My car has unfortunatly been involved in a bit of a bingle (N/A vl 5 speed etc) I was cut off in traffic by some clown turning right from the left hand lane, and the rest is history. I now need a new front for my car: bumber, nosecone etc. I was rather interested in bolting on a calais front for the added looks, but since i have beeen given prices, i'll back off i think. But one thing that i was told stuck me as strange, apparently the front gards are different between the calais and commodore? I wouldn't think this is right as it only looks like the nose cone is different.
Can any one tell me the parts that are different between the two?
Lots of misconceptions about Calais fronts.
Guards are the same but calais' have guard extention panels that bolt on in front of the guards. Then you simply bolt on the flip front and connect up the wires (if you have the plug on your loom)
Headlights are the same. Grille is different (calais has clear eggcrate grille)
Bumpers are the same but calais' have chrome moulding clipped on.
Easy eh? 8)
New gear is aaround the 2,500 mark.. . bloody dear.. cheaper to buy a calais when you bought the original car as theres very little difference in price between an exec and a calais now days.
i agree with sir calais, dont put a calais front end on. I was thinking about it too after my front end crash, in the end it will cost you WAY to much to get a look that isnt quite right. I might just fix my car up and then buy a calais cause of all the extra features. My front end which includes: bumper, bumper side sections, front right guard, new bonnet, centre and side trims (above the bumper), fan, fan shroud, radiator, headlight, nose cone, and all the other bits and pieces cost me about $1000, its not bloody cheap!! to add on calais lights and guards prob cost you about another thousand!!! just put it back to the way it was and of u like the look of the calais why not trade in and get one???
I'm not sure how much vls go for in the major cities but up here most vls (in good condition) are around the 5-6 grand mark. I paid 7 grand for my calais and its in pretty good condition - the interior is perfect, has no rust and all it really needed was a bit of tlc on the body. Trust me if you want a calais go and by the real thing it works out cheaper than converting it.
I wasn't planning a full conversion to calais, i just thought that if the panels were simiarly priced then i'd make the change, but NOPE! I'll stick to the commodore for now, as calais are nice, but i'll just keep it until i finish uni and can buy a GTR or similar
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
Calais nose cones are $1100 from wreckers.. but you should be able to pick up the nose cone for about $600 - $700 private sale if you look around. I sold mine for $600 - that was with the front eggcrate grill, eyelid motor, and front 1/4 panel extensions.
you can make a mock up calais look right a vl berlina=3k, a vl calais=6k+, vl berlina + calais front and rear and color code bumpers = 4k and we are only talking about looks here right? :idea:
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
Don't do it man. If your not willing to go all the way with the Calais extra's, it's just not worth it, and by then you would've spent enough to have bought a genuine Calais anyway.
i know what ya mean but the calais front conversion is like a cosmetic upgrade just like people with no LE vl's putting on LE kits to their car. Its for show but the whole concept of converting a exec/berlina to a calais then ok its not worth it but in this case its only about the front end (for show only) and i think its worth it
