VX SS Series II - The white Yacht

[silviadore]

Hi, my names Dan. Been in the car scene for a while and previously have had skylines and euros. Decided I might take the plunge into something a bit out of my comfort zone. Must say im very impressed with it so far. Picked this up last week and have done nothing but clean it since.

2002 VX Series II SS
137 xxx kms
6 Speed Manual
Twin 2.5" exhaust
Everything else factory

This is when I picked it up. Paint was rather a matt white, door jams filthy, window seals were faded, headlights crusty, ugly china cd/dvd player, broken drivers seat trim and centre compartment, interior was dusty with dirty fingerprints and had a few drink spills on trims.





I knew it was going to take a bit to clean it up but I could see underneath the dirt it was going to be a nice car. Plus it would have to be one of the nicest commodores ive driven.

Put in a new CD player, replaced the centre compartment and drivers seat trim, spent 8 hours stripping and cleaning the interior and this is how she came out



next it was onto the headlights - I used wet and dry from 360 grit to 2000 to bring them up



Debadged some of the badges and left the SS badges and lion emblems
then a claybar, white T-cut and wax





then blackened all the window seals on the car with tyre black.




new LS1 covers fitted


then cleaned inside the door jams


Tow bar removed and boot jams cleaned and polished




plans are for now is an OTR and maffless, then can work up to a cam, new coilovers, bushes new sway bars and SSV rims. Its really just a weekend car so im not going to go nuts on it power wise. Already have another project car I should be spending money on.

p.s if anyone wants to swap their stock VX tail lamps with mine give us a yell, I prefure the stock look.

[ucwepn]

very clean and tidy nice work.

[666-GMH]

Spoiler gone, Stock Tails (Like you planned) and some lowering, and BAM, its perfect!
Looks awesome mate.

[Reaper]

Tidy car .

Another vote here for the stock tail lights - why people put those shockers on is beyond me.

Reaper

[silviadore]

spoilers staying, everyone despoilers and I think it suits the car

[DLFHUB666]

Gotta love white SS's (im not Biased ). suggestion, get the black grilles on the bumper sprayed white looks heaps cleaner.

[Needsy]

nice looking SS mate

[silviadore]

suggestion, get the black grilles on the bumper sprayed white looks heaps cleaner.

agreed, I love stupidly clean white cars. Is something I was thinking about for sure! White grills will just make it that much cleaner

[DLFHUB666]

I wil be putting up a few fronts shots of mine over the weekend sometime just to give you an idea. its under Dlfhub's vx ss.

[TGR 35S]

spoilers staying, everyone despoilers and I think it suits the car

Yes stock light look so much better,, I could never take the wing of mine it ain't a ss with out the wing plus it makes it look like a plain vx,, by the way nice ss

[Mirkz]

Man, that is a fkn clean car. I'm envious.
I wish mine was as clean as that!

[silviadore]

I will be putting up a few fronts shots of mine over the weekend sometime just to give you an idea. its under Dlfhub's vx ss.

thanks keen to see

Mirkz, didnt become clean from just being clean. Took almost 60 hours of detailing. Lucky I took the week off work! The most annoying thing is the body.

Wash > Dry > Claybar > Wash > Dry > White Polish > Wax.. by the end of that your arms getting rather sore from doing that to such a large car. Persistence pays off. Set yourself little goals and you wont overwhelm yourself with the amount of work that needs to be done

[Mirkz]

I think I needa claybar mine, but I've never used claybar before.
What exactly does it do to the paint etc ? Benefits etc?

I've got a week off coming up so I'd potentially be interested to do it then.

[silviadore]

over time you get gritty bits lodging themselfs into the paint/clearcoat. You can buy a claybar kit for about 30-40 bucks, I have used the mothers brand one a few times with excellent results

You first must wash the car and dry as normal. You then spray the car with the product given (showtime if its mothers) soapy water can also be used. Just needs to make the surface slipery.

You hold the clay bar in your hand and rub it backwards and forwards down the length of the panel which picks up all the gritty shit in the paint. Do one panel at a time and wipe off with a microfibre cloth after each panel. Spend the time neccesary until the paint feels like glass to rub with the back of your hand, which only takes a couple of minutes really. Then after the whole car is done you re wash and use a good quality wax (meguires tech wax 2 is brilliant imo) to protect the clear from becoming gritty. Maintain the wax on the car and you shouldnt have to do the car again for another 12 months.

[Pedro1234]

then blackened all the window seals on the car with tyre black.

nice man, how did you do this? just masking tape and newspaper? i might do this to my car this weekend, also will it work for the plastic bit where the windscreen wipers sit, mines faded.

other than that, it looks really tidy

[Mirkz]

Legend mate, cheers will look into it.
It's exactly what I'm after. My paint at the moment feels shit and not silk smooth as it should and no amount of polish has seemed to fix.

[silviadore]

nice man, how did you do this? just masking tape and newspaper? i might do this to my car this weekend, also will it work for the plastic bit where the windscreen wipers sit, mines faded.

other than that, it looks really tidy

na man.. just masking tape

[silviadore]

finally no more shit lights



very happy with the look of the car now, just neat and simple

[silviadore]

new badges to update the car a bit





so much neater and makes the car appear newer than it is

[ucwepn]

Looking good I love the original look.