Michael, you are an amazing man. You get in there and have a go. I really do love your channel. Look forward to your new program coming out. Keep the work up mate you doing a awesome job thank you.
The V5 were the snowflake wheels for the holden boys. Forward thinking for with the fuel pumps. I love there wont be an end to the rust and you have more in the miss. Love it Mick
Car turned out fantastic and I ain't the biggest fan of the patina look. The Simmons wheels in gold ,deep dish with the honey comb inserts were my favorite rims, But you still hit it out the ball park in looks and style. Well done Mick.
Another great vid Mick - when I see your videos pop up I get excited!! Watching your rear shock upgrade reminded me how poor GMH shocks were for VB to VL. I worked for Holden in sales and marketing in NSW and I remember the shocks were shagged after 8000 km of hard country driving. My personal VB v8 commodore had the shocks replaced under warranty (1 year back then) and I later replaced them with Bilstein. By the look of the shocks on your car are non original.
You certainly have made that thorn look like a Rose , your eye for looks and knowing what to do to get there is great , thanks for sharing your talents .
Yeah Mick you nailed it ,I was one of them that suggested once the ride height was adjusted some Simmons would look great and mate it looks even better than I thought it would . Well done champ , your hard work has really rewarded you with a real beauty !
Hey Mick another top ep, wheels good. clear coat was the right call, practical. Again not my fav car but I love your work end result, cool!!!! great to have a brew or two after work on a Friday and watch some quality tv cheers
So true about spring compressors I did my BA series 1 got ‘‘em off but was not game to put ‘‘em back on after new struts fitted. Took to my local Peddars and they gave me a nervous laugh because they hate em too! The springs are so long that you need a special good bench mounted spring compressor!
Thanks mick! Came out just great, and it’s good to see an early commy that actually looks different to all the rest and embracing it’s flaws, and not trying to make it better then new and then not enjoying it. Btw the longer the vids the better mate
I’m not a huge fan of the patina look, but love your work and love the channel. You are very talented and how you turn these from trash to treasure is a joy to watch. Cheers Mick
Nothing says i went broke on this build more than patina😂😂😂 i think it has its right places on pre-war cars but defintely not anything after 1965--- its really not that hard or expensive to paint a car…i painted the nova in the lil pic next to my name white with a green ghost pearl in my garage for around $500…..i have a ‘73 chevy c/10 swb fleet that im doing white with a blue ghost pearl currently finishing the final stages of prep… i will get a video up soon as im close to done
Something as modern as this with square headlights definitely deserves a decent paintjob….just watch several hours of gunman videos and you will get up enough courage to give it a go….thats what i did….the interior on that car looks mint!!
Driving it with a mechanical refresh and current paint vs turning it into a longer term project. Driving it now wins every time unless the plan was specifically a respray.
The 5.0 Mustang started as, just a car. Now it's an 'Icon'. The VB Commodore is not just another Aussie car, but an Icon. It can be Anything, totally stock, Rat or race trim, but you can See, it's VB Commodore, that Iconic shape... What you're doing is Very important. This is an Aussie Icon, and it's a Shame it isn't Loved, Respected, Saved for prosperity in All ways imagined by Lovers of Australian made cars. We don't make cars any more, but Dam, when we did, we made some F'ing World beaters, some F'ing Icons! The VB is a historic Icon of family Aussie Muscle cars...
That's looking and sounding shit hot, mate. Those Simmons look-alikes really look the part on the old girl - especially with the darker centres and her stance is grouse with them on. Fifty mil seems to be the magic number I reckon. She looks good going down the road too and the rake isn't that bad or noticeable. She'll settle in after a few loads in the boot. Better than the other way around and having a saggy backside and WAY much better than having it sit lopsided. The paint on the underside was the perfect solution for that. No gooey underseal and it looks smart and with clean lines that any inspector would appreciate too. The VB-VL was notorious for having bad earths on the rear lights, so it was good to see you changed the units and saved yourself some serious grief and hair loss trying to get the tired ones to work properly! Good call on the clear coat too - the blending worked a treat from what the camera showed and mate, does it really pop now! Yeah, the only issue with the old linseed is she doesn't hang around in humid weather so much. I'm in Auckland, so one bloody great soggy sauna most of the time. Had a bloody nice day today, but then as is typical, the rain comes along about 3pm, hits the ground and makes it like breathing underwater, then the sun comes out again and warms up the soggy ground just to make it a clean sweep of miserableness. I don't see many patina cars over here for that reason or one similar, I reckon. Just too much having to redo everything on a regular basis. Some of the Yanks I watch talk about leaving theirs for 6 months between applications of linseed, but I really dunno how they do it. The only problem I had with clear coating is that the bits of the car where the paint is rough and not all just metal, the clear tends to peak on the edges of the raised bits and breaks away when you wash the car, then water gets under that and accelerates it. Must need to put more reducer in and / or dust it on in more coats than I did, maybe. Trial and error, eh.....but that's how we learn. Gotta have a go for sure. Great to see this beasty back on the road and looking forward to whatever's coming up next, mate. All the best
The VC came with variable rate springs, the VB did not, so you have VC springs in that. I changed my variable rate springs in the VC with slightly stiffer constant rate units, coupled them with some de Carbons and it was absolutely magic - for the time anyway. We are talking mid/late 80's
I love this car, I would like to see you give it a bare metal file finish respray, maybe in it's original blue colour or a nice shiny black but of course the colour is your choice I would love to see it looking like new or better then new again.
