Make / Model: 1986 VL SL. Colour: Maranello Red / MX Grey. Bodykit: None. Engine Type: RB30 A6. Engine Mods: High comp turbo conversion, No holes front mount cooler. Power: Untested. Exhaust: 3 inch. Gearbox: R33 skyline 5 speed / Nismo super copper mix clutch Diff: VL drum brake housing, VN disc brakes, 4.11's out of a Nissan Pintara, VR Clubsport 4 pinion LSD centre, Ford 2.77 25 spline side gears and LSD cones and 25 spline axles. Brakes: VL turbo up front with a VS Booster and VT master cylinder. Suspension: Kings ultralow springs, shortened shocks. Wheels/Tyres: VT GTS 18x8 in Capri Silver. Interior: Grey VL Berlina seats and door cards, Calais rear headrests, Calais interior light, high-rise console and sunglasses holder, VS door pods, VL power window/mirror conversion, Autometer shift light and Ultra lite boost gauge and a Momo Tuner steering wheel. Stereo: Alpine 7 inch fold out screen, 6 inch splits in the front, 6 inch 3 ways in the parcel shelf, 10 inch kicker subwoofer and all run by 2 Alpine amps. Other Mods : 90L drop tank, catch can, berlina taillights. I managed to acquire this rocket ship for the grand total of $600 from a car dealer in Cairns 5 years ago. Just a N/A 5 speed with the only factory option of A/C. I gave it a quick tidy up and slapped some springs and wheels on it and got it rego'd. As these thing do, things started to get serious. At the same time the interior was upgraded to Berlina along with power windows/mirrors And this was the way it stayed for 3 years ---------- Post added 03-01-14 at 12:05 ---------- 3 months ago the decision had to be made to save it or scrap it as the rust was taking hold under the front and rear screens. After chatting with my old man, we decided to save it. So below are a few pictures of what we have been up to for the past 3 months. Fully Stripped Repairs Begin Paint going on And as it sits now, in base coat We should be top coating the car in the next couple of weeks. I hope everyone is enjoying the pictures!. Cheers Ben Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

love the wheels bud, howd you find the replacement panels?? are they rare spares??

Quote: Originally Posted by dougall83 [View Post] love the wheels bud, howd you find the replacement panels?? are they rare spares?? The replacement panels are the rare spares items mate. I found that buying them through another company they were cheaper than buying them from rare spares directly. The panels need a fair bit of massaging to get correct to the car, however in the end the result was worth it. Cheers

Love the red and with the vt gts rims it looks tops.

love the pictures great work. is that just sitting in base coat?

Thanks for the feedback guys. The car is has just been wet rubbed ready for top coat, the last photo was from Thursday week ago. Hopefully top coat will go on in the next week or two. Once the top coat is on, the guards, bonnet and nose cone will stay off the car. The engine is coming out to do the rear main and a few other jobs, so the bay will get sprayed at the same time. Cheers Ben

So it was painted 2k solid and then just wet rub it back and clear it? Sorry for weird questions just interesting to see how differently people paint cars

Quote: Originally Posted by bLuj3t [View Post] So it was painted 2k solid and then just wet rub it back and clear it? Sorry for weird questions just interesting to see how differently people paint cars The car is being sprayed in acrylic, so the old man just put a base coat (3 coats) around the doors and on the shell before we put the doors/guards and bonnet back on. The hanging panels got 3 coats before they went back on, then the whole car was wet sanded ready for top coat. My old man is the panel beater/spay painter so this is the way he is choosing to do it, I'm just the sanding bitch!. The car will not be clear coated, however the last couple of top coats will have a small amount of clear mixed in to it. The bumpers and side moulds will be cleared due to it being a metallic colour (MX Grey). As for questions, ask away!. Cheers Ben ---------- Post added 05-01-14 at 16:58 ---------- A few photos of other things I have going on for the VL. I managed to find 2.5m of grey Berlina seat material Not a bad match I have been on the search for a good Berlina drivers seat, but nothing was good. I decided to get a passanger seat, strip the trim and retrim a drivers seat. I also got my hands on a Calais boot carpet which needed some love. 5 hours of soaking in Napisan and some elbow grease produced these results Enjoy Ben Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Well done Ben. Good to see you doing the work yourself. Keep the updates coming. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Very nice, the berlina trim is porn. I am very envious of that roll of material. As stated, always good to see people doing there own work. Keep it up Good job on the retrim *thumbs up* Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Cheers for the feedback guys. It looks like the top coat will go on (weather permitting) ether Friday or Saturday. Once the top coat is on all of the front panels will be removed in preparation for the motor/gearbox to come out. As for Berlina material, I have the 2.5 meters on the roll and 2 more full interiors worth, that I have stripped off old seats that I have got cheap. You should see the human filth that comes out of the material of a 26 year old drivers seat when you wash it. Cheers Ben

ben! this is great. loving the interior and re the human filth i'll pay that. its disgusting. I did 3 soaks and it was still coming out black. just millions of old farts being washed out - Mitch

Ok trendsetters, good progress was made today. The car at the start of the day Pics after top coat applied, straight off the gun Very happy with the finish. The car is going to sit for a week before we remove all of the front panels to facilitate the engine removal. Once the engine is out, the bay will be prepped and painted. Only once the engine is back in, all the panels will be replaced and fitted up properly and then the paint will be wet sanded and cut. Another part of the project I have been working on has been finished today. The opera surrounds on this car were both busted all the way through. Instead of paying millions of dollars for second hand ones, I decided to have a go at repairing them. Final result Sorry for all the photos Cheers Ben Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Sorry for all the photos You do not say this!

top job mate keep all pics coming the more pics the better!! ha ha

Righto, Updates. The topcoat has been left to sit for a week. All of the front panels were removed and the door rubbers replaced. I transported the car around to the father-in-laws and we proceeded to remove the engine. The boot was the perfect storage for all of the junk out of the bay The bay after a quick pressure wash All preped Undercoat Top Coat The K frame and all of the front suspension is out of the car and getting a coat of subframe black. All the bushes are getting replaced when its all reassembled this weekend. Also the engine might be going back in this weekend. I managed to replace the melted fuse box this weekend also, it was easy with nothing in the bay. During the week I was working on another little project for the car I hope you all like the update Enjoy Ben Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

great updtes. what product did u use on the opera window surrounds? bog would crack but theres some plastic repair out there by i believe 3m. this looks like that?

Quote: Originally Posted by SIroller [View Post] great updtes. what product did u use on the opera window surrounds? bog would crack but theres some plastic repair out there by i believe 3m. this looks like that? I just used Aareldite and an old plastic lunch box to repair them. They seem to have bonded well and have come up a treat!. Cheers Ben

Liking the progress, car is looking really good. How did you go about fixing the Opera surrounds earlier in the thread?

Quote: Originally Posted by CYNICL [View Post] Liking the progress, car is looking really good. How did you go about fixing the Opera surrounds earlier in the thread? I repaired the opera surrounds with Araldite. With the non structural cracks I just v'd them out with a dremel and filled the crack. Once dry I just sanded them back flat. Were there was material missing I just used an old plastic lunch box for filler material and used the Araldite to set it in place. Once the repair was sound, I used Araldite to build the repair up and I sanded it flat. Spent about 7 hours doing both sides!. Cheers Ben