gday anyone know wat is involved in fitting an rb30 into a vh is it just a matter of bolting in a VL k frame ?

Taken from Just commodores: Mechanically it is straight forward. You need to swap the K frame,steering rack, steering column lower half, battery is on the other side, wiper washer bottle, fuel lines, fuel tank, complete loom for engine and the car and it has to be modified, fabricate a new gearbox x member, diff, tail shaft, engine and gearbox, console and modify to fit the radiator. THe dash wash a nightmare. The air intake on the VL is on the left and on the VB it is in the centre. None of the heating and ventilation is the same. Best to keep the VB dash and fit the VL cluster with made up brackets. yip ive just done this conversion took me 180 days. 3 months of which i was crippled with a broke foot lol. theres a fair bit to it if you want to pull it off properly. you could do a dodgey conversion pretty quick.apart from having to fabricate a gearbox x member everything else is basically bolt in.i used a complete wiring harness from a vl calais. bit of a mission to install but it works

its been done http://wa.gumtree.com.au/c-Cars-Vehi...AdIdZ271146942 (http://wa.gumtree.com.au/c-Cars-Vehicles-Motorbikes-Parts-cars-VH-commodore-SLE-fitted-with-brand-new-RB30-turbo-W0QQAdIdZ271146942) but why not a v8 of some sort? or even a 3.8 ecotec

It's not something thats really worth it, you would be better of going to V6 conversions and using an ecotec. I did an RB30 VK once and it was a pain in the arse with the wiring especially with the auto.

yeah well my rb30 is kinda already built so i'll stick with it

Fair enough, nothing wrong with a fresh RB, you will need a radiator support panel for the VL radiator and if you run the jatco auto you will need to use a VL speedo and wiring, better off with a manual in this conversion. You will obviously have to get decent brakes.

Why would he go an Ecotec over and RB30? How is that an easier conversion? As far as I can tell it would be just as much mucking around and for what? - the RB is a much better base for making power (with turbo of course). I considered all of these options when I was looking to kick the six from my VK. Ended up going with a 304 due to the sheer simplicity of conversion, but RB was my next choice. Nobody does these conversions just to have a daily driver, they're done for performance and with that in mind there is no comparison with RB and Ecotec for availability of performance parts and knowledge base etc.

i have one sitting in my shed now rb30 in to a vh runs mint auto just doin all the license stuff for it

Quote: Originally Posted by lowlyf [View Post] i have one sitting in my shed now rb30 in to a vh runs mint auto just doin all the license stuff for it did u run into any major dramas or was it pretty strait forword? good luck with getting it licensed

pretty straight forward man so far its half way though the engineering side then pits

Quote: Originally Posted by JohnBrai [View Post] Why would he go an Ecotec over and RB30? How is that an easier conversion? As far as I can tell it would be just as much mucking around and for what? - the RB is a much better base for making power (with turbo of course). I considered all of these options when I was looking to kick the six from my VK. Ended up going with a 304 due to the sheer simplicity of conversion, but RB was my next choice. Nobody does these conversions just to have a daily driver, they're done for performance and with that in mind there is no comparison with RB and Ecotec for availability of performance parts and knowledge base etc. Agree!!!!

It would be interesting to see one with an Alloytec bolted into it , it's taken Holden about 13 years to save up for an RB30 equivalent of a V8 (LS1) then 16 years to save up enough dough to build a V6 that I think is equally as good ,if not better than the RB30. They are a far cry from 1988 when they released the VN Commodore which I thought was a backward step from the VL , with the drivetrain , at least.

Doing this conversion myself soon on a Vc wagon, straight forward swap with the only issue i see being the heater. I'm going to use the complete Vl wiring loom & dash, now to do with the heater which will be the only fun part..... I'm thinking of using the Vc heater & main switch in the Vl dash & getting a sparky to wire it up, has anyone done this? Any hints or advice would be awesome, only other option is to weld the Vl fan section into the Vc plenum which would be a witch.... I've done a few months research on what engine conversion's the easiest & cheapest & the RB30 wins hands down, With the commodore V6s theres a lot of shagging round with speed sensors needed for the trans so you can run a speedo cable & the hassle of merging the V6 wiring with the Vb-Vk wiring loom. Theres none of that hassle with the Rb30, the heater will be interesting yes but its been done before so the info's out there somewhere..... Now as for price wise, i just picked up a Vl RB30 auto wagon. Mint runner in all respects with the series 2 RB for $300, i'll be doing all the work myself and i no including painting & detailing the engine bay i'll have change from a grand easy as. I've priced the alternatives & it would cost double easy.......