Hey guys, this is my '07/'08 WM HSV Grange.
I was in the market for a late model HSV GTS/R8/Senator and saw one of these barges cruising around and knew it was love at first sight... I had to have one.
It currently ride on Pedders XA Extreme Coilovers and sits just 60mm off the ground. Surprisingly, it still retains "almost" the comfort level of the factory Magnetic Ride Control suspension meaning after long trips up and down the highway I can get out and still be able to walk without being in a world of pain.
Sadly, the practicality of being able to get in my own driveway or garage wasnt considered and as such I now need to lift it back up so I dont have to park out on the road.
It currently sits on the factory 19x8.5 and 19x9.5 wheels but that will be changed in favour of a set of custom offset/pcd 21" or 22". I'm not completely sure exactly what I want yet but after a look through the work wheels range, could be a set of work 21s to be different to every other holden/commodore owner (who opt for the mandatory 20" or 22" combination)
Other thoughts are a big set of custom intro billets. I have a few months to decide (and save up)
Headunit: Factory BOSE running through ARC PS8 processor
Speakers: (F) Morel Supremo 6 set, (R) Morel Integra 8, (C) Morel Hybrid 4
Subwoofers: 3x Boston Acoustics Pro 10.5LF
Amplifier: Soundstream DaVinci 7 channel
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Finally started on the A pillars..
The original idea was to buy a matching set of black WM Stateman/Caprice/Grange trims to cut up fiberglass and retrim in matching rooflining material. The reason i specifically wanted black even though its being cut up and retrimmed is that there is a small vent that blows air on the side windows and that wont be getting trimmed.
After searching high and low for the black coloured trims, I retired to the fact that black A pillar trims were too hard to find (holden have no drivers side a pillar trims in australia at all). I ended up buying a pair of beige trims from a wrecked VE omega with the intention of just painting or flock coating the vent section prior to retrimming.
It turns out that luckily the holden design department made the grilles interchangable so I am able to reuse my black vents with the beige VE omega trims.
I started with a pair of carefully cut and countersunk routed rings with only a 1.5mm outer ring for a very sharp edge.
The already painted tweeter faceplates with be sandblasted and painted a contrasting aluminium silver to match all of the highlights inside the cabin.
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Tied some string on the opposing side b pillars at ear level and using a simple protractor played with the angles until it was almost perfectly on axis. The closest I could get was 10 degrees off axis which based on seating position will come damn close to perfect.
Used some long screws to dial in the same angle on both sides pillars as drilled lots of small holes in the trim itself to give something for the hot glue and then fibreglass resin/filler mix to hold onto.
I bought some stretchy material and hot glued it into place at the top and cut a smaller round disc to hold the stretchy material in and around the speaker ring while I resin it.
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Supremo tweeter disassembled and sanded back smooth and ready for new colour.
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Painted in spark silver (leftover paint from navara) and blends well with all of the brushed aluminium accents on the dash/doors
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Finished and reassembled tweeter
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Finished resining the pillars. Surprising these came out very smooth first go so not much minor touch ups with filler before trimming
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http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1917E1366F.jpg
Did some minor filling and sanding to get the final smooth shape prior to trimming in oem rooflining material
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Both trims being trimmed in OEM rooflining.
I was in the market for a late model HSV GTS/R8/Senator and saw one of these barges cruising around and knew it was love at first sight... I had to have one.
It currently ride on Pedders XA Extreme Coilovers and sits just 60mm off the ground. Surprisingly, it still retains "almost" the comfort level of the factory Magnetic Ride Control suspension meaning after long trips up and down the highway I can get out and still be able to walk without being in a world of pain.
Sadly, the practicality of being able to get in my own driveway or garage wasnt considered and as such I now need to lift it back up so I dont have to park out on the road.
It currently sits on the factory 19x8.5 and 19x9.5 wheels but that will be changed in favour of a set of custom offset/pcd 21" or 22". I'm not completely sure exactly what I want yet but after a look through the work wheels range, could be a set of work 21s to be different to every other holden/commodore owner (who opt for the mandatory 20" or 22" combination)
Other thoughts are a big set of custom intro billets. I have a few months to decide (and save up)
Headunit: Factory BOSE running through ARC PS8 processor
Speakers: (F) Morel Supremo 6 set, (R) Morel Integra 8, (C) Morel Hybrid 4
Subwoofers: 3x Boston Acoustics Pro 10.5LF
Amplifier: Soundstream DaVinci 7 channel
Finally started on the A pillars..
The original idea was to buy a matching set of black WM Stateman/Caprice/Grange trims to cut up fiberglass and retrim in matching rooflining material. The reason i specifically wanted black even though its being cut up and retrimmed is that there is a small vent that blows air on the side windows and that wont be getting trimmed.
After searching high and low for the black coloured trims, I retired to the fact that black A pillar trims were too hard to find (holden have no drivers side a pillar trims in australia at all). I ended up buying a pair of beige trims from a wrecked VE omega with the intention of just painting or flock coating the vent section prior to retrimming.
It turns out that luckily the holden design department made the grilles interchangable so I am able to reuse my black vents with the beige VE omega trims.
I started with a pair of carefully cut and countersunk routed rings with only a 1.5mm outer ring for a very sharp edge.
The already painted tweeter faceplates with be sandblasted and painted a contrasting aluminium silver to match all of the highlights inside the cabin.
Tied some string on the opposing side b pillars at ear level and using a simple protractor played with the angles until it was almost perfectly on axis. The closest I could get was 10 degrees off axis which based on seating position will come damn close to perfect.
Used some long screws to dial in the same angle on both sides pillars as drilled lots of small holes in the trim itself to give something for the hot glue and then fibreglass resin/filler mix to hold onto.
I bought some stretchy material and hot glued it into place at the top and cut a smaller round disc to hold the stretchy material in and around the speaker ring while I resin it.
Supremo tweeter disassembled and sanded back smooth and ready for new colour.
Painted in spark silver (leftover paint from navara) and blends well with all of the brushed aluminium accents on the dash/doors
Finished and reassembled tweeter
Finished resining the pillars. Surprising these came out very smooth first go so not much minor touch ups with filler before trimming
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1917E1366F.jpg
Did some minor filling and sanding to get the final smooth shape prior to trimming in oem rooflining material
Both trims being trimmed in OEM rooflining.