|
Holden
Discussion Forum |
||
When it comes to hardcore Commodore fanatics, very few could
claim to be as focused on Australia's favourite four-door as South Australian
enthusiast Rino D'Alfonso. Sure, he's grown up, like the rest of us, around
GM/H sheetmetal and cut his teeth building Commodores, but he has taken his
dedication a few steps further than most. The One Stop Commodore Shop is his
life - a business that basically caters for guys like him; guys who love to
build and absorb themselves in V-series Holdens. Rino has also built himself
a bit of a reputation as being the man for Commodore related tricks and tips
and there isn't much he doesn't know about the inner workings of his favourite
machine.
Helpful theory is all well and good, but it's the practice that counts. Rino
has put his money where his mouth is, metaphorically speaking, and injected
his passion into his 'baby' - one very extraordinary award-winning custom VH
SL/E. An image of the very same car is indelibly etched into his shoulder blade
in ink.
The journey to the present has been a winding one and Rino has well and truly
paid his dues. His teen savings were absorbed into his first car: an immaculate
6-packer VB SL/E, way back in 1989, which he christened, the very next day,
with a big red chili pepper which hung from the rear view mirror. Within a month
it was sporting the usual mild mods, but a set of wheels, a lowering job and
tinted windows couldn't squash the almost immediate desire to add another two
cylinders to the firing order. About the same time, he fell in love the VL Group
A. It would be a couple of years before improved financial liquidity allowed
Rino the luxury of finally purchasing the car of his dreams.
"Now, a lot of people don't believe in superstition," Rino explains
rather ominously, "but if this (story) isn't unlucky I don't know what
is." Rino removed his 'lucky' chili pepper the minute he traded in the
VB and fate decided to deal him a few curve balls. Almost immediately, a patrol
car pull up behind him outside the car yard and the nice officer presented our
boy a parking ticket. Between accepting the officer's paper work and filling
out the final delivery paper - a matter of ten minutes or so - Rino somehow
broke his lucky charm.
Karma then started having a field day. The first drive home for Rino and his dream car turned into a bit of nightmare. Maybe it was a case of being overly cautious, but another policeman pulled him over and booked him ... for going too slowly! The remainder of the day, at least was uneventful. Two weeks later some 'needle dick' tried stealing the VL from the D'Alfonso driveway and couldn't get the thing started, so the bastard set it on fire and burnt it to the ground...
Rino
was so depressed that he went out and bought a $600 Camira and ,'hated every
minute of driving it". The desire to get back into a Commodore meant desperate
measures. He eventually spotted a V8 manual VH SL/E in the local rag with the
pitch "swap for smaller car" attached to the ad. It seemed a bit dubious,
but an opportunity nonetheless. The suspicions were well warranted, as the VH
presented itself resplendent in enamel house paint that had been applied architecturally,
or by a long bristle brush! It was a real piece of crap. Oh well, anything was
better than the Camira! After some haggling it was a straight swap.
And so began a reconstruction process that would take eight years!
Five litres of paint stripper will eventually tell you a lot about a motor vehicle's condition and in the VH's case the story read: bog, bog and more bog. Guards, roof, bonnet, boot ..... you name it, but the experience would ultimately be invaluable. This paved the way for the extensive panel work which integrates a lot of brand-new metal surfaces which would form the best possible surface to prep and paint with something a bit more automotively orientated.
After having three or four so-called paint and panel 'experts' stuff him around, Rino had the empty shell delivered to Peter Page Crash Repairs which helped the owner create and develop one of the most striking and individual paint schemes in the scene today. The majority of the outer skin is finished in peadescent Midnight Blue and has been since the first year of the build. Little more than a quick peek at the remainder of the car reveals extensive and immaculate blue, pink and chrome detailing - not to everyone's taste but incredibly impressive regardless.
