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Dceivdu's VQ statesman 5l WIP (last budget project)

DCEIVDU

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Yes it's true, I've done it yet again. I've swapped a car that I spent time and money on and got something that I need to start all over spending time and money with. It's a never.ending cycle of wasting money for me, but on the bright side, with every new car, there is something about it that I wanted to have. With this, my 1989 VQ Statement 5 litre was what made me swap.

It all started when my car was Playing up a little bit. I had some idling issues on occasion as well as some concerning noises coming from the engine. I also have reason to believe that I had damaged second in my gearbox.

All this wet and rainy weather since Sunday has made it's way into my boot and leaking through my roof near the rear window rubber.

I was getting frustrated and a little disheartened, so impulsively, I posted my car up for sale with a half hearted Intention to go through with it. I advertised for $3,000.00 and added that I might swap, should a statesman come across.

The very next day my swapping idea came to fruition when I was offered a 1989 VQ statesman 5 litre v8. I was quite excited at the initial thought of possibly owningowning my first v8 however the initial thoughts were soon overridden when I we nt to visit the owner to have a look at eachothers cars. The VQ had no boot, a 3rd of a bumper, stuffed electrics, no high beam, no dash illumination, almost no brakes, vice grip holding rear shock in place, split bushes on right front lower control arm, overspray on front and rear windows, no power steering, chrome trim broken and parts missing, and VX SS seats that weren't bolted in.

I know, what the hell was I thinking? Well to be honest, I wasn't. The only thing that was going through my head was "oh my God, v8 v8 v8 v8 v8 v8 v8". The guy was pretty slick with selling it to me also. Basically he opened the door to let me see the inside, started the engine and gave it a few revs and then closed the door and proceeded to my car.

To make matters worse, the address I went to was his alleged house but he was in the process of moving out. There was a matress and a TV. That was about it. We closed the deal, I'm still going "v8 v8 v8 v8" in my head, shook hands and went our separate ways.

I hopped into the VQ, started her up and notice that I had no dash lights and one head light. thought to myself "should be an easy fix", and drive off. on the way home it started spitting and guess what? I had no windscreen wipers. To top it all off I couldn't read any guages and had no way of telling how much petrol or gas I had left.

When I got to my partners house without getting pulled up by the boys in blue 'thank god', the missus and her family were shocked to see that I traded a very respectable 5speed VR berlina for a bomb. My brother in law was the only one who took the time with me to sort out some of the issues to make the car a little more drivable. He was also the only one besides myself who could see it's potential.

Good points are, running gear seems to be top notch. Engine appears to have some work done to it, it's loud and sounds tough and came with a little toy bear that swears at me.

I have got my work cut out for me that's for sure. Hope everyone will be kind to me in regards to procuring such a rough vehicle. Any advice would be great as this is my first VQ and my first v8 so I'm not as experienced as I am with v6's.

P.S. This post was started last night, but I fell asleep lol and finished it now. Will post progress pics today as I have alot of work planned for today.
 

LAP004

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looking forward to seeing the pic,s.

hey vq 5ltr definatly worth spending money to fix. and nothing wrong with been a little ruff my white vp was a **** box when i picked it up.

good luck wit it mate.
 

DCEIVDU

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looking forward to seeing the pic,s.

hey vq 5ltr definatly worth spending money to fix. and nothing wrong with been a little ruff my white vp was a **** box when i picked it up.

good luck wit it mate.

Thanks mate, appreciate it. It's a big job but I want to give it a go. Come across another problem while driving it today, it tried to stall at lights and sometimes does stall. Not sure why. It's when I run it on gas. I haven't tried it with petrol. Not sure what it could be..
 

Sokoza

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You're a silly bugger, Im all for v8's but you could have scored a much better one. That was a deal you were supposed to walk (or run) away from. Good on you for having a big heart for the poor old VQ but I hope your wallet is in ratio of 1:1 of that heart size, maybe even 2:1.
 

LAP004

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Thanks mate, appreciate it. It's a big job but I want to give it a go. Come across another problem while driving it today, it tried to stall at lights and sometimes does stall. Not sure why. It's when I run it on gas. I haven't tried it with petrol. Not sure what it could be..

not sure about how the gas systems work. but it may be a tps issue. could be many things
 

DCEIVDU

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You're a silly bugger, Im all for v8's but you could have scored a much better one. That was a deal you were supposed to walk (or run) away from. Good on you for having a big heart for the poor old VQ but I hope your wallet is in ratio of 1:1 of that heart size, maybe even 2:1.

I agree. It's a huge job. I have spent about $800 in the first 3 days... And it's starting to look slightly better. Brakes I think is my main problem as it's scary to drive out of fear something will fall off and I crash.
 

DCEIVDU

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not sure about how the gas systems work. but it may be a tps issue. could be many things

That's what IM thinking. Hasn't done it today but I only drive it around the block to see if changing the right rear wheel would alleviate the horrible noise I keep heating. Also when driving the rear end jolts to the side when it hits a bump or under a bit of throttle and I think changing the wheel might have fixed it but as I said I only took it for a quick spin.
 

JTR007

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19109d1363380487-jody-arias-man-killer-158707d1327855206-ttiwwp.jpg
 

stockies

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I know how to fix the gas issue.

Rip it out.
 
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