I drive a VL Commodore
I drive a Skyline, too.
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2009
- Messages
- 21
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- Location
- Adelaide, South Australia
- Members Ride
- VL Commodore Poverty Pack
Warning: Those expecting a good car, close this thread immediately.
Car: 1988 VL SL,
Colour: Silver (or it was supposed to be)
Engine: Standard SOHC RB30e
Transmission: Jatco 4 speed auto
"Performance" Modifications: hektik pod filter
Name: Taiga
Details:
Bought for $200 in December 2008 from a guy on the Gold Coast using K.Rudd money that both me and my brother got as unemployed derro carnts to the value of about $1800 and used to take a road trip to QLD.
The road trip we went on was ****ing awesome. We jumped in my brothers old RA 40 Celica - a no aircon, 2 litre 3-speed auto lunchbox with a top speed of 75kph (I **** you not!) and slowly puttered our way through the heart of Australia to the Gold Coast. Slept in the car a few nights and we ended up at Lismore NSW a few days later.
From a caravan park on the edge thereof we planned our attack on Currumbin. We pelted up the highway as fast as that poor little Celica would allow and reached our destination intact but overheated and out of fuel.
Once there we got the old VL running after some effort and after the exchange of the $200 Government handout we made our way back to Lismore and stayed the night. The next day we started our week-long trip back to Adelaide. Both VL and Celica made it home without issue, except for a hornet appearing in the cabin one time; and a bat taking up residence in the front grill.
When we got her home I did the oil, tranny fluid, brakes and fixed a few little cosmetic issues before taking her through Regency for the ID inspection. It failed - the windscreen wiper control module hadn't been plugged back in after I played with the dash.
Some time before I bought the car Indigenous Australians commandeered the head unit and speakers, and left their marks all over the locks and boot. Can't lock the drivers door, can't open the left rear door and can't open or close the boot any more.
It sounds like arse because the exhaust is full of holes and it has a blown head gasket and/or cracked head after a night out got a little bit too hektik for the old girl to handle. The boot itself is a black hole - anything put in there falls through the gigantic expanse of nothing where the spare wheel well _used to be_.
I had to make a fully sik Aston-Martin style push-button start system because the neutral override thing that stops it being started in gear decided park and neutral were gears one day at Elizabeth. Effectively the car is being hot-wired every time I start it now.
When I got her she had the standard 15x7 Interceptors on it. But the tyres were shithouse so I stole some 165/65/R14's off my brothers' Celica and chucked them on some 14" steelies. That worked for a while before I found some BBS meshies in 5x120mm so I went and bought them and the car is now on 205/70/R14 front and 215/65/R14 back.
The car also leaks. The dashboard control module fried itself after going for a swim and had to be replaced at a cost of $8.
In spite of all this I am absolutely in love with this car. It's just so utterly unbreakable. Even with all the **** it gets from me including but not limited to massive accidental sustained loss of traction *and* a blown head it still goes pretty damn well. You just can't kill that Nissan engine. The rest of the car... is a different story. But I love being able to just drive into something if I feel like it and not have to worry about the paint.
Plans:
I need to buy new shocks and springs to fix the hideous scrubbing issue on the back tyres. The wheels are 14x7 +20 and with the fat rubber they foul the guards on bumps and dips. I also need to fix the head gasket and/or head one day.
Future plans include an RB25de head conversion, manual swap and Calais rear end (rotors + diff). The plan is to learn my way around doing all these mods on this cheap banger, and once I get an apprenticeship (diesel mechanic) buy a good VL and swap the bits over.
Cost:
Car: $200
Getting car home: $1200 (most epic Top Gear challenge-style road trip ever)
Bringing it up to code/first service: $300
Unexpected mechanical repairs: $200
Wheels and tyres: $540
Suspension to make wheels and tyres usable: $600 (GSL Rallysport ftw)
Pictures:
(clickable thumbnails)
Some pictures of the roadtrip. Hopefully someone recognises us. A couple of SA ****wits bolting around the Eastern Seaboard is a rare occurance, after all.
