Make / Model: 1987 Calais Turbo Series I Colour: Alpine White 877 (Single tone) Bodykit: None Engine Type: Factory a8 Engine Mods: None Power: Untested Exhaust: 3" Gearbox: Diff: GM3 Brakes: Stock VLT Suspension: Ultra lows f/r Wheels/Tyres: VT SS Interior: Stock + Gauges Stereo: after market Other Mods: FMIC Future mods: No holes FMIC Kit Replace bonnet and boot lid Remove front door speakers, install 3" speakers into dash and replace door cards paint Torana scoop and fit correctly Repaint rocker cover Clean up interior, exterior wiring and Detail engine bay replace old pop ups with a new set iv recently painted Short Story.. I swore id never get another VL... Had to take this on the air strip That was a Year ago, after from WA to Vic where we parted ways. But after getting a job that's rosters are 4 on 4 off and being that theirs not much else to do in the Pilbara besides Drink and drink more... I decided look for another project. Fist vl i found happened to be in the background of a BBQ add on the local facebook buy sell swap page. I went and had a look at the stock Formula pack exec. It was rough with failing paint, dodgy rust repairs and to top it off the guy wanted 4,500:confused. Being that it was the only vl in Karratha and the only one for sale within 1,600 k's. I gave it some serious contemplation, but found the word "extortion" summed it up pretty well So being that necessitate is the mother of invention, I posted a WTB VL add on the same f/b page i had found the formula on and within half an hour i got a reply for a bloke in South Headland (235 k's north) who saw the add and offered to sell me his calais turbo for 3,000, Rego included Long story short I borrowed a mates 4WD hired a trailer and set off to have a look. first impressions where to be expected, missing door lock on left hand side and broken rear quarter glass suggested that it had been broken into at some point. But otherwise its a diamond in the rough and all the important stuff was till there. Plus the guy's sending 3 boxes of stuff down. Sines iv had the car iv written up a detailed budget and action plan to stay on target and the project has come a long way sins. Aim: Restore it and keep it as a weekend cruiser Pics, the first 2 days... Patched up the boot Because the cost of a respray for your average car start at 10,000.. Iv chosen to patched up the body and applying some rust suppression. Iv sprayed cars in the backyard before They say if you can paint with a pressure pack you can paint any thing if not wash, rinse, repeat. Other Calais Bit of experience in paint and prep helps, as the process of painting the car is the same the only difference is how the paint is applied. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

very nice. bet you are regretting selling the first one it looks stunning

Good project on your hands but I really hope your not planning on respraying the car with spray cans! But do as your doing.. Do as much prep work as you possibly can before paying a professional.

Quote: Originally Posted by SIroller [View Post] very nice. bet you are regretting selling the first one it looks stunning It was a beautiful n/a one owner. I converted it to manual but I couldn't bring myself to mod it any further so I sold it. That's what I like about this project less stress. It's got rust and imperfections so I'm not stressing over everything. The interior is beautiful and will come up well with a steam clean stock steering wheel n dash. ---------- Post added 27-07-13 at 21:01 ---------- Quote: Originally Posted by MUS [View Post] Good project on your hands but I really hope your not planning on respraying the car with spray cans! But do as your doing.. Do as much prep work as you possibly can before paying a professional. I see what ur getting at man but its not worth it at the moment as I'm saving for a house. The car has rust that's in it's infant stages. To address the body properly I would be looking at new panels, cutting and welding and a full re-spray.. Over 10,000 easy (karratha) In other words I could buy a show car for the cost of reapers and the price I payed for the car. I'm just happy to have something to muck around on ATM. Paint n stuff can come further done down the track if need be but ATM it's just for fun. Ill paint my repairs but that's it. The rest of the car can be polished and waxed. Happy that the engines in such good condition and has a turbo 5speed. Will dost up more pics soon.

Quote: Originally Posted by Turismo [View Post] I see what ur getting at man but its not worth it at the moment as I'm saving for a house. The car has rust that's in it's infant stages. To address the body properly I would be looking at new panels, cutting and welding and a full re-spray.. Over 10,000 easy (karratha) In other words I could buy a show car for the cost of reapers and the price I payed for the car. I'm just happy to have something to muck around on ATM. Paint n stuff can come further done down the track if need be but ATM it's just for fun. Ill paint my repairs but that's it. The rest of the car can be polished and waxed. Happy that the engines in such good condition and has a turbo 5speed. Will dost up more pics soon. If your going to use spray cans atleast get your paint color coded into a pressure pack. That way it wont look odd, but in saying that. If your happy, im happy for you.