Get yourself some plastic hose clamp pliers. About $20 from repco/supercheap and save the fuel in the armpits👌 best tool I ever bought for working on fuel systems!
Them wheels came up pretty snazzy. MASSIVE when I cut my springs years back I took 1 coil off the front and 1.5 off the rear and it was just just right, I seen another guy shrink the springs with an Oxy/ acetylene torch by heating one side on one coil then onto opposite side and so on til you get your desired height 👍 Wish I still had my 84 VH 308 , great job bro 😎
Haha fuel in the arm pit, know the feeling well, particular with coolant. That underbody black looks great man. Nice work with the wheel sanding, if it works, that's all that matters! Not a fan of the patina look that gets done lately with 80s cars. In saying that, loved the episode as its way better than watching normal TV any day of the week. Top job!
An armpit full of fuel and oil in ya fave Backshed Tee shirt is certainly memorable, oh and pergola paint. I never cut springs either (giggle) new ones are allays good. Lovely exhaust repairs man. FR-1 fakes look good on that Commy with your absolute brilliant color choice. The old dunny door came up well Mick, another enjoyable episode and learning experience.
I still like the mag wheels . However I can put up with any car being plain Jane. My old vz Commodore had wheel trims, was standard in every way, which is the way it was built. The dark coloured mags are the better for me. I'm not into to much tarting them up. I think the white wagon looks great without to much lippy. Cheers MIke
Watching you work on the VB makes me wish I never gave away my VK berlina. It was the first of the fuel injection and I rebuilt the motor but later the head gasket blew. I wasn't in a good head space at the time and just couldn't be bothered with it. I miss that car every day and can't believe what a mistake I made. The interior was velour and immaculate and no rust anywhere. The silly things we do because of a bout of depression.
Mick you’re a dag I love the way you explain the way we used to do things my brothers that have owned their work shop for over forty years still do a lot still the old ways and you’re right things did cost a lot that’s why we only fixed the part that needed. Don’t forget wiper blades 👍😎
That has bought a world of easy opportunities for me with my vl, except for rear springs😂, will buy those, but you have saved another one my friend and it looks good, it will stay usable for a long time now. Really good tips and tricks with the paint, that is what I really got out of it, that blend on rear quarter looks like it turned out mint.
Look up Vice Grip Garage, in the USA. He has a product for your paint that should work . Im in southern California and enjoy vehicles and builds non US. I used to cut my springs 3/4 thru than jump on the bumper and they would pop. Keep it simple.
The good thing about lower profile tires is they don't have the side bulge to catch the guard. For example I have some 265/50/15s. The tread is 265mm but the side bulges go out to 330mm. No good if you want to go super low.
Awesome job love the wheel choice that grey on the Centres looks awesome, my vk had the black on the top of the doors breaks it up looks good with the door trims etc .
I think I'm a convert to Rust mate (I can't believe I said that) lol & I would defo have the Commodore she looks spot on with the Wheels & Clear Coat, good job Mick bring on the next one 👍👍👍
Cheers in advance for watching people and please visit Backshed.net.au We now have embroided Polo shirts available for summer . Cheers for your support and I’ll talk to ya soon in the comments
What a transformation the gloss on the patina excellent l thought the black around the windows wouldn't work but it does as for the underneath looks brand new factory fresh such an excellent job
Fuel pump. You are right, they were serviceable in the day. I bought a genuine pump for my hx 253 about a month ago and it was a pressed item like that one so I think they've just changed to a cheaper production..... I have not started it yet to find out if they leak. Be the same unit. Always love the education. Keep them coming Mick. You must have a bucket full of restos by now or are you selling them off?
I'm watching as carefully as I can because I have a job coming up switching tubs on my XR6. Unfortunately the replacement tub is the wrong colour...bugger! The practice run on my 03 Commodore using silver Killrust wasn't great...😂 Colour matched pretty well, workmanship sucks.
Mate thanks for another great vid the rims look spot on the whole car looks awesome Your the only one I can watch over a hour and not get bored keep em coming thank you so much
Thanks Mick for your very informative video. It’s always a pleasure to watch. Have you ever thought about selling shirts with the logo “ stop talking and and get into it” ?? I’d buy one. Cheers Rob
Absolutely love the channel, I'm promoting you every chance I get, love the patter. Just received my order of a shirt (for me) and a hat for my boy - now my daughter wants a hat !! Total respect from Scotland - keep those videos coming. Cheers Mick.
Hey mate. Just stumbled across your video... Brings back good memories of working on my old Commo's back in the day. Thankyou! Looking forward to watching more. The way you explain how & why you're doing stuff is great. Subscribed. Cheers!
That “dunno door” is looking sweet bruv. Sounds a treat as well (There is a bit of tappet noise when it’s cold.agreed) I’d probably showroom paint it. It deserves love.
