Spare Time..... What to do with my car>???

[VjamesY]

fellow jc's

Ok im 17, on holidays for the next 2 weeks, about to get my p's in a month.

I have a blunt stocko 2002 vy exec that my father is driving until i get p's (mind i did pay for it)

the thing is for these next two weeks i have alot of spare time on my hands

i have just washed and cleaned the car inside-out

i was just woundering what could i do to the car ( i got $500 spare) in the next 2 weeks, like any minor mods to like the exterior and interior or any maintanence and cleaning? oor evenn something i could buy and replace

I was thinking maybe remove black strips on side of car, give dash a major clean (what should i use?), maybe even remove spolier? (using grommets to fill in) and debadge side v6 badges

also its got a hidious towbar hanging out, anything i can do to remove the fowl thing lol hahhahhahaa or atleast make it less noticable


in the long term i am planning to get spoiler and badge of boot and get resprayed (chiped paint) and lowering with rims


thanks, james

[DUK13Y]

Well I'm on my L's too and get my P's in July and I've done a few small things and have some more lined up. 2-hole mod is a good start. I haven't done it yet but it looks quite easy to do. Paint your brake callipers and hubs. Very easy mod and does give your car a sportier look (imo it does anyway). Paint your dash and wheel spokes. Give your engine bay a new spray job. Just make sure it's clean, mild sand with fine wet+dry, prime and paint. The SS light conversion is becoming popular so might be worth doing it yourself.

Get a custom dash badge to replace your standard "SRS Airbag" one. I've heard some signing store can easily make one up. Could change over your pedals to the sporty ones. Maybe some calais sun visors to give a tiny touch of luxury. Get yourself some new headlight bulbs or HID's. I got the crystal visions and they are a great improvement.

Anyway those are just some ideas. Can't be bothered to do the maths but I think all of them would cost under the $500 limit so go nuts. Good luck with it. Hope that helped a bit.

[VS Omega]

Don't put grommets in the spoiler, it looks so backyard and dodgy... make a post in the wanted to buy/swap forum here and see if you can find someone without a spoiler who wants to swap their bootlid for yours (plus instead of spending money you'll actually gain some money if you agree to do so).

A catback exhaust can easily be fitted at home in an afternoon (no welding) and if you've got someone who can weld you can get any tip you want fitted to the end... they're a cheap mod

[ScoHar]

Is the car all serviced upto date? I know its not cosmetic int or ext, I would start here, with new oil and filter, maybe changing the coolant, give the auto a fluid change, maybe new leads and plugs these small things can make a big difference to how long you want to hang onto the car.

other than that, I would remove the black strips prob take 2 weeks to get all the sika off anyways LOL

[VjamesY]

Well I'm on my L's too and get my P's in July and I've done a few small things and have some more lined up. 2-hole mod is a good start. I haven't done it yet but it looks quite easy to do. Paint your brake callipers and hubs. Very easy mod and does give your car a sportier look (imo it does anyway). Paint your dash and wheel spokes. Give your engine bay a new spray job. Just make sure it's clean, mild sand with fine wet+dry, prime and paint. The SS light conversion is becoming popular so might be worth doing it yourself.

Can a custom dash badge to replace your standard "SRS Airbag" one. I've heard some signing store can easily make one up. Could change over your pedals to the sporty ones. Maybe some calais sun visors to give a tiny touch of luxury. Get yourself some new headlight bulbs or HID's. I got the crystal visions and they are a great improvement.

Anyway those are just some ideas. Can't be bothered to do the maths but I think all of them would cost under the $500 limit so go nuts. Good luck with it. Hope that helped a bit.

haha yeh thanks mate, will try some of them, i will def do the ss lights, sun visors and pedals that will look great.

I might even paint my dash, because it does have a few chips and scratches (previous owner had long tools running through the middle of the car)

[VjamesY]

Don't put grommets in the spoiler, it looks so backyard and dodgy... make a post in the wanted to buy/swap forum here and see if you can find someone without a spoiler who wants to swap their bootlid for yours (plus instead of spending money you'll actually gain some money if you agree to do so).

A catback exhaust can easily be fitted at home in an afternoon (no welding) and if you've got someone who can weld you can get any tip you want fitted to the end... they're a cheap mod

yeh i do have a few friends that can weld, i might get catbacks done,

ok ok no grommets haha im just not very patient, i should just wait.
ok yeh a trade sounds good but, my boot has paint chips and paint scratched on it, do you think i will be able to do a tradestill?

[VjamesY]

Is the car all serviced upto date? I know its not cosmetic int or ext, I would start here, with new oil and filter, maybe changing the coolant, give the auto a fluid change, maybe new leads and plugs these small things can make a big difference to how long you want to hang onto the car.

other than that, I would remove the black strips prob take 2 weeks to get all the sika off anyways LOL

haha im guessing the strips removal will be a very long and tedious job, owell i got spare time,

yeh my dad services and changes most of that stuff regularly im pritty sure, but maybe i could change leads and plugs, also i am planning on keeping the car till im off my p's, so around 2-3 years or wateva so best keep it running good

[DUK13Y]

A catback exhaust can easily be fitted at home in an afternoon (no welding) and if you've got someone who can weld you can get any tip you want fitted to the end... they're a cheap mod

Make sure it's legal to do so first because I know that in NSW and VIC (probably QLD too) ALL performance modifications are illegal for P platers. This includes the exhaust. Your car will be defected and your insurance will not cover it.

