I need your opinions

[69Nova]

Ok so thanks to ALLKAR I have a sweet photochop of what I want my car to look like. So far I have posted it on a local forum of guys my age and got alot of good feedback. Pretty much everyone liked it. Then I posted it on a Nova forum and also got alot of good feedback but the majority didnt like the new ideas. Some guys got it and liked it. While some said I should re-think my plans. So now I'll post it here and ask for everyones opinion.

Here is the before picture
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Here is the photochop
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

I really like the look. The only thing I'll do diffrent from the picture is that the side mirrior and door handles will also be black. And the ribs on the grill along with the plastic piece between the bumper and grill will be a dark gray.

So what do you think??

[MrQuick]

looks great, like the black out treatment...sorry to say you will not get it that low without skid plates.

i think the rims should be alittle big spoked too.

[jy211]

looks wicked. :headbang:

[69Nova]

looks great, like the black out treatment...sorry to say you will not get it that low without skid plates.

i think the rims should be alittle big spoked too.

Yeah I know it wont go that low. But I'm gonna get it as low as I can without killing the car.

[SickSpeedMonte]

not really feeling the rims.

[69Nova]

not really feeling the rims.

Why???

[vanzuuk1]

I dig it.

[BA.]

I was watching that other thread Andrew...

I do like the photochop above...the dark rims and lowered stance are sweet. I do feel you lose some of the front-end identity with it all blacked out though. For me, it's too much black on the 'face'.
I'm not sure if I'd prefer a standard grill and black bumper, or, a black grill and chrome bumper......but I'd need to see multiple chops on it.
(maybe a chrome surround.....kind of emulating the rims?)

I actually liked the other pic fairly well also from your other thread,...the same rims in Gold with the black center cap and chrome bumpers. I thought that had a nice clean look it. :)

[69Nova]

I was watching that other thread Andrew...

I do like the photochop above...the dark rims and lowered stance are sweet. I do feel you lose some of the front-end identity with it all blacked out though. For me, it's too much black on the 'face'.
I'm not sure if I'd prefer a standard grill and black bumper, or, a black grill and chrome bumper......but I'd need to see multiple chops on it.
(maybe a chrome surround.....kind of emulating the rims?)

I actually liked the other pic fairly well also from your other thread,...the same rims in Gold with the black center cap and chrome bumpers. I thought that had a nice clean look it. :)

Yeah I like that one too. But I have wanted to do my bumpers black for a couple months now anyways. I think I'm gonna paint the grill black but the face of it will be gray along with the plastic piece between the bumper and grill(kinda emulating the rims like you said).

[ALLKAR]

Too much black for me. How about Gun metal or a Dark Grey metallic on the wheel center, grill inset and door window frames? Maybe loose the side markers as well.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[TonyL]

Those are mid nineties firebird rims right? While I do actually dig it, the rear looks like it's missing something. I'd change your rear spoiler to a hardcore metal one like you have in the front to balance the car out.

here's my take on it.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[blackbeast]

like it overall, hate the rims. At the least the centers need to be blacked out, or dark gunmetal as said above. Chrome lips help offest them IMO.

[paulk68]

do not like that look. the wheels just do not do it for me. and the all black trim does nothing for me. leave it alone.

[paulk68]

actually if anything get some cheap grey mags for the front and take the caps off the rear wheels. and run the steal wheels in back and some mags up front.

[LS1NOVA]

I like it the way it is.

[Ralph LoGrasso]

If you do go all blacked out, be sure to black the rear bumper as well.

[69Nova]

Those are mid nineties firebird rims right? While I do actually dig it, the rear looks like it's missing something. I'd change your rear spoiler to a hardcore metal one like you have in the front to balance the car out.

here's my take on it.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

They are 87 Trans Am GTA wheels. And yeah I do plan to change the rear spoiler to a metal one. Thanks for the imput.

[69Nova]

Thanks everyone for there imput. This thread is defintly giving me some things to think about. Oh yeah and keep your opinions coming!

[Bow Tie 67]

The last one is looking good, I would shave the nova script also, or come up with something other than stock.

[hdesign]

You're probably gonna hate me for saying this but I actually prefer it in it's current state over the other chops by far. I love the black wheels and chrome center caps, that's what makes it look like a bada$$! White wheels would look good too.

I think the fine details of those TA wheels just don't fit the scrapper/thrasher body style of a Nova much less one that's painted to be very understated. The rest of the car says sleeper and the TA wheels say luxury performance touring car, just doesn't fit.

Honestly, the black nose doesn't really do anything for the car. It doesn't look functional, it doesn't look sinister or stealthy and I think (as others have stated) that you lose a ton of Nova identity. The nicest styling of that car is all in the front, Chevy got lazy by the time they designed the rear.

I do think it needs some redline tires though! Maybe a flat black Yenko Deuce stripe on the shoulder line too.

[69Nova]

Awsome imput Ben! Thanks. You have given me alot to think about.

