcel shelf too.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/TheSimps/Nova/Interior/P3190033.jpg

Simps.

[srs1]

i have a few bits also.

mk4 astra sun visors (fit loads better then nova ones)
oil pressure gausge and volt gauge in the air vents.
electric aerial
electric wing mirrors
smooth rear boot grab handle with push button release.

currently making sub frames to fit scooby bucket seats fit a punto.

[Mike]

ive cut my rear parcel shelve supports up as the rear of mine is stripped out, so they looked a litle odd! Carpeted them black and look pretty ace now.

Ill try and get a pic up...

[craig green]

on subject of electric sunrooves. What switch panel fits best?

Ive got a Cavalier one in mine & its nowhere near acceptable....

[philly]

someone put omega one on in this thread somewhere.

maybe that?

[Ste L]

Cav's one's fit best, need less mod's, but they are not one-touch like the omega one

[draper]

push start buttons!! woooo lol

im having 1, where the ignition barrel normally goes, then going to re-wire the ignition somewhere else

[doherty]

Use the twin reverse clusters, but put an LED bulb in for the foglight; or, if you convert to twin fog to avoid MOT issues, use two LED bulbs.

thankin you:thumb:

i had the idea of dials in the heater switch holes too..but would still want to keep my heater... so that idea was scrapped..:cry: lol

[db_1.2]

Threads past it now i know but wanted to show you all todays work:D

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/db89/DSC00109.jpghttp://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/db89/DSC00097.jpg

Dunno what to think of it myself really, looks alright i spose, bit chav:(

Opinions appreciated:thumb:

[philly]

dial in the clock looks ace.

is that a speedo on the dash infront of passenger?

waiting for more tricky touches soem people must have or know of.

[draper]

but if everyone blurted there trick touches on a popular forum they wouldnt be 1 off would they

[db_1.2]

Its a tachometer not a speedo mate:thumb:

[philly]

but if everyone blurted there trick touches on a popular forum they wouldnt be 1 off would they

true,

but you could also have started off a trend

[The Simps]

Ummm... how you gonna be able to see that tacho clearly when your driving????

Simps.

[Dergnova]

Indeed,youl have to turn your head left to look over which might not be be a good idea at the wrong time....,not many nice places to put one like that on a nova..

[R1CH]

Erm .... got a few bits & bobs on mine.

5 stud coversion, Cally T 160 mph clocks, Oil Temp & Pressure / Boost guage where heater controls were ( still have heaters), Twin reverse clusters with red LED bulb for fog, Cally internal gear lever, Relocated battery - behind passenger seat, relocated Header & washer bottles to where Battery was, internal brake & fuel lines .... maybe a few others ?

Rich

[The Simps]

Show off Rich! lol

Really looking forward to seeing yours in the flesh. Fixed your running probs now?

Simps.

[burgo]

how do you go about fitting a cavvy/cally gear lever mech as i want one

[loggyboy]

Cav's one's fit best, need less mod's, but they are not one-touch like the omega one

I dont think theres any difference - all either need a hole cut for the mirror support or moving of the mirror to a screen stick.

the actual plastic sorrounds are much the same size - it just needs a little heating/flexing to line thru better.
Its the larger interior light that needs alot of cutting.

[loggyboy]

how do you go about fitting a cavvy/cally gear lever mech as i want one
- cutting of the bulkhead to allow passage of linkage
- fabricating a mount for the gearstick cage (i cut the tunnel out the cav)
-either cutting of the shaft/linkage so it points towards the gearbox mount pivot or angleing of the cage forward.. thusly:

http://www.loggyboy.com/images/nilly/Phase1/27CavLinkage1.jpg

[R1CH]

Show off Rich! lol

Really looking forward to seeing yours in the flesh. Fixed your running probs now?

Simps.

:p
Aye its all running sweet, still need to change the clutch but its drivable !!

Christ Loggyboy that looks harsh !!
I just removed the centre carpet support, cut a hole at the end of the tunnel near the bulkhead for the rod to pass thru, plated over the hole to mount the Lever on, then straightened the rod to mate up to the Nove linkage ....
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/ricmetcalf/DSC00378.jpg

Rich

[Jack]

Does the Nova centre console still fit over the cav mechanism?

[db_1.2]

Ummm... how you gonna be able to see that tacho clearly when your driving????

Simps.

It kinda points inwards, its not that bad really but i see your point

[R1CH]

Does the Nova centre console still fit over the cav mechanism?

No !!