Q's 1987 VL Calais Walkinshaw project

[GRPAVL]

Cert plate fitted to the car today.

wof and reg tomorrow.

going to add a 15" resonator at the end of the exhaust before I do jsut to get rid of a little of the rasp it has.

Q

 

[GRPAVL]

wof'd and regd, first legal drive felt awesome.

To the guy who pulled up in the burgandy vk , it was nice of you to pull along side and to ask me if it was an original, that made me happy.

To everyone where I parked for lunch (nose to tail with a Aston Martin Vantage), Im glad you apreciated my $14,000 car more than his $100,000 toy but I dont think he was ... that made my day. lol

Q

 

[corhijasna]

good to hear she'e on the road,need some photo's-lol

 

[GRPAVL]

going to Belagios this Sunday so will get some then. Might even get someone to take one of it driving and try for a short video too. There is also the holden car show in Hamilton on the 15th March 2013. debating about entering or just turning up.

As for "Big Red" ... So far Ive come across two issues...

one misfire after idling for a while then going to take off, cough cough splutter go.... (possibly the dizzy as i never ended up replacing it) but it only happened once.

the second issue ive come across is the crap starter when they get hot and needing to wait to cool down. Going to source a hi torque aftermarket as they are slightly smaller than original and then add some heat shielding i have left to make an extra cover to fix that issue.

all in all not a bad first day out.

Q

 

[corhijasna]

I am sure you will get her sorted

 

[Immortality]

Good to hear it's finally out on the road. I would come to Belagios but I'm working at a regional swim meet this weekend.

As for the starting issues, not uncommon. A good battery (minimum 460cca), good starter to battery lead and earths (I use 35mm2 welding flex double insulated). The other thing is a good alternator, when they start to get a bit tired they don't fully charge the battery and hot starting becomes an issue (which is the problem I currently have). With a full electrical load (headlights, rear demister, aircon etc) the alternator should put out 14volts+ by 1800rpm (cruising rpm).

Miss-fire, may be voltage related (like the starter issue possibly). Where is your coil mounted? the factory location on the 304 is crap (back of the manifold), lots of vibration and heat going into the coil. Best bet is to mount it way from the engine/heat.

 

[GRPAVL]

Thanks Corhijasna & Immortality.

The coil is now mounted to the fire wall not the engine but is still behind the intake.

I ran 35mm2 double insulated from the rear to the front junction point just under the fuse block. From there the factory cables run off to the starter and alternator. No issues at all while cranking or after sitting for a month.

As for earthing I have a 35mm2 earth lead from the battery to the chassis in the rear. I have 4x 25mm earth straps up front, one from each engine/engine mount to chassis and one from each side of the gearbox to the gearbox chassis member/chassis.

I put some 95 octane in it last night as i forgot the old car ran on 91 so will see it that helps.

When it misses to me it feels like it drops on to 7 cylinders but when you rev it it comes right. will advise.

Q

While driving 1500rpm (or more) the voltage gauge says about 14-15v so i dont think the alternator is pooped. It does drop to like 12v when I idle if the radio and fans and lights are on but one i rev it it shoots back up.

 

[corhijasna]

alternator sounds ok to me,they should drop at idle like that was what I was told,with the missing I had the same thing in mine at idle running on 91,recently just for the sake of it I have been running 95 Caltex every second fill and this seems to have cured the rough idle etc so you may be right

 

[GRPAVL]

Couple of photos for you from todays outing

While picing it up at the groomers



Sitting at home waiting to go to the beach


At the Conifer Grove car park on the way to the beach



On the way to Maraetai beach




Parked up while getting ice creams


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The car didnt miss a beat at all with the 95 ron in it so guess its a strict diet of that from now on.

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Found another problem im not sure how to fix (nothing major). After about 5-10mins of driving the check engine light comes on. A quick short of the check connector gave me error code 24 (Vehicle Speed Sensor). Well done ECU you figured out I dont run one ... at all. I run a mechanical speedo drive from the box to the dash.

Will need to figure out how to bypass, or disconnect the errror as I dont want to look at it all the time.

Q

 

[corhijasna]

looks bloody sweet mate,better imo than the original walky colour