(The) Low VX Taxi

[Low_VX_Taxi]

nice car mate. I really think that if you colour code alot of your engine plastic bits it will really set the bay off. Engine cover, fuze box covers ect ect.

Nice car

Thanks for your post

We initially were thinking of going Hyper yellow (same as exterior paint) for the plenum and/or the rocker covers and then colour code the plastics, the main reasons we didn't were:

1) Plastics were already black (so black plenum/engine cover and rocker covers would kinda match)
2) We were on a pretty tight budget, pressure packs of colour matched paint would have cost too much $$$$ which was monies I couldnt really spare.
3) The black cans were in stock and I just grabbed em straight off the shelf

I still may down the track look at colour coding the bay as covers are pretty easy to come by as are rocker covers and other engine bay plastics, but my monies are tied up with repairs to my wife's car at the moment (damn fords....), still pretty happy with the way it looks and it barely cost (for the paint) $60



Much nicer than standard

Thanks again for your comments though

[Alemadness]

Beautiful work man! Congratulations....

[s_ikari2015]

Some people don't understand how much a part of our lives our cars can be, this thread really shows that. Awesome stories! Looking forward to more about this little trooper and future adventures.

[Low_VX_Taxi]

Beautiful work man! Congratulations....

Thanks, hoping to get a few good years of driving out of the ol' bus

Some people don't understand how much a part of our lives our cars can be, this thread really shows that. Awesome stories! Looking forward to more about this little trooper and future adventures.

Too true, she might be just another VX to others but to me she is my baby she has really become a part of the family (the wife loves her just as much as me too). I don't kid myself that she is the fastest thing on four wheels but she is a very comfortable cheap to run cruiser and IMO she doesnt look to bad either

All the things that have happened have been a good learning experience too as I try to do as much as possible either myself or learn how to do it for next time.



Not much to update as yet as the wife's falcon is still eating up our money. My short term plans are:

Upgrade the centre interior light to a Berlina one with map lights (and install rear courtesy lights).

Install a trans cooler (just for fun)

Future plans are to do a (faux) black leather interior conversion as material on the drivers side has come away from the foam and looks ratty compared to the rest of the interior.

Also wanting to do an instrument and cluster light conversion (nothing too wild, probably just white with red needles etc but will match the double dinn head unit).

Thanks everyone for your comments

[Low_VX_Taxi]

So been pretty busy over the last week.

Just finished installing the Calais/berlina dome/map and rear courtesy lights, wasn't as easy as I had hoped, took a bit of soldering as the wiring looms are different (only slightly, almost as if Holden was trying to prevent poverty pack owners from upgrading their cars mmmmmmmm). So after blowing a few fuses all the lights work as they should. I also purchased LED bulbs for all the lights bar the two map lights as the store was out of that size bulb.

I also have purchased some black VZ SV6 seats and door cards, they really lift the interior incredibly so pretty stoked. Had to change the bases as the seatbelt tensioners had fired (was from a written off car) and holden changed the bases designs ever so slightly between VX-VZ so the seatbelt tensioners could not be changed over and the bases couldnt be interchanged.

I ended up pulling the back section off then the material off the base and finally the foams (it appears Holden added little Velcro strips to the VZ seat material so that the material does not come apart from the foams due to heat melting the glue and wear and tear [like my seats did]). So with a bit of playing around the interior is all in.

Oh if anyone is keen on the VZ sunglasses holder or any other VZ SV6 interior parts or rear exterior parts (bar tail lights) PM me as the place I got the seats from still have most of the parts in stock from the wrecked SV6 (front end is stuffed though).

No pics yet as the car is currently full of boxes as I am moving house tomorrow, will have to get a few happy snaps once I get settled into the new house.

[Low_VX_Taxi]

So finally got some pictures, they don't really do it justice as I have no net except on my crappy iPhone....







