01 Caprice

[WHCapriceHBD]

Next up (aside from the MSD ignition goodies) I will be respraying the boot lid & deck spoiler and then will remove the bonnet and respray it.

It has some failing clear coat in patches, and I'm not satisfied with that. The rest of the car is perfect in comparison, so I will get the spray gun out and sort these two panels out.

Also have ordered a new set of chrome bumper & side moulding strips too, but they are further away at the moment, at about 4 weeks ETA.

And looking at the old battery sitting in the car, not impressed with it being 460CCA and it looks pretty old & shabby too. So got a new Optima red top battery also on the way, and a new positive terminal cover too. That way every car I own has an Optima red top- I have no patience for Kmart quality batteries these days!!!!!

 

[WHCapriceHBD]

Umm. Just bought a set of new 19 inch wheels & tires... It was an accident, I swear

Pick them up next week- photos to come.

They are classy and they go well with the car, I promise. Nothing wild.

(I will take off the original HBD 17 inch wheels and put them in storage, as they are original and should be kept with the car)

 

[WHCapriceHBD]

New wheels!

These are brand new 19x8 ROH Flare rims with new 245/35/ZR19 tires.

I think they clean the look of the car up a LOT

Very pleased with how its all coming along so far

 

[kangavxss]

Wheels are nice..updates it a bit to. Funny thing you went from 17eens to 19eens and ive gone the opposite back to original ss 17een inch wheels ( after i fixed the gutter rash and repainted them ,they are like new) because i wanted a softer ride for a while which is nice and must be a sign im getting old..Keep up the good work.

 

[Skydrol]

Nice upgrade, love it ! :thumbsup:

 

[peeds13]

Looking good mate, I want ur sunroof!

 

[WHCapriceHBD]

Got a strut tower brace bar off a VY or VZ SS. It fits VT to VZ, as they all use the same strut towers. Only issue is, on a WH (not sure about other models) you need to drill 2 new holes in each strut tower and drop the struts down to access the bolts.

I'm a bit skeptical of strut tower brace bars doing a lot. This was $69 and I was looking to stop the strut towers from flexing and cracking, as a lot of Commodores get. Took it for a drive and surprisingly the low speed turn-in feels a little bit nicer. Also, over uneven driveways and gutters, the front feels very very slightly firmer and not quite as soggy.
Definitely can't hurt to have one on there!

Also wet sanded and buffed the headlights as they were slightly yellowed looking.

And began buying a WH Grange kit for the car. Front bumper will be here next week!!

 

[commodore1994]

Looking good. News wheels suit it well.

 

[WHCapriceHBD]

Got really tired of looking at this every day (the WH Caprice/Statesman fronts really don't do it for me)

So I went about changing it to something I liked a bit more.

I found that the darker lower body tone on a Quicksilver WH Caprice is called "H156 Grigio Silver Metallic" this took weeks of searching to find...

I got the painting done and then went to mount the fog lights into the bar.... Uh oh. Contrary to what EVERYONE on the internet tells you, WH Statesman/Caprice fog lights DO NOT just fit a WH Grange front bar... The Grange uses very rare, very special adaptor brackets to get the fog lights to fit. This bar did not come with those Grange-only fog light mounting brackets... So I had to stop and make them from scratch out of aluminium plates... It was a bit tedious.

The sump guard/ bash plate that came on the car for some reason..

I opted to paint the lower part of the Grange bumper in the darker Grigio Silver Metallic H156, to tie it into the dark silver around the bottom half of the rest of the car. Hence, this is not a Grange replica. I dub thee "Caprange". And it did not look too bad.

Also got time to take the bonnet off and respray it to fix the failing clear.

Next will likely be the Grange side skirts in the darker H156 to match the Caprice paint job, then the rear bumper.

 

[WHCapriceHBD]

And just putting these here because I STRUGGLED to find out what the lower body colour of my WH was. I found these handy tables on Facebook.