1st Nova & the unregistered one

[islandman]

I've managed to convince the other half I need to take a break and pop back (if you consider a 13 hour flight popping back ) to the UK to do some more work on the car in November. Not the best month to work on the car, but maybe I will get to finish the pop-ups (at last ).

I also will have a stab at getting the Aircon fitted, and maybe give the new mark IV dash a trial fitting to see if I swap them or continue with the Mark II version that’s fitted.

Even if its cold I manage to get my Nova fix

[Nova]

Maybe that will be a perfect time for me to pick up the brown one..........

[islandman]

As explained before, if you make me a silly offer (i.e. costs ++) I might consider, as I really have no need to sell right now

[islandman]

A few updates on some of the jobs tackled on my last trip to the UK via the link below


http://www.the-island-man.com/nova_last_jobs_done.htm

[JemP]

Don't be too critical of yourself about how the pop-ups look when up. Many car manufacturers have spent millions on developing cars and STILL ended up with ugly pop-ups!!! Anyway, they spend most of their life down, and yours look fantastic down, and when they're up its usuallt dark, so you can't see what they look like

[ChrisBailey]

Yeah dont be hard on your self,
But i know what you mean, if you know its there, even if nobody else does it drives you mad. Thats the trouble with kits, it can be a never ending battle for perfection, something in itself which is impossible to attain.

[islandman]

So my annual trip to the UK wasn’t as successful as I had hoped, the car was supposed to make it to Stones, however a few niggly last minute problems and late deliveries from suppliers put pay to that (

Anyway here are some updates on the major jobs that I did manage to get done. I took the cue from Bushboy on how to add the ducting to the dash. First lay a former and tape up the shape.



Next lay the fiberglass



remove the former and cut out the panel for final bonding



and finally bond in place. All that is left is to add the air vents where required on the other side.

I also fitted the Heater / AC unit, although I haven’t plumbed in the AC pipes as I still need to fit the compressor.



I also mounted the new dash and old gauges



An last but not least mounted the new Hydrapack quiet roof pump (including all new pipe work), replacing my previous smiths pump.

[jimcub]

Hi Dave I have a MK4 as well, but since I have raised the steering column the gauges are too high especially the speed. I have put in a steel brace for the column to bolt too ( never liked the column fastened to a fibreglass dash ), so I intend to cut the bottom of the dash away and bolt a strenghening bar across. I have from stones a carbon sheet to make a new from which will also cut down on the glare from the ali it is made from now, I will have to alter the centre bit as I have to drive with my foot on clutch pedal.
Dave you put in a different column and rack which was it, aslo how difficult was the fitting and what did you use to attach to the wheels.

[islandman]

The column was from an Austin Maestro, chosen mainly for the ability to get as many functions on the columns as possible removing the need for lots of switches (horn, wipers, hazard, indicators, washers etc..)

The gauges don’t fit that well into the MK IV dash if they are big (which mine are). So to get round this I made a different face plate out of fiberglass and moved it about 2 inches forward of the actual dash panel where the gauges would have mounted. This allowed me to get the big gauges in and cut less of the back of the dash away.

As for the rack I used a Triumph Dolomite (slightly modified mounting boss) which is bolted to a 6mm plate welded across the from bulk head (not that easy with the body on, but possible as that’s how I did it initially). The Triumph rack arms simply slide inside the original VW arms and then were welded into place allowing me to keep the original beetle ball joints etc.

If I were to do it again now I would source a more modern rack.

[islandman]

I had quite a frustrating time back in the UK this time (but will post that part in the relevant section)

I managed a couple of small wiring jobs and also managed to make a new bracket to hold the Aircon Compressor. Luckily I had a spare engine lying around so it made it much easier to make the bracket whilst the engine was on a bench rather than in the car.