Pretty happy with it all. Still haven't bothered to do the trans cooler (it's on the "to do list" but not a huge priority at the moment and still chasing led's for the map lights. Will take some decent pictures once I get the net connected with a decent camera :-)

[SM1D3Y]

Great story so far man ! keen to read the next chapter of the taxi

[Davidcoolaye]

Fantastic man, just read the whole thing. I have a lot of respect for your patients with cars and your taxi mate!

[T-Hulk]

Wow, Read the whole thing in one go and it's brilliant. I'm only 17 and just bought my first car, a 2001 VX executive and I hope that over the years I can end up with a saga even half as good as yours. I really look foward to the next installment.

P.S I hope you don't mind if I "borrow" Some ideas from you...

Cheers, Tom.

[T-Hulk]

Wow, Read the whole thing in one go and it's brilliant. I'm only 17 and just bought my first car, a 2001 VX executive and I hope that over the years I can end up with a saga even half as good as yours. I really look foward to the next installment.

P.S I hope you don't mind if I "borrow" Some ideas from you...

Cheers, Tom.

[Low_VX_Taxi]

Thanks for all the comments, makes me want to keep fixing and modifying the old bus (or rather taxi lol).

Have been thinking about what is next for the ol' girl, ultimate would be an LS or L67 conversion with direct injection gas, unfortunately my finances are still non existent so leaning more towards cheaper options like repairing the Roo damage and the worn areas on the rear bumper and side skirts and maybe some cleaning up of the exterior (the front end of the car has copped more than its fair share of stones and debris in some of NSW less pristine roads), I will hopefully get the Internet soon so I can make more regular updates.

Whilst my finances improve I will be helping my cousin in law with his project car for a while (I'm sure he will post up a my ride as the build progresses "nudge nudge" lol). Should be a bit of fun but it's a bit more of an involved build with a set timeframe so looking forward to it :-)

.
P.S I hope you don't mind if I "borrow" Some ideas from you...

Please feel free, imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but just remember to modify your car for you, no point spending your hard earned $$$$ on something that doesn't make you happy :-)

[HSV5L]

Looking i want that intirior love the kit.

[Low_VX_Taxi]

Its about time for some updates (Please, hold your applause).

So We installed the trans Cooler a few weeks back, aside from running the lines back past the radiator and repairing the little bit out of shape brackets (Thanks again Mr Dead Roo) it all was fairly easy. We also gave the brackets and trans cooler a quick lick of paint to freshen them up a bit, was pretty happy with the result:





I also decided to utilise the ducting that came with the encased pod, there was really no real power to be gained but it was annoying me lying around my shed and I didn't want to waste it by throwing it in the bin. I also used some plastic fencing/netting on the end so no big bits of crap get sucked up by it:



Not sure if I like it yet, I may go with the original plan and connect the encased pod to the SS inductions tubing.....

We decided to let the trans warm up and check the fluid level (didn't spill more than a drop but we thought the trans cooler would increase the system capacity so best to check the level anyway) so we fired up the taxi and I went to get a drink. I returned to find a lovely red river coming from under the car, almost like in a horror movie, I ran and turned off the car. Some pics:



The trans cooler seemed to be leaking, we pulled it off a wrecked car that wasnt leaking (as it leaked everywhere when we pulled it off lol) so we thought it would be fine, unfortunately we were wrong.....DEAD WRONG (*dramatic music*). We pulled the thing off the car and discovered that it was damaged at the corner just near the piping:



It may have even been damaged in transport or more than likely when being stored but it didn't matter, we had another one so we pulled it off and discovered that it to was damaged at the same point (it looks like a weak point where if you try and tighten the lines [I.E if they are leaking] the core cracks and when under pressure leaks).

So I picked up another trans cooler, (this time checking the "weak spot"), haven't gotten around to installing it as yet but shouldn't be too long

[Low_VX_Taxi]

Looking i want that intirior love the kit.

Thanks, I reckon the "Hyper Yellow" Vx's only really look good with the VX clubby kits, just seems to suite the shape and the colour

Yeah the SV6 seats really did set off the interior, I will have to get some decent pics up soon.... I am also thinking about chucking the SV6 steering wheel into my car too.....

