Nova Kit Car - We need YOUR help!

Our new Nova Kit Car!
This is a kit car that is based on a VW Beetle with an outrageous body on top.
This car is more or less ready to roll, but there are some things we need to do!
We need to decide on a paint colour, we need to do something with the interior and a couple of small cosmetic repairs.
Watch along to see how we transform this absolute beast in the coming months!

[@staggabob]

My uncle turned up in one of these when I was a kid...some time in the mid 80's Was a great feeling going for a ride past my mates from school- nobody knew it had a VW Beetle engine in the back 🤣

[@custombodyrepair]

That’s it mate hardly anyone realises still, everyone things it’s something mega exotic powering it lol

[@mx01pdx]

Very tidy! Paint- early countach colour, Blu Tahiti. 70s without being too obvious.

[@custombodyrepair]

Well into this idea dude

[@bustjanzupan1074]

@@custombodyrepair Blue. The "Steel-Blue" 🙂 🙂 Thanks 🙂

[@colingardiner6697]

My father owned a vw workshop in the 80's and had 1 of these fitted with a porshe enging and running gear man was it quick.

[@custombodyrepair]

That must have been epic mate 👌

[@MisterHughes]

Metallic golden yellow would be pretty eyecatching. Had a friend who restored one of these many years ago. Did an amazing resto-job, sold it, and within six months it burned to a crisp.

[@custombodyrepair]

Aw man what a shame after all that work going into it as well 😭

[@robertmoore8166]

My 1974 Sterling (what the Nova is called in the USA) is '77 Corvette Red. Looks stunning.

[@custombodyrepair]

I reckon that might be worth a look for a potential colour for sure 😁

[@eyesodd]

One of these knocks around South London in Gulf blue and orange livery.

[@custombodyrepair]

Yeah we know who that is bud, Dan here at our channel oversees the forum for these cars so there isn’t many on the road he doesn’t know the owners of 👍

[@markmcgauchie2449]

First thing you should do is take the vw badge off that eureka

[@custombodyrepair]

If we were in aus I’d say you are correct 🤣

[@DavidAlanStanley]

Great project! The original wheels were Wolfrace slot mags... Porsche Polar Silver or BMW Fjord Blue Metallic

[@robertneuhauser161]

First Gold then a dark purple complete over. should be cool when the sun hits it

[@custombodyrepair]

This sounds awesome

[@damianbyram6513]

Used to drive passed the showroom in mirfield when I was younger always fancied one but finances only stretched to a mk2 mini.

[@custombodyrepair]

That’s awesome that you had a showroom nearby mate, you’d probably pick one up nowadays for fairly reasonable money 👍

[@namelessviewer]

While I use to be quite partial to flashy colors on exotic body lines, these days it seems silvers and grays show body lines much nicer. I think something of a pewter would go well on it. Needs some scuff plates where your butt would rest to get in and a reverse camera for sure.

[@custombodyrepair]

I’d have to agree if I’m honest that I’ve very much gone the same way in recent years and my opinion on colour tends to be that less is more, those scuff plates are definitely one of the first things on the list 👍👍

[@gren509]

I like the colour and the wheels, they just need reconditioning. SUBSCRIBED !

[@johnlittle293]

Lime green

[@BobSmith-tb2hk]

I want it !!! Love all the videos

[@custombodyrepair]

Thank you bob, very much appreciated 👍

[@abelbradford1661]

I want it! Love the videos too

[@custombodyrepair]

Thank you so much 👍

[@grippingyarnsuk]

Dark blue and silver

[@richardcampbell8297]

bright yellow

[@quentinstacy35]

I like these cars in darker colours, which hide the weird wheel-arches and body fit. Going for British Racing Green.

[@Retro_Rich]

Body should be Alfa Romeo Rosso Villa d'Este. with gold wheels.

[@DGRetroCustoms]

I think it needs to be BMW Turquoise then do something ott on the wheels to make them pop like luminous pink or yellow, also sort the exhaust out maybe an old school twin chrome horn

[@custombodyrepair]

Definitely mate the wheels are going to be the difficult one to decide on, we are considering diamond cutting those thin black bits on the faces

[@DGRetroCustoms]

@@custombodyrepair that would look epic

[@Lukewhatley]

I want it

[@craigbourne2640]

I want it What a car 😮

[@custombodyrepair]

Pretty cool ain’t it mate 👍

[@craigbourne2640]

@@custombodyrepair sure is 👌🏼

[@AndyRRR0791]

What you need for that is a full-blown Martini Racing paint job!

[@custombodyrepair]

The martini racing colour schemes have always been great looking to be fair

[@aaronsnell9383]

I'm thinking a Rothman's Porsche livery. Like the 962. This car has very similar lines and vibe.

[@custombodyrepair]

That’s a solid point mate and a cracking idea

[@kramer26]

It's nothing like a Porsche 962!

[@aaronsnell9383]

@@kramer26 Understood, It just reminded me of one and my memory could be off a bit as well.

[@kramer26]

@@aaronsnell9383 fair enough lol, I guess it's in recent memory for me since I've been building a scale version of the 956 Le Mans car in Rothmans colours so I've been up to my eyeballs in research and reference material lol

[@Snip59]

Get rid of the Clips indeed remove the body trim needs better,Aircon a must full Leather Trim with red insert Trimming.Powder Coat the Wheels better racing mirrors that bring the Dream to this car.Monza red,Midnight Blue.Love the work also better stylist door openers would be better cheers guys love the work.Phil

[@custombodyrepair]

Some great ideas here Phil, especially like the sound of the interior scheme 👍

[@Snip59]

@@custombodyrepairWell im sure you will get plenty of ideas for sure looks the goods. Love the work you do.

[@custombodyrepair]

@@Snip59 thanks a million Phil, we’re only just getting going with the content but we have some huge projects planned to try and really bring some entertainment to you and our other followers 👍

[@djefferson02]

Hi, question; can you get replacement/new windscreens for these nova kit cars? Any help appreciated!

[@custombodyrepair]

Yes they are sort of available if you know where to look and if you have very deep pockets, we can point you in the right direction if you need one 👍

[@TracyBeales]

Maybe red or navy blue for new colour. I want it please 😊

[@custombodyrepair]

Navy blue sounds quite interesting actually as well, it’s definitely going in the hat for consideration 👍

[@TracyBeales]

@@custombodyrepair i look forward to seeing the final result/ the car final colour that you choose

[@alistairclyne9362]

Mine’s navy blue which is nice … but I think lighter colours show off the curves of the body better, especially lower down 👍

[@944geek85]

In the '80s-I had the Australian version the Purvis Eureka. Don't mess with silly WW engines. I installed a front mounted radiator and a Toyota 2TG Twin Cam 2TG in the rear with twin 45 Webers and 4 Wheel discs. The polypropylene coolant pipes ran along the left side of the car inside the rocker panel and fed the engine. Countach style scoops over the ducts on top to feed air to an oil cooler. A slot in the bonnet to vent the radiator. At 700kg with 160+hp this thing was a rocket ship and looked the business with 16" wheels. I made an aero diffuser for the rear as well. It scared the sh%#t out of V8s off the line and up to about 140kmh. Do it proud! I had AC as well (being Australia and a Targa top.(custom) Rosso Corsa was my colour.

[@custombodyrepair]

Mate that sounds like a monster 🤣 we do love a eureka to be fair but I can imagine what it was like in aus, air con must have been the first thought with any closed in kit car lol and Rosso corsa would definitely suit it I think. To top it off. The chap who took Eureka to Australia is Allan Purvis and he’s a really nice guy, spoken to him a few times over the years.

[@944geek85]

@@custombodyrepair Purvis made a Targa top version with increased headroom which I retrofitted. And I painted it Rosso Corsa as my brother had a '79 Ferrari 308GTS at the time. I lived in Sydney in those days so it got warm but not nasty humid like further north. I got by with the top off in summer. Pity I can't post pics. These days I have a resto-mod 944 but I have a soft spot for the Eureka/Nova. Seriously though if you could fit a modern liquid cooled alloy head/block 2L engine it would transform the car power and sound wise. No more 'dak-dak' VW sound. Have fun!

[@user-ot6or9wr5y]

Paint it candy apple red that way you won't have to change the v5.