Yeah man will get it color coded but its not going to be perfect as paint changes colour over time can't color code as the car does not run. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by Turismo [View Post] Yeah man will get it color coded but its not going to be perfect as paint changes colour over time can't color code as the car does not run. The whole point of a color match is to match your cars current color, not what it rolled off the show room floor like! Take off the petrol flap, bring it to a automotive specialist to color code. And perfecto! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Thanks Mus I presume you mean color match? The best they can do as far as a "code" is match it to a similar color. I worked in a panel shop for 3 years, and color matching depends largely on the skill of the painter. Custom paint can not be color-coded per-say, as it is made without using a system and there for is not on the system I may get 4 Litrs made up in order to paint the car with and just hire a kit, then its just a matter of finding a place to spray it. If that ends up being the case i may go a custom mat white or blue. But again the car is having registration issues sorted out atm. So I'm just considering my options at this stage. All in all I'm avoiding getting sucked into a money pit. I promised my self that this car would be a form of relaxation and not the cause of more stress.

reguardless of any money spent? we all love working on them, and when we don't have 1 we want 1! lol its a vicious cycle ha ha! enjoy the build! at the end ul have a nice car and memories and hopefully a vl ul enjoy!

Dougall83 Yeah man for sure. All sorted cars in my name. It's a good feeling. Manifold, fuel rail, rear garnishes are all sprayed ready to go on. Removed boost tap as I don't trust it. in light of the wiring on this car I worldnt trust the last owner to tie his shoe laces. Also deleted the manifold coolant hosing and went T peace ball valve and bolt as the top bleed bolt is snapped. Going fora simple look. Just waiting on parts.. Over boost valve. 044 fuel pump Stock x over pipe 6 New Injectors 4" speakers. Next on the list of things to do.. Spray the dash grey Weld rad nipple back on Remove tint from windows Fit a/f, boost, volts gauges in sunny holder Pics up soon.

hire a compressor and paint it urself. youll regret painting it in spray cans especially if its lacquer.

Hey all Works been keeping me busy my rosters changed sins I started at BHP so I do 7 to 9 days on 3 days off. Any way been hanging to post me up some progress updates Cleaned up the arm rests using the Tech thread on this forum. very helpful thanks Pumba. Why you sell your car? you should stop the gambow. also gif'ed my console material ha came up new ! Cleaned up the wiring for the gauges in peroration to go through the back of the sunglass holder. Head unit sorted and wired the two new 4" speaker to the factory positions vac lines secured Painted a few bits n peace's Got around to painting the dash today. First i sanded with 600 wet/dry till I could see the plastic coming through Then washed and plastic primed (2 coats) First coat of the Blue doesn't cover very well, but its good as its a very vibrant blue 2nd coat and 2 coats of clear later cant wait to see how they look in the car. used a total of 1.75 cans of paint, 1.5 cans of clear and .75 of plastic primer two coats of each per item. Removed bonnet scoop. Oh Hello Installed a manifold coolant bypass line for the with a ball valve and nut with rubber grommet. will affix it to the outside of plenum. Nice and neat or tuck it away Pic of my old one Nice and crunchy So all new cooling hoses big n small and a new high-flow thermostat (%30) and housing are in rout to K Town. While in the process of removing the old housing I found that the previous owner (for what ever bumpkin reason) decided not to use one... The bay when I picked it up. notice the air condenser canister location. All the dodgy alloy pipe mess is now removed. No gas present in the system any way which sucks because were getting mid 30 Deg days, as it warming up to summer lol Cooler piping i'll use as off cuts as it is has no beading around the joins. There for the previous owner used gasket glue and industrial hosing to solve the problem. I have chose to removed the boost tap and dodgy s/box kit and fit a factory X-over pipe and Factory pressure release valve. just to stay on the safe side while getting to know this engine Quick pic of my old bay Current bay Chasing a factory heat shield. Painted manifold and all the little engine appetisers (1 can of paint (good coverage) and half a can of primer no clear see how it goes ) Also removed all the blue/purple tinting. found out that tint has a "grain" as in one direction it will tare and fray and the other it will come off in sheets. also it help if the weather is below 30 degrees and you maintain both layers (plastic film and tint) while taring as it is more rigid and less prone to bailing out. also wear good gloves and hoe in to it will be hiring a kit and spraying it alpine white in a few months. will have interior pics up tomorrow as its come out had a though clean and When these parts arrive ill be starting on the engine happy days. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Making good progress mate..

