1998 Holden Commodore SS V8 5.0

[Rob]

thought id post this up, seeing as I saved it from death....

I work for a main dealer as a mechanic, and sometimes a gem is traded in....







okay, it isnt perfect, far from it. the list of faults:

door seals
boot lid rusty around spoiler
spoiler peeling
laquer peeling on front wing
oil leak from motor
a bush somewhere is knocking
no stereo

and the worst bit, the auto is shafted. no reverse, and its stuck in 2nd.

needless to say it was cheap (£400) on the plus side:

5.0 v8, 240bhp, 400nm of torque.
sports seats and bodykit
lsd
all the usual toys.
full 3 inch exhaust
fe2 cop spec suspension and brakes.
its basically a wider pumped up vauxhall omega.

heres jezza hooning one:

[ssscoupe]

That is cheap... good save! What the plans for it... besides a new tranny! ;D

[Rob]

clean and tidy daily driver. maybe some drift days and stuff. though there are superchargers about for them....

[dawsondj01]

awesome car, wish we could get cars like that over in the uk that cheap.

[Mark]

Nov 21, 2012 12:35:35 GMT dawsondj01 said:

awesome car, wish we could get cars like that over in the uk that cheap.

As a recentish traveller to this side of the world, I've had to become accustomed to how expensive cars are here, this isn't the norm. The UK is stuffed full of ridiculously good value cars.

Realistically, once that's tidied up, it's a $6k car all day long, so great buy! Looking forward to what you do with it.

[dugong]

Are manual 'boxes easy to source for these? Great save.

[Rob]

as mark said, this isnt normal, it was traded cheap as its not perfect. as for a manual, they're more expensive and tbh my clutch leg isnt great. looking into thiss:
www.monstertrans.com/store/products/4L60E%7B47%7D4L65E-Transmission-Rebuild-Kit%2C-SS-Monster%252dIn%252dA%252dBox%3A-1998%252d02.html
and some engine tweaks......

[Rob]

just got a box, that was easy....

www.ebay.com.au/itm/251116144240?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_1117wt_952

[cesarbarbosa]

I love that cars...
Wanna trade it for my Volvo 164?!?!

[Rob]

The spoilers paint had lifted and there was bubbling around its legs on the boot lid. i removed the spoiler to find some ass hat had no-nailed the thing on.... undeterred i got the strip-wheel out, and sanded the affected areas back to bare metal. i then gave them 2 coats of primer putty, block sanded to get rid of imperfections and gave it a coat of primer. at this point i decided to prep the spoiler. 10 minutes later i realised water had gotten under the paint and the material the spoiler was made from was turning to dust.... so i decided to blank the spoiler holes for now. the usual way is to put rubber blanking grommets in, but it looks curse word. so i re-strip-wheeled the boot to bare metal, migged up the holes, with a bit of copper behind to help pooling, and re primed the lot. I didn't take many pics as i hate painting, but by 9 pm I had the thing painted. the finish is out of the can, with a mild 2000 grit flat on the second to last coat.

pics:








i also replaced the main window switch, its a 4 switch thing, and added a green led kit off eBay, to the clock set and air-con switches and window switches etc. the dash is usually white which looks curse word....



i realised i had them turned down after i took those...

and fitted my large tacho, with inbuilt shiftlight and oil pressure, and water temp and oil temp. it also has a shift light/ i need to finish the wiring.


and a celebratory rev vid..


checked brakes and suspension. it needs pads in another 5000kms, so they will be upgraded to a decent track pad. the suspension was a nice suprise, pedder comfort gas shocks, and king springs superlows (40mm) and nolathane arb drop links. happy as.

ordered this:

www.ebay.com.au/itm/271105906062?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_1779wt_952

that should sort the headlights...

more goodies from santa:

www.ebay.com.au/itm/170942667909?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_2489wt_1205

www.ebay.com.au/itm/260731120405?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_728wt_952

the first kit firms the shifts and makes them faster.the second hardens the 1-2 shift to the point of it breaking traction. the boost valve ups fluid pressure from the pump so the changes happen instantly. next step is a full rebuild, with teflon bands and clutches.

got some work done today.

drained the new trans, removed the 2+4 servo. this will be replaced with a corvette ones, giving greater surface area thus greater clamping force and quicker activation time. thus harder shifts.
the 2+4 servos removed, with return spring:

they live here in the side of the trans:


flipped the trans upside down, removed the pan, which is held on by 13mm bolts. this reveals the valve body and solenoids. the brains if you prefer:


this will be dissasembled and the internal passages opened up to allow more fluid flow, giving firmer shifts. autos are all about the flow.

old and new filter seals.

side on:

where it fits:

ill also be removing the oil pump pressure valve and replacing it with one that gives higher pressure, ensuring everything gets the right amount of fluid.
the red and blue show the locations of both:


now just waiting on parts. lazy yanks.....

[79cord]

Sounds like this will be more interesting than new thanks to its ailing Auto!

[soretro]

Love these commodores was living in Aus in the mid 90s desperately wanted one couldn't afford it but drove a rental and it went like stink. Inspired me to buy an old commodore, found an old one in finley nsw. Hadn't been driven in years a real plain jane V8 swopped it out for some work done. Got it home and found Peter Brock plates on it the genuine artcle a real sleeper though. Sold it when I left aus for a small fortune.
The price of cars in aus and uk is ridiculously low, I bought a new Holden Barina GSI in aus 1995 for $14000aus, a year later when I returned to south affrica I decided to buy the south african version a Opel Corsa Gsi with less features and smaller rims set me $25000aus all these years later and you're looking to pay $20000aus for a decent second hand one. The $400 you spent on paying for this car wouldn't pay for 4 ryres on my Kia Picanto.

Beautiful car mate good luck

[sciclone]

Can't say I'm a huge fan of commodores. When I was mechanic, we used to argue about who didn't want to work on them. They were great for upsell as they usually had a long list of things wrong with them, but compared to working on J cars, they were annoying.

Wouldn't own one but the 304/308's are good for a thrash, as are the 5.7L Gen III's.

[countvauxalot]

I like it great value at the purchase price too!

[DWDarkWheels]

As that's so closely related to the Omega, that must be a good drivetrain option for a Scimitar

[dodgerover]

Jan 3, 2013 20:22:21 GMT DWDarkWheels said:

As that's so closely related to the Omega, that must be a good drivetrain option for a Scimitar

Not really related to the Omega at all, it just looks similar.

[gelled02]

Really a awesome car and ...And Nice work..What your thinking for this now..Hope fully wish we could get cars like that over in the uk that cheap
.....automatic