rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560 
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Being a long time lurker, and reading more and more of the readers ride threads now I can access this site in work, I thought I should put a thread up for one of my cars, a 1986 Vauxhall Nova 1.2 Antibes. I have a thread for it on the PNG forum, but this is definitely not a performance nova! Will bring progress up to date over a few posts to here Always loved Novas since my mum had a Steel Grey 1.2 Antibes when I was a child, and when this popped up on ebay back in October 2017 I had to have it. Plan was to get it back on the road as nature (Vauxhall) intended, it hadn't been on the queens highway for 9 years and lived on a farm near Wrexham in Wales. The wee car is pretty solid, especially seeing as it is a 33 year old nova and compared to the rotten Gsi I had back in 2002 it is a marvel it is in such decent nick. When it arrived on a truck from Wales it was evident the brakes were seized solid so that was my first job. Got a pair of oem Delco calipers for Ā£40 inc delivery, and with Pagid discs and pads on a eurocarparts discount code it was back rolling for a few quid       |
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My folks had a white one (D650VSS) which we had for many years and 100K+ miles...and one is probably on the "would drop everything and buy on the spot no matter what" list if I found one...so many memories attached to that car.
Was the last car we had before our family went through some really dark times due to ill health essentially bringing our lives crashing down around us too...so a huge reminder of happier times, and things like being the last place I saw my father smile for one.
I'm absolutely thrilled to hear it's staying as the designers intended...so rare to see.
Does this have the three spoke steering wheel and dash with the (to me as a five year old!) really cool warning lights in the spaces for gauges for the battery/oil pressure?
Immediately bookmarked and followed.
If you ever come to sell it I'll definitely be extremely interested...even if there would be serious dangers of me winding up living in it if I bought it!
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Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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Yes, it has the sr/gte clocks with the warning light instead of gauges and the sr wheel. I bought a Philips 752 to bring it back to oem too!
It's mad how cars can stir such emotion and nice to hear you are remembering happier times! Was a nice time i my life too when mum had hers, my sister and i were ecstatic when she got her own car as we weren't too fond of dads boring orion L !
Ours was E805 UGB
Sister cried when it was sold. We saw it about a few times, it overtook us booting through a 30, nearside door split in half at the bottom, when we were in our papas car and the poor thing died a cat b write off in 2001 :-(
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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That should clean up lovely with a bit of elbow grease. I'd forgotten it had the colour on the door cards too.
I really miss cars like this which actually used colour in the interior.
Hopefully this also has the lovely raspy exhaust note that ours had.
I'll need to see if I can find a photo of our one anywhere.
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Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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Definitely get a pic up if you can, the more the merrier. Anyone else too! Now that the car was able to move i took it out for its maiden voyage, on a private road of course.... It did about half a mile or so in total and en route back to where we started it was dying and fortunately gave up at the best possible place lol So rather than faff about rebuilding a carb (1st carb car i have owned) i kept an eye out on ebay and one turned up. Brand new 1b for Ā£70 delivered on a best offer. Problem solved On the test drive other faults were identified; no wipers, no hazards or indicators, no blower. Was quite a problem to find a replacement air filter element; ordered two off the bay listed for 1.2s then 1.2, both of which were wrong. In the end my mate took the old one and gave it to his parts place via work. They got one but it was listed for a citroen bx lol Pic on private road after carb fitted         |
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OGDB
Part of things
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Very cool little Nova. When I was 17/18 and into EG/EK civics my good friend was well into his novas, he went through numerous until he got a silk Violet GSI (I think it was a GSI). He still has it now and I assume its worth a small fortune now. ALso interesting to hear PNG is still around.
I look forward to seeing how you progress with it.
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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Silk violet Gsi is the holy grail of Novas š
Close to Ā£10k for a good one now
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OGDB
Part of things
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Silk violet Gsi is the holy grail of Novas š Close to Ā£10k for a good one now What!!! We/He bought it off a driveway very cheaply because someone had put a golf ball through the windscreen! I remember rather liking the colour despite him being mocked for a fair few years for having a "Parma Violet" coloured Nova. |
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I'm really suffering major levels of want for this car... it's just so cheerful in a way cars these days just never manage.
