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How to: Install VX calais rear lights on a VT

Nthn_Suss

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I recently did this conversion and found there to be no step by step thread about it to guide me, but info needed spread out across a few different threads. So I decided to write this up, I hope it helps someone in the future.

First off you will need the following parts:
1 x Pair of VX taillights
1 x VX Calais garnish
1 x Lower Boot decal for garnish (piece of plastic around the numberplate)
2 x VX taillight harness'
2 x VT Calais boot garnish stop/taillight looms
Few metres of single core wire
4 x Wire splicers (or you can solder the connections if you like)
2 x Orange indicator globes (if your upgrading from s1 VT, s2 will have them already)
2 x Stop/Tail light globes (dual element type)
Your paint code
Sikaflex


For this conversion hold onto EVERY screw/bolt removed as they are used to secure in all the new parts.

before you can install it all you must get your paintcode off your buildplate and have the plastic numberplate surround painted in that colour. Shop around, mine was done for $50.

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Remove your existing lights and garnish. To do this just unscrew your numberplate and remove. Then pop the boot and you'll see 2 screws holding in each tail light. Unscrew them and then gently pull away rom the body slightly, then push towards the side of the car they are located on. Eg RHS light you gently push to the right to release the little tabs holding it in. Then unplug all the globes from the light sockets and remove the light entirely.
Now inside the boot itself you must pull back the carpetting behind the taillights and disconnect the harness so you can remove it. This just unplugs and then you push/pull the rubber grommit through the hole the wires are running through. It may take a bit of manouvering but if you squish down the inside rubber lip it'll come through easy enough.

NOTE: If you have a bootlid spoiler with LED brake light you will have 2 wires spliced onto the brake light wiring BEFORE the wires pass through the grommit to the exterior of the car. The RED wire will be on the BROWN + BLUE wire and the BLACK on the BLACK wire. Undo the splices and put to the side.

Repeat the same for the other side.
Inside the bootlid from underneath you will see the looms for the reverse lights, these unplug and come straight out.
To remove the garnish itself you'll have to remove the 3 torque screws on the lower section of the bootlid and 2 bigger bolts on each side. Then if you look through the holes in the underside of the bootlid to the back of the garnish you'll see 2 long threads coming down, one on each side, with a little nut screwed up into it. Unscrew those nuts and the whole garnish assembley should pop right off. Before you can totally remove it you must unplug the number plate lights from the garnish.

Then you must remove the key barrel off the decklid so the new garnish can fit. This is done by pulling the little horseshoe shaped clip at the base of the barrel up and then it will drop down and you can pull it out through the back of the bootlid. Inside it's connected to the lock itself by a series of plastic clips, I just pryed mine off but I'm sure you could be gentle and make it re-useable in the future. Now your car will look naked But it's soon wearing it's Sunday Best with the much, MUCH sexier VX Calais gear.

Start off by runing the new taillight harness' through the hole behind the taillight itself and pluging them in. To reconnect your spoiler lights place the red wire in and then splice it onto the brown/blue wire going to the brake light BEFORE the grommit again. Then do the sme with the black and black wires. Now this is where you must run the power wire from the RHS to the LHS light for the reverse lights. Splice in a length of wire from the RHS harness on the GREEN wire from inside the boot and run it under the carpetting of the boot to the LHS. Splice it back into the GREEN wire on the LHS harness and make sure the wire is well secured under the carpetting. Hiding it away underneath the plastic lip that runs along the boot (where the lock latches onto) is an option.
Now plug in your globes and reverse the removal procedure of the VT lights to install the new VX ones.

The new garnish goes on exactly the same as the old one, so just reverse the removal procedure for the VT one to install the VX one. You will find the numberplate lights dont fit in the VX garnish sockets, this leaves you with 2 options. 1 is buy the proper ones for a VX calais garnish from holden parts and install them, or just grab a small file and make the holes bigger like I did. Make them just big enough for you to put the lights through, 1mm all round would be fine, and they sit nice and snug if done properly. Then run some sikaflex around the back of the number plate surround (paintmatched to your body colour of course) and stick it onto the new garnish, clipping it along the bottom. Now you can redo the 2 nuts from the inside of the bootlid, the 4 bolts from the sides and the 3 torque screws.
Inside the bootlid you will see the 2 looms from where you removed the reverse lights, plug in the VT Calais harness' and then plug the taillights into the boot garnish. This was very straight forward on mine as the loom had the stop light wires run to it already, although Holden inform me not all cars will. You may need to run wires from your side tail lights to the back of the bootlid and then up into it to power the bootlid taillights. Then just screw on your numberplate and HEY PRESTO!!

Hope this is informative to anyone thinking about doing this conversion.
 

malik

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i am confused ?!?!!?!
 

troykinsvt

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the vt light harness has the reverse lights in the boot garnish,so when you change to a 3 globe light you need to splice the green...the left hand side dosent have a reverse light wire (green) the right side does, so you have to splice the green wire (reverse) from the right side and run a wire to the left side ..(the new wiring loom) has a green wire that you bridge from RHS to LHS ........


for the reverse lights to work
 

Jenko

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Do i have to do the same wiyh my vx s 2? splice the wires etc. or is there a loom already seeing as its basically the same chassis?
 
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