Yet another white VS exec...

[Fonzie]

Name: Tim
Nickname: Fonzie or TinTin - Someone took the username TinTin!
Age: 20 - Only THIS MANY days until Full License!.
Location: Gippsland - Live in Warragul, Work in Moe... Often towards Melbourne with mates too.
Occupation: IT Technician

Car has been written off as of 20/03/2010. Something awesome about that though is that the build date is 20/03/1996 - Creepy? I'll leave this thread up, Obviously will no longer be updating it. If anyone has any questions about mods I had done, feel free to PM me.
Car: 96 VS Exec Sedan
Owned since: March 2008 - Parent's old car, I know it's history from day 1.
Odometer: 260xxx - It's a my daily, so it's slowly ticking away...

Transmission: Auto (Misplaced a pedal..)

Engine: 3.8 V6 (Lost two cylinders somewhere too)
- CAI
- LPG. It's cheap ok??! I get 300km for $25!

Brakes:
- VT Twin Piston Front Calipers
- RDA Slotted 296mm x 28mm Front Discs
- Bendix Ultimate Pads
- Rears are stock

Factory Options:
- Cruise Control
- Dual Air Bags
- Calais Roof Light
- Air Con
- Speed Alert - Replaced with Trip Computer Buttons.
- Police Spec Gauge Cluster - Replace with L3 Cluster.

Exterior:
- Wheels: 18x8. Center cap says "DTM Ultralite Battle Wheels" - All the kerb scuffs are from the previous owner.
- Roof, Hood, Front bar and Front Left Quarter have all been resprayed in the past 12 months. Don't ask.
- Debadged, except Lions.
- Removed front and rear trolley strips
- Painted rear garnish white
- Brake Calipers painted red

Interior:
- Retrimed roof lining with proper black stuff. Added VY sunnies holder, reversed the calais roof light so the rear seats have map lights now.
- Painted sunglasses holder, visors, handles and calais roof light black.
- Power windows! Finally.
- L3 cluster conversion. Odometer is 50,032km above genuine km's. Was so tempted to throw the old cluster in just to drive another 32km.
- Blue illumination conversion. LCD's white, Needles white, Blue gauges. Blue transmission selector, Blue HVAC fascia, Blue illuminated buttons with white indicators. A few blue LED's in the center console and Sunglasses holder that turn on when you open them. Lots of blue
- Teppa Tint. He did a bloody great job, Highly recommended for anyone who's after a tint. Cheers mate.
- Stato chrome upper door trim.
- Berlina rear seats.
- iPod cradle in center console. This took AGES.

Stereo:
- Fusion CA-CD500 deck - Ipod control, Graphic EQ, HPF/LPF, XM Radio..
- Two cheap 12" subs - It's better than nothing in the low end.
- 2 channel amp (Just as cheap)

Future Plans:
- Paint all roof plastics/trim black to match headlining. In Progress...Only B & C pillar trim, and door seal surround to go.
- Paint brake calipers. In Progress...Fronts done, still got to do rears.
- VT Brake booster and master cylinder
- Remove Towbar. I'll get around to it sooner or later...
- Patch the holes in my door cards from the original window winder handles. Thinking I'll put a light in there that turns on when you open the door.
- Figure out how to make the passenger power window have the autodown feature. My thread on it.
- Full Exhaust
- Clubby/Senator/Calais/Berlina front seats. Not too fussed which, just want an upgrade!
- Lowering. Still really want to do this, but insurance says no more than 1" lower or they won't cover me...

Photos are basically 'in order'... So the photo at the top is the oldest, bottom is newest. Click thumbnail for full size image.

[chrism182]

Hey mate, nice car. Where abouts in Gippsland are ya?

[Fonzie]

Hey mate, nice car. Where abouts in Gippsland are ya?

Warragul... But i work in Moe and my girlfriend lives in Traralgon, so i'm all over the place. Yourself? You go to the weekly meets at fountain gate? Going for the first time this coming friday (24th)..

[chrism182]

I'm down in the Bairnsdale area. I go up to Traralgon every once in a while, not a bad place. Don't go to the fountain gate meets, a bit too far for me I reckon.

[Fonzie]

I'm down in the Bairnsdale area. I go up to Traralgon every once in a while, not a bad place. Don't go to the fountain gate meets, a bit too far for me I reckon.

Yeah it's not bad when you're not getting mugged. Fountain gate is definitely a bit far for you... But yeah i'm in warragul most of the time, so it's less than an hour for me.