(The sticker says SLOW VEHICLE)
Car: 1988 VL SL,
Colour: Silver (or it was supposed to be)
Engine: Standard SOHC RB30e
Transmission: Jatco 4 speed auto
"Performance" Modifications: hektik pod filter
Name: Taiga
Details:
Bought for $200 in December 2008 from a guy on the Gold Coast using K.Rudd money that both me and my brother got as unemployed derro carnts to the value of about $1800 and used to take a road trip to QLD.
The road trip we went on was ****ing awesome. We jumped in my brothers old RA 40 Celica - a no aircon, 2 litre 3-speed auto lunchbox with a top speed of 75kph (I **** you not!) and slowly puttered our way through the heart of Australia to the Gold Coast. Slept in the car a few nights and we ended up at Lismore NSW a few days later.
From a caravan park on the edge thereof we planned our attack on Currumbin. We pelted up the highway as fast as that poor little Celica would allow and reached our destination intact but overheated and out of fuel.
Once there we got the old VL running after some effort and after the exchange of the $200 Government handout we made our way back to Lismore and stayed the night. The next day we started our week-long trip back to Adelaide. Both VL and Celica made it home without issue, except for a hornet appearing in the cabin one time; and a bat taking up residence in the front grill.
When we got her home I did the oil, tranny fluid, brakes and fixed a few little cosmetic issues before taking her through Regency for the ID inspection. It failed - the windscreen wiper control module hadn't been plugged back in after I played with the dash.
Some time before I bought the car Indigenous Australians commandeered the head unit and speakers, and left their marks all over the locks and boot. Can't lock the drivers door, can't open the left rear door and can't open or close the boot any more.
It sounds like arse because the exhaust is full of holes and it has a blown head gasket and/or cracked head after a night out got a little bit too hektik for the old girl to handle. The boot itself is a black hole - anything put in there falls through the gigantic expanse of nothing where the spare wheel well _used to be_.
I had to make a fully sik Aston-Martin style push-button start system because the neutral override thing that stops it being started in gear decided park and neutral were gears one day at Elizabeth. Effectively the car is being hot-wired every time I start it now.
When I got her she had the standard 15x7 Interceptors on it. But the tyres were shithouse so I stole some 165/65/R14's off my brothers' Celica and chucked them on some 14" steelies. That worked for a while before I found some BBS meshies in 5x120mm so I went and bought them and the car is now on 205/70/R14 front and 215/65/R14 back.
The car also leaks. The dashboard control module fried itself after going for a swim and had to be replaced at a cost of $8.
In spite of all this I am absolutely in love with this car. It's just so utterly unbreakable. Even with all the **** it gets from me including but not limited to massive accidental sustained loss of traction *and* a blown head it still goes pretty damn well. You just can't kill that Nissan engine. The rest of the car... is a different story. But I love being able to just drive into something if I feel like it and not have to worry about the paint.
Plans:
I need to buy new shocks and springs to fix the hideous scrubbing issue on the back tyres. The wheels are 14x7 +20 and with the fat rubber they foul the guards on bumps and dips. I also need to fix the head gasket and/or head one day.
Future plans include an RB25de head conversion, manual swap and Calais rear end (rotors + diff). The plan is to learn my way around doing all these mods on this cheap banger, and once I get an apprenticeship (diesel mechanic) buy a good VL and swap the bits over.
Cost:
Car: $200
Getting car home: $1200 (most epic Top Gear challenge-style road trip ever)
Bringing it up to code/first service: $300
Unexpected mechanical repairs: $200
Wheels and tyres: $540
Suspension to make wheels and tyres usable: $600 (GSL Rallysport ftw)
Pictures:
(clickable thumbnails)
Some pictures of the roadtrip. Hopefully someone recognises us. A couple of SA ****wits bolting around the Eastern Seaboard is a rare occurance, after all.
(The sticker says SLOW VEHICLE)
