VS Acclaim, now V8

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

Gave the car a wash and used the snow foam thing on it which I got for Christmas. Also finally put the a/c pully and belt on so I can go get the air con gassed up.

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

Air con is now gassed up and working. Also put a sub and amp in, have mounted the amp on under the parcel shelf in the boot and the sub is just tucked at the back, still need to secure it properly tho. Have been driving this everyday for about a week. Went to a meet last friday night and had a pic taken before it got covered in bugs..

Doesn’t scrub up too bad for a car which is covered in stone chips and hasn’t been polished in 3 years..

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by  thatotherguy94.

[cava454Moderator 93 VR BT1 View build HERE Member since: February 20, 2015 Posts: 2 390]

Looks good mate. That’s same spot I put my amp.

IMO will look a lot nicer without those headlight covers. Possibly add some altezza lights.

[NickVRParticipant AdelaideVR V8 Exec, VR SS, VF Redline Reserve View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 264]

Did the same with my amp and sub too. A lot of people thought because I mounted it upside down under the parcel shelf that it would over heat. But it’s still working fine.

The VS is looking good mate.

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

cava454 wrote:

Looks good mate. That’s same spot I put my amp. IMO will look a lot nicer without those headlight covers. Possibly add some altezza lights.

Thanks, I dont mind the covers but I wish they fitted better, I was going to get some altezza headlights and probably still will when I respray this.

NickVR wrote:

Did the same with my amp and sub too. A lot of people thought because I mounted it upside down under the parcel shelf that it would over heat. But it’s still working fine. The VS is looking good mate.

Yeah I had heard that about the amp but it seems to be fine, I spaced it out slightly so the underside wasn’t touching. Thanks mate, always liked your VR

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

So does that car wash foamy thingy work?

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

VRSenator065 wrote:

So does that car wash foamy thingy work?

Its good for removing dust from sitting around for a while, but if the cars too dirty it still needs to be hand washed. It does soften the built up dirt and bug crap tho which makes hand washing easier and supposedly helps reduce swirl marks

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

Entered this into GM day so gave it a polish and good clean up yesterday. I also brush touched some of the stone chips on the doors, quarter panels and roof. I took some pictures while it was clean after the show. While it looks shiny it is still covered in chips and would be better off being resprayed, which I hope to do this year maybe when the rego runs out. Its also been a year today since I got it running as a V8 which has gone pretty quickly.

[NickVRParticipant AdelaideVR V8 Exec, VR SS, VF Redline Reserve View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 264]

Saw it today at GM Day. Looks very neat mate, the seats look awesome too. Very nice car, well done.

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

NickVR wrote:

Saw it today at GM Day. Looks very neat mate, the seats look awesome too. Very nice car, well done.

Thanks mate 

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

Finally got myself a HSV console after searching for a while. I also got a set of woodgrain pieces from a series 2 Calais and wrapped them with a carbon fibre wrap, didnt come out too bad for my first time but will redo a couple of pieces when I get time. The shifter surround was peeling when I got it so I scraped the old clear off and re-cleared it. Also bought a new handbrake boot off ebay which doesnt fit too badly, it goes really tight when the handbrake is pulled all the way up (I should get around to adjusting that).

Console pieces when I got them

Reclearing, I broke the ashtray lid but just reglued the broken bits. Doesnt get used anyway.

All in and finished

[RennoParticipant Adelaide, SAVN SS | VX SS View build HERE Member since: March 11, 2016 Posts: 119]

The carbon fibre highlights look good!

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

Went on the Holden dream cruise, was a great day out and heaps of cars out which was good to see. Where I was parked I was able to watch most of the older stuff drive past before leaving the starting point.

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

Nailed that interior, what was the process to fix the clear on the carbon?

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

sands vs wrote:

Nailed that interior,

Totally agree the carbon just suits the seat colour etc perfectly, nice work.

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

Thanks guys

The carbon I scraped all the old clear off with a razor blade, it came off really easy. I then lightly rubbed it with a grey scotch pad, prepsoled, used PPG plastic primer and then dusted a couple of coats of 2K clear with a final wet coat. I should have prepsoled it again as I got a bunch of wax holes in the clear but it is a whole lot better then it was before

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

Had the aircon regassed again and its colder than its ever been I think, other then that its been reliable. Makes a weird clunking noise when turning right under acceleration which I need to look into. Went on cruise for charity so was cleaned up for that, took a pic before it rained. Saw my old Calais there as well and was good to see that still being looked after.

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

Had to change the extractor gasket over the christmas new year period, had to be the drivers side which was lots of fun

I also bought new wheels for the ute but they ended up on this, they are staggered vf rapier replicas, the lh rear scrubs on the inside at the front slightly so will have to do something about that

will get a better pic when it actually has a full tank of fuel and sits decent

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

Been a while since I updated this but not heaps has happened, have had the air con fixed again, new exhaust to replace the shit one I had on it originally which was hitting the body and generally poorly made (should have done my research on who to go to in the first place). I also had the roof lining re-trimmed and fitted some map lights while it was out. Also had to replace a water pump which started leaking about a week after I got the ute drive-able again. Have a full set of bushes for the rear end which hopefully ill get time to replace soon.

the neglect of not being washed for 2 months through winter

[thatotherguy94Participant VS Acclaim, VZ SSZ Ute View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 189]

Had problems few problems with this not running properly, ended up being the intake manifold causing a vacuum leak, had that fixed by a local mechanic. Not even a month later it starts running crappy again and making a tak noise on low revs, have that diagnosed and fixed which was rockers were not adjusted correctly, also got told that I have a potentially stuffed lifter but they added some lifter additive and I was told to report back to see if the noise went away (it didnt). It got worse so I stopped driving the car and eventually decided to sort the lifters myself. Basically after I got the intake manifold off I found that the cam is now stuffed and I’m up for a new one. Having a bit of trouble deciding on what cam to choose but I’ve narrowed it down to either a crane 276 or a 284 (currently has a 268). Does anyone have any experience with either cams? Basically I just want a reasonably simple cam swap for a fairly standard engine.

Pic of damaged cam.

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