HSV Maloo 2008









 



 




  

    

      

    

    
 

    
It had just arrived in December 2008, with
    only 8 miles on the clock we are taking it apart already!

    
If ever there was a good example on the
    merits of rustproofing the underside this is it - the underbody
    protection is best described as Australian!.

    
This is our new demo car apart from being
    a Ute its essentially a VXR8 -

    
keep an eye on this page as the project
    evolves.

  





 



 



 




  

    

  





 




  

    

      
 

      
The first task was to rustproof the car,
      once we had removed the ancillary clutter All the seams on the
      underside were sealed with an OE spec type seam sealer.

    

  





 



 



 



 



 




  

    

      

        

      

    

  





 




  

    

      

        

          

            
 

            
This shows the 3M seam sealer applied to
            the seams.

          

        

      

    

  





 



 



 



 



 



 




  

    

  





 




  

    

      
 

      
 

      
and more sealer......

    

  





 



 



 



 



 




  

    

      

        

      

    

  





 



 



 




  

    
Removing the rear subframe gave the opportunity
    to fit some uprated Pedders rear subframe bushes. These help
    to tie down the rear subframe more securely as they do tend to
    move about a bit.

  





 



 



 



 




  

    

  





 



 




  

    

      
After leaving the seam sealer to cure to
      cure for 24 hours, this was followed with a combination of dinitrol
      products to the underside as well as the inside of all the box
      sections.

    

  





 



 



 



 




  

    

      

        

          

            

              




              

            

          

        

      

    

  

  





 




  

    

      

        
 

      

    

  





 






 



 



 









 



 



This shows the underside fully
treated.



 




  

    

      

        

          

            

          

        

      

    

  





 



 




  

    

      

        

          

            

              
Masking film is used to protect the bodywork.

            

          

        

      

    

  





 



 



 



 



 










  

    

  





 




  

    

      
Once everything was fitted back on, we
      wheeled it round to the 4 post ramp for

      
a full 4 wheel alignment to our own custom
      settings on our Hunter Digital Alignment Equipment.

      
As I was becoming impatient to drive it,
      we left fitting the Wortec electric exhaust until after Christmas.

    

  





 



 



 



 



 




  

    

      

    

  





 



 




  

    
The finished (for now) product,
    low, big wheels and rust proofed.

  





 



 



 



 



 



 



The standard exhaust didn't last
long. It has now been removed in favour of a full wortec
system, inc long tube headers, 100 cell high flow cats and electric
switching catback exhaust. This has been combined with a wortec
air intake and a wortec remap to bump up the power
to circa 475bhp, the "Performance Pac" - full details
on the VXR8 pages.



What to do when 475 isn't enough?
Add a cam!



We have now installed one of our
magic cams into the Maloo for a bit more go. Dyno figures to follow
soon.



Wheels? "20's? These were too
small!!! So we bolted on a set of our 22's!







***UPDATE 26.02.10***



Finally, we got round to a Dyno run with Cam Pack fitted.



The results? 471 bhp at the hubs (hub dyno, Thor racing) and 443
ft/lb of torque.



All this from a N/A ls3 with just a mild cam and still retaining
emmisions compliance and a docile idle.



With the power sorted (for now) it was time to spend some more
time on the suspension.



Good as lowering springs are, this car is screaming out for some
decent damping. 



So it was time to fit one of the Pedders Extreme Xa coilover kits.



These fantastic coilover kits offer damping adjustement as well
as height adjustment and a slightly stiffer spring rate for improved
handling.



Full details here: http://www.pedders.com.au/PS_images/tradeNews/pdf/tn1251166375.pdf



While we were there, we fitted a Pedders adjustable rear antiroll
bar.



HSV in their wisdom remove these from the utes (not the cars),
I suspect to avoid the rear end becoming to lairy in the wet.



The downside is that hitting a bump mid corner at speed can be
downright scary as the back end wobbles around!



So on went the roll bar too.



With that done, once again it was time for the alignment to be
set up to our custom settings.



And what a difference! Especially at the back.







 



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