VK bumper, door & quarter panel Q's

[craigvk]

G'day,

Now I am asking questions.

As some of you might have seen my thread in the General about my smash, I am needing to get a new front bumper and front right quarter panel.

AFAIK, all VK's use the same polycarbonate bumper, but the only difference is they come in 3 different colours. Grey, silver and another grey I think.
Will any VK front bumper bolt up to my Calais ok?

I just need to make sure before I end up buying new parts.

The quarter panel? They would be the same?

Back door on driver side? If I end up getting a Commodore one without the electric windows etc..., will I be able to transfer the electric stuff over and take out the manual winders etc..?

Thanks guys. If anyone has any of these parts in good order, please let me know too!

[VRSS]

all VK front bumpers will bolt up fine, you'll just have to match the colour..
any VK front quarter panel will go on fine too
again any VK rear door (not wagon ones though) will go on fine, apparently electric windows are a bitch to install in rear doors..
good luck with it all

[NORTI]

hhmm Calais back doors are bloody exxy here in SA, I have a Calais here being wrecked atm... but in SA so no good to ya Im afraid. If I was you, I would try & find a calais door, as I heard also that installing the electrics is a bitch.

Lucky its a VK & not a VL, atleast you will have a decent chance of finding the front bumper

the quater panels are def the same.... I have a regular quarter panel & bonnet on my Calais.



D.

[vkberlina]

Ok the bars are made from ABS plastic not polycarbonate. Buy a secondhand genuine VK bar rather than a new one. The new ones are taiwanese copies are are different to the original genuine ones.
Also the chrome moulds are now totally unavailable new from holden so try and find a bar with good secondhand ones and treat them like gold else you wont have chrome moulds on the bar
If you need to remove the moulds unbolt the bar end and carefully slide them off the bar rather than pulling them off the way they go on.
As its been said they are painted so you can have it matched to your car.

any VH-VK mud guard will fit as they are the same, before it is painted make sure any holes to attach the Calais door moulds are drilled.

With your rear door if you dont get an Electric Calais door you will need to drill holes for the door mould & hole for the wiring harness to fit through, do this before it is painted. Rear doors are a pick of a job to fit the electric window regs my rear doors owe me a day each.
Also make sure you use the calais window glass as its tinted glass unlike the SL/executive/vacationer glass that is clear. Glass from a VK or VK berlina or calais will be suitable.

cheers
Scott

[NORTI]

is all Calais tinted glass? or was it optional ??? I have dark tint on mine (prob not factory) however NUFNSUS is completely clear......



D.

[craigvk]

Thanks mate and others.

You are actually wrong about it being ABS. It's actually made from impact strength polycarbonate plastic. It says this on page 1D-2 of the VK Commodore/Calais factory workshop manual. It also says that you shouldn't use ordinary acrylic laquer too as it burns the plastic or something.

[vkberlina]

Thanks mate and others.

You are actually wrong about it being ABS. It's actually made from impact strength polycarbonate plastic. It says this on page 1D-2 of the VK Commodore/Calais factory workshop manual. It also says that you shouldn't use ordinary acrylic laquer too as it burns the plastic or something.

When I was making my new grille for my VK I talked to a plastics expert about what materials etc to make it out of (injection moulding) and he tested some bumper bar plastic I had. Although it may say in the manual polycarbonate, its chemical properties are that of ABS with a blend of other polymers.
There are close to 1800 different grades of ABS which include polymers which can be engineered to give a variety of physical properties for example: High heat resistance, high impact resistance, flexibility, anti static, these polymers can also be combined with other polymers can be combined with it to create alloy plastics such as polycarbonate, polyurethane and more.

The bumperbar plastic contained acrylonitrile, butadiene & styrene normally not found in polycarbonate. Although the plastic doesnt follow the standard fomula for ABS (C8H8· C4H6·C3H3N)x) its pretty close.

As for painting, its pretty much GMH propagander about using GMH specialty paints. There were as mentioned 3 coloured bumperbars produced so they didnt used too much colour on them. The cars were originally painted in a acrylic lacquer paint anyway which is a thermo plastic polymer in its chemical make up. There are flex additives that can be added to automotive paints to help prevent fatigue cracks developing in 2pac finished where unlike the acrylic paints dries ridgid.

[craigvk]

Thanks for the reply.

Would you happen to know the automotive paint code for the silver so I can get some paint mixed up from the shop?

[vkberlina]

Asteroid Silver Metalic
Colour code 2J013
If your using 2PAC Spies Hecker paints approx 1L is made up of
MB501 21.0g
MB516 229.5g
MB518 603.2g
MB520 2.6g
MB522 2.6g
MB527 22.3g
MB799 52.5g

Totals 933.7g of paint.

[craigvk]

Thanks.

What is 2PAC? How is it different to acrylic lacquer? Can you buy it at Autobarn?

[vkberlina]

If your using acrylic same paint code, different mix depending on brands & tinters used.

[darkmoon]

Becareful if you dont know what you are doing. Acrylic paint is much more forgiving and when buffed with a decent clear coat, it comes up just as nice. 2pack is a paint in 2 parts, (1 part hardener) and to do a proper job, you will need heat lamps or it will take weeks to cure properly.
Go the acrylic its cheaper and easier to touch up later, my bars and bonnet have been done in acrylic and COB clear, then buffed. (photo)

As for bumper codes, I had in the past consulted several panel beaters and they said that finding the right code for the stock grey VK/VL bars are like finding gold and they usually do it by eye. There are 2 greys , a light grey and a dark, the silver you speak of is a body colour (Astroid Silver) This unfortunately is a game for highly experienced panel shops. Go see one. (This is 1 reason I painted mine the same as the body - Alpine White).
Kain

[craigvk]

Cheers. Looks like I will go the acrylic. Was the original paint done in 2 pack paint back then?

[darkmoon]

No they used acrylic. I think it was Vn's they started using 2 pack. Maybe even VP's not sure.
Kain

[darkmoon]

Craig,
I just had a look at your car. Is that metallic paint?? If so you need to talk to a painter for some tips and get a good compressor and a proper automotive spray gun that allows you to adjust pressure at the gun.

If the pressure is too low, it won't pull up enough metal from the paint and if its too high it will pull too much. You will have a multi-shaded car really easily and you will pull your hair out.

Get some advice if its metallic. If it isn't, it should be easy.
Kain

[SL/ENUT]

I know on the HDT body kits back then, they used Arcun(spelling?) which is a early form of 2 pak.
Also the VR was the first to gain 2 pak.