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I've just bought an Oct 84-build WB DeVille Series II with bench front seat and column shift. I've seen two others like this over the years and like mine they had the VC-VK Commodore two-spoke steering wheel, instead of the single spoke wheel on five-seat DeVille and Caprice. I'm pretty sure this is factory -- it's in the WB parts manual.
Does anyone know why Holden put the VC-VK wheel on? Why not the single spoke -- or the two-spoke wheel used on WB commercials?
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Maybe it was easier to see the auto trans indicator? These would be the only WB Statesmans with a RH shift Trimatic too. Would be a very rare Trimatic code, if you ever get under and look post up its code. |
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Having owned numerous commodores with both types of wheel, if anything, the single spoke one offers more visibility than the 2 spoke.
The single spoke wheels did have a sticker in them relating to mandatory power steering, but this was standard on a WB sedan anyway.
As they are pretty much the same at the back of the wheel, and take the same horn ring, I can't see why the column shift would demand one over the other.
But there must be some sort of reason for it? |
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Mick _______________________________________________________________
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I'll have a look under it today if I get a chance and check the Trimatic code, HK1837.
I reckon the single-spoke wheel looks good but on my last WB I thought that the wheel rim was too thin. I ended up fitting a leather steering wheel cover to it to thicken it up.
Not a huge fan of the two-spoke VK wheel in a WB, it does look odd to me. Maybe I'll fit the two-spoke wheel from HX-HX (and WB commercials).
Then again, the VK wheel (well, VC-VK were all the same AFAIK, but it would have been pulled out of the VK parts bin) is what the factory fitted, so maybe I'll leave it.
Maybe GM-H didn't want a Statesman to have the same wheel as the Commercials, but wanted it to be different to the five-seat Statos. Still doesn't really make sense.
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The two codes I have listed for WB Statesman 5.0 column shift are LN for early cars & LT for later ones.
Dr Terry |
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As the WBII sedan used all the same trim colours as the VK (cerulean, oyster etc), it would make sense to fit a VK steering wheel rather than a commercial one - assuming they offered the bench in multiple trim colours (although when it returned in VN, you could only get it in beige).
I did the same as you with an SL/E wheel - I trimmed it with 2 strips of leather, one over the top of the other, and it was perfect.
The 2 spoke is the same from VB-VK - but VB had a different horn pad to the later cars. Does the WB one have the regular lion logo like the commodore (VC-VK horn pad), or did they put the Stato wreath into it? |
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WB column shift Statesman are all listed as having steering wheel 92000230 and all console shift are 92007555. No idea why ther are different though. Maybe so you couldn't put your hand through the steering wheel to shift the gear lever?
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Yes the wheel looks identical to VC-VK, so the badge on the horn bar is the Holden lion with the bottom chopped off, if you know what I mean. The centre instruments are different too. Only fuel gauge and coolant temperature gauge, no volts or oil pressure. Instead there's warning lights (which floorshift WBs have too, but different) and below that the gear indicator.
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Bottom chopped off the lion is VK (VC & VH centres have the full lion). It's one of the things they did with the marketing rebranding when VK launched. Changed the fonts & sliced off the lower 10% of the lion. VK Calais & VH SL/E have the same pentagonal cap covering the wheel nuts, but on VK the lion is the same "bottomless" one - doesn't stop people mixing them up though! Instruments sound like a mix of commercial & sedan to make enough space for everything. Putting your hand through the wheel could well be a safety concern they had. Good thinking. Edited by user Saturday, 5 March 2016 4:02:17 PM(UTC)
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Mick _______________________________________________________________
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And that was the setup they put in the one Brock Magnum ute. Bench seat and column auto out of a Statesman Deville(only Deville had the column shift option).
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Well I need to wear my glasses a bit more. The wheel has a full lion emblem, so like a VH, maybe VC (are they the same?). So not a VK wheel with a chopped off lion.
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Originally Posted by: wbute And that was the setup they put in the one Brock Magnum ute. Bench seat and column auto out of a Statesman Deville(only Deville had the column shift option). WB commercial was standard column shift if you optioned auto. |
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Originally Posted by: HK1837 Originally Posted by: wbute And that was the setup they put in the one Brock Magnum ute. Bench seat and column auto out of a Statesman Deville(only Deville had the column shift option). WB commercial was standard column shift if you optioned auto. Yes, but I believe that the Magnum ute had the Statesman DeVille dash & instruments, where the column shift & indicator was unique & different to the regular WB (& HJ/HX/HZ) column quadrant & dash etc. Dr Terry |
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Ah, I get it now. I've never seen a Magnum ute. I've heard there was one plus a conversion of a used ute. |
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The only one was a converted 6 cylinder WB. It had a stroked 5 litre with the mentioned Deville column auto interior. White side mouldings and statesman front. A bloke from Quirindi NSW had it built by HDT. They didn't build any from new as far as I am aware.
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The one built by HDT was a white one, which has sometimes been called the "Eyecamp" ute - that being the name of the buyer. It spent a long time at HDT getting a myriad of things done to it. There are photos of it in the workshops circa-'88, so yes, it was done after WBs had finished production.
There is another one around, which was built up from a Deville based Magnum sedan. It is not a ute that HDT built, and the owner has never claimed it to be. |
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Yeah that's the ute. The Eyekamp one. He sold it to a bloke up the road from me. He put the 5 post bullbar and roll bar on it. I have spoken to the bloke who now owns it. It was being returned to original Magnum style.
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Here's a pic of inside the WB (not a very good pic, sorry). While the PO has got the front bench re-trimmed in original 'wool' cloth, the trimmer must not have used some of the original springing. The base feels like it's just got a lot of soft foam underneath -- I sit very low behind the wheel, like I did when I was eight years-old driving my grandfather's HQ Premier! Anyone know of an old Holden-knowledgable trimmer in Sydney I could take it to to get fixed? Does anyone know what Buckskin really means for trim colour -- I take it it's the light tan of the seat vinyl, not the medium brown of the dash/steering wheel etc? What's that colour called?
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I know there is dark buckskin for the dash etc in Commodores VB and VC. However, that looks to be a bit darker than that. Looks more like VH style brown.
Commodorenut may know. Or the for more experts on here. |
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In HZ anything with 62V, 63V or 63C got a Tan instrument pad, instrument panel lower and compartment door. By the looks of that picture WB was the same and it looks like it got Tan kick panels as well. Tan is 67V/67C on a HZ Kingwood (or 67V on Sandman) upwards, on HZ Holden 67V/67C (except Sandman with 67V) is called Brown. Edited by user Wednesday, 13 April 2016 11:14:14 AM(UTC)
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