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nathans VY Calais - 'Calais 2.0'

yZoH

//There Ain't No Rest For The Wicked...
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...Sarcasm still does not portray well on a forum,

Nathan, I <3 U. Stfu lol

P.S- Paint your extractors & change your engine mounts :king:
 

some_guy

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The advice given on this forum is great, but I think the overall attitude could more positive. Just because one person ignores advice and whinges about it doesn't mean everyone else will, and doesn't mean I will. Obviously I know the risks of doing this conversion the way I have - this is why I asked in the first place, now I know what could go wrong and understand the risks which is far better than being ignorant - and there is value in that, you've gotta let people learn the knowledge and decide for themselves what they're gonna do with it - if they choose another road then that's their problem to deal with.

For me, I was working to a budget and a time schedule because having one car off the road is a bloody nightmare to organise me and my wife getting around and getting to work every day with one car. This is crucial for us so getting the conversion done in one weekend was by far the best option there. I don't have unlimited money so my focus was getting the conversion finished, in the car and driving again. Everything else is only icing on the cake, If I had the time and money to do it all I definitely would have.

Looks like I only missed that mark on a few things according to Hozy, so in regular peoples terms I did well :p I decided not to change engine mounts because they looked fine and they aren't that cheap to just put in there if they're not needed. Pacemakers I just didn't have time to paint, I didn't pick them up until saturday arvo and the motor went in sunday.

Keeping in mind we worked friday night, saturday night, sunday night and monday. It's not like we had 4 full days of time twiddling our thumbs. If you ask me I think just getting the conversion done in that time is a bloody good effort - especially considering none of us are mechanics or had done a conversion before

Please explain how not painting my extractors and not replacing engine mounts that were perfectly fine would result in a busted motor? With the skills and knowledge I've gained from doing this I could now confidently pull the extractors off and paint them when the dust settles a bit - which I may just do :)

Any freshening up that was needed is visual or just regular servicing - hardly needs to be done when the motor is out. I couldn't afford anything to go wrong with whatever else we were doing, say if we decided to change the inlet manifold gaskets or whatever - I'm not a mechanic, I'd be purely winging it and probably end up with a mistake, I feel much safer leaving the motor untouched in that regard, I'll leave that to someone who's done it before - or try it later when everything is working and there isn't as much hinging on it.

EDIT: Also I have more photos to post if I can find the bloody card reader... :bang:

Was probably not such a good example to use while getting across my message.
Sounds even more stupid after scrolling back and reading it has 70000 logbooked km's on it.

I'll still say though, should've just waited another week (or however long it took to gather the funds) and changed/fixed those things for peace of mind and less worry in the future.
Especially considering the V6 didn't HAVE to come out, it wouldnt have been a different story had the V6 motor been blown and you needed the car back on the road urgently.

Lastly,
Dont think anyone is having a go at how well overall the conversion was done man. Massive props for getting it done in 4 days, just needed those last little special touches.
 

nathanVY

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Was probably not such a good example to use while getting across my message.
Sounds even more stupid after scrolling back and reading it has 70000 logbooked km's on it.

I'll still say though, should've just waited another week (or however long it took to gather the funds) and changed/fixed those things for peace of mind and less worry in the future.
Especially considering the V6 didn't HAVE to come out, it wouldnt have been a different story had the V6 motor been blown and you needed the car back on the road urgently.

Lastly,
Dont think anyone is having a go at how well overall the conversion was done man. Massive props for getting it done in 4 days, just needed those last little special touches.

True true, ah well it is what it is. Long weekends don't come around that often, would've been struggling to do it all in 3 days lol.
 

Jecs

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first off, awesome work nath.

doing an engine conversion is the best way to understand whats in your bay and how it works. a hose breaks, you'll know what one it is, where it goes and how to undo it.

not mention it brings you and mates closer and theres usually a few good laughs had.




i do understand where hoz and you are both coming from. when i did the conversion in the stato at the very start from V6-V8 it was roughly over 2-3 months. (i did have a company car at the time)

while i was waiting for the motor to get built i was in the bay, fixing up or touching up something, or cut and polishing the towers, or spraying body deadener under the car.

buying the write off, paying to get the motor built, paying to get an exhaust built. the list just kept going and it felt like i was throwing my wallets everywhere i walked. but i worked like a dog and was saved as much coin as possible.

pavtek told me when i throw the motor back in it should be good for 195-200rwkw. i went to repco and spent $600 at staff price (RRP would of been over $1000) buying sensors, hoses, clamps, water pump, mounts. anything and everything.

my car made 206rwkw. and i do believe all the fresh bits helped me achieve the extra numbers



sorry to go off topic. either way, proud you did the conversion.
 

MEESEN

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clap clap you performed a plug & play engine conversion

Hardly plug a and play hoz, yes it does plug right into the loom, yes a ls k frame fits right in there along with fuel lines, pump, radiators, diff, booster,etc etc...

But how is this much different from a Engine conversion when all the work is done for you most of the time with someone else already fabricated engine mount adaptations etc...

Me and Nath (with a help a from mates coming and lending a hand) completed this conversion in basically 4 days, i worked 7 till 5 three of those days at my usual work then straight to Nath's till late (nath doing little bits and pieces on the car whilst i was at work)... this is a massive achievement in my eyes... especially Nath having little experience doing engine swaps but he has learnt **** loads!

Yes the engine mounts were from the wreck but they are perfectly fine, even had a mechanic look at them and say there was no reason to change them, so don't think he will have any problems with them being second hand.



And too finish this is why i have drifted away from JC so much criticism and people cracking the poops if you don't do everything they say you weren't there you don't know the full story
 
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nathanVY

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first off, awesome work nath.

doing an engine conversion is the best way to understand whats in your bay and how it works. a hose breaks, you'll know what one it is, where it goes and how to undo it.

not mention it brings you and mates closer and theres usually a few good laughs had.


Yeah this was one of the best parts! I've learn so much about the front and rear suspension, how that all goes together etc.

Thanks for the kind words man.
 

Auzziephoenix

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Mind if i ask how much the conversion set you back?

Looking good man!
 

GEN3RATD

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should have put the LS1 in the VS

*dodges hate*
 

showbags

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Don't forget. I undid 2 exhaust bolts and stood around talking crap:) On a serious note. It's an engine that's done 70,000km in a Luxo barge, so the likelihood of anything going bang in the near future is fairly minimal. Keep th updates coming boys.
 

te_rarawa

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And too finish this is why i have drifted away from JC so much criticism and people cracking the poops if you don't do everything they say you weren't there you don't know the full story

I've noticed that too man. It's a shame coz I've enjoyed this forum. But in saying that. Big ups to the lads behind this conversion man. Nice job indeed
 
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