VN upgrades.

[VonRolf]

Hello, I'm new here, I've recently purchased my mums old ex-police VP
and I am going to buy a late VN to fit it's parts into because the shell is irreparably damaged, cracked welds and significant pillar corrosion.
I would like to ask if any of you fine people could think of any moderate safety upgrades that can be done to VNs
ideas thus far are to fit DRLs, a lane departure warning system, additional interior padding, twin pot VP S2 front brakes and some body stiffening parts.

Thank you in advance

 

[keith reed]

Why bother with your mothers car and just buy a vn? However if you are going to go down the path you mention. For the car, extractors, exhaust, cold air intake, tune and decent tyres. For you go to an advanced driving course. You will if you haven't done so already gain more than any modification to the car.

 

[MikeC]

Hello, I'm new here, I've recently purchased my mums old ex-police VP
and I am going to buy a late VN to fit it's parts into because the shell is irreparably damaged, cracked welds and significant pillar corrosion.
I would like to ask if any of you fine people could think of any moderate safety upgrades that can be done to VNs
ideas thus far are to fit DRLs, a lane departure warning system, additional interior padding, twin pot VP S2 front brakes and some body stiffening parts.

Thank you in advance

If you're going to use it on the road I'd find out what could be done to the VN with the VP parts and still register it in Vic.

Personally I'd follow Keith's advice and buy the late VN with the features I wanted already installed. Project cars have a habit of blowing out in cost to maybe 2 or 3 times the market value of a completed vehicle.

 

[losh1971]

Hello, I'm new here, I've recently purchased my mums old ex-police VP
and I am going to buy a late VN to fit it's parts into because the shell is irreparably damaged, cracked welds and significant pillar corrosion.
I would like to ask if any of you fine people could think of any moderate safety upgrades that can be done to VNs
ideas thus far are to fit DRLs, a lane departure warning system, additional interior padding, twin pot VP S2 front brakes and some body stiffening parts.

Thank you in advance

Those sorts of mods are not going to be easy enough to make it worth it, except a brake upgrade. If you want some luxury find a Calais cheap and swap over what you can.

 

[J_D 2.0]

Hello, I'm new here, I've recently purchased my mums old ex-police VP
and I am going to buy a late VN to fit it's parts into because the shell is irreparably damaged, cracked welds and significant pillar corrosion.
I would like to ask if any of you fine people could think of any moderate safety upgrades that can be done to VNs
ideas thus far are to fit DRLs, a lane departure warning system, additional interior padding, twin pot VP S2 front brakes and some body stiffening parts.

Thank you in advance

A VN is never going to be safe in a crash regardless so trying to make it so is a pointless exercise. Car manufacturers spend millions of dollars designing the chassis from the ground up in modern cars to be safe in a crash.

That’s just not possible to do on an already existing chassis. You can stiffen up the chassis with seem welding and roll cages but it won’t improve the safety of the vehicle in a crash unless your in a five point racing harness with a helmet on.

As Losh has said about the only easy thing you can do is upgrade the brakes but even that won’t improve the safety of the vehicle as a VN is perfectly capable of locking its wheels up when braking, ergo it has enough stopping power already unless you are planning on doing spirited driving with it (track days, mountain roads, etc).

If you want a safer vehicle then buy a later model car with the safety tech already built into it.

 

[_R_J_K_]

ideas thus far are to fit DRLs, a lane departure warning system, additional interior padding, twin pot VP S2 front brakes and some body stiffening parts.

DRLs are a bit pointless (IMHO the LED types look like Christmas lights glued to the front of a car), your normal headlights would be just as effective. I doubt you'll find a good aftermarket lane departure kit if such a thing exists, but for me after using it in modern cars it's an annoyance more than anything - really it's probably more useful to the elderly or easily distracted driver. I think there are some dash cams that incorporate it, so that might be worth a go if you're really keen on it. The brakes aren't really much of an upgrade, you'd be better off going with the VE brake upgrade kit,

What interior padding or stiffening parts are you thinking of adding?

 

[J_D 2.0]

really it's probably more useful to the elderly or easily distracted driver.

Or in other words for people who shouldn’t be driving in the first place!

 

[MikeC]

Hello, I'm new here, I've recently purchased my mums old ex-police VP
and I am going to buy a late VN to fit it's parts into because the shell is irreparably damaged, cracked welds and significant pillar corrosion.
I would like to ask if any of you fine people could think of any moderate safety upgrades that can be done to VNs
ideas thus far are to fit DRLs, a lane departure warning system, additional interior padding, twin pot VP S2 front brakes and some body stiffening parts.

Thank you in advance

How do you know your Mum's VP is ex police? What bits do you want to re use?

 

[VonRolf]

DRLs are a bit pointless (IMHO the LED types look like Christmas lights glued to the front of a car), your normal headlights would be just as effective. I doubt you'll find a good aftermarket lane departure kit if such a thing exists, but for me after using it in modern cars it's an annoyance more than anything - really it's probably more useful to the elderly or easily distracted driver. I think there are some dash cams that incorporate it, so that might be worth a go if you're really keen on it. The brakes aren't really much of an upgrade, you'd be better off going with the VE brake upgrade kit,

What interior padding or stiffening parts are you thinking of adding?

Wasn't really planning on stiffening the interior, more padding the existing hard plastics in softer vinyl.

How do you know your Mum's VP is ex police? What bits do you want to re use?

Has a number of police options on it, lsd, 3 bay dome light, country pack suspension, bashplate, vinyl flooring and finally, the original bill of sale marking it as being sold to the commissioner of police
the lsd has long since failed and been swapped out, but the rest of the drivetrain is good and was running before it got parked for having a rusted out shell

As for everyone else in this thread, Thank you, I knew there wouldn't be much if anything I could do to make a 30 year old basic car safer.
I will still fit running lights though, saw a study on them a while ago and they reduce crashes by something in the region of 13%, not sure what kind of crashes but presumably ones where you can see the front of the car.

 

[losh1971]

Shame the LSD was swapped out. They can be rebuilt easily and the cones machined and shimmed then they work like a new one.