Refurbishing more modern vehicles.

[c2105026]

Hi,

This year in NSW even more VN and EA falcons are eligible for h-plates in NSW, as well as a variety of other 1989 models.

I am starting to see a few late 80s-Early 90s vehicles advertised as ‘projects’

Got me thinking - how different is car restoration going to be in the future as compared to the past?

Take the VT Commodore, now it is 19-22 yrs old. Not a lot of chrome to replate, but exposed plastic trim may need rejuvenation, refinishing or total replacement with NOS or good 2nd hand items. The body may not have a lot of rust in it, and the dashboard may not crack, but the clear is susceptible to peeling, and the fabric becomes unstuck from the seats.

The complexity of electrics could be a nightmare; however if kept away from heat and moisture electrical circuits can last a very long time. On the upside, modern motors and transmissions tend to last a lot longer than the Holden drivetrains of old, so in your project vehicle may not need overhauling. Airbags in seats can prove to be a challenge for trimming.

Thoughts?

 

[afstruct]

I would imagine that yeah electrics and plastics, not just exposed but lots of internal plastics ( eg: vr-vs dash fascia clips are notorious for breaking) will be a huge problem into the future.
Electrics ( unless you're savy with) will just be expensive.
Plastics I think will be the bigger problem.

Probably emphasizes that need to purchase the best condition you can possibly afford .

 

[Astranomical]

I have a 1994 Mazda GE 626 that I bought a couple of years ago as a project. The main issues I've found with it, being a 90's car are as follows:

- Paint. Clear coat in the 90's wasn't fantastic, and with my car having spent most of its life in the sun, the clear coat is going in a few places. Best thing would be to respray it, though sadly I'm poor so I have to make do with the peeling clear coat for the forseeable future.

- Interior plastics. ABS plastics used in 90's onwards cars and extreme heat are not a good combination, and in a lot of old cars will be starting to go brittle, especially in cars that have spent their life in the sun. Every time a GE shows up at Pick 'n' Payless I grab the change box from it so I can keep a few spares. Finding a cup holder that wasn't busted was particularly challenging - in the end I had to make a good one out of two busted ones. When I first got the car the instrument cluster surround was busted, was about a month before I found a good one. I keep a few spares of those as well, which I store in a cool, dark place. (my garage) Unfortunately though I'm generally restricted to being able to get them from '96/'97 cars, for now. Any older, and no matter how gentle I am with removing them, even if I treat them like glass they break.

Electrics - depending on the car things like the ECU, transmission computer/etc should generally be fairly reliable, in the 626 they're all inside the dash and fairly safe, however if they're in a place where they can get wet in the event of a spill or door seals failing they can fail. If you're a purist and you want to retain your stock stereo, that will be an issue. Depending on how well they've been looked after head units from the 90's will be starting to cark it and speakers will be starting to decay. I've got a few spare tape decks and CD players so I can retain the stock setup for a while. For now at least I've had to put an Alpine in my VN Calais, while it had the stock cassette player when I bought it, I can't get it to accept its PIN code (even though I have the correct code on paperwork from Holden which matches both the car's VIN and the stereo's serial number). It won't even accept the test 1111 or 111111 PIN codes. When I first bought the car the ignition system was completely knackered, though thats an issue that can affect any car of any era. If the electrical system has been modified that can cause complications. The 626 was on gas when I bought it which caused a number of issues. Once I had the LPG system removed it was like a whole different car.

Vacuum systems - cars from the 80's and 90's will still have a fair amount of vacuum operated stuff and a lot of vacuum hoses that are starting to go brittle at around this point. On the 626 the vacuum system runs the VRIS system and the cruise control. I've had a couple of problems with vacuum leaks in the past, and I suspect that the issue I'm still having with the cruise not working is vacuum related. My VN also still has a vacuum leak that I need to sort out that causes the interior air to only go to the floor vents under hard acceleration. (common issue with VN - VS)

 

[MasterOfReality]

I'm looking at tidying up my vp in the near future. Mostly minor cosmetic stuff as it's in pretty good nick for something that's nearly 30 years old.

I spent almost a year tracking down 23i steel blue fabric for the roof lining.

Interior plastics are all good. Nothing faded, warped or broken.

Electrics work apart from intermittent drivers side power window switch. Already pulled it apart to clean and resolder but its stuffed. Can get new old stock on ebay.

I still thinking how to do the chrome strip in the bumpers and refresh the plastic channel it sits in. Chrome strip is actually some type of film, the channels might be able to be sprayed. Window surrounds are fading so will need to look at those too.

New badges, refurbished wheels and rebolstered seats will finish it.

 

[gohrdrgomad]

Hi,

This year in NSW even more VN and EA falcons are eligible for h-plates in NSW, as well as a variety of other 1989 models.

I am starting to see a few late 80s-Early 90s vehicles advertised as ‘projects’

Got me thinking - how different is car restoration going to be in the future as compared to the past?

Take the VT Commodore, now it is 19-22 yrs old. Not a lot of chrome to replate, but exposed plastic trim may need rejuvenation, refinishing or total replacement with NOS or good 2nd hand items. The body may not have a lot of rust in it, and the dashboard may not crack, but the clear is susceptible to peeling, and the fabric becomes unstuck from the seats.

The complexity of electrics could be a nightmare; however if kept away from heat and moisture electrical circuits can last a very long time. On the upside, modern motors and transmissions tend to last a lot longer than the Holden drivetrains of old, so in your project vehicle may not need overhauling. Airbags in seats can prove to be a challenge for trimming.

Thoughts?

ld have to disagree about the modern motor etc outlasting the previouse.. Depending on the "owner" can depend on how well/poor condition the car and functional components are.
You cant rechrome plastic..
Rare spares are limited...
The trend is skyrocketing the prices of restoes to the point some cars wont be worth half the cost to complete..
No difference in past resto to present just more options costing more cookies$$$$$$$$$$

 

[Whiteshark68]

@MasterOfReality when i had my vp calais i had the same problem with a intermittent drivers side power window, found it wasn't the switch but a break in the door wiring in the hinge area might be worth it to look there if you haven't already

 

[sleepa]

You cant rechrome plastic..

Pretty sure you can get old plastic parts chrome plated, as long as they are ABS plastic, no different from 60's 70's cars.
ABS can be glued and refinished, and Polypropylene can be plastic welded and painted (add in some Matte to the vinyl paint) and printed with the matching vinyl/plastic imprint.
Of course it will be hard to get the original look, but not impossible to get something looking very respectable.

Electrics can be a pain, depends on the car, some are bulletproof and others are useless garbage. Take the XC Barina SRI (astra Motor) for example. They mounted the PCM ON the engine. Doesn't take too long for it to fail. Also the Airbag module tends to get wet and then has the potential to deploy the airbags at random.

But some cars have much more reliable electrics.

Either way it is going to be a lot of work to restore them. My advice would be to choose the project very wisely and do tons of research on the common problems they could have beforehand.

PS. I have some VR/VS electrics and modules on hand, who wants them

 

[MasterOfReality]

@MasterOfReality when i had my vp calais i had the same problem with a intermittent drivers side power window, found it wasn't the switch but a break in the door wiring in the hinge area might be worth it to look there if you haven't already

Cheers mate. I'll give that a go soon. Hopefully that's all it is.

 

[VT&VX]

Second hand parts may be cheap and easy to find/install, but If you can setup a tent and learn how to spray paint your car in that tent, that would be the best skill for keeping these projects going.

 

[losh1971]

[QUOTE="sleepa, post: 3006043,

PS. I have some VR/VS electrics and modules on hand, who wants them [/QUOTE] i might be interested depending on the price.