1983 Vh

[Trav001]

this is my first car, 1983 VH SL 3.3L I bought it for $1500 and it came with the following

-8 months rego
-sony xplod 4x45W CD player
-2x6" speakers
-2x 6x9" speakers
-250 C.F.M webber
-1/4 cam (as so im told)
-Hi Tech Headers
-2 1/4" lukey exhaust
-5 speed M76 borg warner
-sports tacos
-sports steering wheel
-15" mags
-new 7" wide tyres











Things Ive Added:
-New seat covers
-crome exhaust tip
-Brock Spoiler
-100watt drive lights
-sports pedals

Things ive added which are not in the pictures
-A SL/E / SS cluster theyre the same for the VH arnt they??? any how it has 80000 less km on the clock so im happy

Things that im going to do
-interior respray
-exterior respray
-VC HDT flares and front spliter
-A9X Bonnet Lump
-Hood lock down pins
-253Ci V8 (rebuilding one as we speak and have another hopfully ariving monday)
-drop tank

please tell me what you think

[quick308]

yeah not to bad mate. interior looks nice. are u doin any engine mods with the new engine?

[Trav001]

thanks for the comments on the interior. Im not sure yet because ive got one coming in on monday from another commodore which was hotted up and I dont know what extent that engine was done up, if its pretty standard I was thinking of putting roller rockers, 1" carbie spacer, extractors/headers, and a mild cam in. same with the pre pollution red 253 I got which i was going to put in my commodore before this complete one came along. as im getting this commodore one for nothing as far as I know

Do I need a K-frame to put the 253 on??

[Trav001]

Just an Update, got the other 253 yesterday, its an almost complete engine, only missing; water pump, alternator, coil, leads, starter motor, and fuel pump. came with crome 253 rocker covers which have a little bit of rust, but im told steel wool will get rid of that.

My 1st 253 only has water pump, complete heads, pistons, block, oil pump, old rocker covers and one mounting bracket,

I know my 1st 253 needs new pistons, and a whole ton of parts (that i can get most off the other 253 if need be) the cam in this one looks better than the new one.

the 2nd 253 looks to be in pretty good condition all the gaskets look newish however the heads dont look that good in the rockers so far, dunno what the pistons are like. it wont turn over much at the moment so im thinking somthing is broken or somthing is just disconected.

Hopfully pics will come soon.

[quick308]

depending on how much rust is on tha rocker covers i prob wld not use steel wool on it. it wld take tha shine of them. they scrach pretty easly. sounds like uv got a good project there tho. nice to see someone from tassie. used to live there couple years back

[Trav001]

A person recomended getting them recromed, depending on how much that would cost i may just get new ones.

theres quite a few nice commies cruising around in tas at the moment, it's a pitty not many are shown on the forum

[quick308]

A person recomended getting them recromed, depending on how much that would cost i may just get new ones.

theres quite a few nice commies cruising around in tas at the moment, it's a pitty not many are shown on the forum

it wld prob be tha better option jus to get new ones. i dont know how much it wld cost to get recromed but i cant imagine it wld be that cheap. ya there are a heap of nice commys round tas. i was from Devonport. down tha bluff there are plenty of nice cars. friday sat nites goes off lol

[Trav001]

Fri n Sat nights in burnie are meant to go off too but last time i went cruiseing it was pretty quiet.

I pulled the sump off and found bits of bearing in it, the engine has exploded a piston and bent a push rod, so if the heads n block are stuffed i'll just use my other one. got lots of good bits anyway . we think they ran the V8 with low oil

[quick308]

Fri n Sat nights in burnie are meant to go off too but last time i went cruiseing it was pretty quiet.