[@custombodyrepair]

One of my all time favourite colours mate it’s a real contender that one 👌

[@nigelwest3430]

Gunmetal grey metallic

[@fozzie221]

Because I own a VW nova im really looking forward to what you do with this as im hoping you will give me ideas of what i can do with my car

[@custombodyrepair]

It should bring some fantastic content with it bud 👍

[@custombodyrepair]

Are you on the Euro-Nova forum?

[@fozzie221]

@@custombodyrepair no I'm not as I'm not very good with tech stuff

[@fozzie221]

@@custombodyrepair but I am on the VW nova kit car page on Facebook

[@custombodyrepair]

@@fozzie221 we’ll have to take a look at that page also bud 👍

[@kramer26]

It's a Sterling, or at least they are in the US... Does it have a VW Beetle chassis? Take a look at Full Custom Garage Supercar edition where they graft the roof section onto a Porsche Boxster and build a completely one off body around it...

[@custombodyrepair]

I’ll definitely be taking a look at that boxster build it sounds really interesting, you’re right about it being a sterling in the US though, the sterling was the follow up of the nova for the US market following the success of it on this side of the pond, you seem to be a person in the know who watches the same sort of content as us, any cool ideas for features we can add to put a unique twist on it buddy ?

[@kramer26]

@@custombodyrepair yep, it was a full season of the show with Ian Roussel. Well worth a watch, should be able to find it on here... I like the Gulf liveried example since the Sterling is similar in profile to a GT40, so you could go down that route or take inspiration from other GT40s that raced in period. Or you could go really wild and copy a current or historic F1 scheme, or do a crazy artistic livery like BMW used to do...

[@custombodyrepair]

@@kramer26 we have been discussing the gulf colour scheme but in all fairness it’s been done to death on nova’s over here so we sort of shelved the idea in favour of something a bit more unique, I love the idea of going down the F1 livery route though that sounds great, still not sure wether to airbrush some unique designs on or not also the trouble is with something like this if we go full custom I guess there is a fine line between unique and tacky so we are totally stuck at the moment 🤣

[@markgray4928]

Candy Apple red

[@custombodyrepair]

Easily one of the best colours ever to grace a car 👌

[@motorlibro]

Miura green

[@timallsopp8656]

Change the colour please! Gun metal grey or something metallic?

[@custombodyrepair]

It’s definitely on for a colour change Tim, we just can’t make up our minds as to what colour to paint it yet 🤣

[@user-do1pg4vr9w]

I am restoring one, changed the carriage from manual to linear actuator, having issues with them working evenly, any suggestions, or what system are you using...thanks from New Jersey USA

[@custombodyrepair]

Have you changed them to electric linear actuator or hydraulic rams and hinges like on our nova ?

[@user-do1pg4vr9w]

@@custombodyrepair I have electric linear actuators

[@custombodyrepair]

@@user-do1pg4vr9w ok so it should be easier to get the actuators running evenly compared to the hydraulic route as with the hydraulic pump it naturally delivers fluid to the closest ram first or at least that’s how it usually seems on the canopies as usually the right side hits the top position just after the left side but obviously with electric you are just delivering 12v to each actuator and wiring length should be fairly similar so you shouldn’t have to factor in any real voltage drop to any one particular side, I apologise in advance if I ask anything that might seem like it has an obvious answer but I just want to understand exactly what’s happening so we can help if at all possible, firstly when mounting the actuators have you measured and mounted them at exactly the same height on the body on both sides and also could it be possible one or both of them are shifting around on the mounting points causing the canopy to rise unevenly, I seriously doubt either of these will be your issue as you are obviously really capable to have even gone down the electric actuator route and installed them but if we start at the most obvious possibilities and work back from there hopefully we can help with it

[@user-do1pg4vr9w]

@@custombodyrepair I am pretty sure I measured and mounted them correctly, the problem is the driver side is coming down further than the passenger side, and I can't figure out why, hopefully you can help

[@custombodyrepair]

@@user-do1pg4vr9w so there’s going to be a few options to get where you need to be I think so do you know which actuators you have, brand/model etc or can you send me a link of which ones you purchased so I can check out wether they have built in end limit switches ?

[@the_gazebo_painter]

I want it ...please

[@charlesmarsh9608]

BRG.

