Slight update, Have been a little busy with this, Had to bite the bullet and spend money on the V6 engine, didn't want to, wanna get a 5 litre So, the radiator, heater tap, ALL heater hoses have been replaced. Inlet manifold gasket has been replaced, starter motor and Crank Angle Sensor have all been replaced. No more stranded on the side of the road, waiting for a tow truck. Car would die from a faulty CAS, and not restart due to a stuffed starter motor. Fun times, got caught out on a Saturday night at 2:30am with a nice 5 degrees outside, and had to get the bastard towed. Girlfriend wanted to set fire to it to keep her warm, I very nearly agreed Also new battery terminals have been fitted and a new ground to the body installed, made from 0 gauge cable. Have seen a noticeable effect with no more voltage drop and brighter headlights/dash lights. The 315mm rear brakes have been installed too, damn it pulls up quick! Must be one of the only POS looking VN's on the road with decent brakes!
Can now add new High performance battery to the list too. Must of had one to many jump starts.... Smelled like, well if you have smelled a cooked battery, you'll know.
Wow your sound deadener crazy! Forget the only VN that stops, more like the quietest VN ever! I rip the stuff out when ever i find it, to heavy Would love to hear it from the inside at 110km/h now.
Yeah I know... But I'm only about halfway finished with the deader..... Still got doors, boot and parcel shelf left. as for at 110km/h, that's when the crappy door seals let all the damn noise in. Have got a new set for the front, but not for the back. That's IF I can remember where i put them 6 months ago... Been looking for them for a few days now
I got new seals for mine to. But on the front windows most the noise comes from up in the to rear corner of the actual door, push that bit back up and it gets a fair bit quieter. Door seals wouldn't fix that, you know what I'm talking about?
So, little update on how the VN is going... Had to bite the bullet with the V6 engine and fix it as it was, well stuffed So timing chain, water pump, inlet gaskets, timing cover gasket, heater tap, ALL heater hoses where replaced. Unfortunately, I replaced the inlet manifold gaskets first to fix the leaky son - of - bitch, But the timing cover was where it was at... Also did the crank angle sensor and harmonic balancer while the front of the engine was apart. Hopefully no more leaks and I can drive the bloody thing further than the end of my street without needing a tow Threw in a pic of the massive front stoppers for your enjoyment as well. Have fixed a problem with the rear 315mm stoppers too, the handbrake shoes where about 1mm out and wearing on the inside of the disk FML... Also made use of the rear mount ciggy lighter and installed a USB charger in there. After installing a new battery and battery terminals, I have finished installing the 0 gauge stereo wire to the battery, now to get motivated to finish it off in the boot... Once I did the new terminals, I took advantage of the 0 gauge hole and installed a new 0 gauge B & S rated cable to the main earth point under the bonnet. Also replaced the factory earth with similar sized cable as it was getting quite brittle. Will eventually replace all the engine bay earths and starter wire with 0 gauge cable, got a whole roll of the stuff through work for cheap. I put some Aunger headlight covers on too, found them after looking for something else in the shed. Threw in a pic of the mess behind my glove box too, will have to sort it out sometime soon. Have started on dyeing the VS Calais felt pillar covers I have too, so they should match the darker VN interior grey. Will have to find some time to install some new speakers to it as well, as I have also bought a set of Alpine DDLinear's to go in. Currently unable to work on it though, pulled the tendons out of their sheaths on my right hand So, once I'm healed, hopefully I can put the interior back together 100% (would be the first time in 4 years)
so, Tried to drive it for the first time in a few weeks (been injured) did about 3.5 km in it and I snapped the bolts that hold the caliper on the front drivers side..... Or the plate that holds the caliper... NOT ###EN HAPPY!!!!!!
Holy crap batman. Had a look to see what broke yet? Very interested to know if the adapter bracket broke or not.
So, found the problem, snapped the top bolt off the caliper that goes to the adapter bracket... So looks like the bolt failed. Has been replaced (both sides) with highest tensile steel bolts I could find. Had to get the drivers side adapter plate replaced, as the thread inside was looking pretty shonky.
Thanks mate, must admit, came bloody close to torching it this time... Fix one thing, then something else breaks... Be sure to stay tuned for the next mechanical drama!
So, cos I'm lazy (or addicted to eBay) I have purchased some original VQ Caprice A and B pillar covers, The really swank ones covered in felt. So now the interior will be all Caprice - When its together.... Been looking for the lower B pillar trims for ages.... So hard to find!! Also picked up a series 1 VQ Caprice console too, the grey velour one. Kind of getting sick of the wood grain look, and the leather one fitted currently has heaps of holes from where a phone kit used to be, back in the day. I put a old BURY kit there to cover the holes, but recently donated the kit to the missus car. Sick of looking at the holes, really lets the interior down. Just organizing the final pieces for a respray too, tossing up between a bonnet bulge (Group A) and SV5000 or Group A wheel arch thingos. Have a set of SV5000 ones, but I've been thinking them may not suit the Calais look.
Next mechanical drama, The bloody walbro fuel pump has **** itself.... The RACV must love me, i'm calling them once a fortnight lately...
So, I'm now thinking this car hates me... Fuel pump went because of contaminated fuel, 1" master cylinder is leaking, getting replaced with a newie today, and there's some kind of vacuum leak that's making it idle funny.... Must want some loving, or a massive beat down, cos I'm about sell it. Or send it to the scrap heap, depends on weather it wants to start or not...
Got the VN back last night, feels good to drive it again. Has pedal feel in it again, sooo much better to drive. Its true as to what everyone says, if you upgrade the brakes, upgrade the master cylinder and booster. Fingers crossed for no more mechanical issues, VN has a date with the panel shop.