I pulled the sump off and found bits of bearing in it, the engine has exploded a piston and bent a push rod, so if the heads n block are stuffed i'll just use my other one. got lots of good bits anyway . we think they ran the V8 with low oil

********s thats pathetic id b ringen up who ever sold me that motor

[Trav001]

It only cost me a slab of booze, the carbie and manifold n heaps of other stuff are in good working condition so it aint too bad, the other day I put a body kit on layby which is the VC skirts n flares

[quick308]

put some pics on when u get them fitted. she'll look tuff

[Trav001]

yep I will, just need to borrow a camera it wont look too tough just yet, but thanks anyway, due to not having the flared front splitter and being a greenish colour, but it will look good and fairly low. (just imagine it in jet black )

[quick308]

ya black has always been my favourite colour on commys or any musle car. thought of doin it to mine but silver looks cool to (colour its got). tha paint is almost new so there wld be no point

[Trav001]

Silver is very nice i debated that colour once but yeah black is just as good . Picked up the flares I thought they were a greenish colour but i got the colour mixed up some how dunno where i got greenish from anyway the flares are actually a dark blue metalic, which wont look too bad until i get the respray, i havent put them one yet as im waiting to get time to fix the left hand side skirt and some of the minor damage, and get some nuts and etc to attach them, but i think i did very well for $100.

does anyone know how the flares and skirts exactly go on? i have a fair idea im just looking for confirmation.

Pics coming soon, bare with me lol

in the last two weeks ive spent $500 on my car, $100 for the kit, n $400 to get all the electrics fixed (as I hate working on the electrics) and getting the SS or SL/E cluster in.

[quick308]

id be askin a panel beater for professional advise. about fittin flares and side skirts. my side skirts look like they have jus been bolted in. behind the front wheel where the mud flaps wld be its jus been screwed on there. and in front of tha back wheel there is another couple of screws holdin it there. since ur car was not originally fitted with them ull prob have to make ur own holes to fit them. if u need to see it to get a bit more of an idea i cld prob take a pic and post it up.

[Trav001]

my flares are bolt ons so im thinking im gonna have to drill some holes, and the skirts look as though they fit in under the bottom door jams, (the gap between the door and the car)

This is the look im inspired by, this pic is of the ADP improved VH and is from Home of the HDT


my flares are the same by the looks of it, but the skirts are a lil different

[VRSS]

for the skirts just use self tapping screws at each end save you drilling holes and use sikaflex along the skirt to adhese it to the sill panel.

[Trav001]

thanks , where can i get sikaflex from?, I got the nuts for the flares today, 26 of them from $1.80. I did some lining up of the non damaged skirt and its gonna look tuff even tho the skirts are a different colour

[quick308]

u shld try getten those original strips with hdt written on it like in tha pic. make a replicar

[Trav001]

yeah I have been debating doing that, however i'll be using a torana bonnet lump rather than a commodore one for somthing different.

bit of an update on the engine, the 253 that i got recently is fully apart, the block looks buggered but thats not a prob because my other block is fine. ive got the cam out of it apparently doesnt look standard so i'll be looking into that to find out more information.

got the carbies butterflies opening again as they were rusted shut, that took two weeks of soaking in kero and a bit of encouragment,

priced a short motor and a long motor from bursons, $1700 with heads for short, $2150 for long

Does anyone know what repco charge?

Ive got a feeling that i'll save myself $1000 by using the good block i have at home.

still trying to get a camera

[Trav001]

change of plan, I wont be putting the V8 in, I willl be fixing and dressing up the current motor, and I will be building the V8 for somthing else. most likley an EH wagon. heres some pics of the skirts they still aint on yet as im waiting to get them repaired and the pics of the flares wont work at the moment. and new and old crome rocker covers. which i think i'll be selling the old ones dunno yet.

Skirts

old rocker covers



new rocker covers

[SL/ENUT]

Looking to be a good project in the making. I have seen this car about Burnie as well.

[Trav001]

cheers it will be resprayed the same colour as it is, and I should be ordering the front splitter next week i hope, and as far as we know only the stem seals need replacing. and i'll get some engine enamal to respray the engine and get some crome bits . I like the sound the six, lots of people think its an 8 ,. it tends to turn some heads
and i can at best get 28mpg out of the old girl in the current condition