Vh ss

[Darren]

Name: various, dependant on my mood at the time
Model: 82 VH
Colour: Maranello Red
Bodykit: Grp 3 bonnet scoop
Engine Type: Holden EFI 5L
Engine Mods: block bored 30thou, balanced, ACL pistons, Crow Cam & valve springs, double row timing chain set, yella terra gold roller rockers, Romac steel balancer, high volume sump, JP oil pump, Trickshift dual throttle intake manifold with custom intake piping and cold air box, Delphi 42lb injectors, Bosch 044 fuel pump, Kalmaker SP3 ECU, Paramount Performance tune
Power: 275 rwhp @ 6200rpm
Exhaust: Pacemaker Tr-Y extractors, 3 inch single with centre muffler & resonator
Gearbox: Borg Warner T5, RPM clutch
Diff: 3.08 LSD 10 bolt Salisbury
Brakes: VN Grp A 330mm front rotors & calipers, standard rear disc
Suspension: Lovell S/L front & rear, Koni adjustable shocks, nylothane bushes, whiteline sway bars, k-mac camber adjusters, adjustable panhard rod
Wheels/Tyres: VL Walkinshaw 16x7, Bridgestone RE001 225/50/16 tyres
Interior: SS 'dark claret', door trims and rear seat retrimmed in matching velour, VS door speaker pods, Autotecnica front seats, Momo steering wheel.
Other Mods: Battery relocated to boot, VN steering rack/VL intermediate shaft, VS K-frame, VN 80L fuel tank, oil catch can, hi-torque starter motor
Stereo: Kenwood head unit, Pioneer 6x9 (rear) and 6 inch front doors
Build Period: 6 years/ongoing
Cost: approx $20,000+
Contacts: N/A
Future Mods: get A/C working, hopefully one day a full respray (same colour), maybe alloy heads ??

Lakeside Park Raceway track day video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgmdJSxD_XE

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_0861.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/VH.jpg
[IMG]http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/DSC_0133.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_0871.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/Image1.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/interior2.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/interior4.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/interior1.jpg

[Carbon]

me like me like

[Mark]

Looks great Darren, I like the originality of the car. Lots of go fast bits to enhance it too...nice job..
Cheers
Mark

[VS_Pete]

Always good to see your car and the effort you have put in it.
Can`t wait to see the spoiler on.

[EQUIPE-T]

dam this things nice :D

[Phantom]

Nice VH Very nice

[Darren]

thanks guys :)

[drunk_kev]

as you allready know darren i think this is the sexiest car in the world :)

[pvk308]

mate as you know the car looks good and what my thoughts are the old girl looks even better now that its almost finished.............. whats your next project;)

[180SC]

You really want to sell it to me dont ya darren:p

[NVD08]

Looks as good as ever darren.. love the VH/VK era.. Im looking a starting a VK project soon.. will definately be red in colour:D

[Darren]

mate as you know the car looks good and what my thoughts are the old girl looks even better now that its almost finished.............. whats your next project;)

thanks Steve,
next project is my house :D

thanks for all the other encouraging words guys, much appreciated :)

[Darren]

the next thing to tick off my list

VN Grp A 330mm rotors & C4 twin spot calipers.
Bought these beauties off customcalais a few weeks back.
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_1024.jpg

Spent a few hours tidying them up with the wire brush & aluminium cleaner, machined the rotors, ran a kit through the calipers and some paint. Came up looking good.

Had to get another brake hose made up for the r/h/s as one of the hoses that came with the brakes was blocked. I've got to fit the drivers side up yet, but trial fitted the wheel on the passenger side and geez it's a CLOSE fit!! The outer edge of the caliper just touches on the wheel weights. Might just touch up the fins on the outer edge of the caliper, otherwise the wheel weights would have to go on the outside of the wheel, which I don't want.

