Conference terri::cars_uk

    Anyone know how you remove the dashboard to replace a blown bulb ?

>    Anyone know how you remove the dashboard to replace a blown bulb ?

You take it to a garage and say "replace the bulb" :-)

Re: .5

I'm going to update the report in .5 a touch.  The Nova has changed 
considerably since 1989.

It is small and nippy, with very positive handling.  Changing the original
Pirelli tyres to Michelin MXV's improves wet weather handling considerably.

It's 1.6 injection engine is very responsive and quietish at all speeds, by
that I mean that you can easily hear the radio at all speeds without having to
turn it up from a fairly low volume, not as quiet as a rolls-royce, but quieter
than my Golf was. Acceleration is smooth and progressive, with no flat spots
(until you reach 7500 rpm where the limitor cuts in). Effective top speed of
around 110mph although it will go a few mph faster, it does take a while to get
there, while 110mph is easy to achieve.  It runs happily on both unleaded and 4
star (although it did complain a bit about the French 95 octane...it ran much
better on the 98...) 

It does 0-60 in approx 8.7 seconds and out runs most other makes of car of 
equivalent cc's up to about 60 (much lighter of course!) from a standing start.

The front seats are comfortable and I have done continuous journeys of 11�
hours with only � hour's stop in the middle, without any discomfort.  The back 
seat is a 40/60 split bench seat.  

Internal trim is neat and rattle free (after nearly 2 years) and unlike the 
original report of .5 the carpets are well and completely fitted and with the 
soft panels covering the interior sides of the car, there is very little bare
metal inside.

I like the instrument layout, it's logical and easy to read.

It has, as standard, a 5 speed box. Central locking on the front doors.
Electric windows. Security coded good quality Phillips radio/cassette with 4
fully tunable speakers at the back and front of the car. Tilt/slide sunroof and
internal cover. Internally adjusting fixed wing-mirrors.  Tinted glass all
round. 

The front seat belts are about the most comfortable I have ever worn. It has 
rigid plastic adjustable belt feeders which hold the top of the belt in the 
right position.

Despite the fact that it is one of the narrowest cars on the market, there a 
suprising amount of room inside.

It is a good "B" road car, and it's not bad on the "A" roads and motorways 
either !

I would class it as a warm-hatch rather than as a hot-hatch.  The body of the 
car, suspension and brakes are well suited to handle the 1600 engine, at no 
time does one feel that the engine is too powerful for the car (unlike some 
hot-hatches I've driven), and it's handling really is superb...  

If I have one niggle with the car, it is that I would have liked to have had a
shelf at dashboard level, the GSI has had this failing corrected, so there's no
problem :-) 

Verdict:	I like it, and I'll be replacing my current Nova GTE
		with it's successor the GSI when the time comes.

Now, if someone will do a report on the GSI....

:-)

� Anyone know how you remove the dashboard to replace a blown bulb ?

    Open the bonnet, locate the speedo cable (grey) coming from the gearbox
    on the top, on the right and going into the centre of the engine compartment
    rear wall. Push the cable through the grommet into the passenger compartment.
    Working from within the car, insert a large flat-bladed screwdriver into
    the slot between the grey dashboard and the black instrument surround and 
    twist it slightly. The panel should pop out. Pull into the passenger
    compartment (you may need to push more speedo cable into the car or even
    remove the steering column surround). Release the spring clip on the speedo
    cable and pull instruments away.

    Re-assembly is the opposite of dis-assembly.

    Well... the Nova got nicked from the drive up behind my house and was found
    on Friday in a wood. My girlfriend (who's car it is) and I went to see it
    on Saturday. It's not a well little Nova... driven through a single 4" bar
    gate and then thrashed about and eventually smashed through some poles and
    into the trees. It's not as bad as it sounds although the roof might have
    been pushed back so it's touch and go as to whether it's a right-off. My
    girlfriend tearfully said she wanted her old car back but not that one 
    anymore. All I can say is that the little shits who stole it were all either
    singularly lacking in imagination or have never seen "The Driver". My 
    girlfriend even put on a brave face and said "Hah... they couldn't even 
    manage to roll it !"

    Anyway... in talking to the Police and in examining the car myself, my eyes
    have really been opened regarding cars and how easy they are to steal. I
    reckon that with what I know now, I could nick a Nova in a minute or so with
    nothing more than a big screwdriver and a modified tennis ball. The locks
    may well be good, but you don't even need to touch the locks, the central
    locking practically unlocks itself and then the ignition lock is a truly
    pathetic little farce. I couldn't believe it. I half imagined the typical
    film hotwire scenario, rip out the wires, touch the appropriate ones together
    and vroom... Nah, the back of the ignition just snaps off and then a small 
    screwdriver/knife/nail file/lollypop stick and away you go. The only thing 
    I'm not sure about is the steering lock but from steering it out of the trees
    while the recovery truck winched it, it felt like the steering wheel had been
    given a hefty yank and exit one steering lock.

    I was disappointed with the police too. The beat coppers were good (one of 
    them even added considerably to my car stealing knowledge) but the ones in
    the station just couldn't care less. The attitude was one of "well... there's
    your car, it's over to you". When I asked if they wanted to examine the car
    and what they were going to do now, the reply was "like what ?". Oh well...
    I guess that's just me being angry, the found us the car and were sympathetic
    so I guess they're right. What can they do ? I blame Vauxhall myself and I'm
    damn well gonna tell 'em so !

I've been nagging Vauxhall to fit their deadlocks to Novas for a few years now.
Or at least have it as an option.

Their excuse is, is that the doors aren't fat enough to accomodate the 
deadlock.

My solution, which has so far worked, is to park it around things like Astra 
GTE's etc. so that it's not, by comparison, an interesting car to steal...

>> My solution, which has so far worked, is to park it around things like Astra 
>> GTE's etc. so that it's not, by comparison, an interesting car to steal...
    
    A Lada will do ;^)
    
    
    Shaun.

    
>    A Lada will do ;^)
    
I wish you an "interesting" life....

�I wish you an "interesting" life....
    
    I'd think a Lada could be more interesting than a fwd GTE  :-)
    
    At least, "lots of jokes" is a bit more interesting than "lots of thefts" !
    
    J.R.

    
    Only if you junked the Lada engine and dropped in a Fiat Twin-Cam (I
    refuse to call them Twinkies! :^)).
    
    Mark

    
>    At least, "lots of jokes" is a bit more interesting than "lots of thefts" !
    
Ah well, the "lots of thefts", that was the first I'd heard of....Novas aren't 
generally interesting enough to the joy-rider brigade...

anyway...a Trabant would be more interesting than a mere common Lada...

    
    Not sure you're right Jane.
    
    That celebrated bit of film from Oxford involved a Maestro didn't it?
    
    Mark

>    That celebrated bit of film from Oxford involved a Maestro didn't it?
    
what are you talking about ?

you got me puzzled now...