[Fun_Bucket]

i removed my side strips in around 3 hours, Boiling water will loosen the glue, allowing you to pull them off, and i used a razor blade (extremely carefully,) and cut the sikaflex itself down to as much as i could, then just prepsoled the rest off. No damage done at all, but time over again, i reckon i would have left them on..

[SAV_117]

post a pic of ya car mate that way if we see somethin we can say ohh do that blah blah lol

side strips should go though

[T-MaKK]

have you thought about a sound system?

u can get something decent to start with for about 600...

[VjamesY]

Make sure it's legal to do so first because I know that in NSW and VIC (probably QLD too) ALL performance modifications are illegal for P platers. This includes the exhaust. Your car will be defected and your insurance will not cover it.

mm kk ill keep away from performance/mechanical mods ay thanks

[VjamesY]

post a pic of ya car mate that way if we see somethin we can say ohh do that blah blah lol

side strips should go though

haha ok tomo, cas its raining n dark right now, so tomo afternoon sometime ok lol its a boring vy exec, so not much to see anyways but i will

[VjamesY]

have you thought about a sound system?

u can get something decent to start with for about 600...

yeh, i was thinking about it, but im really not that fust about a good sound system, i might get a nice setup but not for a while, i might put a good head unit in for the time being

[VjamesY]

i removed my side strips in around 3 hours, Boiling water will loosen the glue, allowing you to pull them off, and i used a razor blade (extremely carefully,) and cut the sikaflex itself down to as much as i could, then just prepsoled the rest off. No damage done at all, but time over again, i reckon i would have left them on..

yeh thanks im thinking about doing it tomorow

[VjamesY]

Ok so you have asked for some pics, sorry if i stuff this up, but never posted photos before lol

I have taken a photo to show the scratches that are all around the centre dash,

i just gave her a big wash and vacum, came up very nice, very nice buy for 6 grand

you can also see that im half way through debadging, ive just gotta take the black junk off the boot and all will be sweet

their is also a nasty cigarette burn in drivers seat that im thinking about colouring in with a texta lol

damn previous owner didnt take much care of it but i guess thats why we got it cheaps,

mind saying it was alot worse of when we bought it

and yes yes i know, the tow bar is hidious, i want that gone!!!! lol can i do it?

[danja]

Doesn't the tow bar tongue come off, and there's a plastic flap that covers the hole? Don't take the whole thing off, it's worth more when you sell, plus it's handy should you ever need to tow something!

[alien]

I wouldn't get rid of the tow bar. I'd remove the ball. But keep the bar. If people try touch parking it damages their car more than yours then. Second or third day i had my car some P plater drove into the back of me at a red light. Not very fast because she had stopped orginally. No damage to mine, but my tow bar sure took care of that VP's front.

Definatly remove the trolley strips though. Looks shmick without them.

Then after all that i would be focusing on the paint work, espcially now heading into winter. Splurge a bit and get meguiars products then coat it in NXT Gen stuff. Including wax to protect the paint.

[VjamesY]

Yeh im doing a wax and polish next weekend, my dads showing me how to do it properly,

ok ok im considering leaving the tow bar on from your advice, ill just remove the ball, as you guys recomended this i remembered what happened to my dad acouple of years ago with his vn(i think), he was on the harbour bridge and a taxi went up his back, my dads car was untouched, except small mark on bumper, im sure that dad said his tow bar broke his radiator and ruined his front bumper.

mmmm ill remove the strips soon i think

[SAV_117]

deffinetly trolley strips lol maybe even modify your grille?

[padrickz88]

I reckon if you are going to paint your dash then do it the same colour as factory, looks good that way

Clean the wheel arch's and paint some black paint/paint on tar in there (just the little things)

Removal of the door strips or painting them will give it a cleaner look aswell, or paint them?

Lowering, this should be bumber one.... lowering a car changes the look so much and instantly makes it sexy might cost a bit more then 500 but totally worth the money


OH! and if your going to do plugs in your boot... paint them body color so there not ugl black and noticeable

[VjamesY]

deffinetly trolley strips lol maybe even modify your grille?

mm yeh trolley strips are going soon,
ive thought about modding the grill, not sure what to do to it yet, maybe even spray it

[VjamesY]

I reckon if you are going to paint your dash then do it the same colour as factory, looks good that way

Clean the wheel arch's and paint some black paint/paint on tar in there (just the little things)

Removal of the door strips or painting them will give it a cleaner look aswell, or paint them?

Lowering, this should be bumber one.... lowering a car changes the look so much and instantly makes it sexy might cost a bit more then 500 but totally worth the money


OH! and if your going to do plugs in your boot... paint them body color so there not ugl black and noticeable

yeh not sure about dash yet, i am gonna spray centree console though.

thats a good idea about cleaning and painting wheel arches, i will defenately clean them haha

mmm i wanna lower, but ide rather do it when i get rims

thanks

[SAV_117]

click on this link thats what i did to my grille if u wanna have look My vy lumina

[VjamesY]

click on this link thats what i did to my grille if u wanna have look My vy lumina

man that look goood, very clean