VS #4 V6 T Build Log

[Draimond]

This is my build log for my 4th and current daily drive VS Commodore.
Purchased in 2021 with only 90,000 kms on the clock and full mechanical history.
Sharing my detailed info incase it helps others with their builds.

The goal is to have a V6 Turbo for street and track use.
I'm not great at record keeping so assume there's at least $1,000 that I've forgotten to add here.

Will update this table as I go.

Spent

$21,750

Est. Total

$25,099

Still Needed

$3,349

Part	Spent	Estimate	Supplier	Type	Details
VS Commodore	$3,000	$3,000	Private	1996 V6 Sedan White	Non ABS & Airbag Auto
ECU
Haltech ECU	$2,164	$2,164	Haltech	Elite 2000	Plug & Pin Set Inc
Dyno Tune		$800	The Hoff	Cleveland Exhaust	aka Nugget Garage
Wiring Harness
Connectors -Cam, Crank	$17	$17	EFI Solutions		3 Pin GM Cam, 4 pin LS 2 Coil for Crank
Connectors - Coils, TPS, IAC	$60	$60	eBay		6x LS1 Coils, TPS, IAC
Connectors - 12V Supply	$28	$28	EFI Solutions		Deutsch DT, 1x 6 pin, 1x 8 pin
Wiring - Cam, Crank, Knock	$56	$56	NRT Automotive	Raychem	20awg Raychem Spec 44, single core shielded wire
Wiring - Ignition Coils 12V -12V	$50	$50	NRT Automotive		12awg Coil Ground & 12V Common Tefzel
Wiring - Ignition & Fuel	$100	$100	NRT Automotive		20awg TXL, 20awg Tefzel, Injector & Ignition wires
Sensors
Wideband O2 Sensor Kit	$448	$448	JDMyard	Haltech	WB1 Bosch Single Channel CAN O2 Kit
Flex Fuel Sensor	$159	$159	EFI Solutions	VDO	3/8 lines, 3 pin connector
Knock Sensors (x2)	$90	$90	Golby's	Bosch Motorsport	Bosch 2 Wire
Fuel Pressure Sensor	$249	$249	Haltech	Haltech	250 psi
Intake Air Temp Sensor	$44	$44	EFI Solutions	Bosch	M12x1.5 thread. 2 wire
Oil Pressure & Temp Sensor	$109	$109	Golby's	Bosch Motorsport	Temp Pressure combo
Coolant Pressure & Temp Sensor	$109	$109	Golby's	Bosch Motorsport	Temp Pressure combo
Engine
Head Studs	$180	$180	Mace Engineering	ARP	ARP601
Turbo
Turbo - Temp	$300	$300	eBay	T3 GT3582
Turbo - Good Quality			Mamba Or Kinugawa	T3 Ball Bearing
Boost Control Solenoid		$149	Golby's	Haltech	3 Port
Turbo Oil Pressure Reg	$185	$185	eBay	Turbosmart	OPR V2
Oil Feed, Return Adapter			RCE Performance Warehouse	Aeroflow
Oil to Turbo Parts	$154	$154	EFI Solutions		AN4 PTFE Hose & Fittings, Weld on AN10 & AN6
Turbo - Hot Side
Waste Gate	$452	$452	eBay DDI Auto	GFB	EX44 kit inc v-band etc
Exhaust Manifold Flanges	$85	$85	eBay		43mm Ports, 12mm Plate
Turbo Manifold Steam Pipe			Supersteel Australia		Cast Mild Steel, 40nb & 50nb
T3 Flange	$35	$35	eBay		12mm Mild Steel 4 Bolt
T3 Studs	$16	$16	eBay		Stainless Steel M10 x1.25 studs x5
Dump Flange	$23	$23	eBay		12mm GT35 3" 4 Bolt
Crossover Pipe V-Band 2"	$24	$25	eBay		Stainless V-Band