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_1025.jpg

I'll put some more pics of the brakes with the wheels on once it's done to show how close they are. They look good though with the wheels on. One step closer to getting it out on the racetrack for some laps!

[drunk_kev]

let me know when your hitting the track with it and i'll be there to watch

[newsyk06vr2.0]

with the wheel weights darren, you can just use a hammer and flatten them off a bit, thats what i do when that happens at work, just dont hit them to hard, as they will fall off

[Darren]

with the wheel weights darren, you can just use a hammer and flatten them off a bit, thats what i do when that happens at work, just dont hit them to hard, as they will fall off

yeah I did give that a go, the wheel weights didn't flatten as easily as I thought they would. I might have another shot at it, failing that, the caliper fins just need a small touch up with the grinder..

[Ben]

lookin good darren....

[customcalais]

the next thing to tick off my list

VN Grp A 330mm rotors & C4 twin spot calipers.
Bought these beauties off customcalais a few weeks back.

Spent a few hours tidying them up with the wire brush & aluminium cleaner, machined the rotors, ran a kit through the calipers and some paint. Came up looking good.

Master... Clean up on em!! and the painted red calipers....
looks gr8, nice job!
V

[stealthvn/mr vr ss]

wow they came up looking mint darren great job

[drunk_kev]

i still remember the first day i saw the car,

it was early october 2007, beautiful saturday or sunday afternoon, i was cruising beside you along anzac ave between kippa-ring and rothwell

this before i realised you were a part of the brissy commy club

[Darren]

Master... Clean up on em!! and the painted red calipers....
looks gr8, nice job!
V

thans V, yeah they scrubbed up alright! :)

[Darren]

i still remember the first day i saw the car,

it was early october 2007, beautiful saturday or sunday afternoon, i was cruising beside you along anzac ave between kippa-ring and rothwell

this before i realised you were a part of the brissy commy club

I remember first spotting your black wagon beside me on Sandgate Rd Deagon, was that the same day ?

[Darren]

here's a closeup of the wheel, just to show you how close the calipers come to touching :eek:

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_1026.jpg

[Darren]

and just another photo I took while it was in the driveway :cool:

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_1027sm.jpg

[GMH085]

Long time...This needs a BUMP

[Darren]

was busy today fitting up the 85 fuel litre tank. I needed to use my old sender unit as the one that came with the tank was all hacked up. So I swapped over the float arms and the circuit board from the 85 litre sender. Was interesting to see how stuffed the circuit board track was out of my sender. Half the track was worn off.... it's no wonder my fuel gauge used to read empty at half a tank..

I cleaned off all the old paint on the new tank, primed it and put a few coats of gloss black over it. Also sent it off to the radiator place to get all the vapour line outlets soldered up so no fuel smells. Will get some photos when it's back on the ground - thinking about replacing the leaky diff pinion seal while it's up on stands. Shit of a job, but I've got to get it done before the upcoming track day at Lakeside.

[John]

Did you fit 330mm disc's into 17's?

Danm, i just brought 322mm ve brakes.

Looks mint, would be shitloads better when you hit the picks

[Darren]

cheers
nah I went one better! I fit 330mm rotors under 16's :thumbs up:
the only way you can do it is with the VN Grp A/SV5000 twin spot calipers. The later model calipers won't fit under 16's, but I love my Walky wheels, didn't want to have to swap them over for bigger wheels. Although having said that, they are an extremely tight squeeze under 16's. I had to get the wheel weights moved because the calipers hit them. They are a very good brake setup, especially considering when they were released

but yeah they are awesome. With those brakes, QFM pads and high temp brake fluid, I had no brake fade at all at the recent QR track day & I was giving them a flogging, especially approaching the corner at the end of the back straight on the national circuit. I was very impressed

[John]

Danm, atleast its all worked out. Top effort on it.

Might see it at the next QR event. I'll b going to one soon enough

[Darren]

that clubbie of yours should be a weapon on the track
are you coming out to the next BCCC/XR track day at Lakeside?

