Sleepas VR Caprice Wagon Build

[sleepa]

I was needing a larger car for work as the ute wasn't cutting it anymore, and I like wagons so I found this at a good price

The body is in amazing condition for its age, only 1 dent in the tailgate. The paint is near perfect, with a good polish it will look nice
It had a new engine installed not long ago, no leaks, basically all ready to pass a RWC.

Model: 1994 VR Wagon
Colour: White
Bodykit: No
Engine Type: 3.8L V6
Engine Mods: None
Power: Stock
Exhaust: Stock
Gearbox: Auto
Diff: Stock
Brakes: Stock
Suspension: Stock
Wheels/Tyres: Stock with hub caps
Interior: Stock VR Commodore Executive
Stereo: Pioneer headunit
OTHER: LPG
Cost: $600









So even though this is going to be my new work car i'm not leaving it like this. Mods list is below. If I am lucky I might get (most of) it done in 2 months.

TO DO LIST
Put basically everything from my VS Caprice into this.

DRIVETRAIN/MECHANICAL
5l V8 and Auto DONE
Statesman Variable speed steering rack (removed, didn't fit with extractors)
Statesman Variable speed intermittent wipers
Lowered to FE2 at least
Twin to single 2.5 inch Exhaust DONE
Pacemaker Extractors DONE
Cam

INTERIOR
VS Caprice Dash and Cluster DONE
Caprice Power & Leather Seats DONE (fronts)
VS Caprice Door trims DONE
Caprice Leather Steering Wheel DONE
Leather Shifter and Handbrake
Full Caprice wiring loom and BCM with factory wiring for power windows/mirrors/door locks, etc DONE
Caprice headlining (maybe)
Caprice Carpet DONE
Power windows DONE
Climate control DONE
Cruise control
Chrome inner door handles DONE

BODY
VS Caprice front end conversion with Caprice Grille DONE
Fog Lights DONE
Clear Front and side Indicators
Chrome window surrounds
Dark Tint
Statesman Side Skirts, trolley stripes and grey lower trim all round
Some nice wheels, maybe 17/18inch Caprice rims or aftermarket

OTHER
Fit out the entire back for work, steel cage if needed, some carpentry work, etc.

 

[LAP004]

Looks like a very tidy base to start with.

 

[sleepa]

Cheers mate, yeah not bad for 315,000km, barely looks like its done 200,000km

EDIT: Its actually 351,000kms, I must be a little dyslexic.

 

[VS_Pete]

Looks like a very tidy base to start with.

x1.........................................................................

 

[sleepa]

I had a few hours free this afternoon so I thought I might start some work on the wagon.
I figured I should start with the hardest part so...

2 hours later.


Just got to pull the dash and heater box out of the Caprice tomorrow, then the Body loom and BCM and swap it over. Going good so far

 

[LAP004]

not wasting time. good to see

 

[sleepa]

The plan is to get this finished before the end of July as the utes rego is due in August, so If I can finish this by then I can start driving this and sell the ute before I have to pay another 6 months rego, hopefully.

 

[sleepa]

Caprice Heater box is in and all the plastics are in the back of the wagon ready to be installed. Just need to remove the electric seats out of the Caprice then I can pull the Body loom and BCM out and swap it over.

 

[EYY]

Looking good!

Just a tip. Make sure you use the airbag module from the caprice since it will be setup for drivers and passenger airbags as per the caprice dash (of course if you decide you want to wire them up). If you do this, make sure everything is connected with the airbag system and that the cluster is installed before you reconnect the battery.

I found that out the hard way lol. Btw, the plugs marked a,b and c behind the cluster sit with the letters upside down. That had me confused for a minute when I changed my dash, and it will actually go back together with the plugs upside down too.

Take the time to put new dash globes in too. It makes a pretty big difference because they seem to gradually dull over 20 or so years. Definitely worth it imo

 

[sleepa]

Thanks, Some good tips there.

I have decided not to run air bags at all as the wagon doesn't have any and I can't be bothered installing them, and a VR Statesman top glovebox will sit where the passenger air bag would be anyway. Will probably save a ton of hassles by doing it this way.

I will definitely install new dash globes. I want to only do this once, I don't want to have to pull everything out again and again.