58 replies to this topic

[VEX]

Chuck Fancy a visitor while Vexy is shopping in MK?

[Ricky2772]

Ricky,
I'd really appreciate your opinion on this.

my opinion is: [drumroll]

if you have a medium level of mech. expertise, like some sense of precision and a good set of wrenches, I'd say remove the clam.

be very careful to the side washers, that need to be correctly positioned back...
yo will need somebody to help you lift/refit, no way you can do it by yourself.
advantage is that you will get to know and "bond" with your toy a little more, and be able to inspect and correct any factory wrongdoings.....

if expertise, patience and time are not on your side, then drill the hideous silvery thing away and be happy.
price for its replacement should be way less than having the clam removed by a shop.

beware that prolly you will have to remove the bottom 8mm bolts so to let the screws escape....maybe taking the car on an incline.

either way, enjoy it.

[VEX]

Not sure what you mean by Clam, can someone explain?

Also, if you remove the V as mentioned, whats left behind it, does it have that mesh through-out or is there just a horrible hole behind the V.

Sorry NoEscape,

Front Clam, the bumper, wings and bonnet are all one piece right back to the windscreen and doors.

It is held in place by 6 or 8 screws and bolts.

Rear clam is the same, back to the doors, not sure how many screws hold it in place though, Ricky?


Oh and whats behind the V, just more of the grill bit. V Nice imo.

[JimH]

..... I read the instructions as per Rockstar's excellent advice and these were spot on. ........

I don't want to sound petty but I wrote that.

[NoEscape]

cheers Vex, helping me out as always Thats the first thing i would do on the car, is get rid of that badge. Nothing against the vauxhall or anything, just don't like the look of it and its chrome, i hate chrome!

[speedyK]

if expertise, patience and time are not on your side, then drill the hideous silvery thing away and be happy.
price for its replacement should be way less than having the clam removed by a shop.

beware that prolly you will have to remove the bottom 8mm bolts so to let the screws escape....maybe taking the car on an incline.

Drilling it also requires a certain level of expertise, patience and time...

advantage is, you can do it yourself and can only blame yourself if it goes wrong. Removing the clam means you'll need help and someone else dropping the clam or scratcing the paint on dooors, etc. could be more hassle than it's worth.

Also, leaving the grille completely adornment-free is a bit bland and gawky IMO. So, instead of loosening off the front undertray bolts Ricky mentions, you can cut a small access cavity in the grille to remove the VX V-badge screws and cover it with a badge of your choice afterwards. This also makes the tow-hook mounting-point less conspicuous.

[Lingus]

I have to say i like the V, just done a photoshop blackout the the yellow monster and it looks awful. Just a gaping hole Me no like J

[Purebob]

just paint the V black if you don't want to make the VX look open mouthed but hate the Vee.

[NoEscape]

Don't know whether this has been done before but why not remove the vauxhall badge but leave the V in, i'd be tempted to do that, cos the V ain't the bad bit, i like cars that have no advertisement of who's car it is, keep them guessing etc. When you refer to removing the whole V as drilling, are you basically meaning drilling thro the actual V into the screws to get them off, hense breaking the V completely?

[Dragracer]

A compromise, but I like it..

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[goofballs]

....

Edited by goofballs, 18 June 2003 - 08:30 PM.

[goofballs]

I am sure Goofballs did his with an angle grinder?

How Goofy?

Chuck, want to earn a few . As I feel a little visit to MK coming on.

However what I also plan to do is to shape a little griffin badge to crease that runs up the middle of the front clam and fit it on the nose.

IMO that will look far better than the V and GRIFFFFFFFFFFFFFIN on steroids badge.

Wheel badges will come off soon to.

No angle grinder I'm afraid. Just 7.5 hours of removing some 40 odd screws and bolts, nearly snapping off the edge of the fibre glass clam when it fell as I was trying to lift it off, and threading the bolts that hook on the wheel arch cover. BUT apart from that it was ok!!!

Now that I know where all the screws are, it would probably take me 2.5 hours. To be honest I don't work on cars, so that did not help.

As for the goofy gap that remains when the V and badge are removed, I solved this problem by mounting the number plate very high to cover the whole more, this does not cause any adverse heating either.


cheers

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[CALYPSO_VXT]

Thanks for all the advise but I wish I had never asked. Sooo many options & opinions. <_< Do I... Drill Paint Remove the clam do nothing I had made my mind up to drill. Now I'm considering painting or removing the clam. My wife says do nothing and take her shopping instead. So its definitely having something done. Hmmmmm which one ? The cleanest way would be to remove the clam. No chance of a slipping drill and I could always put it back. A lot of effort and time though. Paint it and I could stilll remove if I wanted to. Fairly quick but I reckon I'm resigned to taking it off. Drill is very definitley carries the risk of a slip and buggering up the paint work. Quicker though and less technical. Oh which one... A poll ??? sorry S0d it. Clam it is......no i'm drilling...... no.............. at this rate it will be shopping. Definitley drill. NO definitely clam HELP I'm going mad. Tell you what. I'll let you know Monday.

[rasputin]

hi calypso ok try this.heat up the end a piece of 22mm copper pipe then push into plastic where screws are. this will leave you with just the plastic post which you can then crush with plyers. just let the screws drop in then leave them there.you can always move them later if they roll about.dont melt the bonnet. or you can remove the clam.it took me about two hours its not difficult but you have to be methodical.and remember to disconect the side indicaters.and fogs. i personaly think it looks a little bland without the v so i fitted a steinmetz grill which looks cool but sodding expensive. i think thorney is supposed to be looking into one? ian cheers

[CALYPSO_VXT]

Ian - that looks like 2 beers I owe you for what is such a simple idea. cheers

[VEX]

Calypso, We are local to each other aren't we. Want to try to bodge are cars together? I like rasputins idea, might get the BIG soldering Iron I have here at work out!

[Chuck]

Guys, if your local to me why don't we get together and have a front clam tutorial day. But guys, if you do want to sort a day, you can bring your cars round mine, and we're do both together.

[VEX]

you owe me beer calypso   :drink


the silver discs are whashers :

I am assuming the V is hollow.

So if I take a hand drill to it and miss the screw locations a little I can still ferret around inside the V section?

Edited by VEX, 20 June 2003 - 09:13 AM.

[JimH]

The V is hollow. Take a 6" steel rule or similar and slide it between the V and the mesh. Then by sliding it around you will find where the screws are.

[VEX]

This might just happen at lunch time! Ok, 6" steel ruler to find screew points, I can do that. Another Q. Are the screws self tappers, i.e just screw into a little plastic moulding that I can crush and break off?