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Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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Nice little car, I'll always love those flared quattro-esque arches! In an ideal world i would have a set of Speedline Alessios scrubbing off them but i have too much of a conscience lol |
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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Silk violet Gsi is the holy grail of Novas š Close to Ā£10k for a good one now What!!! We/He bought it off a driveway very cheaply because someone had put a golf ball through the windscreen! I remember rather liking the colour despite him being mocked for a fair few years for having a "Parma Violet" coloured Nova. Bought my Gsi for Ā£650, strut brace stopping the towers caving in, holes everywhere. Removed the service book from the slot next to accelerator pedal and could see outside lol best gearbox in the world, would go off the clock. Different key for every lock, 2 immobilisers and an alarm lol Sold it for Ā£750 2 months later. Best 1500 miles ever :-( |
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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I'm really suffering major levels of want for this car... it's just so cheerful in a way cars these days just never manage. Totally, i feel slightly honoured being its current custodian, an endangered species. No spoilers but the "how many left" index might be slightly higher this quarter |
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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By the end of June 18 my wife had given birth to our second son, i had a 6 month old staffy pup and a 5 year old vying for out attention. The cars were feeling a bit left out, but i had cured the miss fire with a set of new spark plugs, fitted 4 Yokohama Bluearths and cured all the mot faults bar a 50p size hole in the drainage channel of the battery tray. Wipers required a replacement motor and a relay. Was quite difficult to get a motor, not a lot of nova bits about, but the one that arrived wasn't perfect and the cover rattled. So it is currently cable tied tight and will be sealed at one point Hazards were fixed with a replacement relay. The heater flaps and temperature controls were seized. Lubed up and working again     |
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Great to see a survivor, most have been chopped about and modified! apart from needing a good interior clean it looks in great nick as well
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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My folks had a white one (D650VSS) which we had for many years and 100K+ miles...and one is probably on the "would drop everything and buy on the spot no matter what" list if I found one...so many memories attached to that car. Was the last car we had before our family went through some really dark times due to ill health essentially bringing our lives crashing down around us too...so a huge reminder of happier times, and things like being the last place I saw my father smile for one. I'm absolutely thrilled to hear it's staying as the designers intended...so rare to see. Does this have the three spoke steering wheel and dash with the (to me as a five year old!) really cool warning lights in the spaces for gauges for the battery/oil pressure? Immediately bookmarked and followed. If you ever come to sell it I'll definitely be extremely interested...even if there would be serious dangers of me winding up living in it if I bought it! I am 3/4 of the way through restoring my white one. Iām new here so unsure how to upload pictures just now. |
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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If you are viewing on a phone, you can load straight from the tapatalk app š
Saves having to use a hosting site
Definitely get a thread up for yours too
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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With the battery tray hole gone it was on to getting it in for an mot. Wiper blades looked to be possibly the originals, GM stamped and completely flat, so they were changed. I had noticed that the offside headlight had lost its inner reflective coating. Picked two headlights up nearby for a song soon after i got the car as a just in case, so one of them was used After that was fitted, test was booked for the next morning. I reassembled the dash and centre console then went to get two cans of fuel for it. When the car arrived it was on fumes. I put two cans in and it was now needing some more. Its now dark by this point (day off busy as always til kids are in bed) and i went to get two cans. Came back and couldn't get the cap to open š« bloody thing would lock and unlock but when unlocked would just spin Tried all sorts of techniques with reasonable force and scrambled emergency posts onto png and migweb Nothing conclusive but i was now able to confirm how it looked from the tank side. Absolutely no pictures online! Next morning put some pb blaster in the lock; no change. Recruited a plastic mallet, few taps and pulled away while unlocking and it opened. Mot is back on as it couldn't go without more fuel She got there no bother and i waited for the call...     |
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