removing the gutters

[bosscav]

whats y'all view on this, bit like de-seeming a proper mini

[General Baxter]

dont its harder then it looks lol

[Saloony]

Does look good when done, but i think you loose the definition of the nova.

[Dave.]

i managed to take one off the other day without breaking it, but then stood on it about 5 mins after lol, its fairly hard even if youve got a steady hand, theyre like bonded on. i think novas look better with them imo

[General Baxter]

hes not talking about the gray capping, hes talking about the bit of metal lol

[bosscav]

I did it on an old 1275gt clubman mini I had, right pain in the **** that was, but once you start you can't stop

[Nick]

Well.. sounds like you can do it then.

[ade]

prob with removing the gutters is they add rigidity to the sides (albeit a little). Also they as their name suggest remove rain from the roof to the front and back of the car - take the gutters off and (from an experience of a friend who did this) water gets into the sh1tey nova door seals at the top. they dont close tight enough.

once removed you need to rebrace and attach the roof to the sides - because the gutters are stitch welded once cut away you'll need to fix brackets to the inside of the roof and sides or lap weld (?) it to give it strength and then weld it up.

Personally I think the car looks naked without them - theres no definition and it looks like someones chopped its ears off...

[DW-Nova]

Theres an argument for each side here, its not an easy thing to do by any means but imo its worth it. You say that the car can look naked without them? this is just obviously personal opinion, i think that on old sr's with the snowplow front they suite the lines of the car but on mk2's they look out of place and should be rid of.

[mayhem]

i heard that the supply a lot of strenght tro the roof, without m the roof wil be much weaker while driving, it will move sort of speak

[R1CH]

Looks sh*te imo !!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/dathers/DSC00355.jpg

[novacabrio]

it makes the car more rounded and doesnt suit the boxy lines, Rich is that real of a photoshop?

[ade]

looks real to me - the door frame looks out of place and drawfs the rear window.

The line of the gutters masks the difference in the size of windows.

Again my opinion...

[R1CH]

it makes the car more rounded and doesnt suit the boxy lines, Rich is that real of a photoshop?

Aye its real, was some guy off MIGs from a few year ago, wouldn't know where to start using photoshop !!

[DW-Nova]

Yeh they do add strength to the the roof, they do infact hold it on, thats why you cant simply lop them off with an angle grinder! you need to take them off a little at a time and re-weld them, it's the same process as de-seaming minis, a mate of mine who's a panel beater reckons that it can be done without any filler but it'd take absolutley ages to get perfect, you could lead load them to save time, followed by a skim of filler, obviously after welding them, might be a good idea to plate the seams from the inner but not sure really, as if you get good penetrative welds it should be ok.