Exhaust Flex Joint 1 3/4 "	$30	$30	eBay	Aeroflow	Aeroflow Stainless 1 3/4 Inch ID
Exhaust Flex Joint 2 1/4"	$32	$32	eBay	Aeroflow	Aeroflow Stainless 2 1/4 Inch ID
Dump Pipe	$200	$200			Stainless 3", 2x 90°, 1x 45°, Straight Pipe
Ceramic Coating		$600
Turbo - Cold Side
Blow Off Valve			GFB	GFB
Intercooler	$112	$112	maxspeedingrods	Chinese	533x178x57 core, 2.5" in/outlet. Delta fin
Compressor Outlet V-Band	$65	$65	RCE Performance Warehouse	Aeroflow	AF92-2250D Aluminium 2 1/4 inch
Intake Pipe 3" 90°	$49	$49	Goleby's	Goleby's	Aluminium 90° Mandrel Bend
Intake Pipe 3" 90° Short	$35	$35	eBay		Aluminium cast short radius 90°
Intake Pipe 3" 45° Long	$30	$30	eBay		Aluminium 3" 600mm long
Intake Pipe 2.5" 90°	$33	$33	eBay		Cast Aluminium short radius 90° elbow 2.5"
Intake Pipe 2.5" Straight	$52	$52	eBay	Worley	Aluminium 1x 180° & 1x straight 600mm long 2.5"
Silicon Joiners	$84	$84	eBay	Raceworks	Silicon 4 ply, 1x 90°, 1x straight 2.5"
90° Silicone Reducer	$32	$32	Goleby's	Goleby's	3" to 2.5" 90° Silicone Reducer
Silicon Joiners 45° x2	$75	$75	Goleby's	Goleby's	2.5" 45° Silicon Joiners
Pipe Clamps	$22	$22	eBay		10 pack, T bolt pipe coupler clamps 2.5"
Intake
Reverse Intake Plenum	$380	$380	eBay - J Spec Fabrication	Modified stock plenum	Throttle to drivers side
Manifold Insulator	$75	$75	Mace Engineering	Mace Engineering	M1642 12mm
Vacuum Hose	$20	$20	Supercheap Auto	SAAS	Silicon 4mm
Vacuum T Joiner	$10	$10	Supercheap Auto	Champion	Champion Brass 3/16 T Piece
Brake Booster One Way Valve	$15	$15	eBay		10mm Barb
IAT Sensor weld on fitting	$8	$8	EFI Solutions	EFI Solutions	M12 x 1.5
Ignition
Coils	$0	$0	Coffs Harbour Wrecking		stock LS1 coils, came free with other items
Ignition Lead Cable	$86	$86	ICE Ignition		9mm pro 100 series, 100ohms per meter
Ignition Coil Connectors	$13	$13	ICE Ignition		6x Coil Connectors
Spark Plug Connectors	$30	$30	ICE Ignition		3x 45°, 3x 90°
High Temp Plug Covers	$27	$27	eBay		1100°C Contact safe plug boot protectors
High Temp Lead Sleeves	$77	$77	Outlaw Speed	Proflow	1100°C Contact safe 10mm Sleeve
Fuel
Fuel Pump	$115	$115	EFI Solutions	Walbro	255lph, 500HP
Submersible Hose	$8	$8	EFI Solutions		E85 3/8 100mm
Fuel Injectors	$502	$502	Goleby's	Bosch	1000cc E85
Fuel Pressure Regulator	$195	$195	Tuff car parts	Aeroflow	AF66-2058BLK
Fuel Pressure Gauge	$36	$36	eBay - GFB		SUITS 8050/8060 5730
Fittings - GM hard line ends	$68	$68	EFI Solutions		Screw on GM: 2x 3/8, 2x 5/16
Fittings - Return	$32	$32	EFI Solutions		AN6: 1x ORB Straight, 1x 90° 3/8 barb
Hose - E85 rubber	$30	$30	EFI Solutions		AN6 3/8 E85 2m
Fuel Sender Seal Kit	$20	$20	Rare spares	eBay
Catch Can System
Catch Can	$0	$0	SSA		Free sheet metal offcuts
