hey guys, i'm new here so don't hate on me if i've posted this in the wrong place. Anyways I have a few questions to ask about my commy. last year I bought a vl berlina from christchurch,new zealand. but this berlina is a tad different to your normal aussie berlina as it came stock with a rb20e auto (I don't know what the f*ck holden was thinking when they made this decision) so it is rather underpowered.. also it almost seems executive spec.. no power mirrors or windows, no cruise control, no A/c.. no rear disc brakes.. but it does have the fancy rear interior lights and the speedo with oil pressure & voltage aswell as the rear arm rests.. but i was told berlinas were to come out with power mirrors and windows so i have no idea what the f*ck is going on. Anyway the engine and trans runs sweet but being so underpowered i was considering chucking in a 3.8 v6 from maybe a vp or vr with a manual box..i would prefer rb30et or rb25det but too many ****heads here have them in their nissan ceffys and laurels... i wanna try something different hah. what do you guys think? is it a hard task to carry? 3.8 + manual boxes are cheap as chups here but i have no idea how reliable they are or if they would even add much power to the trusty vl.. so please tell me your opinions guys [IMG][IMG] [/IMG][/IMG] Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Please don't do a 3.8 conversion, go rb30et or chuck a 5 litre in it. The 3.8, while a bit more torquey has no real power advantage over an rb, plus they are generally rougher running and like to leak oil

You wanna be posting these questions in the non turbo section. Go with a 5L worth the extra coin, the 3.8's are nothing special.. Otherwise id stick with the rb30et.

5 litre , T5 box & chuck a mini spool in the diff and it will be a very fun car . 3.8 litre isn't worth going through the drama of doing a conversion .

alright thanks for the feedback, i'd love to put a 5litre in it.. but petrol over here at the moment is 2.25 a litre so i couldn't really afford to run it. after what you guys said i'm considering an rb30et, hopefully the conversion isnt too hard. Another question, I just wired a new head unit into the trusty vl, but the problem is ther seems to be no yellow ignition wire to attach the head unit to, instead i just attatched the yellow wire to the red power wire... it doesn't seem to be too bad but the problem is whenever I turn the car off the head unit resests itself, so the next time i turn it on i have to go through the whole setting up procedure every single time... it's a tad frustrating :S how do i overcome this problem?

Just find a wire that has 12v at all times, even with the key out and tap in to that.

do you know where i can find one? i'm not exactly the most exerienced haha.

buy a test light and start probing, otherwise you could just run a wire directly to the battery +

For the love of all things good and holy, please don't ruin a perfectly good VL with a V6. Even a Holden 5L is pushing the limits of acceptibility. For an extra few hundred dollars, an LS1 is such a better option over the 5L. If you want to stay 6-cylinder, just go an RB30ET. However, if you're concerned about petrol prices is any performance engine conversion really the right thing to be embarking on?

I don't think a good ecotec conversion has been done yet for something different, 150kw stock is a good starting point but everyone on here will tell you to turbo an RB.

Quote: Originally Posted by JLawrence [View Post] do you know where i can find one? i'm not exactly the most exerienced haha. and you were going to try a V6 conversion?

"and you were going to try a V6 conversion?" well...yes. With the help of an experienced friend. I was just looking for opinions. I am also doing an engineering course at the moment which is teaching me alot about mechanics.. so i am learning. anyway on to my next problem :/ so I drove it home the other day basically running on fumes. It made it home ok and the next day I put 10 litres in before starting her up, but after a minute of warming her up she started to run rough, and then eventually died. I attempted to start her a few more times but it got to the point where it wouldn't even fire.. it would only turn over. I have replaced the fuel filter, internal fuel pump, checked fuses etc. I even put in 15 more litres of fuel which should be more than enough.. but it just doesn't wana run i had 4 or 5 different people looking at it and they are all scratching their heads.... any suggestions??? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Check the basics, do you have fuel pressure at the regulator? Spark etc?

one thing i noticed is there is pressure going to the fuel filter but none after it... i swear i have put it on the right way because there is only one way it can sit. Has anyone got a picture of how it should go? yes there is spark

There should be an arrow on the filter to show direction of flow.

Best option sell it and buy another one with a bigger engine, cheapest easiest conversion.

i'm so confused. I checked the fuel filter, made sure there was nothing blocking the fuel lines, fuel pumps sound like they're running ok, i changed the fuel hose at the start of the motor to see if there was any movement but thers none :S another thing, I was turning the car to ON (not turning it over) until i couldn't hear the fuel pump..then i would turn it off for a few seconds and try the same thing again, the fuel pump sounded ok, then all of a sudden it made a deep humming noise, almost like something blocked the fuel access..but there was still no fuel movement.. i reeally dont know what to do, almost considering sending it to a mechanic

Take off the hose outlet on the pump, see if fuel comes out there. That will tell you if the pumps are working... unless you put those in backwards