Wanting to 'Do Up' a 1986 VL Commodore

[vl_dragon86]

Hi Guys,
I am new to this forum and new to the car 'thing'. I need any ones advice on the following:
I am looking to buy a cheap-ish 1986 manual or automatic vl, so as I can fix it up myself. I know very little about any car, but very willing to learn. Do you suggest I should fix up the car myself, with the assistance of a decent workshop manual, or buy a more decent one. I am wanting to fix it all up myself, but not sure if I should. Please assist me by offering your advice.

Cheers

 

[Snowfox]

You can achieve a lot with a workshop manual but anything you are not sure about really needs the input of someone who knows their stuff. Its just not worth the hassle of making a possibly costly mistake. Getting hold of a cheap VL should not be a problem but still try and find out as much as you can about its history, previous owners etc. The more info the better. In my opinion starting with a half decent one might be better if you're new to it all. There will still be plenty of things that need doing like general maintenance, servicing etc. And look at the pros and cons of auto vs manual, decide which would suit your needs best. If you have any probs or queries JC is the best place for answers in my experience .

 

[vlv8vic]

i haev always found a workshop manual a good investement for reasonably simple repairs, however if you mean 'do up' in teh sence that it may need bodywork or mods you wont find the actual skills involved to do this sort of stuff.

 

[Bax]

Yeah, Well basically once you have any kind of EFI engine knowledge you can catch onto Most engines pretty quick.

But I'd be buying a manual if you don't have much of an idea, learn as you go.

But as far as doing things up. What do you mean?

 

[vl_dragon86]

Well, not quite sure at the moment, but pretty much customising the interior and exterior. Full body kit, re-spray, stereo system, pretty much whatever needs fixing, re-doing. I am aware it may cost a bit, but i'll be doing bits each week.

 

[seventh path]

speak to as many people as you can.....wreckers, mechanics, car enthusiests, etc. never be afraid to ask questions even if you think they are stupid.......but if you have any problems there's always someone on this site who is more than happy to answer you're q's and stuff.....but you never learn unless you try and do it you're self......i'd buy a half decent one and start by doing general maintenence and simple repairs then progress from there

 

[vlv8vic]

sounds like a project. i agree with 7thpath talk to heaps of people. majority of what i learned originally was just from asking questions. if someone thinks its a stupdid question they arent worth asking!

 

[dan_man31]

workshop manual sounds good but again u still have to ask questions talk to people pic up skills yeha im lucky my old man's a mechanic always in the shed doin one thing or another always answering good questions but most of the time he tell's me what i should do then walks of so im learning as i go along
jc is the best place to pic up idea's most of the interior exterior mod's are simple i learned from freinds this website car show's most things and places like repco autobarn commodore people all that with interior mod's u can pretty much check out other people's mods and improvise on your own
tell us how it goes

its a lot of hard work so if your not into that sorta thing probally better of to get a car thats had it done but if your in brisbane i would help ya all i can :yeah: oh yeah and ill get the old man to put some effort in as well lol

dan

 

[DamoVL]

Hey mate, welcome to the forums...

i would say that rather then buying a cheap'sih VL - look around for a well maintained VL and look for a later year like an 88 model SL or Berlina for example.

That way you dont have to spend heaps on money on getting the car up and running and spend more money on the good stuff like engine, paint, stereo, rims etc

the way i would do things is once you have ur car is to do the following to bring her up to a good streeter.

1) Full Clean! strip the interior wash seats, clean the floors, clean the boot, cut and polish the body - this way as your cleaning you can find little problem spots in your car that u can fix up or just idea might pop into ur head

2) Stereo - this is something i'm sure is a must - but to go over the top. Like just a head unit and some good 6*9's and front splits would be awsome for the moment. add amps and subs later

3) Paint - if u need to repaint ur car do it now

4) Rims - I say get rims now cause its better to have ur rims that u want on ur car BEFORE you lower it what way you can do the god right.

5) Suspention - Now that ur rims are on you can have a pro job done on it and have the great ride height and handling, but not sacrifce ride comfort and find that middle ground between WAY to low and uncomfortable and a crap ride hight and still bad comfort - and please just dont cut your springs do it properly.

6) Basic Accesserories - here is where u can start to give the nice touches to bring your street car to life. De-badge her, place some chrome badges on, polish ,new steering wheel, gear shift knob, gauges (if you really feel the need), carpet the boot. Just nice little touches that are going to set your car apart.

7) Advanced Accesserories - Now is the fun part. Here we can expand on what you already have in your car

#Sub and amp package with custom lighting and boxes?

#KnN Air Filter + Cold Air Intake setup

#Body Kit maybe? Areo or F20 kinda setup

#If it is an auto - try a manual conversion?

#if its a manual - maybe time to upgrade to an LSD

I'm just about to do the above and fit new breaks and a full new Calais diff to my car



But they are just ideas - if you need help, just post and most people here can help



I started out knowing nothing as well - but u grow and learn as you go !


DamoVL

 

[gysenn]

I have a white '87 VL... I would love some advice also...