Catch Can Fittings	$83	$83	EFI Solutions		1x 45°, 1x 60°, 2x 90° AN10 Pushlock Barb
Breather Hose	$58	$58	Dullys	Raceworks	Raceworks AN-10 Pushlock
Rocker Covers Alloy	$385	$385	Mace	Polished Alloy
Weld on Breathers	$30	$30	Ian Boettcher Race Parts	Aeroflow
Weld Breathers onto Covers	$66	$66	Dullys Customs		Labour / Welding
Breather Air Filter	$15	$15	eBay		1" inlet, small pod style breather air filter
Radiator	$150	$150	eBay - autoparts100	WorleyMel	3 Row Alloy
Oil
misc fittings and hose	$260	$260	Ian Boettcher Race Parts	Aeroflow	4x -10 orb strait, 2x 90 hose end, 2x strait hose end
Oil Filter Relocation	$250	$250	Ian Boettcher Race Parts	Aeroflow	AF64-4112 with oil thermostat 82°c
Oil Filter	$36	$36	Ian Boettcher Race Parts		Ford/Mopar
Oil Cooler	$200	$200	Maxspeedingrods	eBay	13 Row AN10 Oil Cooler Kit w/ hoses & fittings
Oil Distribution Block	$250	$250	Boosted Built Garage	BBG
Transmission
T56 Gearbox	$1,500	$1,500	Coffs Harbour Wrecking	LS1 VZ	6 Speed Manual
T56 Clutch Master & Res	-	-	Coffs Harbour Wrecking	LS1 VZ	Incuded Pedal Assy
T56 Gearbox Adapter	$421	$421	Malwood Automotive	Malwood	V6 to LS1 Adapter kit & Spigot bush
Flywheel & Clutch		$1,500		T56 to Ecotec	Cushion Button, Light Flywheel
Gearbox mount	$447	$447	Muscle Garage		Mounts and Crossmember
Tail Shaft		$400
Starter Motor	$138	$138	onlineautoparts	eBay	VN Manual
Diff
Diff Upgrade	$2,420	$2,420	Hart Transmissions		4.11 Crown Wheel & Torqueworm LS Center
Diff Cover	$295	$295	DSM Motorsport		Alloy Girdled
Brakes
Front Brakes	$1,595	$1,595	Mac's Mufflers	Willwood	4 Piston Calipers, 320mm Rotors
Braided Brake Lines			Mac's Mufflers
Rear Brakes
Steering & Suspension
Sway Kit	$747	$747	Whiteline	Adjustable Kit	Sway Bar front and rear & Strut Tower Brace
Rear Top trailing arms	$120	$120	Hart Transmissions	Pedders	Sports upraged design
Coilovers Suspension		$2,000	Showtime Customs & Fab	BC Racing	VT mod to Suit VS
Power Steering Rack	$297	$297	Aus Power Steering	Reco OEM
Lock Kit		$926	Showtime Customs & Fab	Stage 2
Front Sway Link			Showtime Customs & Fab		Suits custom steering to Whiteline sway bar
Battery Relocation
Battery Cable & Stud	$135	$135	Carlos Auto Electrics		4 Gauge cable & 300 amp power stud
Exhaust
Exhaust Muffler & Cat	$299	$299	Cut Price Mufflers	Redback	High Flow Muffler & High Flow Cat & 2.5" Pipe
Exhaust Resonator	$40	$40	Cut Price Mufflers	Redback
Gauges
Oil Temperature Gauge	$70	$70	eBay	SAAS
Oil Pressure Gauge	$70	$70	eBay	SAAS
Boost Pressure Gauge	$70	$70	eBay	SAAS
Pressure Gauge	$40	$40	eBay	GFB	0-140 PSi Fuel pressure gauge 40mm 1.5"
Interior
Steering Wheel	$459	$459			MOMO Montecarlo Black 350MM HDT
Horn Button	$90	$90			HSV Logo VK-VP

