This is a tutorial I typed up for those people who would rather have the look of the (slightly) more modern VH Commodore for their car instead of that of the VB/VC Commodore. It’s a fairly easy process, it’s just time consuming to complete (but definately worth it to gain the VH’s longer and lower appearence).

Above: That’s my old VB! Eewww we’ll need to do something about this.

First I’ll go through the things you’ll need:
- VH or VK Bonnet
- VH or VK Drivers and Passengers Side Guards
- VH Grill
- VB Headlights
- VH Headlights
- VB to VH front Bumper (they’re identical)

Before you start you need to know some things: This process involves cutting metal, but don’t worry, it’s not too drastic. Also you’ll need to do a tiny bit of electrical wiring, metal reshaping and drilling.

PART 1: VB front end removal

First thing you’ll need to do is remove the front end. Start with the grill.. there should be three screws holding it in. Next do the headlights, this is simply a matter of a bolt and a screw at the top for each one. Since I didn’t have a socket that small I just used a pair of needle nose pliars for the bolt, just sat it on top and turned it until it was finger loose. Now you need to unplug them from the loom, easy enough just unclip them.

DON’T THROW AWAY THOSE VB HEADLIGHTS YET! (no matter how much you don’t like them). You’ll need the connector at the end of them to put on the VH headlights later on. Now it’s time for the bonnet. Get a friend to help you out with this, should be a simple 4 bolts (2 on each side) holding it on.

The bumper is always an annoying thing to take off. Since you’ve already removed the grill you’ve saved yourself some crawling underneith for the middle bolts as you should be able to get in there with your ratchet from the top. There are four bolts in total here, two just in front of where the grill was and two holding it to each side of the guards. You’ll have to crawl under to get the two on the sides off.

And now it’s time for the guards! I’ll go through what to do for one side, then just apply it again to the other side. If I recall these bolts are 10mm. Anyway first thing to do is open your door and start unscrewing that metal strip which goes from the guard to just over the front of the door. The guard is screwed into it! Now you need to get to work with your 10mm.. ahh joys!

The locations of the bolts for the guards are:
- Lots inside the engine bay at the top.
- One near the door underneith
- Three at the front of the guard underneith (we’ll call these the nightmare bolts)
- Two inside the car. To get to these you need to take the kick panels off, and you should see the two bolts clearly.. tricky place for bolts to be hey?

Now the guard shouldn’t have anything holding it onto the car except maybe 25+ years of dirt buildup. Anyhow remove it and then do the same thing for the other side.

By now you should have a completely stripped down front end. Congratulations, your highly inefficient but weight reduced drag racer is now complete! Seriously though it’s time for the “fun” part. Clean up all the dirt you can from underneith where the guards were and continue to part 2!

PART 2: VH front end installation

Start with the guards. You’ll notice that it is an exact fit.. well almost! Put the guard (don’t bolt it up, only let it sit there) onto where it will live soon. Now grab one of your VH headlights. Notice something odd? That’s right, the headlight hole is perfect but the indicator will never get in there. This is where you’ll be cutting.

I recommend using a hacksaw to cut back to the end of the indicator area (only cut what you need to though) and use a hammer to smash it out and then give it the final cut. It’s at this point you’ll wish you had a plasma cutter (if you do just use it lol). Keep doing this until the headlight assembly with the indicator mounted to it fits in there perfectly and can be screwed in. Now do this for the other side, I know I know it get’s annoying doing everything twice but it’s oh so worth it later on.

Now you should be OK with the headlights, it’s time for another concerning thing. The grill! What I did which I’m regretting is cut the notches off the grill and used loctite to reattatch it in a VB friendly place. For you I recommend using the drill and making it some new holes in the chassis.. much easier and there’s no messy überglue bonding your shoes to the ground.

I’ll bet you’re excited now! We’re not finished yet though. Take the headlights and the grill out because it’s guard time part 2! It takes a bit of work but make sure you allign the top holes onto the bolt holes, this is your key to success. Do the top row (or every second one and come back to it later). Now it’s time for some fun. Crawl under the front to notice that there’s a piece of stubborn metal you’ll need to bend upwards. It’s not hard or anything, just interesting. Large pliars are your friend! Bend the metal upwards so it matches the hole in the VH panel, and do up as many bolts under here as you possibly can. Return to the bolt near the door and do that up as well. Now this is under debate but we’re not sure if the interior bolts can be done up. If the holes are there definately do them up. If they’re not then don’t worry about it, or better yet drill some new holes.

Now put the strip back on top of the door/at the front of the guard. Do exactly the same for the other side.

Congratulations! The guards are done.. there’s no going back now (well there is but pretend there’s not - you’ll feel better). Take your VB headlights and your VH headlights inside if you prefer, and do the wiring. There’s two ways this can be done.

1. At the end of the VH headlight cut the 5 coloured wires and re-attatch (matching the colours) the VB connector onto the end. Solder and electrical tape are your best bet, making sure to give it 10 times more layers of tape than it deserves.

2. This is what I did (of coarse I did the annoyingly complicated method). Open up both headlights and get the cables out. We’re going to put the whole VB cable inside the VH assembly.. but wait! The VB indicator bulb thing doesn’t fit inside the VH indicator, so you’ll have to cut off the VH one and solder it onto the VB wiring. Simple enough, make the two black cables into one cable and connect that up and the same for the other ones, just connect them to each other. Almost done? Yep, now just get the highbeam (I think it’s high beam) purple cable connector and put this at the end of the VBs wiring cable for the smaller globe (you’ll know what I’m on about when you see it) because the VB one is smaller than the larger VH connector. Now just stick your newly made cables into the headlights, plug them in and you’re done for the headlights!

Above on the left is my freshly rebuilt VH headlight and on the right the square-like VB one.

Test the headlights (just plug them in, don’t need to mount them). If they work be very happy.. if not you made a big mistake and should seek some professional help (I’m not professional help). The headlights are probably the easiest thing to do, you just need to bolt them in.. no new holes required! But don’t do it yet, we’re lining up the grill! Very carefully mark where the holes are on the VH grill so you can make some perfect holes, then grab your drill and get to work. Trial fit if you would like, but take the grill out again afterwards because..

It’s bumper time (part 2)! Just bolt it up, the same way you undid it, preferably from the middle (just in front of the grill) to hold it up then you can do the sides, this will make it easier and you can do it on your own. Why do I feel like there’s something I’ve forgotten..

Oh that’s right! Your car has no bonnet! Get your friend back and make him/her hold the other side up while you do the bolts up. This process sometimes take a while because it won’t close or it’ll close too well, just keep adjusting it slightly until you get a good working bonnet that stays closed and opens easily.

Now prop your bonnet up and do the grill and headlights. Plug it all in and hopefully the headlights still work.

And there you have it! I guess you want some pictures of the results hey? OK. And don’t forget to wash it before you take the pictures to show off, I didn’t forget.. will you?

The new clear indicators and rebuilt headlights set it off.

This article was written by Juzza from darkcold.com. I do not give permission for any part of it to be used on another website or publication of any kind without my express written permission.