[jimbojones889]

change the orange side indicators to clear, looks much better

GUARD FLASHER INDICATOR COMMODORE VP VQ VR VS VT VX NEW - eBay Other Lights, Indicators, Lights, Indicators, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 21-Jul-09 07:47:54 AEST)

[Fonzie]

change the orange side indicators to clear, looks much better

GUARD FLASHER INDICATOR COMMODORE VP VQ VR VS VT VX NEW - eBay Other Lights, Indicators, Lights, Indicators, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 21-Jul-09 07:47:54 AEST)

Yeah it's on the "future" list above - I'll get there sooner or later.

[eXphoid]

keep us updated. its looking fair shweet so far

[Philthy]

Had a look over this car the other night. A very clean VS with some good plans for the future.

Looks good Tim

[Fonzie]

Cheers eXphoid and Philthy..

This is the first time I've driven after a decent rain with the rims on... And they're wider than the originals so they throw shit everywhere. Definitely keeping the mud flaps.

Update: Front and rear bumper strips completely removed.. Debadged except for Lions.. Got rid of that stupid 15 year old holden dealer sticker on the rear window.. Ordered clear indicators.

[05bjp90]

take the strip off the side too....looks heapss cleaner!

[Fonzie]

take the strip off the side too....looks heapss cleaner!

Yeah i was intending to do that.. But i heard some bad stories about paint being damaged when you did it, so i was going to wait until i had the funds to fix it if i f***ed it up.

Although, I was thinking the other night of maybe spraying the side strips red, and putting red ones around the bumpers... Like the SS. I like that look on a white commo We'll see.

[Trayner]

Yeah i was intending to do that.. But i heard some bad stories about paint being damaged when you did it, so i was going to wait until i had the funds to fix it if i f***ed it up.

Although, I was thinking the other night of maybe spraying the side strips red, and putting red ones around the bumpers... Like the SS. I like that look on a white commo We'll see.

Yep i tryed removing the side strips on mine , and failed .The sikaflix glue shit would not come off so i gave up and glued the strip back on and painted them all white. Made it look way better and gives the protection from trollys and car doors :P

[Fonzie]

Yep i tryed removing the side strips on mine , and failed .The sikaflix glue shit would not come off so i gave up and glued the strip back on and painted them all white. Made it look way better and gives the protection from trollys and car doors :P

Yeah Social told me he had troubles with his VN too, so he didn't risk it on his VS. I'm liking the SS idea.. Just gotta find out where to get the tape stuff for the front and rear bumpers. How did you paint yours? Just mask up behind them... And 2-pack spray? or what?

[Trayner]

Yeah Social told me he had troubles with his VN too, so he didn't risk it on his VS. I'm liking the SS idea.. Just gotta find out where to get the tape stuff for the front and rear bumpers. How did you paint yours? Just mask up behind them... And 2-pack spray? or what?

Yeh pritty much just masked off all the pannels with newspaper and masking tape. Got a can of wax and grease remover to clean them off and hit them up with a can of touch up paint . looks pritty good. I'll take a picture of mine tomoz for you

[Fonzie]

Yeh pritty much just masked off all the pannels with newspaper and masking tape. Got a can of wax and grease remover to clean them off and hit them up with a can of touch up paint . looks pritty good. I'll take a picture of mine tomoz for you

No clear coat on top or anything? You rocking up to the FG meet tomorrow night?

[Trayner]

No clear coat on top or anything? You rocking up to the FG meet tomorrow night?

Oh yeh i did put a few coats of clear coat on lol, umm maybe ill be there at the movies so i might be able to swing past on the way home

[Menace38L]

Hey thats a clean vs u got ther mate!!

[Trayner]

Pics of the strips are up in my 'my ride" section for you lol

[Fonzie]

Hey thats a clean vs u got ther mate!!

Cheers. Unfortunately all it is at the moment is a "clean VS"... But I just got a %140 pay rise so I have plans

[SteveJ]

Looks good mate.

[Fonzie]

UPDATE!

I go through sunglasses like there is no tomorrow. It's nothing to do with their quality, and I'm not rough with them, but I always seem to break them somehow. Ergo, I decided to put the sunglasses holder out of a VY/VZ into my VS... My roof lining had gone to hell, so i figured this would be a useful mod to do at the same time as repairing it.

This is where i cut the hole out for the unit... I pushed a fine pin through the roof in my car to test depths.


