Shakotom

Ill come. but I dont have a stereo to blast NWA with if needed though.....

So i got sidetracked from working on the ute as i got a secondhand pair of rear lowering springs and standard station wagon rear shocks



so with that got to work to remove the standard rear springs and shocks
I originally had tried installing the lowering springs but they were far from captive at full extension with sedan shocks so i took a gamble and pulled the rear shocks from the wagon and found they were much shorter than the sedans and could work on a sedan



this shows the difference between the lowering springs and wagon shocks (left) compared to standard springs and sedan shocks (right).



The wagon diffs use a different mounting point for the shocks than sedans do which are different diameters hence the small insert in the sedan shocks (right) compared to the wagons (left)



So i pressed out the insert from the sedan shocks using a vice, an 8mm socket and a 34mm socket (old sockets rule!)



giving this little insert which i then pressed back into the wagon rear shocks



then i installed the springs and shocks.The wagon shocks being much shorter keep the springs captive

and ended up with this..



its actually not reverse raked... the sills sit level to the ground.



and clearance is tight.



I love this shot from of my drive way




Ive only done the rear for now. Hence the massive difference in the guard gap front to rear. I want the front to match the way the rears sits with the rear guards. so thats the next mission

But for now im rolling round like this.
It rubs a fair bit over bumps and round corners and i cant carry passengers in the rear or too much in the boot as the guards will sit on the tyres so more of a pull for the guards are in order after i put on my adjustable panhard rod.


First lowered vechile! okay... Partially lowered vechile

Man thats cool! looks period correct at the moment

I bought it midway last year from a guy in whakatane.

Aw i missed it... Whens the next one?

Just had a nosy through your build thread. KEEN TO SEE 1UZ GO IN!

I actually first saw your thread on stanceworks a while back and got overly enthusiastic about it seeing the pics of the stanced out rekords the plans for bagging it with the trailer and the fact it was starfired. Now to find it here and see plans for 1UZ! I like where its going!

And as there has been much saying that this needs lows. I agree it does. and I have another evolution of her planned that may assist in getting lows

but first i have to get this on the road first to drive while thats in the works haha

So im busy as at the moment. Gotta finish my semi rebuild of the motor, sort the gearbox out make new linkages, get a basic interior sorted. and check/rebuild brakes and run new pipes and check over suspension components. Just enough to get it reliable and warranted to daily while i work on the VK.

Should i make a build thread for the ute too?

Oh and anyone out there have a bench seat for a HZ they wanna sell on the cheap?

Photo from Kumeu taken by GARDRB. Thanks for the shot

Dope Commy bro.

Need low. Please!

Also, slightly smaller tyres all round.

Just my 10 cents!

Thanks!

yes needs low I know Im working on it very slowly.... And tyre wise lower profiles would be good but the rears were pretty much free and the fronts i bought to match the rears. so theyll do for now. haha

Here is a horribly over edited photo I took of it at Kumeu

snip

EDIT: and a slightly less horrible edit of it

snip

Looks good!! Thanks for taking the photos mate!

Classy! I'm rocking mismatched frontage on my Commie too.

Haha Thanks! I have matching guards too and i swap them on and off as i feel like haha. Gotta keep it fresh yo!

i like the wheel combo.

however needs the front lowered to the weeds.

Thanks! And yes I know :]

Went to Kumeu yesterday and tried to blend in amongst the classics...

Awyeah, I swapped the front guards to a white pair i bought and i pinstriped them, and made a roof rack to carry my bmx.

Lowering springs on mine were just Dobis - I cut half a coil off the front springs (BUT don't got any more - it's only JUST captive!) I left the rear at the height they came from Dobinsons

Will find you the part numbers.. (I used different rear springs being a wagon but that won't matter to you here)

edit - here you go - get them from BnT - you being in the trade should get you a good discount.

They arn't as low as the tagline suggests (EXTRA SUPER LOW!!!) but they are about 4 inches lower than stock (I've added a photo between stock and low - before I cut the half coil off the front)

78-93 Commodore VB-VP Sedan (LARS) Extra SuperLow

C21-084V Super Low Coil Spring

C21-071V Super Low Coil Spring

snip

That is a massive difference in height! definatly keen for the fronts

So does it drop it 4 inches in the front with a starfire motor in the car?

Just asking because i know you swapped yours for a 6cyl motor

Thanks for that mate

Looks rad man!

Kinda reminds me of Fantasy Factory in Performance Car Mag a couple months back.

shhh

Nice work fella keep it up!

would like to see this low though hah

oh i want this low too believe me. but the starfire upfront means no lowering springs off the shelf. and adjusties for this are worth more than the car and custom springs, shorter inserts and related shortening of front strut bodys arent far off the price of adjustables. so yeahup. but i have something else in the works for her in the meantime...

ha. someone gave me a vk once, it had a rebuilt starfire with a lumpy cam and a weber on it. can remember wondering why someone would bother. it actually went ok ish

Is it sad to say then that i had plans awhile back to twin carb the starfire and get the cam ground out of my spare starfire for it?... Hahahaha...ha...ha

This is so yuk in a I love it kind of way.

but I think shes quite attractive......