[John]

Not sure if i'll last long, wastegate dumps to atmo behind the diff. Basically a striaght through no muffler system under max boost. When i change the system the wastegate will have its own 2" muffler. Till then i probably couldn't do lakeside lol

[Darren]

well I finally got the oil catch can/seperator in today.
I really struggled to find a proper catch can that has an oil seperator built in (eg internal baffles etc). Instead I found they were all empty tins with two outlets, which is next to useless...

So I ended up buying a 'Drift' brand catch can, that had a removable top. It has a drain plug at the bottom and a sight glass so you can see the oil level. I cut up a bit of aluminium, drilled some holes into it and fitted it into the can, seperating the inlet and outlet. Then I stuck some stainless steel scourer pads down the inlet side to help catch the oil.

Anyway, the test for the catch can will be on Friday at the Lakeside track day. Hopefully no more oil into the throttle body!

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_1131.jpg

[Darren]

with all the overtime I've done lately, I finally decided to treat the VH with some personalised plates. Been procrastinating over this for a couple of years now!

I ordered slimline front & regular size rear

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/inj82.jpg

[Josh K]

nice will suit the car well mate....

[GMH085]

with all the overtime I've done lately, I finally decided to treat the VH with some personalised plates. Been procrastinating over this for a couple of years now!

I ordered slimline front & regular size rear

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/inj82.jpg

About time :headbang:

[keith reed]

Where did you get your cold air box from?

[Darren]

About time :headbang:

yeh yeh I know
they finally arrived on Friday, fitted them up on the weekend :)

[Darren]

Where did you get your cold air box from?

I had it custom made by the same mob who did the intake piping.
It's a place out here in Toowoomba, their name escapes the mind at the moment. But if you are interested I can dig the name up somewhere

[OMR346]

Good to see your treating my car good still Darren lol. The plates will suit it well to mate. About time you got some though :p

[Darren]

cheers Pumba, yeah took me several years to finally convince myself to spend the $$ on a couple of pieces of tin. But I'm getting to the point now where I've ticked off most of the 'to do list', so the personalised plates are nice finishing touch. I'm getting the windows re-tinted on Friday so that's another thing done. A/C is next on the list.

Anyhoo.... I got a quote from Shannons to insure the car, but had to send them some photos to establish the value, so I did a bit of a photo session on the weekend. The photos turned out fairly good, and they show off my new plates, and I also replaced the front clear VK indicators with a recently purchased pair of NOS VH indicators, so I thought I'd post them up. I fitted up a strut brace today too (which missed the photoshoot), might update that one later


http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_1156_small.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_1162_small.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_1157_small.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/enginebay.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_1165_small.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/Daz308/100_1167_small.jpg

[EQUIPE-T]

dam thats sexy man

[keith reed]

Very tidy car Darren. Please don't park to close to my vb.

[Darren]

cheers guys
lol, don't worry Keith mine looks better from a distance ;)

[OMR346]

Ive said many times, and ill say it again. I just love it. Especially now with the cowl scoop. The only thing i would change would be the rims. It needs a set Weld Prostars ;)

[Darren]

he-he cheers Pumba :)
but nah Walky wheels are stayin' put. I love them, always loved them, I reckon they suit the VH better than the Walkinshaw. In fact went to a lot of trouble to find 330mm brake rotors and twin piston calipers that would fit under the 16's. And then I had to relocate the wheel weights! I just wish ROH re-released them, with the identical design, in a 17x8 size so the brakes weren't such a tight fit and cheaper tyres too!

Out of curiosity, I did a google search on those Prostars to see what they looked like, and it would seem they aren't a wheel designed for the street, letalone track use. Quite a few stories on forums reporting cracked wheels. Seems they aren't designed for a lot of side load. Apparently the manufacturer doesn't recommend them for street use or circuit work. Primarily intended as a lightweight drag racing wheel where side loads are minimal :eek: I'd imagine going by that, they aren't ADR approved either (like most imported aftermarket wheels) They wouldn't last long on the roads out here!