I currently have a VS Calais roof light. And given that the sunnies holder already has map lights in it, i decided to turn the original roof light around so the rear seats have map lights. I had to enlarge the hole on one side, and fill the other side to do this.



The unit fitted in place. As you can see, there is a big gap on the leading edge.


So i cut out a bunch of cardboard 'surrounds' to pad it out. Then double-sided-taped them together. Ended up having to use 4 layers of cardboard.



The unit fitted again, and showing how much it sticks out the other side of the roof card. I've got to grind some of the tabs off the back, and she should fit right in. I'm also thinking of filling the sides of the cardboard spacers up with body filler, to make it smooth... However, the foam backed material might cover this up nicely. I'll decide on it later.



Back to the map lights. The VY/VZ is set up so that when the door opens, both map lights turn on, but you still have the option to use each separately. This isn't straightforward wiring, so i put together a circuit diagram and and a wiring diagram respectively.

If you don't understand the above...I'm setting it up so the following happens:
- If the 3 way switch on the sunnies holder is set to "OFF", When you open the door, blue LED's turn on inside the original light, and one inside each map light.
- If it's set to "DOOR", the blue LED's, original white festoon, and all 4 white map lights will turn on.
- If it's set to "ON", the original white festoon and all 4 white map lights will turn on (Regardless of ignition being on or off).
- Also, Any of the 4 white map lights can be turned on independently with the ignition off.
Thinking about putting two blue LED's inside the actual holder on a tilt switch too...
I'm a bit of an electronics junkie, if you didn't guess

That's it so far... I have the contact adhesive, and I'm picking up the material from an auto trimmer on Thursday... Should be ready for the Friday Fountain Gate meet I might even post up a how to for this when I'm done...

Because I'm a d*ckhead, i got the beige sunglasses holder rather than the black one... Ergo, any ideas for how i can paint the sunnies holder? Vinyl dye maybe?

Also, going up to Kilsyth pick-a-part this coming weekend to get power window stuff

[Philthy]

Looks the goods so far mate. I think it would be worth smoothing the edges of the cardboard as you mentioned. The last thing you want is to get it all trimmed up and have lumpy bits.

Looking forward to seeing the finished product but I won't be there next friday coz I'm having a party at my place. But since you will be half way there anyway, you should just keep driving and come show me

[Fonzie]

Update! Roof card is finished and in

The material I used. It's the proper roof liner stuff, cost me $25 a meter. 2 meters worth leaves me enough left over to do the door car inserts.


Supplies


Half of the roof liner stuck on...


Roof liner material completely attached, then holes cut.



Wiring supplies. And... Other supplies.



Interior out


New card and sunnies holder in. I ended up screwing the sunnies holder to the roof, there was enough gap on the metal bit along the front for a screw not to damage the roof.





All up I'm pretty happy with it, need to fix a few things with the wiring, I'm pretty sure I put a diode in backwards. The visors/handles/roof light/sunnies holder/trim will be sprayed/dyed black soon, to match.

EDIT:
I've been asked a few times where to wire each colour wire on the sunglasses holder... Recently pulled it out to answer a few PM's and thought I'd post it up here for people.

Blue: Rocker switch door earth. Wire this to the door trigger earth in the current dome light.
White: Rocker switch constant earth. Wire this directly to the chassis somewhere.
Red & Red+Black stripe: Rocker switch main and globe via diode earth. Wire these two together.
Green: Constant Positive. Wire this to the constant positive wire in the current dome light.
Black: Map constant earth. Wire this directly to the chassis (Or just connect to white).

If you want both map lights and the original festoon dome bulb to turn on when you open the door or select the light globe on the rocker switch... do the following: Cut the wire that leads from the original festoon bulb to the door earth... Connect that wire to the join between the Red & Red+Black Stripe wires.

If you do all of the above... When the rocker switch is set to the door picture and you open the door, the original festoon bulb and two map lights on the sunnies holder should illuminate. When you select the light bulb on the rocker switch even with the ignition off the original festoon bulb and two map lights on the sunnies holder should illuminate. Both of the map lights on the sunnies holder should be able to be used separately with the ignition off. And when the rocker switch is set to the circle, none of the roof lights will turn on when you open the door. The two old map lights should still work, if they were installed of course.

PM me or post here if you have any questions.
Fonzie

[Philthy]

Jeez, think you have enough drinks there to get the job done?
Looks like you will have to bring some of them around tonight and I'll give you a hand with them.








Oh yeah, the roof looks pretty damn good as well