New Member in Washington State

[IdahoJoe]

Hello everyone. I just picked up a 2013 Caprice PPV at auction. I'm near Seattle, Washington.

My car is in good shape with 118k miles and a nice straight body.

I have driven the car 1 full tank of fuel now and had one problem, it came home on the hook Monday when the upper radiator hose blew. I replaced all the hoses with gates parts and hope it was just an old hose (it had GM numbers, factory clamps and looked original) and not some sign of another problem. I drove it about 100 miles today after the repair without issue so I think that one is good now.

I plan to do a few mods to the car to make it look less like a WSP car. First off will be sending the radio in to White Audio and Media to get bluetooth music and phone enabled. Like many, I think the HSV Grange SV is an awesome looking car, I'd love the have the parts to make this thing look like that. I don't think that's really reasonable or possible so I'll start with white or chrome with white door handles, Holden repeaters on the front fenders and some sort of wheel upgrade. I'd also like to get a leather steering wheel, where should I look for that?

Some other cars in my stable include an under 20k mile 2004 GTO M6 in Phantom Black I bought new in 2005 for 25% under sticker, my daily is an LS swapped 1985 C10 and I have a pile of other GM squarebody trucks including an M1028 CUCV.

Look forward to learning about this new ride and following along with the mods, upgrades and repairs others have made to their cars.

[JimCT_9C1]

Welcome!
Sounds like a nice start with some nice plans.
Use the search, and post up specific questions in the subforums - many have had these cars for some time.
Enjoy the ride!

Jim

[smwalker]

A problem many G8 guys had with the radiator hoses was that the neck of the radiators were cracking. sometimes the breaks were so clean you could not see a problem with them. There is supposed to be a barb or ilp on the end of the neck that stops the hose and clamp from backing off. DO you remember seeing those barbs on there or was your neck just straight?

Here are a few examples of broken ones.





Old MBZ diesels have been having this issue for years with plastic radiators to the point where a common mod on them is to jb weld a copper tube inside the neck before it fails to reinforce the neck. The PPV's have not been seeing a large failure on these like the G8 guys have so I figured maybe GM figured something out but maybe now not so sure.

[smwalker]

On steering wheels Holden Parts USA shows out of stock on them.

Here is a AU ebay listing that looks like a good price: VE SSV Leather Steering wheel

AS you can see they are pretty sparce when you get them. YOu have to also add a back cover, front spokes and switch bezels. It can add up. Here is a discussion on the topic:
Steering Wheel Swap

[IdahoJoe]

A problem many G8 guys had with the radiator hoses was that the neck of the radiators were cracking. sometimes the breaks were so clean you could not see a problem with them. There is supposed to be a barb or ilp on the end of the neck that stops the hose and clamp from backing off. DO you remember seeing those barbs on there or was your neck just straight?...

Thanks for the reply. The hose was split in the top between the tee and the thermostat housing. I replaced both upper hoses and the radiator was fine. I was a little surprised to see the 20 psi pressure rating on the radiator cap. I've driven it a few hundred miles since the repair and had no recurrence. I was a little worried about another problem like a head gasket but I don't think that's the case.

On steering wheels Holden Parts USA shows out of stock on them.

Here is a AU ebay listing that looks like a good price: VE SSV Leather Steering wheel

AS you can see they are pretty sparce when you get them. YOu have to also add a back cover, front spokes and switch bezels. It can add up. Here is a discussion on the topic:
Steering Wheel Swap

I'll take a look. THanks.