 

[losh1971]

Nice and neatly written up. My build log is in the back of an exercise book. I'm not tech savvy enough to create an Excel spreadsheet.

 

[Draimond]

When I first got the car it broke down repeatedly due to battery issues despite having a new battery. I wish I had photo's of just how bad the Alternator to Battery cable was. It was basically green dust for a few inches back from the Alternator. It was actually getting zero charge off the Alternator. I broke down in some really bad spots too. Tried a spare Alternator. Took a few weeks before I found the bad cable unfortunatly.

The diff was also loud as all hell. Explains why it was going so cheap.

I quickly got the diff rebuilt with 4.11 diff gears and a Torque Lock LSD by Hart Transmissions on the north side of Bisbane. Drove it gentle for 1,000kms like they said to, and im happy to report she's silent and agressive. If you've never floored it into the motorway or around a tight corner with a tight LSD... you're missing out!!!

That's what my 100kmph looks likle after the 4.11 gears.
Fuel economy seems unchanged, maybe a little worse but it's not like it's under more load, it's just a few more revs.
Max speed is an issue though, it tops out around 160kmph or so with the stock 4L-60E Auto. Can't wait to get the T56 in!!!

 

[losh1971]

My freshly built LSD live axle in the VR ute, spun me 180 and into a bank....... I wasn't going fast either. Diff tech said a few months earlier beware as this could happen. It happened when I wasn't expecting it on a highway doing about 80-90kph going around a bend.

 

[Draimond]

Then there's the remote oil filter / cooler / distro block sage....
No oil pressure after oil cooler

Long story short, lost 3 or 4 sumps worth of Penrite 10 Racing Oil, 3 days of toruble shooting with Immortality and others on here and the solution was just to back fill one of the oil lines.

 

[Draimond]

My first attempt at battery relocation didn't work out. The cable was only sub amp 8 gauge or whatever cable.
Couldn't supply enough amps for the starter when it got hot, so I went and got some really big cable and had the ends crimped and added a stud terminal.

Just saying.... in a pinch a hose clamp and a bolt works in place of a stud terminal.



Plus other stuff arived in the mail

 

[Draimond]

A couple weekends ago I installed the Mace intake manifold spacer... and I dropped one of the fuel rail spacers into cylinder 5

Which was a great excuse to pull the manifold and port match the manifold to spacer and plenium!!!
Especially considering how bad the overlap was!

 

[Immortality]

Then there's the remote oil filter / cooler / distro block sage....
No oil pressure after oil cooler

Long story short, lost 3 or 4 sumps worth of Penrite 10 Racing Oil, 3 days of toruble shooting with Immortality and others on here and the solution was just to back fill one of the oil lines.

View attachment 239266

That rings a bell. Good to see it's still going

 

[Draimond]

Which just about catches me up to where I am at now.
Done some wiring to get things ready for the Haltech, 1000cc injectors and LS coils.
Gave my Walbro fuel pump to the missus for her/our R34 GTT
Installed a thermo fan switch and my eBay spec full alloy radiator.
Got my Wilwood Brake kit on.
Added a resonator, my old Pacemaker extractors and the high flow cat.
Added a temporary eBay spec catch can.
Got the whiteline sway kit when MCM partnered with them and man I have to say, that kit on the hardest settings is so damn good!
It makes me choose the accelerator pedal over the brakes taking corners

 

[Draimond]

Last weekend I decided I wanted more progress towards the turbo being fitted.
So I installed the fuel pressure reg, reverse intake and alloy rocker covers.
Had to move some wires to run the intake na on the drivers side... and some questionable use of a MAF as an... intake adapter/extender... yeah it's bad but temporary.
Also not good... my rising rate fuel pressure reg is pulling fuel pressure out with rpm... because i can only give it vacuum and not boost till the turbo is on.
Just means i need to hurry up and build a turbo manifold.
If you're near Ipswich Qld, Dully's Customs did great cheap welding for the weld on breathers on the rocker covers!

The throttle body had to go on upside down so that the IAC would clear the sway bar.
A heat gun is great for bending those hard plastic carbon canister vacuum lines.
Throttle cable needs to be replaced with a custom short line... add that to the to do list for now. Stock one can be routed around the rad overflow and back up, kinda rubs on a brake line so use the factory soft rubber line protector thingo.
Set the fuel pressure with the vac line off first.
Reverse Plenum has the crank vent welded close, make a PCV line off each rocker cover to a catch can then back to throttle body. Block the other PCV coming out the intake manifold.
Need to get a one way valve for the brake booster vac line still.