99 Series 1 VT Senator

[kangavxss]

Bet they are hard to come by and expensive ??

 

[vrsprspt]

Beautiful car mate, love the look of those Calais V wheels, very tidy.

Thanks mate, would have rathered VE Senator rims but for the price couldn't pass these up

Yep those strut top mounts do collapse and are noisey as hell when they do( mine was anyway )..
Does the VT senator rear boot wing have a third brake light..your spoiler sits a lot lower than a standard
SS one which looks a heap better? Was thinking of changing mine to one of those..

Could hear my strut tops squealing when you turned the wheel the first couple of times, the noise was what made go looking for the problem.
Senator boot spoiler does have a 3rd brake light, I like how it sits lower, gives the car a sleeker look about it. How hard they are to come by I don't know cause have never looked, a factory one probably would be hard because there wasn't many Senators made, only 568 in series 1 I believe. Series 2 and probably VX would be the same I reckon or you could go for an aftermarket fibreglass job if there even is any. Expense wise I would guess they would be up there because there isn't many of them to start with and a wrecker would want a good dollar for one I reckon.

Also another piece of the puzzle arrived today, just waiting on bearings and then will be ready to go. Thinking might put it off for a few weeks at least because it is almost due for its 170,000k service. So thinking when ready to get serviced, fit new struts then can get wheel alignment at the same time. At the rate I drive it at the moment it will take me 3 months to get near the scheduled service ks

 

[vrsprspt]

Finally got to fit everything up today, feels heaps tighter in the front end. Booked in on Thursday for 170,000k service and wheel alignment.

 

[vrsprspt]

Senator had it's 170,000k service last week, doing more regular ks now since have sold my SS, pretty happy with how it's driving at the moment. Also found that can fit 245/35/19 tyres on the front now, got my mate to try the rears on the front to see if it would work now that the struts have been changed from KYB to Monroes. Now contemplating doing a diff ratio change to 3.45 or fix the aircon that has decided to stop working. It was pointed out to me a couple of months ago that the compressor was leaking, done a little research and found it might just be a couple of seals costing around $14 instead of $500 for a new compressor.

On another note, in the first couple of weeks owning the car the sunroof started playing up. With some fiddling and trying to figure what or why it was playing up I put it down to a faulty switch. Did some looking around and seen wreckers were wanting anywhere from $35 to $55 for a 2nd hand switch, so screw that I thought, I'll wait and keep an eye out for a cheaper one. Had a bit of a read on what problems other people were having with their sunroofs and how they solved them. Came across some similar problems I was having and people were using a button sequence that reset the sunroof. Found the manual online for the Holliander Sunroofs that gave you the instructions on how to do it and hey presto, a fully operational sunroof. Before it would only work around 1 in 10 times I tried it, less at the start but problem gradualy got worse, now it works every time.

 

[kangavxss]

Coming along well..Front struts..I went from Monroe GT Sports with SL Kings to KYB Excel G and King Lows cos the Monroes shat themselves in less than 3 years..Comparing the KYB and Monroes the KYBs look better made and stronger spring seat..I still can fit 245/30/20 tyres in there no problem..hope yours last longer than mine..
Diff gears..3.73 gears are a better option as a good all round gear for city and highway driving..a lot better pick up off the line and on kick down and only sit a couple hundred revs higher than 3.45 gears at 100 kmph.
Try to get original gears ( aftermarket can whine as I found out) and use Penrite pro gear 80/140 diff oil as it doesn't need any additive..you will also need a speedo recalibration after changing diff gears..

 

[vrsprspt]

Yeah been having a look around for a about a month now, 3.45 seems to be the more popular option and there's not alot around for 3.7s.
Penrite gear oil is what I used in the current diff when I changed the oil, but have since learnt that mine is a hydratrak centre and they can't be serviced. Don't like the fact that it will sometimes single when sponning the wheels, makes it unpredictable at times. Is another reason am considering a ratio change if I'm going to change the diff may as well do it while I'm in there, but will be a whole new diff so I can just swap the entire unit out. Was aware of needing the speedo recalibrated afterwards as well, appreciate the help though. Thinking of a mail order tune from The1 off the forum here, have seen him get plenty of good wraps, recalibrated speedo and an aftermarket tune to go with it

 

[ephect]

U cant service the hydratrack center but u can change the oil. I remember reading on here that there was a mob that could service the center, but for the price might as well go trutrack, etc, whatever the young ones are doing these days

Is the ride harsher now with the redtops?

Still gotta see this thing in the flesh. Photos of this thing are awesome.

 

[vrsprspt]

Is the ride harsher now with the redtops?

It is noticeable but not to the point that makes the ride unbareable, the Senator is at stock height though, something lowered like yours ephect might be a different story. I also read here somewhere about the servicing of the Hydratrak centre, that's why I decided to just get a whole new LSD

Bit the bullet and went and picked up a new 3.45 ratio diff today, was a straight up bloke with plenty of advice, just worked by himself out of a workshop down in Keysborough. Also offered me a diff mount if mine was no good, said he had plenty and wouldn't miss it, have no idea if the current mount is any good or not so took it anyway, and he then threw in the diff cover that was heaps cleaner than the one he used to go with it.

 

[vrsprspt]

Spent most of the day yestertday just having a muck around with a couple of different things on the Senator. Was going to fit new diff but after had got car up on stands, came to realise the 8mm allen key I needed for the drive shafts was missing from my set so thought screw it and decided to move on to look at some other smaller issues that just bug me sometimes.

Have had the problem of the steering wheel controls not always working, something that has gradually got worse, had me thinking there was a bad connection/broken wire somewhere. Did some work with a test light and found there was no signal getting to the after market box that you splice in to get the controls working with an after market head unit. Then looked at the steering wheel or the plug just behind the wheel when you take the plastic covers off the column, couldn't test for power there because of the angle and how close it is to the dash, but plug looked like it was connected properly and the horn works and there is no air bag fault so just have to assume is all good there. What I did find out after doing some searching here was that the clock spring can be the issue, so will replace that and hopefully solves the problem

A problem I did manage to solve was both the front seats rocking backwards and forwards. I removed all mounting bolts so the whole seat could tilt back and I could get a proper look at what I was dealing with. Seen where the movement was and looked at how to get a washer in there to take up the slack, looked like a fiddly pain in the rear of a job to do to get the washer in where it needed to be. My solution was to find the right size washer and then with a cutting wheel on the angle grinder, make a slot so that the washer now looked like a horse shoe shape and then be able to slide it into place without having to pull everything apart, a bit of quick grip to hold the washers in place and will see how it goes staying in place, fingers crossed. Gave the bracket where the washer sits as good a clean as possible with some turps to get the grease off and give the best chance possible for the glue to keep the washers in place.

Didn't take any photos of what was done, once I start working don't really stop and think about doing things like that, too busy thinking of what I'm doing and figuring out what to do next. I have got a photo with the seat back in, it wasn't easy to get down there and still see if I was getting the photo I needed to. Hopefully you can make it out and see what I've done, circled where it is that the washer is now sitting

 

[vrsprspt]

Out with the old, in with the new. Test drove when finished this morning, did a few slow paced doughnuts both ways first and then went for a 10 mins. drive, no clunking/grinding noises so happy with that. Made the speedo read 5kmh over actual speed as shown on my GPS that was spot on before ratio change so have no issues trusting it, will have to chat to my mate with a scan tool about adjusting speedo or see if he will do it with the Tech 2 from his work