[OMR346]

There are hundreds of cars that use them for street use, daily. I hear more stories of replica HSV rims cracking then anything else. The Weld Prostars are primarily designed for drag racing, yes, but they are also fine to use on the street. I am not sure about ADR approval though. I have never heard of anyone getting in trouble for them, on any car. Same with the Weld Draglites, or any of those sort of rims (Centrelines, Welds, American Racing, ect).

Ooh, there is another option aswell. American Racing do some sexy looking rims. They do similar design to the Prostars aswell (American Racing Torque-Lites) that come in larger sizes.

[Darren]

I won't be parting with my beloved Walky wheels Pumba, no matter how hard you try! :devil:

here's just a couple of links I found
http://foxbodyforum.com/index.php?topic=4276.0
http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/all-ford-techboard/502375-do-not-roadrace-weld-prostars-2.html

Several comments on forums complaining that they crack and they are also saying that Weld Wheels themselves do not recommend them for the street or for trackwork.

[V8 Calais]

First link I read darren just mainly was talking about the whole skinnies on the front and wide tyres on the rear. Naturally as you would know that kind of setup is for drag racing which doesn't involve turning much less heavy cornering. I would say but if you had a 15*6 on the front and a 15*8 on the rear or same size all round it'd be fine, its when you get to the 15*3.5" front runners corners would be an issue.

As you said but, your car looks wicked as is, don't be changing them!

[EQUIPE-T]

First link I read darren just mainly was talking about the whole skinnies on the front and wide tyres on the rear. Naturally as you would know that kind of setup is for drag racing which doesn't involve turning much less heavy cornering. I would say but if you had a 15*6 on the front and a 15*8 on the rear or same size all round it'd be fine, its when you get to the 15*3.5" front runners corners would be an issue.

As you said but, your car looks wicked as is, don't be changing them!

watch the video on the second link on the first page, kinda freaky at the end lol

[Darren]

First link I read darren just mainly was talking about the whole skinnies on the front and wide tyres on the rear. Naturally as you would know that kind of setup is for drag racing which doesn't involve turning much less heavy cornering. I would say but if you had a 15*6 on the front and a 15*8 on the rear or same size all round it'd be fine, its when you get to the 15*3.5" front runners corners would be an issue.

As you said but, your car looks wicked as is, don't be changing them!

true, but the main reason for the second link is a couple of people once again mentioning that Weld wheels aren't designed to take side loads.
And then yeah, that video is fairly convincing!

to be honest, irrelavent of the appearance of a particular wheel, I wouldn't trust a lot of the aftermarket wheels on the market these days. I've seen quite a few images of wheels on various forums, with their centres snapped out (in particular large diameter wheels) None of these wheels are ADR approved for good reason. All I would suggest to anyone considering buying a set of wheels is to do a bit of research, especially if the wheels aren't ADR approved.

[OMR346]

That was a bad time for the rim to break. Luckily for him it didn't do much damage.

[Darren]

That was a bad time for the rim to break. Luckily for him it didn't do much damage.

yeah I certainly wouldn't want to be behind the wheel if something like that happened. The old yank tank actually was doing ok right up until the wheel broke. He caught the Mustang up fairly quick

[OMR346]

In all fairness, that Mustang didn't look like it was going very fast :p

Your right though. It wasn't doing to bad, for what it is. Its got nothing on a newer more modern car with there better suspension set up, but for an old tank like it is, it was hooking in to the corners. The tyres were certainly copping a flogging. Just listen to them screaming on almost every corner lol.

You got any in car footage of your VH around a track?

[Darren]

I haven't got any incar footage yet Pumba, but hopefully will have some after the next track day May 6th. I've got a proper in-car camera ready to go :)