Hi guys Just got my first VL and its an executive, ideally i wanted a calais as they look mint, but theyre hard to come by and are quite expensive in good condition. So i had a look around and noticed that to convert the front and rear end to a calais style isnt that hard (seems to be a just a rear end calais extension and tail lights, and front end has the covers for the headlights and different grill). Is it worth trying to do a conversion like this? or is it harder and more expensive than what it seems?

Don't be building mock ups u want Calais buy Calais its not the looks that makes it nice its the feel mate

Yeah I agree with ibbi, its the fact that you own a Calais not a mock-up. But if you want the calais look the go ahead, the hardest part to get will be the front flip-up lights.. and once you start converting you'll want decent calais interior not standard SL stuff.. so yeah it can be expensive. Just keep the exec for now, make that 'mint' and save your coin for a calais turbo later on...

Yeh that sounds fair enough, thanks for the feedback guys

It's not just the pop up light covers and tailights. It's the pop ups, bumper colour, bumper mould chrome, grill, Calais badges (x3), door moulds w/ chrome strips, tailights, centre garnish, boot and eyebrow garnish, more chrome, and the little Holden badge on the front bumper mould. Hard to get all that even with an actual Calais.

Well there you go, it is a lot trickier than i thought. I was a just curious about it anyway, its not that i dont like the look of the executive. And in response to Ibbi, i can understand what you mean, trying to make a mock up is never as good as the original thing. ---------- Post added 18-08-12 at 14:49 ---------- oh and btw VLT222, i had a look and saw how your VL is coming along, looks really good keep it up. Im hoping to do the same sort of thing to mine, already got a set of chasers, but the car needs a spray (paints very faded). Any other tips are greatly appreciated.

I did it to mine, but I had both front and back smashed so I had to buy replacement parts anyhow so I went with a Calais look, as above to make it look any good you have to change a fair bit, add guard extensions to the above list. In the end a straight/neat Exec/SL can look just as good.

I agree, its just not the same unless you do EVERYTHING and i always pick the little things. Calais front, rear tail lights and garnishes, chrome trims all round, lower calais moulds, side skirts, VLC interior including roof lining, dash badge, sun visors, carpet and kick panels

Quote: Originally Posted by BigM22 [View Post] Well there you go, it is a lot trickier than i thought. I was a just curious about it anyway, its not that i dont like the look of the executive. And in response to Ibbi, i can understand what you mean, trying to make a mock up is never as good as the original thing. ---------- Post added 18-08-12 at 14:49 ---------- oh and btw VLT222, i had a look and saw how your VL is coming along, looks really good keep it up. Im hoping to do the same sort of thing to mine, already got a set of chasers, but the car needs a spray (paints very faded). Any other tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks man, thats what I'm going for, a neat decent SL... Have fun yours mate, treat it well...

The best thing you can do to an excec is turn it into a chaser with chaser rims, lowering job, berlina dash, radio and centre console.