The closer you examine the completed VH the more the hard work becomes apparent. The undercarriage is a perfect example. The underside of the floor plan is gloss black mixed with perfectly spotless matt black stoneguardstyle finish inside the wheel wells. The entire driveline contrasts with the dark background markedly due to its multicoloured brightness. For a start, the entire front suspension assembly, including the cross member, has been show chromed! Arms, swaybars, struts, radius rods -everything bar the Nolathane bushes! The coils, which are shorter (2.5-inches) K-Mac items, are bright pink, as are the flexi-tubed brake lines and bracketing. Strut inserts are the ever-popular Bilstein brand. Big VL Turbo calipers and discs replace the old VH equipment and both are similarly colourcoded, rounding off a highly spec'd and exquisitely finished 'pointy end'.
 |
From front to rear the driveline melts from the blue of the engine
to a bright pink fully-manualised Trimatic auto gearbox which has been rebuilt
and fed through a 3500rpm stall converter. The tailshaft is flanked by the stainless
2.5-inch exhaust which loops over the top of a retrofitted customised Ford nine-inch
diff. The diff itself has been shortened to suit the VH's track and uses a lower-than-standard
3.55:1 LSD centre. The blue finish drowned over the diff housing is contrasted
with selective pink detailing, such as the handbrake cabling and rear K-Mac springs,
while the chrome once again covers much of the Nolathane bushed suspension hardware.
The VL Walkinshaw swaybars, front and rear, are an interesting addition, as is
the fact that the rear brake rotors and calipers have been lifted from a VN! Right
underneath the luggage compartment, the blue fuel tank has been strapped in pink
and feeds the liquid energy through braided lines. The underside of the SL/E,
in its entirety, is spectacular and absolutely blemish free. built to a level
of finish very, very rarely seen in Commodore circles.
The engine bay, as you'd expect, is every bit as impressive as the remainder
of the car. WC Racing Engine tackled the mechanical work, including the 308's
increase in capacity to 5.7 litres. The bottom-end is all solid Chev 'large
journal' hardware rotating on Manley bearings and uses high compression flat-top
pistons in the bores. The L34-style heads copped the once-over and suck juice
from an Edelbrock manifold/Holley 750 vacuum secondaries induction set-up, while
a Mr Gasket bug-catcher scoop ensures that the engine is drawing the coolest
air straight from the atmosphere.
Camshaft of choice is a tidy Crane 288 hydraulic unit. Almost mandatory in
contemporary project building is the relocation of unsightly engine ancillaries
and Rino has followed the trend with a neat layout. The blue and pink colour
scheme continues throughout the engine bay in a tidy and coordinated fashion,
together with a splash of chrome here and there for good measure. In fact the
engine bay is a good lesson in detailing, because Rino hasn't simply randomly
thrown blue and pink around with abandon. The blue has been used as the basis
for the main components with the pink carefully integrated into selective areas
such as bracketing, lines, caps and those finned aluminium rocker covers. Nothing
has been left untouched.
The interior customisation is an absolute joy for those of you out there who
are tired of seeing retrofitted Walkinshaw seats with standard trimming. Rino
commissioned Para Custom Auto Trimming to go black with a vengeance on the VH
SL/E appointments and the results speak for themselves. All of the seating arrangements
are still VH SL/E gear but have been radically altered using new black velour
for the front-sides and similarly coloured vinyl on the backings, separated
by bright pink piping. A simple blue and pink pattern, together with a nicely
embroidered HSV symbol, decorate each seat. The doors and rear parcel shelf
have been treated to the same effect and it's a good thing that the door locks
and handles have been hit with bright detailing colour otherwise you'd never
find a way out of the cabin! Even the ashtrays are two-toned! The black-out
job continues onto the dash and centre console areas, which Rino has embellished
with a genuine VN Group A steering wheel, chromed shifter and a five-inch monster
tacho. Brand new carpet and headlining - black of course - round out the exceptional
passenger area nicely.
Have we forgotten anything? Well, besides a set of fifteen-inch Cragar Bob
Glidden fivespokes and the cool 'Wild VH' rego plates, the only thing left to
mention is the little red thing hanging from the rear-view mirror. Yep, Rino
still has the chili pepper, which seems to be giving him a lot better luck these
days than it did eight years ago ...
One Stop Commodore Shop (08) 8268-2766
 |
History
Archive - History of Holden and its Cars
Just Mustangs
- US Import Car Business in Australia
Toyota Soarer - Information
and Statistics for the Japanese-Only Toyota Soarer imported to Australia