AshDVS
I dropped the VE back in on Monday for the paintwork to be done.
I should have it back in a couple of weeks - I'm in no hurry as I really haven't driven it since August.
When it's back, it'll get some of the window tinting fixed and we'll get a few of the little jobs done on it before I start driving it regularly again.
AshDVS
The VE is in the booth as I type this and will be ready for me to pickup on Monday.
I probably wont be able to get there until tuesday, but still a bloody good turn around.
Forg
Yeah that's ridiculously quick!
So ... not 2.5 years like BRC? :)
I waved to someone in a VF Regal Peacock SS wagon yesterday, not at all expecting a response; but he waved back immediately, so he was (a) looking & (b) aware of what I was on about. Kinda odd being in a generic fleetmobile & having that same "in the club" thing as when you're in the 240 & wave to someone else with a 240. :)
AshDVS
That is a bit odd, but the royal peacock colour is quite uncommon too. I've seen perhaps half a dozen in total now. I've seen about eleventy-billion black (phantom) ones in comparison.
Rob
Wow. eleventy-billion is alot.
egads (she/her)
Commodores are everywhere Rob!
Ex850R
Rob;60995 wroteWow. eleventy-billion is alot.
Somewhat more than 27.
AshDVS
This is indeed true. There are two (although one is a ute and another a sedan) in the same colour in my street.
My street isn't very big.
I still haven't picked it up - I just got too busy yesterday. I might have a chance to go and get it this afternoon.
AshDVS
I finally got to pick it up yesterday afternoon. It looks great. Both sides, excluding the front guard have been painted. The rear bumper has been repaired and painted.
The teaching staff want it to go back next week as they weren't entirely happy with the inside of the door jambs and want the student to do them again - They appear to be really hard on the students in their assessment which, I guess, is a good thing and prepares them better for the real world.
I'm happy to oblige and take it back next week too. While I have the V70, it's not really any issue for me to hand the VE over for a couple of days again.
AshDVS
While we've been away in NZ, the VE has been back with the Collision Repair students and I finally get to pick it up tomorrow. It'll be nice to drive it again while I store the V70 inside and get a few of the remaining items done.
Forg
I was thinking about how I smacked a gutter with the Redline ... I suspect that, compared to the VS on it's standard 15x6's, and the 240 with standard offset, the VF is probably both the widest thing I've ever driven (ignoring rental removal trucks) and also the thing with the rear tyres that poke out the most ...
But anyhoo, the wheel repair guy took a couple of hours on Friday and the total cost was $160. Looks pretty damned good, I've not looked at it in sunlight yet (curse you weather!), but in the light I have seen it you can't even tell it's been repaired. A mobile service where you charge $160 for 2 hour's worth of work, and you've got downtime travelling between jobs; can't be that lucrative?
AshDVS
The VE/VF is a very wide car, for sure. My wheels (currently staggered 19" VE E1 Senator wheels) have a few little scuffs and scrapes - all except one were there before I got them. The 20" 'Fluxus' wheels that came on the car when I got it are a mess and, I think, not worth repairing. Safe to say that many people find them a little wide and bump curbs when parking.
AshDVS
The VE came back yesterday from it's most recent stay with the Collision Repair team.
The work they've done is great and they were grateful to have it for student assessments too.
It needs a quick vacuum inside and a quick wash and It'll be awesome looking again.
Here's a pic -
I'd still like to go back to my 20" wheels but they really are in very poor condition, so I'm in two minds but might just stay with the 19" wheels on it now.
Other than that, it needs some of the window tinting fixed where it's been scratched or is peeling, I'd like to fit the late VE and VF rear bumper infill and quad exhaust tips from an SS and maybe even VFII tail lights.
Vee_Que
VFII tails are good looking. About time Holden changed them!
AshDVS
Vee_Que;62907 wroteVFII tails are good looking. About time Holden changed them!
For sure, just a little expensive at the moment.
Forg
We're nearly finished with the landscaping ... which is important WRT this topic, because whenever I consider looking at how to fit the VFII tails that I've got sitting in a box in the garage, I also consider how unhappy Catrin will be that I spent time doing that when I should instead have spent time in the yard. :-)
I assume it's an easy task ... with the VS you had to actually remove the tail lights just to replace a bulb, and I guess it's going to be a matter of just removing the interior trim? I've got a workshop manual in PDF form, but finding anything in it sucks royally, and I can't find how to replace tail lights ...
Does the VE have the same chromed piece of trim between the tail lights which lines-up with the VFII reversing lights?
AshDVS
The tailgate on the VE & VF is the same. Both have the chrome strip which lines up nicely with the VFII taillights.
Bulb and taillight change requires lights out and interior plasticky stuff out. I changed a RR taillight globe and it was easy enough to the point that I don't remember how I did it exactly (ie. I cant have been that difficult!)
AshDVS
I ordered the late VE and VF rear bumper infill for it yesterday afternoon.
Next I'd just like to find some stock quad exhaust-tip rear mufflers and I'll swap the lot over.
Still sitting on the fence about the VFII taillights due to cost.
Forg
When you buy a car new (for the first time ever), all these extra costs seem irrelevant by comparison. :)
I've still got Sports Body Armour, black guard vents, black fog/DRL surrounds and black grille inserts sitting in the garage behind the compressor, along with the taillights, all waiting to be fitted; partially because a lot of it was dealer-fit options we wanted but took out of our list during the negotiation process.
AshDVS
Definitely. It's much harder to justify the cost on a used vehicle that had already gone through a heap of depreciation. I'm also unsure of how long I'll keep mine for anyway, as much as I do like it.