[Low_VX_Taxi]

Forgot to add a picture that I found on my phone from when we were moving:



My wife decided that I would need company whilst we moved house, he was a gift from one of her cousins and is named "Roy". I got some pretty interesting looks cruising the great western.......

[kea83]

Just read the whole thread too, good to see the old girl kicking along after so much!

[T-Hulk]

Got an update on the Taxi for us or what?

[HSV5L]

Was it a ex taxi ? Looking good btw.

[jamesjgts25t]

Probably one of my favourite Ecotec Commodores. I usually don't like Commodores with HSV kits but this looks really well done.
Love the stories too lol, sounds like you've been through alot with it.

[Whitesack07]

i can imagine the looks you got with the bear in the car, i got my girl friend a big winnie the pooh, an she had work so she put it in the front of my Old Vz ute, all my mates were laughing at me, but never once did winnie the pooh tell me to get a Hoon, best passenger ive had lol

[Low_VX_Taxi]

Just read the whole thread too, good to see the old girl kicking along after so much!

Yup she just keeps going and going and going!

Got an update on the Taxi for us or what?

Certainly do, some good and some not so good..... stay tuned.

Was it a ex taxi ? Looking good btw.

The car got the nickname from some friends and family, as its on gas everyone kept on saying "did ya bring the taxi cab today?" etc, it just kind of stuck I guess. Thanks, still a lot to do but there is no rush as I would say she is staying around for a while.

Probably one of my favourite Ecotec Commodores. I usually don't like Commodores with HSV kits but this looks really well done.
Love the stories too lol, sounds like you've been through alot with it.

It came with the kit, I have seen other kits on the Hyper Yellow commodores (SS, exec etc) but I reckon the Clubby kit lends itself best to the shape and colour.

i can imagine the looks you got with the bear in the car, i got my girl friend a big winnie the pooh, an she had work so she put it in the front of my Old Vz ute, all my mates were laughing at me, but never once did winnie the pooh tell me to get a Hoon, best passenger ive had lol

Yeah "Roy" was one of the better passengers in my car too lol!

[Low_VX_Taxi]

I finally got some half decent pictures of the interior:









Also discovered a "hitchhiker"..... No fare, NO RIDE!!!! lol



So I had left the taxi in the shed for a little while (was trying to save $$$$ by riding/walking to work), first day I decided to pull it out I angled it just a little too close to the shed, Some pics:



Shed 1, Commodore 0

Was pretty pissed off (with myself) but most of it was just bits of the white paint from the shed, still probably need to give the bump strips a hit of paint though.....

Was having some troubles with starting the car on gas, after a few weeks it got worse and now I can't get it to kick over on gas at all...... Will have to drop it down to my LPG mechanic and get him to fix it when finances recover.

Its not all bad news however with the Taxi having a permanent home now as my wife and I have bought our first home, with a lockable garage for the taxi.

Unfortunately this also means cash is once again "restricted" due to conveyancers, bank and establishment fees.....

Short term plans for the moment are to fix the damaged bump strips (two have been damaged on the other side as well in car parks), install a working trans cooler and get the gas system operating again.

In the future (hopefully not to long!)

New front/rear bars and side skirts (still like the clubby kit but may look at other options so please feel free to make suggestions)

New windscreen (mine has been peppered after living out in the hunter for a few years).

New suspension (drivers side front and passenger side rear are a bit rattly, no doubt due to the pot holes.....), depends on finances as to what I do, looking at maybe coil overs but they seem like overkill for a daily so maybe just another set of lovell or king springs and some nice shortened shocks (depending on what needs replacing).

Also would like to give the beast a bit more oomph, so looking at buying a "backup" block that "could" be sent to COME, you know, just in case my engine fails then maybe a twin throttle body setup with the rear throttle body connected to my gas setup and the front to perhaps a super or turbo charger....... to improve fuel efficiency.......... or lack thereof