[@custombodyrepair]

Definitely a good strong colour that mate, we’ve been bouncing round the idea of sort of a BRG pearl over dark base to make it have sort of a deep emerald glow but there are so many options and ideas now lol it’s getting really hard to choose

[@stugill4513]

rosso red

[@custombodyrepair]

Can’t argue with a classic 👍

[@paulsautoserv1]

Paint it electric blue ..wheels powder coat them white ..paint the louver flat gun metal .

[@petethemod1]

Wow havn`t seen one of these for years. Used to cruise round in one 40 years ago. It was Pea Green 🤮 I can vouch that they certainly are a sweatbox in summer. It didn`t have the hydrolic roof either. If i was painting one now, I would go for Lamborghini Viola Pasifae.😎

[@custombodyrepair]

That’s a good shout that mate, we’ve not considered that one yet but it’s definitely going in the hat 👍

[@GeneralThargor]

BRG

[@custombodyrepair]

We have actually been discussing a slightly customised version of this colour almost like an emerald green pearl so it could well go that way

[@herbertwilliams1608]

Black white roof

[@AnthonyCrowley-xj1kq]

How are we in the same town but I’ve never come across you

[@custombodyrepair]

You know what they say mate, it’s definitely a small world 👍👍

[@AnthonyCrowley-xj1kq]

@@custombodyrepair you literally are 2 mins away too

[@custombodyrepair]

@@AnthonyCrowley-xj1kq good stuff mate, you know where we are if you need us now 👍👍

[@AnthonyCrowley-xj1kq]

@@custombodyrepair yeah deffo mate… need some body work doing on my car at some point

[@eldoroonie]

Crimson and ditch the louvre...give the rear end a treatment something like this kzbin.info/www/bejne/bImWoIZuiK9kibs I think the tail-light assembly look way better higher up

[@custombodyrepair]

That eureka does look good 👍

[@TIG10109]

Still a v8 in it ?

[@custombodyrepair]

No buddy they have a vw air cooled in from standard but there have been some insane engines put in by various owners over the years lol

[@bumfluffmcregor3730]

White

[@engineer6250]

I don't want it. O can't drive. Ford GT40 colour scheme, white with the racing stripe running among the top. Lose the aerial and all those dodgy clips. Give the roof an electric open and close if not already done. Subaru flat 4 engine. Is there any way to get it as 5 or 6 speed box? Air con. Digital instrument panel. Digital entertainment system.

[@SimonRockman]

Sorry, the weak point of this car has always been the engine. It think a Nova - perhaps not this one - is ideal for an electric swap.

[@custombodyrepair]

It’s funny you mention electric as it’s a project we’ve had in mind for some time and we are possibly going to do some sort of electric conversion on something cool but it’s a down the road project when we have a large enough following I think 👍

[@alistairclyne9362]

Depends on your point of view. As a Nova owner since 1986, I’ve seen many water cooled conversions that hit problems or never see the light of day. Recently a good friend removed a problematic Subaru from a Nova he bought and returned it to the traditional aircooled motor. As for me, I took my Nova out for a blast in the Fife countryside this evening with her 1776 Type 1 engine and we had an absolute blast! #lovinglife!

[@944geek85]

Not always. I had the Australian version called the Eureka with a Targa Top with increased headroom.. I put in a Toyota 2TG Twin Cam with 2x45 Webers (Yamaha heads) and it pumped out 160+ hp. It was rocket ship. Guy here put Ford 2L OHC engines, Mazda rotaries and other engines. Not hard to do. Radiator in front and poly pipes run nicely down the inside of the side panels to the engine.

[@1183newman]

If only they didnt have an awful beetle engine and floorpan. I guess these are not really sports cars but show cars.

[@custombodyrepair]

Yeah pretty much mainly for show lol although the air cooled gives it a certain charm lol

[@944geek85]

Not always. I had the Australian version called the Eureka with a Targa Top with increased headroom.. I put in a Toyota 2TG Twin Cam with 2x45 Webers (Yamaha heads) and it pumped out 160+ hp. It was rocket ship. Guy here put Ford 2L OHC engines, Mazda rotaries and other engines. Not hard to do. Radiator in front and poly pipes run nicely down the inside of the side panels to the engine.

[@1183newman]

@@944geek85 but dont they still use a beetle floorpan and chassis setup?

[@martinjames639]

I want it

[@peternewby5854]

I want it