First HSV front bar in the US

[HTRDLNCN]

its all done,,its also filthy and full of handprints so Ill give her a bath
when the sun goes down and take some more pics this week.
couldnt for the life of me get the front clips on fender to go in correctly,
took it to body shop freind and they also couldnt get them in,
for some reason,whether because its a used bumper or what not,
there needs to be about 1/8" shaved off corner of bumper for both
the clips and the fender to line up perfectly.
After almost 5 months of dealing with all sorts hassles and
spending money to get this bar over here and finished Im too
tired and too broke to bother with it so it stays like this for now.

Many Thanks go out to
Flashpoint / Advice and help
Nick@Nvu.com / Parts+shipping
Alex Picon of Carrera Powerboats / Paint
Cheers!


http://www.hotrodlincoln.org/hsvgto3.jpg

[gollum]

Congratulations !!!
That front bar has changed the total look of the car, looks awesome !!!!!
Now i know what I'll do with mine ( once it gets a bit more stone chipped )
..............looks 110 % better than standard, worth the hassle, i would suggest. Great color too. :bravo: :bravo:
fit her up with some HSV black GTO tail lights, maybe the mags as well, then drop her an inch or so ???
cheers David Mc.

[Black AH CDX]

Whats with the horribly tiny wheels fitted to the US Monaro's?

they ruin the whole car!!

[Ryzz]

Time to get some nice 19" Rims and a HSV Rear Bumper, your Munro will be the best looking on in the US!!

[YCV8]

Looks sensational. Sounds like it was an effort but if how it looks are what you gauge your results on then you are miles in front. I didn't need the temptation that your photos have now given me! A set of 19s or 20s and she will be a stand out over there.

[HTRDLNCN]

Thanks !
At least you guys dont have to deal with shipping or the different headlamp problem.
That would have made everything so much easier.

As for changes..
1. Im broke ,,no money for extras now for a while so the rest of the HSV parts will have to wait. Up next would be the HSV rear spoiler..
2. I run fat/wide BFG drag radials in the back and the 18s and 19s dont have enough sidewall
not to mention the 18 and 19" drag radials are almost twice as much, see reason #1 :)
3.Cant drop it , I run Pedders standard height drag springs and Konis set full stiff,, without them the car will hit the tires on the launch,see pic in link below, also see reason #1.
4. I like the red tails better than the black tails because the car is red so they blend in better. The
black tails look much better on darker colors to me. also see reason #1

All get to it all eventually,money permitting. :burnout: :burnout:

http://www.hotrodholden.com/launch.jpg

[HTRDLNCN]

Anyone have a picture of what the plate/tag/reg holder should look like?
Im having some custom plates made that mimic your slim line plates but my bar didnt come with the holder.

[OLS108]

are those Wheels , HSV VR GTS wheels ???:confused:

[Maccas]

well done mate car looks a tonne better than any other GTO in america that i have seen, glad to see you have good taste in the aesthetics of a car as well as performance, as the other guys said new set of rims and it will be smick as

cheers maccas

[HTRDLNCN]

are those Wheels , HSV VR GTS wheels ???:confused:

Mille Miglia VELOCETYPE

[MTC]

are those Wheels , HSV VR GTS wheels ???:confused:

Like Ground Hog day!! Are you going to ask him the same question everythime you see his pic's of his car?:nyuk:


Great Pic's:headbang: Are those VR GTS wheels on your GTO ???

[Tez82]

Well done :) Its amazing though boys in the States love doing the things we love changing ie they get VY SS 17" rims, some like to convert tail lights to the VX style, Turtle covers, Holden Badging etc...

I recon we should create a website to swap parts :p how boys on here are chasing US GTO front bars, and how many boys on ls1gto chasing monaro front bars etc....

hehe but looks great though mate :) love the HSV front bar... I read somewhere how much you paid for it as well :( not cheap at all, but being the only one in the US with the HSV bar would be worth it :D

[CLUB_819]

Looks the goods mate, like every else said you need some 19's and lowered a bit and it'll be f'n mad.

Cheers
Enjoy your ride
Scotty

[HTRDLNCN]

If it wasnt for the shipping cost I think you would see a LOT more swapping of parts.
Next time I need a bunch of smaller parts Ill just fly down.
Get to meet some of you and check out AU for about the same cost of just having stuff shipped over!
Maybe I can even get Validated then!
:D

Im real happy now,,its like having a new car all over again.
Loved everything about the car except for the front bar and rear wing.
Cant wait to take a nice long drive this weekend.

[gen3ss]

Someone in the states should be replicating these bars surely it would be easy enough to do, there are heaps of Bodystyling comanies around Oz replicating that bar youd think someone over there could do it.

Looks much better than the Pontiac bar, i cant warm to the pontiac front:spew:.

