My 1979 VB Commodore Restoration

[greenie_740]

Hey guys,
This is my 1979 vb commodore my uncle bought it brand new from dywers in 1979 and owned it for 33years before he gave it to me 2 years ago.
It is was in all original condition with the log books, over the past couple of years ive been doing a bit of work to it to slowly restore it to original condition and make it look like it was when it was new.

The paint is still the original paint on it so I have no plans to change that other than fixing up the odd love tap shes received over the past few years, ive had all the wheels off and resprayed original colour, ive had the air cleaner off and resprayed that and put repro stickers on it. My main project with her at the moment is getting the engine out and respraying that the original orange from the factory (anyone with any advice or paint codes for that colour would be appreciated). Also I will be spraying the gear box and diff to orginal colour as well. during all this ill be doing a general tidy up of the underside of the car. And hopefully I can get all that done and have the body fixed up ready for the all holden day show! any advice would be appreciated. :thumbsup:

Cheers, Greenie

 

[gm1961]

Hi All

nice VB , re the engine paint, its just a simple late model holden rocket red

now you have to be carefull, as there are 2 or 3 shades of it

the old holden guys can help out here, but there is a dark red , one with lets call it a touch of maroon in it ( it looks murky to me ) and the HQ onwards reddish with a touch of orange in it

If it is a 6 with no aircon, you can do it all in the car, just take your time , you need to degrease and clean the engine thoroughly, i also suggest using a stiff bristle brush ( not plastic i have a old worn out metal tip concrete swimming pool algae scraper )
masking tape will not stick to a dirty engine, tape up the firewall , wrap up all the wiring with newspaper , wrap up K member , engine mounts, un clip as much wiring as you can on the car, same with vacuum hoses , take photos and make notes of what goes where

i would also have a large house fan pointing in the engine bay or over it to push away and over spray


gearbox / auto is all raw material, give it a good clean with greaser or mag wheel cleaner , you can even use that over cleaner on it, but dont leave it to long over cleaner is meant for smooth surface like chrome and stainless steel , the rough cast
auto it totally different, try some wait 10 mins and rinse off , see how it looks

your uncle should be able to tell you what has been replaced, so it the box it original it should be the same style / colour , manual boxes may be a mix of unpainted / black / grey / rocket red , unless you want 100% concourse , POR15 has some
basic colours in the iron grey and black etc, you can paint up the box nice with these , belhousing one color ( grey or black ) , main area ( opposite of bellhousing ) and rear extension housing best left unpainted

Diff is usually black, but not jet or shiney black, give it a clean, its like 50% black and 50% dark grey mixed together and a dull finish , to me shiney black just looks so wrong , but in saying that once you take the diff of, you can have it painted in 2pack at a panel shop and they will have a good blend to use , if you dont replace your shocks and springs have them painted up , red to match the body , or orange or yellow or bright fluro or dark green or even a mid to dark blue - anyway that stuff i would use, not to everyones taste ( just like i dont like sky blue or pink on suspension parts )


regards
george

 

[VRSenator065]

Great car mate

 

[VS 5.0]

Needs more pics !

 

[corhijasna]

nice score from your uncle mate,looks good

 

[VK SL 3800]

When C1237324963425 sees this he's gonna get a little excited.........

Nice looking old car, appears to be in Salamanca red, need some more pics!

 

[c2105026]

When C1237324963425 sees this he's gonna get a little excited.........

Nice looking old car, appears to be in Salamanca red, need some more pics!

Indeed he is. Colour looks to be salamanca red. VB had Salamanca Red, Firethorn red (my colour), and a darker metallic colour whose name eludes me.

Careful with the body. If respraying sections be sure to get it done in acrylic. Car was originally in acrylic, and 2pak will never fully match-up colourwise. under artificial lighting looks horrible. Now...to find a panelbeater willing to work in acrylic.......(there were none in Orange)...or to do it yourself. If it's just a ding without a sratch, try PDR (Paintless Dent Repair).

As mentioned, I don't think the diff is painted (well I didn't paint mine, looks fine), as well as the tranny, but can respond well to a good degreasing.
WRT painting the motor, the rocker cover and side plates seem to suffer issues with paint adhesion; even with by-the-book prepping I still had issues, so I have chromed plated parts instead.

There is/was a VB SL trax/topgear model in salamanca red available in 1/43 scale......