Tones VX SS Mod Thread

[kangavxss]

hahaha, another White VX SS appears on the forums, seem to be a few coming in these days, least yours is manual *hint hint* Kanga

And i can see its got the VY Shifter Knob on it to replace the Ugly VX one too.

AhhaaaHa..Dirb..what if i install a B&M pro ratchet shifter just to be different from you mob..they look tuff but dont know the pros and cons of using one?

 

[kangavxss]

glad to hear you didnt use Pedders Tones, they would have ripped you off. Replaced just about all suspension components on mine as well. Where abouts in SA are you?

 

[Tones]

Out near the Barossa Valley Kanga.
I've always been dubious of Pedders, but back when they had their cheaper $14.00 48 point check (or whatever it was), I thought I'd get it checked.
In their defence, they could have told me that the rear was cactus as well, but it passed.

 

[Tones]

It wasn't long after that, that I had what I thought was a slow leak on the front drivers side. Had to keep topping it up every couple of days. After about a week, I had a closer look and was horrified to find this -

You probably can't see it that well, but it was "tread separation".
Probably pretty lucky to catch it in time, not that I'm a hoon, but I don't mind pushing it just a little.
So, I ended up emailing Toyo Australia and they were good enough to offer me a Pro Rata warranty on the tyre, as well as the other front Toyo. Problem was, I needed tyres ASAP and had already fitted 4 new Achillies Sport, and had left the tyres at the shop.
Moral of the story - Don't be afraid to complain and at least contact manufactures etc and if you have time, wait for a reply before throwing out faulty products.

Achillies Sports. - Seemed a pretty good value for money tyre at the time. Not even 10,000 kms later they needed replaceing. BAD value for money.
Having said that, a mate got some around the same time in 20" and got nearly 50,000.
I ended up with new Toyo TEO Plus. Good tyres, good grip, good in the wet and so far good wear with no tread seperation.(yet?)

Around about this time and spending a whole swag of cash on the car, I realized it probably wasn't such a good buy. The first car I've owned in my life that I've lost money on.
But oh well, live and learn. It was at that point I decided it was going to be a "keeper" mainly because of the money already invested.

 

[Tones]

And here is the reason for all my spare time, with no ability to do diddley squat on my car.

The're about the only screws I've seen for quite a few weeks now.

 

[kangavxss]

I have Achilles Sport 2 (OK in the dry but in the wet very slippery) so will be buying a better brand next time. Lucky you discovered that bad tyre in time - could have been a very dangerous situation.
Yeah ive spent heaps on my ss as you can see in my thread link (nothing wrong with the car in any way when it was stock and probably still would have been reliable) but i like to modify to my liking
and to have a better performing and looking car so I just replaced parts that didnt need replacing anyway...and yes this is a keeper as well...

 

[kangavxss]

Ouch those x rays looks like it hurt...hope you get well soon M8 so you can work on your car...

 

[Tones]

VCM OTR.

It didn't take very long to get used to the power. So as soon as I had the spare cash I lashed out and bought a VCM OTR. A little fiddly to Install, but anyone can do it. Just take your time, be careful of your cuts and try not to rush things.
From memory I may have done a "How to" at the time, so I won't go into too much detail now.
I did a fair bit of research, and was pretty close to buying a Duspeed, but after talking to Dus I deceided for the sake of longevity that Alloy was the way to go. I know they get a bit hotter when sitting in traffic etc, but most of my driving is on a highway, so wasn't too bothered.

After marking out where it would sit, and ensuring the wiring is out of the way, I cut the plastic on top of the fans/radiator/condenser. I just used a coping saw. Did a pretty good job.

Then a Chisel to clean up the lip.

Then a Test fit.

This was my first attempt at cutting out the shroud, it's a bit tricky because the shroud doesn't sit flat. I have since bought another one. Still not perfect, but better.

 

[Tones]

MAFless Tune.

Then of course I needed a new tune and living quite rural, it was impossible to find a tuner locally.
A mate at work was telling me about a remote tune he got for his SV8 and was quite happy, I thought I'd give it a crack.
After talking to Steve at Oztrack, I deceided on a remote tune with this little Gizmo.

He sent another ECU (I wanted to keep mine which was already tuned so I could swap back if required) with a "base" tune. Then all I did was plug in the new ECU, Plug in the data logger gizmo and recorded 30 odd mins of data. He said full throttle, so full throttle it was. And a little bit just cruising.
Then load the cars log to PC, email it to him, next day he made adjustments to the tune and emailed it back. From PC then back to Flash Cal gizmo and re flashed the tune to the car. Heeeeeaaaaaaaps Better!
The Flash Cal Gizmo cost a bit more, but IMO well worth it. Plus when plugged in gives me real time data as I'm driving. Also reads and clears fault codes.

 

[Tones]

Thanks Kanga.
It was 2 weeks ago Tuesday, so well on the mend. Able to walk reasonably, but still can't bend or lift.
Pretty frustrating. Still can't even drive until Monday.
But much better than I was before the op.