First Car - '88 VL Commodore SL Project
G'day all, I'm new to the forum so go easy :P
I'm Shaun, I'm 18 and currently live in Lysterfield, Victoria and just laid down some cash on my first car, a '88 VL SL. This car will be my ongoing project as I finish up on my L's and get my P's later in the year.
It's coming from queensland
For the time being, this is the only two shots of it I've got, but expect heaps more when I get the car in my hot little hands.
crappy iphone pic of it now that ive done some more stuff to it and cleaned it up, view later posts for details.
Info:
1988 VL Commodore SL
Colour: BA Falcon Phantom Purple (P3)
Engine: RB30 N/A, Rebuilt from bottom up, 70,000k's old, VL Turbo bottom end, bigger heads and camshaft, chipped(dont know specs exactly atm)
Exhaust: Pacemaker extractors, Lukey 2.5" exhaust with sports muffler
Driveline:
-Jatco 4SPD Auto, freshly rebuilt
-New Uni's etc
-VL Turbo Diff (28Spl) + 4 Wheel Discs (fresh)
Wheels: Dragway Pro (15") with new rubber all round
Options: Powersteering (with sports steering wheel) and Air-Con
Suspension: Tastefully (IMO) Lowered on Kingsprings allround with Monroe shockers
Stereo: Kenwood P.O.S Headunit, Kenwood 6"s up front, Pioneer 6x9's in rear parcel shelf, Kicker 10" sub in boot, Pioneer amp.
Security: Alarm, Immobiliser, Keyless Entry
No Rust, very straight
List of things to do(being a bit nitpicky on a lot of them) when I get it:
-Replace the faggy altezza style clear lights (anyone want any? going cheap) with Calais lights and garnish and boot surrounds (previous owner removed them for some reason?
-Give her a good clean and get her back to her prime (interior and boot is a bit dirty im told)
-shave locks and fit emergency terminals under body (battery failsafe for keyless entry)
-Reuppholster or replace front drivers seat (split on right side, not a huge problem though,visible in pic)
-Replace rear drivers side bumper upper-strip (and paint it) as fitted one is broken
-Paint touch up(even possible respray on certain panels?) as there some stone chips and other imperfections in the paint that were described on the phone. Paint looks fresh and not faded, so should match okay? thoughts? - definetly not urgent, will assess need when I get the car.
-RWC/Reg in Victoria
-Possible 5spd. conversion down the track
-Window tint (the lone drivers side rear window thats tinted has had the tint removed since pic was taken, was peeling off anyway)
-Drive it?
Any thoughts are welcome
Last edited by shaunington; 26-07-2010 at 07:19 PM.
Another VL Driver
Sea Dogs Champion!
nice score man... all ready for a turbo
love it...
gonna be a nice car for you, make sure u get some theft deterents, vl's are one of the highest stolen cars :P
Just a quick update:
Went up to queensland to do some work on it over the school holidays, it hasn't come down to vic yet.
She's currently sitting under a car cover until I can organise freight but have made some changes:
-got that antenna mast in
-got some original SL tail lights and new(well, better condition) center garnish to replace the altezza fag-style ones (until I can afford some berlina jobbys)
-Boot corner surrounds and center strip fitted (didnt come with the car, guy said he lost them somewhere)
-replaced both exterior mirrors with much better condition ones
-Fitted an entire new stereo system (kenwood headunit up front, Kevlar 4" splits (these bloody pump for 4"s) and Sony 6x9s in new wooden parcel shelf.
-Amp and subs now in carpeted box in the upper part of the boot, looks much tidier.
-Entire interior transplant from a white donor VL SL (that had fuel delviery issues, and boot and windows were rusted through I later found, but mint interior) that I bought for $300. All seats, doorcards, dash, consoles etc. all transplanted, looks very tidy inside.
-Good clean of everything, quick tidy up the engine bay.
-A mate is taking her for a major inspection, service and tune on my behalf, and then hopefully i'll have her in my hands soon after!
Some videos:
Imageshack - img0244.mp4 - Uploaded by shaunpainephoto - Start up and idle after replacing tail lights, before I did the interior or stereo
Imageshack - img0245.mp4 - Uploaded by shaunpainephoto - taken minutes later, feeding some throttle through
Imageshack - blahblah222.mp4 - Uploaded by shaunpainephoto - after taking for a quick spin (private property, its still unreg) and tuning the AFM slightly, few more revs
YouTube - 'Blowing out the cobwebs' N/A RB30E + Cam + Extractos 2.5" + HighHP head etc. VL - Another idle/rev video on another camera. Mic cant handle the volume, though
YouTube - Stereo Test, Subs installed, not tuned - quick blast of the stereo before tuning the subs (had the sensitivity on the amp way down low, they were hardly being worked in this video, bloody pumping now!) definetly need some dynamat haha.
No new pictures unfortunately, except for some crap iphone one after a quick wash when I got there, this is before any of the above took place:
Some pro iphone photography, paint came up realllly dark here, stupid iphone *rolls eyes*
while doing the stereo
the finished product, little did I know I was going to gut that entire interior and do it all again in 3 days after this pic was taken hahah
Can see some purple and white overspray on the left aircon vent in the above pic, it was all over the seats and a few other interior trims. Thankfuly the carpet was/is clean, and with the new interior she's come up a million dollars.
Can't wait to go nuts when I get it down here
Last edited by shaunington; 26-07-2010 at 07:20 PM.
I was just informed that the wheels are actually genuine dragway Pros rather than the Indy(the guy who sold me the car was sure they were indys), and that they would fetch quite a bit.
Dragway Performance Engineering
Interesting!
EDIT:
Also, I've got access to a calais nose (a spare we had from mums ol 308 calais) so I'll probably see about painting that and putting that on, but while I'm at it, would you guys reccomend keeping the purple all-over or go two-tone like a true calais? Over asteroid or porsche silver for example)
I'm generally a huge fan of the two-tone look, but not sure how it would work with purple.
Shaun
Last edited by shaunington; 26-07-2010 at 04:33 PM.
it looks great with purple. probably why most people do purple over silver calais. ive seen quite a few.
This is good site to watch.I found it informative as I have been researching a lot lately on such matters such as you talk about.
..stay N/A..
go the two tone. It will look amazing over asteroid silver freshly painted
Another VL Driver
Sea Dogs Champion!
Got an engine bay pic bloke?
while u were up here in qld
Definately go the Two-tone look..Purple over silver with the Calais Lower door moulds.
It's settled then, Asteroid silver bars and calais doormoulds (having trouble finding any though)
Won't happen until I can get the car down here and some more cash though.
As for the engine bay pic, I've got one from before I picked the car up, but its better than nothing:
Excuse my mates awesome low-angle photography haha.
Under the bonnet was very neat anyway, just a bit dusty.
Since this pic, its had a degrease/clean of all components(looks great, should've got a pic), new leads, new platinum plugs, and a brand new (nice shiny white) washer/overflow bottle and new panel filter (not that you could see that anyway)
The results are back from the inspection/overhaul:
-Pressure test excellent, All cylinders 162-165PSI.
-Slightly moist trans pan from weeping (weak/dying gasket) so I'll just relpace the gasket
-Brake fluid needs a change (bit of crap in there)
That's it! everything else checks out, A1 mechanically. No other leaks, all steering and suspension components are perfect, (I did notice that it does sit and drive excellently, too)
Pretty chuffed with that
EDIT: What do you guys reckon about getting a MACE CAI?
http://www.maceengineering.com.au/ep...roducts/CAI607
Last edited by shaunington; 02-08-2010 at 03:01 AM.
mace CAI just got mine today they are a very tidy box and look sweet .
Nice! Just what I was hoping to hear.
Got any pics of it in? Notice any gains?
Just bought an MF5 conversion kit for it, pretty damn keen to get that in
Should be great to drive!
Mucca Mad Boys
F*** that sounds lumpy. It has a tuff stance with those wheels i reckon. I have a few rear garnishes if you still need it or tailight surrounds or anything. Looks nice and i reckon go two tone to. Asteriod silver ftw!
Thanks matey, I just might take you up on that soon. I cant remember how good the one I put in was, but it wasn't spectacular by any stretch of the imagination.
Just went and picked up my 5SPD(MF5)!
Shifter rubber has seen better days
Box with stock 2pc tailshaft
Pedalbox and clutch master
Clutch etc
Had to play a bit of tetris to get it all in the missus' 08 Yaris.
Heres a question though:
After I lifted the box out of the car and got it down to the shed to clean it up a bit, This was sitting in the boot of the Yaris:
I had a quick look and being an MF5 (and manual box all together) novice, I wasn't sure where it lived. It looks like it could use a good clean,too.
Any idea what it is/does? And how to clean it safely (or all together replace it) and put it back in??
Cheers.
Mucca Mad Boys
Pretty sure that joins your clutch to your master cylinder man! JW how much you pick the 5spd up for?
Ahh true, it's not of great importance as the box wont be going in straight away. Will have to get on top of that before I put it all in.
I'm absolutely stoked with how smooth yet tight the box feels. I forsee some spirited driving haha.
For everything you see in the pics (+ Manual computer + clutch plate not pictured) I paid $380. It's all in pretty bloody good nick, too. Could use a degrease, though.
EDIT: You are indeed correct, its where the other end of the clutch line connects to. Got it back in no worries
Last edited by shaunington; 14-08-2010 at 07:22 PM.
Mucca Mad Boys
Thats a pretty good score man especially if its in good condition, Cheapest one around her is 450 thats just second hand and the box only so for all you know it could be f***ed lol. Yeah i thought so because i pulled one out like two weeks ago and it looked familiar and also when i replaced my master cylinder. I personally wouldnt worry about cleaning itat the end of the day its all going underneath your car and going to get dirty again anyways lol
Paint looks awesome, wheels look awesome. Only thing that let it down was the auto. Then you go and buy a conversion kit. so now... car = awesome.
Mad first car. Going to have alot of fun with it.
Band
F*** thats a nice colour!!! sweet car man!
Yeah, I was happy with that. And the dude said it's probably the nicest and smoothest box he's had (and he's had plenty of VL's) so that's gotta be good. Yeah I suppose, I was more meaning about cleaning a lot of shit out of the bellhousing, it's got quite a bit of build up not pictured, it probably wouldn't do any harm but they go in clean from new, so why not.Originally Posted by Skid Bro
Thats a pretty good score man especially if its in good condition, Cheapest one around her is 450 thats just second hand and the box only so for all you know it could be f***ed lol. Yeah i thought so because i pulled one out like two weeks ago and it looked familiar and also when i replaced my master cylinder. I personally wouldnt worry about cleaning it
Haha cheers mate, no doubt you'll see much more of it in the future. Hopefully I can get it on the road by the cruise next month.Paint looks awesome, wheels look awesome. Only thing that let it down was the auto. Then you go and buy a conversion kit. so now... car = awesome.
Mad first car. Going to have alot of fun with it.
Cheers, I love the colour too... There's a few stone chips and marks in it though, so that's on the agenda, but not really urgent. I'd rather one that goes fast, than one that looks like it does :P
CAR IS NOW FOR SALE! $2250 ONO on the Gold Coast! PM me if you're interested, would be a great base to a turbo/show car.
Not sure if I can put this here, so mods please remove if I can't!
http://www.tradingpost.com.au/Automo...er=TP003789613
Last edited by shaunington; 08-09-2010 at 09:26 PM.
..stay N/A..
Saw it on ebay, so tempting, if only i had the spare change though. good luck finding a new home for it though
awww reason for sale, if u don't mind me asking
Thanks VLC, here's hoping.
Yeah no worries at all Redy, the cars on the Gold Coast, and I'm in Melbourne, and just got a deal I can't refuse on a factory manual exec. It was gonna cost me $1500 in transport + reg fees etc. to get this one down here, but this factory manual one is round the corner from me and ready to go, and being a poor photography student, money didn't allow keeping both
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