[trapin]

Sorry about this Andrew, but I gotta turn a grimace to those wheels too. They're just too 80's for me I guess. And I don't care for all the black out as well. I would leave the body OEM and drop it down as low as you can get it with a healthy set of 17 inch wheels. Personally I have always loved the blacked out wheel with the chrome cap in the middle. It's really tough looking. You could go over to Wheel Vintiques and get their Solid Billet Wheel (it has a chrome cap for the center) in a 17 but you're talking huge money.

But as the old saying goes...it's your car, you do what you like and what makes you happy. Good luck with it.

[69Nova]

Thanks Tony. End the end I will do whatever I want. It is my car. But hearing opinions like yours and others defintly help alot. With you guys help my car will end up a better product in the end. Everyone has there diffrent styles but many good points have been made in this thread that will defintly affect the out come of my car.

Thanks eveyone who has helped out so far.

[Jim Nilsen]

Try the wheels in white and see what it looks like? Those wheels were meant to be the same color as the car by design. Yes gold and black were the accenting colors but many were the same as the body color and looked good.

The wheels do date it for me and I have seen them for so long that they remind of rally wheels on cars, they look great but they just don't do it for me.

Good luck deciding what to do , testing a white grill might be a bigger surprise on how it looks with all that black and it might bring the white wheels into the combo easier?

[69Nova]

The wheels on the car now or in the chop?

[TonyL]

how about this?
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[69Nova]

Looks good. But arnt those big inch rally wheels expensive?

[Steve68]

I love the Rally Wheel look on Novas I keep my 15's just in case, That's one of my big hold backs for upgrading the brakes to C4 F/R's great upgrade, but I Rallys!, one of the guys here has Black anoidized17 one his 4 dr, Delta T, They are BAD AZZ looking

Personally, I bought my Nova to strip the motor,trans and rear out of it 11 years ago, Now I can't part with it, for what I paid for it and what I got into it I cant let it go,

Andrew, go with the stock look, upgrade the hell out of it, go with the big Rallys, I and maybe others, think you've have hit a signiture thing witht the Black wheels and short caps, It's been like that so long and it's well known,

Go 17's push it a little more and you can beat Dave, I'm thinking of bring my Nova up to Auto X it, slowly turning into a dual purpose car!

I wanted to edit this but it wants to erase what I typed!

[SimplyKC]

I like the blacked out door frames, but not the chrome. Chrome is coming back, not going away, and making your bumpers black will not be reversible. A black grille with the chrome surround will work....but the black bumpers look slike you had crappy bumpers and were forced to paint them. Let the chrome shine!

[TonyL]

17x8 runs under 200 bucks each, I think. That's not *too* crazy for a set of 17s. Just dont get the billet ones. Wheel vintiques makes them in steel.

they may even sell them for less to you if you opt for the "no chrome" ones. you may even be able to get a set before they paint them. I'd call em.

[TonyL]

I wanted to edit this but it wants to erase what I typed!

Press your "insert" button Steve. it'll quit that.

[69Nova]

I love the Rally Wheel look on Novas I keep my 15's just in case, That's one of my big hold backs for upgrading the brakes to C4 F/R's great upgrade, but I Rallys!, one of the guys here has Black anoidized17 one his 4 dr, Delta T, They are BAD AZZ looking

Personally, I bought my Nova to strip the motor,trans and rear out of it 11 years ago, Now I can't part with it, for what I paid for it and what I got into it I cant let it go,

Andrew, go with the stock look, upgrade the hell out of it, go with the big Rallys, I and maybe others, think you've have hit a signiture thing witht the Black wheels and short caps, It's been like that so long and it's well known,

Go 17's push it a little more and you can beat Dave, I'm thinking of bring my Nova up to Auto X it, slowly turning into a dual purpose car!

I wanted to edit this but it wants to erase what I typed!

I guess your right Steve. Anyone want to buy a perfect set of Trans AM GTA wheels??? How do we feel about a hardcore metal rear spoiler on big inch rally wheels?

[69Nova]

17x8 runs under 200 bucks each, I think. That's not *too* crazy for a set of 17s. Just dont get the billet ones. Wheel vintiques makes them in steel.

they may even sell them for less to you if you opt for the "no chrome" ones. you may even be able to get a set before they paint them. I'd call em.

I just checker the site. I guess the steel ones can be pretty cheap. I'll call them tommorow.

Just gotta sell my other wheels.

[TonyL]

the hardcore steel spoiler? Do it. It's cool and the front is already done.
The big inch black steel wheels just lend a "no nonsense" cred to your car. You dont need big shiny wheels to justify your spoilers. If anything, your car wears them *better* than a car with bling would.

[Josh69]

I think the car would look killer with some flat/satin black 17" steel rallye's, maybe with a chrome or brushed look center cap and no trim rings. Paint some flat/satin black Yenko stripes on it. Put the big spoilers front/rear, painted flat/satin black with some brushed/polished hardware. Then do your trim and bumpers with the brushed aluminum look, maybe medium gray. Then paint your grille gray with the slats in satin black, or something to give it some contrast and depth.

I think it looks kinda awkward with an all black grille and bumper against a white car, it's totally detached from the rest of the car....at a glance it'd look like it's missing completely, like you got in a wreck.