I would love to install stupid amounts of lows! but i have this and two (well sort of three) other projects on the go at the moment (and a girlfriend) so my apprentice wages don't go far enough hahaha

Well thats awkward.... I made a discussion thread but this one seems more popular... :] So now i have two threads.... First day and ive already messed up :}

Link to build thread:

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/36139-shakotoms-1984-vk-commodore/

Dude, I hate those shitarse Starfire motors with infinite firey passion, but I like your thread so much, and your attention to detail that I have decided we will keep you, here on oldschool.co.nz

Good work, that engine bay has come up beautifully! Can't wait to see this on the steels too.

Thanks for deciding to let me stay! The starfires one of those things that i dont like about her but i love it to bits because of the reactions it causes from people and its general quirkyness which i think is a big part of this car . Its out on the streets at the present and hopefully will tag along to some meets in the near future

Awesome.

I have no idea how you are going to get those steels to fit, but it will be fantastic when you do.

And A+ for your persistence with that horrible motor in there. I promised myself if my starfire ever popped it would be coming out and never going back in.

tbh im actually not 100% on the steels.... i wanna move the rears to the fronts and go wider in the rear but yeah..

When I saw the pictures of the Starfire being hoisted out of the engine bay, I thought it was good riddance.

And rightfully so. After owning a few myself, I can't stand them.

But after all the work you've put in, it's be a shame to do anything but keep it in there.

It looks great and probably runs much the same (for a Starfire )

Looking foward to seeing it on the steels.

Haha yeah i bought it with the intention of just driving it... but we all know where that goes... So yeah im playing with a starfire :]

Mean comy.

What did you use to make the front lip?

Thanks!

Plastic i found in dads garage :]

hah, sweeeeeet job

So much tidy work. well done sir!

The pictures make it look way better than what it is. :]

Also i had a small electrical issue in the engine bay just before christmas causing most of the wiring to turn into smoke. So ive replaced it with a second hand loom for now and just got it running a few days ago. And I got this photo of my first drive for 2k13 of Lana for the year that I put on Instagram featured on SpeedHunters in there #FeatureThis post on my 19th birthday! BEST DAY EVER!! :}

Awyeah... Follow me on Instagram? @shakotom

Thanks!!

I washed her to go to the New Zealand Performance Car magazine Park Up at Meremere dragstrip

And some photos from there...

I got new brake parts and the things i needed to swap from 5x108 to 5x120 to fit my new wheels

rebuilt the front brakes

scored a set of genuine interceptor centercaps of an ex police car

prepped and Painted my wheels black as i couldnt decide on a colour just yet

Got tyres mounted on my wheels.

And took a some final photos of Lana on her original wheels

And hotwires

and that was that. I removed all the four cylinder brakes and axles

And installed my new parts

and swapped 6 cylinder axles into the standard 4 cylinder diff allowing me to keep the original diff ratio

And got puuuurrrrpleeee wheel nuts

i love the contrast with the black wheels and grey centers

And this is my new wheels on the car

they are 15x10s on the rear with 225/60R15s and 15X8.5s on the front with 205/60R15s

I had to roll the guards as they would eat the rear tyres in and out of driveways and with people in the back

LInk to discussion thread:

http://oldschool.co....ms-84-vk-mayte/

This is my 1984 VK Commodore,

Meet Lana,

Shes a four cylinder Commodore. and ill run you through what ive done to her so far

I purchased her stock standard on the original 13inch steel wheels!

but pretty much the day i got her home i threw on a set of 13x7 Cheviot Hotwires with 205/60 and 215/60R13 tyres

My dad and i are members of Manukau Rod and Custom club and not long after i bought her they had a gymkhana coming up at 'Full Throttle' and i wanted to have a go but i though id simply fix the oil leaks first.... And we all know that where that leads...

i decided itd be easier to work on out of the car...

So oily..

i installed a new hanger bearing on the driveshaft as the old one was perished

and got a new clutch

dissassembled the motor for new gaskets through out and just a general tidyup

and the gearbox... which went from this...

to this...

then i decided the motor looked too good to go back in the dirty bay

and thats when i missed the gymkhana... :]

to cut a long story short this was the result...

so i drove her around for a while until she got fed up and wanted some attention with so she ate a distrubutior drive gear.

so i replaced that

Then her hydraulic tappets werent holding pressure. So i replaced those

And went to a Gymkhaha!

AAAANNNNDDDDD broke a gearbox the next day on the way to work

So i replaced that.

and then scored some EH Holden hubcaps from a swapmeet and a sunvisor

Greg Murphy came into my work so i got a photo with him and Lana

And he autographed her dash

I made a front lip and added an external cooler... BOSOZUKU LIFE

decided the cooler was tacky and that RAKE was way cooler...

then went on a road trip on the standard wheels with my girlfriend

got these from a swapmeet. ( I see a trend here?)

and got these made

Name:Thomas

Location: Auckland

Cars you own:​ 1984 VK Commodore Sedan

Mods to them (can be brief or detailed): wide wheels and more to come.

Link to pics (if you have some, and keep it a link to keep 56kers happy) http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8194/8372801056_f41c5e1fcd_z.jpg

How you found out about oldschool: Saw a sticker on a car

Anything else you want to add: instagram: @shakotom