Thanks mate, and yes guys, underside of the double heat wrap is wired ( clamped ) but as i said they are rated to 650 degrees, so on the 2nd layer of wrap i dont think it will hurt the zip tires too much, they are only worth 1cent each anyways. New news, i got the Calais back from the smash repairer. New eye lids, light, bonnet, front bars ( side ones too ), grill and indicators. I told them to put the factory black stripe down the bottom of the bars but its too thin ( little ). Getting a new left side light so they both look mint. Waiting on Chrome finisher clips to come so i can put the chrome on the front, heres a sneak peak. Im also putting my 'By HDT" badge here. and i got the other front 'holden' badge to go on. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Nice car man I have the same extractors there a nice. Wondering what peoples thoughts on heat wrap are as far as performance and exhaust integrity. Iv Seen some people wrap there exhausts to the end bit pointless imo

When i had the standard manifold on, i could feel the heat from it on the intake plactics, because i had no top heat sheild. Put the pacies on today, heat wrap works good. Reduced the heat like a boss. Car sounds really tuff, but no real difference to power. Put my new cluster in, works perfect. was worth 265 buks lol Things to do now are: - Fix central locking - Put dump tip on (tick) - Take tint off?? ( yes or no ) ? - Paint around the window black again - Clean engine bay and reprayed tappet cover red (tick) - Finish polishing the Calais wheels (tick) - Put chrome strips on when i get the clips (tick) - Restore rear garnish and put new badges on the it. Heres pics from today and last night. - still have to put chrome on. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

looking very nice man, like where you put the "By HDT" badge and i suggest maybe an Astra battery cover to neaten the bay? just an idea either way looks mint Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Yes Ant Man the Leather is factory, the fronts are in ok condition, but have rips in both seats, will get them redone one day in genuine leather regardless of price. Thanx steve, already looked for one hey, bay its on the list to do so will try and find one. Im going to do the tapped cover red and give everything else a good polish and clean. Did you send that Calais rts dash badge?

Car looking mint redoing the seats and keeping them original would be worth it keep up good work

Quote: Originally Posted by Jako-25 [View Post] Yes Ant Man the Leather is factory, the fronts are in ok condition, but have rips in both seats, will get them redone one day in genuine leather regardless of price. Thanx steve, already looked for one hey, bay its on the list to do so will try and find one. Im going to do the tapped cover red and give everything else a good polish and clean. Did you send that Calais rts dash badge? Sure did man thought you would have had it by now if you want any stuff for your bay click the links on my signature, radiator covers etc nice polished stuff would look good in your bay Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Got my green P's. will post up some new pics soon.

Just an observation, why didnt they put new chrome strips around the front? it'd look way cleaner with them if theyre everywhere else! love this car man wish mine was this schmick

Looking goon man. good to see dedication not mutilation. I'm in the same boat sII gold/silver Calais. Just finished a manual conversion. I noticed a big improvement in mid range torque when I put my extractors on keeping standar exhaust on n removing mid muffler. Not going 2.5 on this Vl. Louse to much torque IMO. Keep the pics coming mate. Like the pic of the wheel in the field

Cheers boys, well i took the strips off before i gave the vl to them so the ****s down there would loose or bend them. But got the side ones on, need to do the front one, got new clips off rare spares for them. Heres some more pics. I wash the car probs every 2 weeks and after it just sleeps in the shed, getting cold for winter so i always warm her up. But when i wash her, basically turns into a detail, takes me around 2 hours hehe. Took those rubbers off the bottom of the rear springs, too get that little bit lower, just wondering, my mate said this it not a good idea because its metal on metal and can wear... Has anyone done this and had problems?? More pics. Cleaning Randoms Me and my best mate. Things to do now : Get new left light (tick) Tint Dumpy (tick) Put new Calais garnish badge on Respray around windows black Finish Calais rims (tick) To be honest how much would you guys pay for this?? Im not'' thinking of selling it, just wondering whats it worth? Check the specs on Page 1 at the top too see whats been done it it. As you can see its very looked after, and it was before i got it. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

That's a big garage !!! And put those rubbers back in

No rubber no play! not a fan of tinting like the clean look. ha more nice pics man lol. good to see you take pride in it

Tinting as in taking it off.

Bought some goodies. Got a new headlight, rear Turbo badge, HDT grille, new white walls, will buy a dash turbo badge soon. Need to get my bum into action and finish Calais rims, its the holidays now so i have 2 weeks. Need to put my middle chrome strip on ( front ). Need to respray around windows, get dumpy on, central locking fixed, headunit in, new Ariel, put Calais badge on garnish, repray rear moulds above lights, and remove Tint. Will get some pics in the next few weeks. Thanks for the comments, she gets looked after a little too much haha.

At home Thought id throw up how i did my Calais wheels. All Wet/Dry sandpaper - 180, 400 ( use 400 step wet ), 800, 1200, 1500, 2000 grit. Using all dry except 400. Used 3 steps - Sanding, Polishing, and final polishing ( soft ) Sanding After using the sander and by hand, the rims tend to get very dark colour as you go to finer grit. Make sure you get rid off all those mo fo lines machined from the factory. Especially in the 180 grit step. As well, with the outer part of the rim ( Lip ), sand it back with 180, 400 and 800 grit as you do it. For eg, if your sanding 180 on the rim, do 180 on the edge ( lip ) of the rim, makes it alot easier. Polishing Now is the time to start polishing, i used polishing block as well as the 'purple' branded metal polish. Using 'Trojan Polishing Rotary kit" from Bunnings. These have to be fitted to a normal power drill. Using the harder buffing wheel i used the block, with water, as well as the metal polish. After doing this step the wheel comes up like this. With those bloody black pigments. Spending most time on this step helps the final polishing step. Final Polishing ( soft ) Now on the last polishing step i used metal polish, using the softer buffing wheel in the kit, as well as a buffer ( still works fine with the drill buffer, if you dont have a large buffer ) Polish till its super shiny and they're done. As for the outer edge of the rim, i sanded it back using 180, 400, and finished it with 800 grit. Then just used the metal polish and the soft buffing wheel ( drill one ) to get in between the edge and it came up great. Finished product. Original compared to polished. ---------- Post added 02-07-12 at 23:09 ---------- Can a moderator please move this thread to Reader rides - other vls. and please change the thread name to "Jackson's 87' VL Calais" Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Got my new light in.

looks awesome mate. im planning to polish my calais wheels up soon but will look into getting some ve ssv 19's in the future, they suit your calais so well

UPDATE - Hey guys got my Calais rims on, 2 new tires for the fronts 215/60/15. Used 2 good tires from my other 15" wheels that came on the Calais when i bought it. Personally, the Calais looks way more classy with the standard wheels. -WHITE WALLS GOING ON SOON- Atlas ribbon Porta walls. ---------- Post added 07-07-12 at 23:59 ---------- Tint or no window tint ????? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

really good stance with the calais rims man, looks so clean. Thats the look im after, just looks classy