Well done mate looks tough, now you just need the skirts, rear bar and spoiler and you'll have an aussie looking GTO!

Cheers.

[IIV8II]

YEAH there are minor differences underneath in the way the bar attatches to the front guard (ooops fenders!!) due to thickness of plastic the HSV nose is made from, compared to the Holden/GTO one.

The HSV has the forward, upright section of the black plastic retaining strips (one each side; sits behind the horizontal bumper edge where it meets and attaches to the metal fender just aft of the headlamp assembly) chopped off by the HSV factory - wish I could show you pics but it had me stuffed for a while too... If it looks like it shouldn't be there, it shouldn't!
HTH

[Myydral]

Mate, looks good, but please don't ruin it by putting a spoiler on :bawl:

[jerrel]

wat was wrong with ur original headlights??

[lsking]

she looks great champ and sounds like it wasnt to much of an easy job...

all u need to complete is a rear bar, big rims, and some air bag suspension...

p.s. i know , iknow you dont have no money for mods...lol...

[Tez82]

Mate, looks good, but please don't ruin it by putting a spoiler on :bawl:
Mate he removed his :p In the States the GTO's come standard with spoilers :( thankgod a lot of the boys are removing them over there, but it ends up being a costly exercise to patch up and paint... Thankgod my Monaro didnt come with a spoiler :D

Tez

[HTRDLNCN]

Clips: They are on their way..

Lights:The US GTO lights do not fit the HSV GTO bumper,
they do fit the CV8 bumper however. The HSV GTO lights fit
the HSV bumper but have different connectors,bulbs and lighting pattern
than the USA GTO since they are designed for right hand drive.
So that why I had to do some custom surgery to get one unit that did it all.

Spoiler: Yes I removed the silly pontiac wing (four big holes that need to be welded up and then the bootlid repainted) from the rear however I do like the small HSV lip spoiler I think it flows well with the factory lines. However at $350 US just for the spoiler and then having to have it painted and installedl I think I can live without it..
:)
The big HSV GTO wing would be very nice if it was much smaller but for me its a bit big for the rear of the car.

[HTRDLNCN]

I recieved the "fake" plate and while the quality is excelent
the plate is too big .
When I specifically asked for a slimline plate I thought it would be regulation AU size.
Calling tommorow to see what they can do..

Correct AU Slimline is 14.65" x 3.94" (or so I was told)
and their plate is 18"x 4.5"

My plate on my car top..real thing on the bottom.
http://www.hotrodlincoln.org/plate.jpg

[Muscrat]

Looks much better than the Pontiac bar, i cant warm to the pontiac front:spew:.



Agree totally, congrats now it does look like what it is, a MONARO.

Steve

[X BC X]

looks great mate, :headbang:

have you had any feedback on the bumper from your fellow yanks ?

just curious of what people in the states think of our styling....

bc

[jonlee]

if i could find the HSV stuff cheap, i'd be all over it. IMHO, the HSV GTO coupe is one of the most beautiful cars ever built. too bad it's just so bloody expensive to get everything over here.

[HTRDLNCN]

For the most part they really like it.
(not that it matters to me,Im not one to care what anyone thinks)

Like Jonlee stated,he among others would do it in a heartbeat if it wasnt
so expensive to have large parts shipped over..
I had to choose between a supercharger and this and decided to do this.
Of course I did cheat and spend a tiny bit extra and install some nitrous.
Cant be all show and no go..
;)

[vz300]

If it wasnt for the shipping cost I think you would see a LOT more swapping of parts.
Next time I need a bunch of smaller parts Ill just fly down.
Get to meet some of you and check out AU for about the same cost of just having stuff shipped over!
Maybe I can even get Validated then!
:D

Im real happy now,,its like having a new car all over again.
Loved everything about the car except for the front bar and rear wing.
Cant wait to take a nice long drive this weekend.
I can't beleive it is that difficult & expense given the exchange rates at the moment.Usually it is more of a hassle due to 1 USD being worth about $1.35 AUD.I had a lot of large scale radio control planes bought in from the US through a shipping agent in LA & they organised everything at a good price.If you want the contact here in Brisbane let me know.

[HTRDLNCN]

Depending on how hard you look and what part of the US its going to door to door shipping of the front bar ranges from $600US to over $1000US . Then you have to show paperwork and convince US Customs that there is an agreement between Au and US for car parts that say that Au parts dont pay customs.They may or MAY NOT believe you. If you choose to fight it they will keep your parts hostage until itis resolved so most like me end up just paying the extra customs fee which range from $200-400US..
Shipping to the AU is much easier as I have done it myself.
This has been researched by many people over here and companies like NVU and JHP on your side and for the moment it seems there is no way around it. I can actually get parts shipped cheaper from China,Malaysia and Taiwan than I can from the AU.