Good to see you bringing a nugget back to life good work What happened to your old Calais? That was mint as

Quote: Originally Posted by BigM22 [View Post] Good to see you bringing a nugget back to life good work What happened to your old Calais? That was mint as Thanks man I converted it to manual and drive it from north WA to Victoria no dramas sit on 110 for 7 hrs strait, she loved it. Cheers 88wags Dash is in. Gotta say I was afraid it would look tacky but I think it came up beautiful and the colours compliment each other so well. Will be applying clear contact to the areas that come are prone to ware eg. Seat belts on the console tower and spare change holder on the shifter and depending how it looks may cover a few other areas up as well. All seats in bar lower half of back seat it's being difficult may have to cut the carpet back see how I go. Next is the engine side of things. Needs a Ruddy good clean. morning fresh dish washing liquid and degreaser. I kid you not the green liquid is gold! Will be giving the bay a scrub, sand p600 then paint with some touch-up acrylic 2 pac fresh out the can. New head lights coming as the old ones have broken tabs Bid sad as the original lights look great the glass is not sandblasted and the reflective coating is brilliant. May sell them if any ones keen Pics up soon also Strange... As far as I know the calais is a Series I. However the rear seat has no holes for the twin headrests as you would expect but, the body brackets for the headrests have been grounded off post factory/paint. Strange Also did the Series I white calais include the lower calais door panels and lower side skirts? Iv seen a few white/single tone cals now that look more like executives from the side. ---------- Post added 07-09-13 at 21:10 ---------- Hey all Brackets Interior pic’s Had a short day at work today this freed up some time to clean up one side of the engine bay. Good opportunity to try using a few wire wheels with the drill and it’s changed my life. Hacked the rust away effortlessly, then I noticed something I had never seen before. As I began to sand the bare metal back, I could see rust forming. I would work my way through all the little spots and by the time I got back to the first one it had a layer of gold rust eating into the metal. I had to sand it pretty had to get the newly formed rust out. I ran inside and grabbed some rags and as I finished each one id dry it but still it would rust. It’s crazy even the water runs had turned a rusty brown in the space of 10 minutes Once I had sanded everything with 600 I rubbed some rust converter acid over it to reveal the shiny metal. Then a quick wipe down & pre- sol before hammering on the primer before it got dark. Will paint it white with some acrylic auto **** tomorrow Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Got stuck into her today First I applied the top 3 coats to the passenger side. Cleaned up the fan with some 800 wet & dry sand paper I was so impressed at how the passenger side had come up I decided to tackle the driver side. applying an white under coat and painting it in about ten mins Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Good progress mate

thanks man I was a bit worried that I may not have enough paint as I used a white under coat and only a 600ml can of white acrylic top coat. But it was plenty, had to bring the can in nice and close no runs. finished on dusk. Tomorrow its back to work for 7 days by which time the radiator hose kit I ordered 2 weeks ago should have arrived. I was going to go a silicone hose kit but after some research I found that they are not suitable for every day use as they loose water faster over time than rubber hoses. few little jobs I may get around to after work: Fitting the hoses and new clamps polish engine bay (I left it till I had finished painting because of the silicone risk) Bolting the bay back to gather Cleaning up the wiring for the most part paint the rocker cover (have to order wrinkle red through Repco as its not a stocked part) Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Dear diary... My Engine bays finally painted rails n all. Got the boot painted and the rear is coming along nicely. Still unsure what to do about the bonnet but will cross that bridge later on. Issues with parts not arriving and an ebay seller I bought a cooling hose kit(1.5 months of messaging and stuffing around) tried to rip me off (keep receipts made him realise I'm not stuffing around. Any way Waiting on a ton of parts and fingers crossed the people I bought them off stay true to the word retail and privet sellers. Unlike Melbourne where I had a wreckers at the end of my street I have to wait up to 2 months for the most basic of things! Frustrating to say the least. But it's what it take to get it done. Pics up when I can be stuffed. Work work work. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

thats looking really good espially for spray cans! kep it up and kep the pics rolling in.