Need a few pointers,

[phantomloita]

Hey all,
Im new here but I must say looks like a pretty good forum,

Anyway I'm getting myself a VP soon and I really don't know much about them, so can you guys give me some pointers on what I should look out on these cars,
Im looking at the V6 model. And also another question is how much power can these automatic tranny take as I have a Eaton supercharger sitting around.

 

[centy]

oil leak around the sump.
A real pain in the arse to fix, have to remove engine to do it, nearly.
water leak into boot.
rear quarter glasses need to be resealed.
bonnet hitting windscreen when you lift it.
oil hinges and bend brackets back down then get new windscreen.
Check colour of the trans oil.
red is good, brown is bad.

 

[azkwazere]

centy sorta had it....

The boot of water thing isn't always the rear glass, thats a VR thing, the boot leak was the rear tail lights on the VP's... usually anyway.

Look out for rust naturally, make sure there is no lifter noise on startup.

Drive the auto pretty hard and check for slippage

Make sure you do an ice cold start to check for smoke, noises etc. (ie, dont let them pre warm it)

Check the welsh plugs are intact, mainly the rear ones.

Oil leaks are a general thing

Check the suspension by bouncing it a few times, make sure there is sufficent recoil.

Make sure fuel pump primes for a good few seconds on startup, no strange noises

To some static full locks and listen to the P/S pump, make sure there is not excessive noise (its a wine)

Check for brake fade, shudder and biased pull, do a few stops from about 50-60 with relative force

Check for backlash by doing some low speed jabs of throttle in 1st gear, should make a light clunk but noting excessive

Check front and rear demisters

Check heater works and coolant system is flowing effectively

Make sure it sits around 1/4-1/2 in temp and that the fan comes on when at around 1/2...

Open the radiator while cold and idleing to check for bubbles in the coolant, also for milky residue...

Check lower battery tray for rust and corrision

Do some relativly quick, tight corners (not hooning, just slightly above normal) to check fuel surge and condition of pump, will also highlight cap seal and breather hose fuel smell issues

That should get you started, Vp's a re a good car!

aZk.