Is it possible to buy a VXR and upgrade to VXR 500 spec DIY?
Discussion
Hey guys. I'm hoping to get me a nice black VXR in the next few months and I was wondering what the deal is on doing many of the common upgrades yourself? I've always done all the work on my own cars (and also for friends on theirs!), and I've worked on a Top Fuel dragracing team the past 7 years. Seems like the Wortec and other mods are things I could easily do myself to the car, and I'm not bothered about loss of warranty or whatever. Question is, are these parts available for self-fitment or not? If they are, can you get the car re-registered as a VXR 500 or are Greens the only people who can do this? Seems they have a great reputation on this site, and it's very reassuring that they post frequently and try to help owners out where they can. However, I do like doing my own work and don't like garage labour fees much!! 
I'm also mid-way through building my 1973 Holden HQ hotrod, which I'm sure you guys will like. I have Knight Racing Services building me a 383 4-bolt main short block with an Eagle crank I supplied, they are adding h-beam rods and suitable pistons, to which I will bolt up the 6/71 I got on the car originally and add new Enderle mechanical birdcatcher injection. I have the car almost ready to paint (finishing the underside at the moment), and bought all the front subframe mounts, steering parts, bushes, brake discs and parts, wheel bearings, etc from Rare Spares last summer. Hoping to debut next summer sometime!
PS : I live outside Aberdeen, so trucking down to Greens for servicing or upgrades is not that great an option either, although the drive would be fun at times...!
Cheers,
Rob.
I'm also mid-way through building my 1973 Holden HQ hotrod, which I'm sure you guys will like. I have Knight Racing Services building me a 383 4-bolt main short block with an Eagle crank I supplied, they are adding h-beam rods and suitable pistons, to which I will bolt up the 6/71 I got on the car originally and add new Enderle mechanical birdcatcher injection. I have the car almost ready to paint (finishing the underside at the moment), and bought all the front subframe mounts, steering parts, bushes, brake discs and parts, wheel bearings, etc from Rare Spares last summer. Hoping to debut next summer sometime!
PS : I live outside Aberdeen, so trucking down to Greens for servicing or upgrades is not that great an option either, although the drive would be fun at times...!
Cheers,
Rob.
Edited by RobKarloff on Thursday 10th May 14:29
I believe the 'official' VXR 500 range was number limited and is now all done and gone. I don't know if that's a personal thing for the guys that developed it or a Vauxhall driven thing.
Anything is doable DIY - with time and money available. However, I'm not sure how the supercharger ties in with any ECU work - and that'd be a show stopper without Wortec's help.
Anything is doable DIY - with time and money available. However, I'm not sure how the supercharger ties in with any ECU work - and that'd be a show stopper without Wortec's help.
For what is is worth I would contact tiler (Kevin) for info or failing that buy his car, it was way past 700 brake but de-tuned it to over 600 for ease of use, its about £24k & I know he has spent more than double that amount on the work he has done, a bargain IMHO, if I had not spend similar amount on mine I would have it in my drive.
Edited by V8HSV on Thursday 10th May 15:49
I guess with your experience you can get round most problems. Superghargers are available from many different sources. My mate fits to American cars and reprograms as well.
The only downside I can see is resale, if you plan to leave all the goodies on the car I have a feeling that you`re giong to limit your market unless its the `right` kit.
The only downside I can see is resale, if you plan to leave all the goodies on the car I have a feeling that you`re giong to limit your market unless its the `right` kit.
Yeah anyone can do it.
You can buy the Harrop and Magnacharger kits. Its just the time and effort required. As Paul says Tiler's car is a bargain.
Tuning tools are you there to do what you like with the stock ecm including replacing it with a 3bar boost os and pure speeddensity or TPS based fueling etc, etc. Let me know if you want more info on the tuning side.
There are also loads of other kits around if you want ATI prochargers or Vortech etc.
You can buy the Harrop and Magnacharger kits. Its just the time and effort required. As Paul says Tiler's car is a bargain.
Tuning tools are you there to do what you like with the stock ecm including replacing it with a 3bar boost os and pure speeddensity or TPS based fueling etc, etc. Let me know if you want more info on the tuning side.
There are also loads of other kits around if you want ATI prochargers or Vortech etc.
ringram said:
Yeah anyone can do it.
You can buy the Harrop and Magnacharger kits. Its just the time and effort required. As Paul says Tiler's car is a bargain.
Tuning tools are you there to do what you like with the stock ecm including replacing it with a 3bar boost os and pure speeddensity or TPS based fueling etc, etc. Let me know if you want more info on the tuning side.
There are also loads of other kits around if you want ATI prochargers or Vortech etc.
You can buy the Harrop and Magnacharger kits. Its just the time and effort required. As Paul says Tiler's car is a bargain.
Tuning tools are you there to do what you like with the stock ecm including replacing it with a 3bar boost os and pure speeddensity or TPS based fueling etc, etc. Let me know if you want more info on the tuning side.
There are also loads of other kits around if you want ATI prochargers or Vortech etc.
Cough... Will
Hey guys, thanks for the comments and feedback. The suggestion in the press on the VXR 500 is that you can take your VXR to Greens and they will retrofit. So I was asking whether you could get the exact same mods done yourself and have Greens "make it official" so to speak. Or, at least have them do the mods and hand you back a VXR 500! Nothing mentioned limits to 50 cars or suchlike. Hopefully the Greens folks will post and let us know the bottom line.
But, Roger from Monkfish sent me a friendly and helpful email, so I expect to be getting the parts/advice/etc I need from him once I get my hands on a VXR. Not many companies willing to make contact with a potential customer and give them some friendly and helpful info!
My HQ looked like this when I bought it :
I'm planning matt black with basic interior, no exterior badges, and an all new 6/71 blown 383. Should be fun, eh?
