Thread to discuss and share knowledge between members who have interests in the Classic Car Community

What no. What about. Shit nvm talk one day I guess.

Even worse when people are sending me pictures of my old vehicles saying “seen you the other day Bob”, but alas……. it’s the new owners out enjoying my many years of blood, sweat and tears building/restoring these beauties :worried:

Sad but also happy to see another family enjoying the work that I have put into these old girls :+1::sunglasses:

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With crime going the way it is, squiddy can always get a job with vic police….

Mad Mollusc…

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Berlina bun too. They are tasty got one myself last month of build that hold on put the s2 Vp V6 3.8 in to.

Best Berlina I had was VP Berlina LX with IRS and FE2 and some Calais steering wheel and SS bits like front spoiler, letter box grille and fogs- had those cool SS wheels that you never see any more.

Also had VL Berlina - great smooth car with underpowered a/c, VN Berlina with the 3.8 V6 that had the out of balance balance shafts, VP Berlina, VR Berlina V8 184kw with V8 auto problems, VR Calais with V6 ecotec and cam bearing oiling issue.

Ecotec cam bearing issue reared its head, under warranty. GM refused to do a proper rebuild even though the dealer supported us. Last Holden I’ve owned. Interesting part was that I was an employee of a GM subsidiary and the cars were leased under GMAC finance.

Coincidently GM sold us off and we didn’t have to have GM manufactured company cars. Found out we only had to buy a car with that part of the salary package - which funded my classic car obsession

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Those counterbalance shaft engines were the old Buick design V6’s, which had a lot less issues than the newer models that followed :+1:

GM sold a lot off, including GMHA.

Had similar experience when I bought a VP Ute from Claridge Holden. Paid extra for their HoldenQ warranty. 3 year guarantee. 60k on the car 92 ex council 12months old.

All was good for 3 months. Had to go back in for it’s “Q” service to comply with warranty.

Go pick it up. Firing on fkn 5 cylinders. Fk I had to get to work next day and the holden centre was shut. Fk this ripped in to Rocca Bros grabbed a set of NGK’s and all good. This is Tuesday night.

I rang next day and said well the new spark plugs AC are shit you put in. Oh bring them in and we’ll refund. Rushed in after work. Got $8 back. :roll_eyes:

The final straw was when the AC idler bearing failed. Nope sorry fair wear and tear not covered under the Q warranty plan and it will be $1800 for us to fix it.
Fkn wot. Righto. As a fitter and turner off to CBC bearings I go, $68, same bearing the fords used at the time and was common. Fashioned up my own puller. All good fixed.

Holden rang again to book my car in to do it’s 3 monthly Q warranty crap. I said no, after you pay me for the bearing. No? Guess what stick your Q warranty and fo.

Never had a problem after that.

Problem with the VN was that the balance shafts were designed for front wheel drive, east west configuration. They had an imbalance in the north/south orientation of the VN that wasn’t resolved until the VP.

The later quad cam HFV6 was used all around the world, Alfa, Saab, Opel and a couple of others. Holden engines had a problem with accountant specified chain tensioner that threw a check engine light and mechanics who overcharged for a straight forward job. Wasn’t an issue with the 3 litre Alfa and 2.8 litre Saab versions that had metal tensioners

Accountants at GM always screwed good products

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Ah never had a problem with balance shafts. but all mine are series 2 and up to ecotec 1999. They must of fixed it by series 2 VN V6 :person_shrugging:

Was unaware of that problem besides the rear main leaky seal on the series 1.

Mine go like storm troopers. Getrag gearbox that was apparently shit is fine as I service it. With a short shifter too the standard ones are like mixing a bowl of porridge :rofl:

Was giving the VS ute some love today. New rear eyelids and sorted out a lazy battery.

Lazy battery syndrome normally occurs in winter…… but they also had a habit of the voltage regulator in the alternator shitting themselves and overcharging the battery causing them to fail :frowning:

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Smart Battery chargers, are a must have…

I got 7 years out of my 08 VW Gti original battery, and my 19 Gti is now 4.5 years, and still going strong…

Not to mention, they are a neccessity, for bikes and Jetski’s…

Harley’s would be the same as Dukes…

A small battery, to turn over a big high compression motor…maintainence charging is a must…!!

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Yea through farming I’ve gone through pallets of shit batteries and worked out the hard way what is good and not.

Voltage is good, I haven’t used it for a month, it’s 6 years old and I wanted to get in to it this morning for some love/maintenance at 3c.

Give it a tickle up on the charger while I was working on it and dielec greased the terminals give them a clean. But yea it’s likely nearing end of life fore sure.

The only fkr is I can’t throw a N70 farm battery in it as it’s back front terminals and won’t fit. It’s a special size :roll_eyes: as you likely know

With a grinder and a couple of terminals from NAPA/Coventry’s……. an N70 can fit anywhere mate! :flushed::joy:

Thanks I’ll get the 9" into it tomorrow. haha

Whoever designed the base Vp front grille should be drug tested

Maybe you should be drug tested, the letterbox is killa

At some point I have owned every single car in this photo

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Old thread but was wondering if anyone has driven or had experience with Cadillacs, not the crappy SUV’s but the real Cadillacs that were the size of a school bus and made of 10 tonnes of freedom.

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Well of course I have built and driven many mate, everything from the late 1940’s through to the 1980’s models…so fire away, what would you like to know?:sunglasses: