EYY's VY Calais LS1

[EYY]

Hey everyone! Recently one of my uncles just purchased a new Mitsubishi ASX as a replacement for his original l67 VY Calais (owned since brand new with 140k). A few years ago I told him that I'd buy the calais if he ever decided to part with it. About 4 weeks ago I got a call from him, telling me that it was mine.

I quickly sourced a WH series 2 with LS1 and got to work (actually had the WH in the driveway before I had the VY lol). Took about 2 weeks working every night after work and uni to finish the conversion. Was a pretty straight forward swap but there were a few notable differences. Anyway I'll update with a few more details later on, but here are a few pics for now.

Details:
-2002 S1 VY Calais
-Factory L67 (LS1 Converted)
-Berry Red
-Red leather interior
-Exhaust: VY S2 HSV 4 into 1 extractors, modded factory cats, twin 2.5 Auspac exhaust (reduces to 2.25" after mid mufflers).

Plans:
-HSV MAF pipe
-Carplay head unit
-VZ calais rear bar & sideskirts (already purchased)
-VY HBD front lower bar lip (already purchased)
-Sunroof
-Rear bobtail and roof spoiler (both purchased already)

Few pics:
When i first picked it up

Crappy interior shot

The donor wh

K Frame, fuel lines and tank changed

New loom fitted, rear main replaced and sump gasket replaced:

Almost done - had it running at this stage:

Running and driving here:

Got an auspack exhaust free from a mate cause it was damaged. Purchased 2 2.5" redback mufflers and welded those in and tidied up the exhaust.

More photos and details to follow when I get some more time.

 

[VS 5.0]

Great work @EYY .

Is the interior the same red as SS or darker like the exterior ?

 

[EYY]

Thanks mate - I think the interior's considerably darker than the SS versions. Not sure whether I'll keep that interior just yet. Drivers side bolster needs replacing as they all do but the leather's okay. Thinking i may be able to get a decent foam base from the wreckers and swap the leather over to the good one.

 

[exec24]

nice work, any how difficult was the conversion? i am looking to swap my VY Berlina from an NA Ecotec to a Ls1 very soon.

I bought a wrecked 2002 VX SS a few years ago with 163,000k's and kept the full driveline. I have sold off the VX engine harness and purchased a VY type one, and a few other parts too.

how difficult were the fuel line's to replace underneath?

any info you like to share would be appreciated

 

[Immortality]

Good work.

It's a shame you're in Aussie or else I would have taken the the old L67 off your hands for ya.

 

[EYY]

nice work, any how difficult was the conversion? i am looking to swap my VY Berlina from an NA Ecotec to a Ls1 very soon.

I bought a wrecked 2002 VX SS a few years ago with 163,000k's and kept the full driveline. I have sold off the VX engine harness and purchased a VY type one, and a few other parts too.

how difficult were the fuel line's to replace underneath?

any info you like to share would be appreciated

Wasn't too difficult but there are a few differences. I did a couple of things that I shouldn't have bothered with.

The main things you'll need to change are:
-Larger fuel line (I used VZ V6 lines from the wreckers- they're the same as the earlier ls1 lines). Not the easiest to remove or fit, but I managed to remove the lines from a VZ v6 with the engine still in with the car only 40cm off the ground at the wreckers so not impossible.

-Loom, pcm, bcm and keyhead (I tracked down a matched set fortunately). As long as the BCM level is the same you're fine. My computer set was from a 2004 WK (Series 2). I relocated the ECU to inside the car. Very easy to do and is much neater. You can pay to have them all linked, but apparently you need the VIN from the car that each module was removed from to retrieve the respective security codes from Holden. Apparently pretty easy if you have a mate who works at a dealership. You don't need to change dash looms etc like many people say. It's plug and play.

-Neutral safety switch. I had a VY series 2 loom, which uses the later safety switch (one plug, not two). Again, these can be found on any s2 Vy V6 or VZ v6 4 speed auto from the wreckers.

-ABS Module - you'll NEED the correct one for your vehicle (trac/no trac, ls1 etc). DO NOT go by the numbers stamped into the pump alone. The white sticker is the abs module part number and is the relevant one. Traction control and cruise control won't work without it. The throttle relaxer relies on correct inputs from all modules.

-LS1 fuel pump. The units are different between VT-VY series 1 and VY series 2 but the tank is the same between all models. You have two options.
1) Use the earlier pump and have the cluster reprogrammed to read fuel levels properly (s2 cluster is programmed to read
inverse to s1, but can be changed with tech 2).
2) Purchase a new S2 pump with correct sender

-V6 cluster can be used, you just need to have it reprogrammed by somebody with a tech 2, or envyous customs software ($50 for a month's subscription i believe so you could probably do it yourself - I haven't reprogrammed my cluster yet).

-Extractors - I fitted VY2 HSV extractors after the engine was fitted. They were a dream to fit. Supposedly flow the same as most aftermarket headers and they just dropped in from the top without much hassle. Only had to remove the coils from the drivers side rocker cover and that was it.

-Diff - I fitted the M80 LSD from the WH, even though the l67 already had the M80.

Things you can get away with using from the older models
-Radiator - you can use the radiator and fans from the older model but the wiring will need to be altered. VY use a 6 pin plug and VT-VX use a 4 pin plug. I purchased a VY radiator and fan setup which somehow had a 4 pin plug (don't know how, i ended up with some oddball model) so I had to rewire it anyway!). You can get the other side of the plug from a wreckers as I did and just wire it in accordingly. At this stage it only has high speed fan but that's fine anyway. The other benefit of using the earlier radiator is that the transmission lines just connect straight up. No messing around. I had to reinvent the wheel as the earlier trans lines are totally different to VY.

-A/C lines and condenser. VY condenser is radiator mounted and totally different to earlier and later models. Lines are different too and are VERY hard to come across. I've decided to use the VT-VX lines and condenser. The condenser is chassis mounted in the earlier models and the provision is still there in the vy/vz. I still haven't fitted my lines as I'll fit a new condenser at the same time. Probably a job for next week.

Power steering - retain your V6 power steering rack. I first had the WH rack fitted, but the VY has no provision for speed sensitive steering. So I had to refit the V6 rack. High pressure lines fitted up fine, even though the lines supposedly have different part numbers. Must be the length of the rubber hose but whatever it is, it's not critical.

IF I were to do this again I would purchase a VZ V8 radiator and fans to do away with the ugly coolant bottle and simplify the coolant hose setup. It's a nightmare in earlier models and way over complicated IMO. I still may do this at some stage.

If i remember anything else I changed, I'll update here. Make sure you loctite all K frame bolts too as they seem to have a habit of coming loose. They're loctited from factory.

Any more questions feel free to ask. I really struggled to find solid info on the swap.

And cheers immortality, yeah definitely sounds like parts are much easier to get over here in Aus!

 

[Immortality]

IF I were to do this again I would purchase a VZ V8 radiator and fans to do away with the ugly coolant bottle and simplify the coolant hose setup. It's a nightmare in earlier models and way over complicated IMO. I still may do this at some stage.

And cheers immortality, yeah definitely sounds like parts are much easier to get over here in Aus!

I was looking for a spare blower, here people as asking $800-1000 for just the M90 and LIM....

I actually like the earlier style LS cooling system with the expansion tank, the tank is the highest point in the cooling system, way above the engine, the steam pipes and radiator bleed hoses go to the expansion tank so the system is self bleeding which is bloody execellent.

I'm actually considering modifying our L67 to use the LS style expansion tank as the L67's are a pita to bleed all the air out off.

 

[EYY]

Damn you're kidding! I sold an m90 with mint teflon for $150 with lim last year. Not like they're really anything special either!

 

[Immortality]

Sucks ehh. I can't really take the missus car off the road for days at a time so I need a spare blower to modify (i.e Port) which will take a couple of days at least.

 

[gtrboyy]

Quite like that dark red interior,it's different.

Clean it up with leather rejuvenation etc...will probably grow on you haha

Throw on some Supersports & basic driveline mods this will be mint!!!!