But, Roger from Monkfish sent me a friendly and helpful email, so I expect to be getting the parts/advice/etc I need from him once I get my hands on a VXR. Not many companies willing to make contact with a potential customer and give them some friendly and helpful info!
My HQ looked like this when I bought it :
I'm planning matt black with basic interior, no exterior badges, and an all new 6/71 blown 383. Should be fun, eh?
Willisit gave you your answer Rob, the `official VXR500 was a marketing exercise by Greens to move the remaining and ageing VXR stock. There are no more new ones available.
My car is probably running as true to the VXR500 spec than any other car on the forum as I have the stock exhaust.
This was fitted AFTERMARKET and as such does not carry a Vauxhall Warranty.
VXR500`s all have a Vauxhall warranty to all their standard components (supercharger incl) so that is the reason why Greens cannot redesignate your car, or mine, VXR500.
My car is probably running as true to the VXR500 spec than any other car on the forum as I have the stock exhaust.
This was fitted AFTERMARKET and as such does not carry a Vauxhall Warranty.
VXR500`s all have a Vauxhall warranty to all their standard components (supercharger incl) so that is the reason why Greens cannot redesignate your car, or mine, VXR500.
Love the photo.
www.holden.com.au/www-holden/jsp/chooseavehicle/popups/monarohistory/hq4door.jsp
www.holden.com.au/www-holden/jsp/chooseavehicle/popups/monarohistory/hq4door.jsp
Edited by phrich on Thursday 10th May 18:20
phrich said:
Love the photo.
www.holden.com.au/www-holden/jsp/chooseavehicle/popups/monarohistory/hq4door.jsp
www.holden.com.au/www-holden/jsp/chooseavehicle/popups/monarohistory/hq4door.jsp
Edited by phrich on Thursday 10th May 18:20
Yep, mine is actually a Statesman, hence the quad lights and bumper over-riders. And it came from New Zealand! I have the original RPO plate for it and also the NZ Low Volume cert plate that details the blower, etc. Should make it easy to UK register it as I also have the import papers showing the duty paid on import via Pickfords.
RobKarloff said:
Yep, mine is actually a Statesman, hence the quad lights and bumper over-riders. And it came from New Zealand! I have the original RPO plate for it and also the NZ Low Volume cert plate that details the blower, etc. Should make it easy to UK register it as I also have the import papers showing the duty paid on import via Pickfords.
Dont you mean a Premier? The statesman is/was a long wheelbase and quite different in the rear. Im pretty sure you have an HQ Premier.
RobKarloff said:
Yep, mine is actually a Statesman.
It has a Statesman front panel and grilles, but the car is probably a SWB Kingswood.
The SWB Premier had stainless wheel arch moulds and rocker panel strips.
Statesman and Premier both have four headlights as opposed to two, and Statesman has divided grille, Premier one large opening.
Bit of trivia...over 485,000 HQ model Holdens were built.
Damn, now you have me wondering! I'm pretty sure the NZ transit authority plate is stamped Statesman, but maybe it is Kingswood... I'll check when I get home tomorrow (in Warsaw at the mo)! But, you're right about the length, it is the same back end as the LS and Monaro, just a 4 door. The front panel could well have been added in NZ, as the rearend is an LSD Salisbury that was only fitted to the V8 models and the car was definately a 6 cylinder model originally (I decoded the VIN and I remember that part!). It also has air adjustable shocks in the rear and cut-down springs, and the front has Gabriel shocks on it. The wheels are Aunger as is the rear window louvre.
The car was a bit of a lash-up to be honest, when I stripped the motor I discovered it was a 2 bolt main 327 block and crank, standard rods, crappy aftermarket +30 ally pistons, with standard compression ratio... The blower was 1:1 on the pulleys (about 10psi as the rotor/case clearence is good), and the thing was sooted right up through the Holleys. I'm guessing they threw the blower on, and due to the mammoth overal compression ratio had to jack up the fuel mix to stop the thing pinking like hell!!! 4 pistons had broken the thrust tabs off the bottom of their skirts, and little bits of ally had wrecked the main and rod bearings (although these were Clevite and have saved the crank). The rings were also stock and well and truely wrecked!
Peter Knight is building me a new short block with the proper bits and pieces for it, and I'm going to buy a new Hampton 6/71 case, front and rear plates and drive kit from Kenny at Superpower Unlimited in Glasgow into which I'll stick the rotors and gears from the original blower. Haven't decided whether I'll source the Enderle setup myself from the States or get Peter Knight to organise that.
These Holdens are fun, eh?!
The car was a bit of a lash-up to be honest, when I stripped the motor I discovered it was a 2 bolt main 327 block and crank, standard rods, crappy aftermarket +30 ally pistons, with standard compression ratio... The blower was 1:1 on the pulleys (about 10psi as the rotor/case clearence is good), and the thing was sooted right up through the Holleys. I'm guessing they threw the blower on, and due to the mammoth overal compression ratio had to jack up the fuel mix to stop the thing pinking like hell!!! 4 pistons had broken the thrust tabs off the bottom of their skirts, and little bits of ally had wrecked the main and rod bearings (although these were Clevite and have saved the crank). The rings were also stock and well and truely wrecked!
Peter Knight is building me a new short block with the proper bits and pieces for it, and I'm going to buy a new Hampton 6/71 case, front and rear plates and drive kit from Kenny at Superpower Unlimited in Glasgow into which I'll stick the rotors and gears from the original blower. Haven't decided whether I'll source the Enderle setup myself from the States or get Peter Knight to organise that.
These Holdens are fun, eh?!
RobKarloff said:
These Holdens are fun, eh?!
These blokes reckon they're fun too!
http://hqracing.org/
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