1999 VTII Commodore S Supercharged

[wraith]

Time to scrap it and find another one I reckon. Not worth spending the coin when they are so cheap. Or drive it into the ground till it stops moving.

 

[Calaber]

No way I'd be scrapping the car because of a few dodgy panels that are all removable. Try the old magnet trick to see if you have heavy bog repairs. If the panels are crook used ones are still reasonably priced. Or you can put your panel beating and spray painting skills to use.

The car was cheap and could still be turned into a nice keeper if the major mechanicals are good. The air con might be a bear, though.

 

[c2105026]

No I'll persevere for now - after pricing everything, I can still possibly do it all (or get it done) within a reasonable budget. Will get some quotes for things this week so I can save/budget.

The AC I am calling at worst a dud compressor which would be maybe $750 to replace. The clutch isn't even working, it should be cycling on and off and it isn't. But, it could be something simple as a broken wire, dud switch or solenoid.

Paint I'm calling 5 panels (3 down the side, front spoiler and rear bar) maybe $2k. Paint on horizontal surfaces is weathered but should polish up well (tried a few small sections). The paint that is flaking off is the new paint over the original finish. More or less the same colour, at least they got the colour match good!

Seat bolster I'll give to the local auto upholsterer - the fabric is still 100%. Maybe $150-200.

3 door dings down the side that I am not painting maybe $200 tops for PDR.

The diff is caked in oil so hopefully its just an oil leak with insufficient fluid. If I put an oil seal on it, fill it with oil maybe with some oil stabiliser that'll sort the diff out - hopefully.

Car performed strongly on the trip home, returning 8.7L/100km between Yass and Orange. A couple of times between Canowindra and Orange it had to shift into 3rd gear lol.

 

[c2105026]

Doing a bit of research, it seems that this vehicle has almost every factory option fitted. It has 4 airbags, ABS, traction control, and CD player.

 

[wraith]

That's all factory.....

 

[harrop.senator]

With the extra 4k your contemplating spending on a partial respray thatll never look right whether its today or in 3 years id sell it and buy an xu6...

 

[wraith]

With the extra 4k your contemplating spending on a partial respray thatll never look right whether its today or in 3 years id sell it and buy an xu6...

Definitely would be some what more desirable. End of the day though it's only a VT so won't ever be worth much so you would be silly to buy it thinking you were going to make a profit on it.

Problem is though at that price point your into V8 territory so only V6 die hards will pay the money.

 

[c2105026]

End of the day though it's only a VT so won't ever be worth much so you would be silly to buy it thinking you were going to make a profit on it.

I'm certainly not expecting to make a profit on this vehicle. It costs more or less the same to restore a $5k condition 1 car as it does a $50k condition 1 vehicle. Max budget for the build is about $8k, including cost of the car, maybe $3k more than it'd ever be worth now. But I'm fine with that.

I've had older cars repaired before, if its 2pak vs 2pak and the rest is given a polish it'll be fine.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll start having a good look at the front end and see if there are any obvious defects that I can add to the list. If I have time I'll start the full service too (went nuts at supercheap today lol). Car has no service history so I will assume everything needs doing, just to be safe.

 

[harrop.senator]

Fair enough the paint and panel shop I worked at mustn't have been good enough . Ive never had a car patch repaired myaelf.

When the dudes would custom mix the paint to match the wear of the old paint itd either be pickable by a good eye straight off or by the time a few years went by they'd start to fade at different rates.

I enquired about it for one of my cars after spending 6 months looking for one without windscreen drain rust. I couldnt find a white one and had all previously resprayed white over black panels fittef. The shops I went to wouldn't reccomend patch painting roof and quarters as i wouldnt have been happy with the result in their opinion.

Just thought seeing as you're wanting a pristine classic car you'd want it pristine.

 

[c2105026]

No, I am not ever wanting to build a concourse condition vehicle, just one without major damage or defects. Indeed on the other side I'm not painting there are touched up scratches and stone chips I'm leaving in to maintain some sense of originality. The colour is white without a clear so I figure if the rest of the car is polished (its needed!) that removes that issue as you can match to fresh paint. You can always blend as well into adjoining panels.

Action plan for today:
- Oil change, coolant change, and inspect front end
- Air filter, plugs, leads
- Drain and refill diff and take it for a spin to see if noisy diff goes away