Starting

[YATSIE]

G-day all

Well let me give a quick rundown of my situation

I had a VK as my 1st car, ended up needing to sell it cause of the fact it was needing to much work, went into the NT to earn some cash and bought myself a VT.

Since then ive been haunted by the selling of my VK so

The GF has decided to let me buy a VK as a hobby car, to be done up progressivly throughout the years to a beast!

looking like i'm only going to be able to spend about $1500 a year tho after i buy the car.

NOW!

1- I'm not going to bullshit i have next to no idea about how to do up a car
2- i wouldnt know where to start

so i guess i'm looking for advise on what to buy as a starter as in should i get a $1500 sl/exec or should i get a calias? does it matter $$ wise later down the track which model i should get?

and what should i aim for 308 or 350 chev?

i'm 25 years old looking at this as a 15 year job

cheers YATES

my old VK

[Tom_1569]

Should you get an SL or a Calais?
That would depend on what your end result to be. The calais comes standard with more electric crap (Power mirrors, power windows, Cruise control, Elec dash, etc). They also come with a nicer interior, which may or may not be any use to you if you decide to go wild with the interior.
The calais will be a more expensive base for your project so you need to weigh it up.

308 or 350, I would aim with a 308 (possibly go EFI), there cheaper, easier to put in, factory fitted, and can work it etc. The 350 needs engineering, adapters, wiring, the list goes on, will work out very costly.

15yr project is fine, just remember things go in and out of "fashion" so something wild today, may not be so "cool" in 15years time. I hope 20inch rims on early commodores go out of fashion by then The bonus of a long term project is you have plenty of time to plan, and get the best bargains on prices, you will notice over time certain parts will have there spike in prices and come back down.

If you have any problems along the way theres plenty of people on here willing to help out, and if you chuck up a location there may be someone close by to throw you a hand if the time comes.

[DANNY8]

I'd go a Calais......coz in 15 years there's not gonna be no where near as many around as 2day....and u could be sitting on a goldmine....maybe not quiet, but u get the idea lol.

It's prolly a good time to start buying up on half decent VB-VK's coz yeah as time passes by there's gonna be less and less and u might make a fair few bucks out of it. Ya just gotta have the space to store them.

[YATSIE]

Good points to consider on both accounts!

Calias is nicer but it does have allot of extras that could go wrong, to be honest i dont mind about lacking some of the electrics especially the windows.

Sounds like if i knew as half as much as you two i'd be set!

i'll have to keep an eye out for a good priced VK with no rust or structual probs.

Will be a fun project over the years, specially if i get it to a manual which would be ideal, i suppose the 308 would definatly be the smart $ choice...

I really dont know about the performance differences with the two engines anyway cant seem to find any stats. and as far as i'm aware there arnt any other engine options for the VK except some 304 which i know nothing about...

Anyway it really would be good to get the max performance out of her....

Imagin overtaking someone in a ripper old holden in about 2040

And yea 20 inch rims on a VK haha, nah i agree with you they look shocking

thanks boys

[Tom_1569]

i'll have to keep an eye out for a good priced VK with no rust or structual probs.

Most common places for rust are the spare wheel boot well, under the front and rear windscreens (pull the seals up and have alook), as well as the A-Pillar, mainly passenger side for some reason. But thoroughly check every where, especially pillars, boot, floor pans etc, anything not bolt on really is my goal as bolt on parts (doors etc) are cheap to replace.

Will be a fun project over the years, specially if i get it to a manual which would be ideal, i suppose the 308 would definatly be the smart $ choice...

I think you will find most Calais's will be auto, and even alot of SL's etc are auto.

I really dont know about the performance differences with the two engines anyway cant seem to find any stats. and as far as i'm aware there arnt any other engine options for the VK except some 304 which i know nothing about...

Anyway it really would be good to get the max performance out of her....

The 304 engine is pretty much the 308, (minus 4 cubic inches) it was changed in the middle of the VK era (someone correct if im wrong) to meet Group A race regulations.
Also the 304 EFI (VN onwards) make a great conversion, more power, reliability, and fuel economy. Also not to hard to find with a T-5 gearbox which is a 5 speed, where VK's are 4 speed (unless you can find one of the 5 speeds). The EFI conversion is a fairly simple conversion but will require an engineers cert but not as much hassle as a 350.
And you can always work the 304 for extra power.

[YATSIE]

thanks heaps mate

Going to have to keep a good eye out for a bargin

[Bastian]

Hey Yatsie where you from? I live about an hour out of Melbourne and I have a VK Executive just sitting in my backyard collecting dust. Its been off the road for about 6 months, as I ended up getting a VK Calais an transferring the rego. Body is very straight for a car that age, only a few little dints that would be easily fixed, and it has hardly any rust. Engine is just a 6 and its a carby. the car is on dual fuel. Mechanically shes pretty fried, I think cause its been ran on gas for so many years. If it was a project car though it wouldn't be a bad buy at all, cause its pretty straight. Paint has faded like **** though, but its the straightness of the body that would make it a worthwhile project car, no bog or anything.

[vkberlina]

Hey All Im back
Um Yatsie something else to consider with doing up the car over the time frame your talking about.
- engine if its sitting around a long time gaskets & seals harden, rubber hoses etc perish with age and you may end up redoing alot of your hard work and spending money twice.
This also goes with suspension, brakes etc.
I suggest doing mechanical things first even if you bought a 304/308 or what ever engine is runnign condition and fitting it all working out wiring (hidden or not) and all other customising things.
Once mechanical stuff is done, drop the motor out do the body then the interior last. A project car esp a long term one can quickly become a shelf where junk gets stacked on top of and in when you loose interest and body and paint can get damaged so its best doing the body as late as you can.

Also there are some more difficult to buy VK parts like chrome moulds for bumperbars, window surrounds etc these are not available aftermarket and no longer available from holden. Good door handles are also getting hard to come by as the dicast degrades over time and the chrome bubbles so as you aquire different parts make sure you store them well so they survive long enough for you to use them.
Also go to some classic car shows join a car club in your area and look at other cars and see what other people are doing you dont need to copy but you might get ideas for your own project and learn from other peoples mistakes.

cheers
Scott

[Bastian]

Good point vkberlina.

I one day want a purple VK 202 Turbo'ed

Imagine how nuts that would be!