Understatement is good, pulling it off is the tricky part. There is a fine line between looking purposeful, and looking cheap.

[Ralph LoGrasso]

I just checker the site. I guess the steel ones can be pretty cheap. I'll call them tommorow.

If you're into auto-crossing and racing your car, I would avoid the steel rally wheels in 17". I have the first set of 17" rallys (from Steevo's car) that utilize 15" centers with 17" hoops, and those suckers are HEAVY. For ~$200 each you can find yourself a decent set of 17" wheels that don't weigh 40lbs a wheel. Check out ROH, or one of the other quality, low-budget wheel companies.

[Steve68]

Press your "insert" button Steve. it'll quit that.

Thanks Tony!

Andrew sell them on the thirdgen.org board!

[SimplyKC]

I think the car would look killer with some flat/satin black 17" steel rallye's, maybe with a chrome or brushed look center cap and no trim rings. Paint some flat/satin black Yenko stripes on it. Put the big spoilers front/rear, painted flat/satin black with some brushed/polished hardware. Then do your trim and bumpers with the brushed aluminum look, maybe medium gray. Then paint your grille gray with the slats in satin black, or something to give it some contrast and depth.

I think it looks kinda awkward with an all black grille and bumper against a white car, it's totally detached from the rest of the car....at a glance it'd look like it's missing completely, like you got in a wreck.

Understatement is good, pulling it off is the tricky part. There is a fine line between looking purposeful, and looking cheap.

:twothumbs This sounds great! It sounds more balanced than some of the other proposals.

I would find some Harwood fiberglass bumpers (Summitt sells them or try eBay) and paint them. You could experiment with spray paint until you decide ona color, lose weight off the car, and KEEP your original chrome bumper in case you change your mind or want to go back to stock. I like the idea of the aluminum color. I would give the car a lightweight feel. The black bumper looks like some big iron thing that would be hanging off of a Jeep.

[SimplyKC]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1968-nova-fiberglass-front-bumper_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33640QQihZ013QQi temZ230130563879QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[69Nova]

If you're into auto-crossing and racing your car, I would avoid the steel rally wheels in 17". I have the first set of 17" rallys (from Steevo's car) that utilize 15" centers with 17" hoops, and those suckers are HEAVY. For ~$200 each you can find yourself a decent set of 17" wheels that don't weigh 40lbs a wheel. Check out ROH, or one of the other quality, low-budget wheel companies.

Ok so billet rallys or no rallys. Steel ones are to heavy. Got it.

[69Nova]

:twothumbs This sounds great! It sounds more balanced than some of the other proposals.

I would find some Harwood fiberglass bumpers (Summitt sells them or try eBay) and paint them. You could experiment with spray paint until you decide ona color, lose weight off the car, and KEEP your original chrome bumper in case you change your mind or want to go back to stock. I like the idea of the aluminum color. I would give the car a lightweight feel. The black bumper looks like some big iron thing that would be hanging off of a Jeep.

No fiber glass bumpers. The car sees way to many street miles.

[smhigh]

I like your ideas with the spoilers and the blackout trim......not sure about the rims......low stance is GREAT!

[69Nova]

Yeah I'm gonna look into a set of 17inch rally wheels.

[trapin]

how about this?
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

It's a step in the right direction, but because of the increased size they would need a trim ring around the outside. Be advised that the steel 17" wheels that WV sells utilize a 15" center, so you will have to run stock sized brakes. If you do the billet wheel they will leave the outside lip polished aluminum to mimic a trim ring. I almost went that direction with my car when I was contemplating black for the body. I was going to do the WV 17 inch rallys with the centers powdercoated silver to give the car a modern OEM look. But I changed the color of the car and stuck with my Billet Specialties. I still think it would look killer. It would look killer with a white body too.

Andrew....if you do decide to go with the WV wheels, get them through Newstalgia...they have better pricing. They also have a slick program over there where you can see your wheels on your car. I just went through it and put 17 inch wheels on a white 68-72 Nova with a 2" drop. Awesome. The picture was crude but you can tell with the centers painted silver and some flat dish center caps it would look absolutely killer.

Check it out, it's real easy to use; http://www.newstalgiawheel.com/wheel_visualizer.asp

[steelcity6]

first off ..love the car. I have a black 68 nova i am planning on doing flat black duece stripes on.

[blown9746]

Too much black for me. How about Gun metal or a Dark Grey metallic on the wheel center, grill inset and door window frames? Maybe loose the side markers as well.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
I like this version

[cheapthrillz]

first off ..love the car. I have a black 68 nova i am planning on doing flat black duece stripes on.

Bringing it back from the depths of hell!

[madmax]

I like the original blacked out look, but I think the combo of spoiler, grill, and bumper is a little much.

How about leaving the bumpers chrome, blacking out the grill/spoilers, black rally's, and maybe some dark tint? I'd be undecided on whether or not to the rest of the trim in black as well - I'm thinking that maybe just the mirrors would look good - maybe even doing the badge - anything to give it contrast.

Max