Hey guys I'm new to the forum and thought I'd introduce myself and my car. My name is Alex and I'm 16. I live on the northern beaches of Sydney and am on my L's. I bought my first car a couple of months ago from a middle aged man for $3500 of my own coin (A little high for a VL I know, but it's the only manual one that I could find that wasn't slammed on chrome rims) I'm the car's third owner and it has about 291,000KMs (ODO is broken though..) She runs well and is in immaculate condition for the km's/age and overall im pretty pleased with her. Previous owner was a mechanic and owned the car for 20 years so she was well maintained. Here she is: Interior: Car has a few problems that need fixing and once they are out of the way I can start doing some mods to make it 'mine'. Problems: -Need to replace front indicator bulbs (no idea what kind i need and how to replace them - i'm a noob, ok! -Fix odometer -Has leak on front passenger side but cant see where -tiny bit of rust on rear window (of course) -Needs new steering wheel and driver's seat as they're pretty worn (any help is appreciated on fixing my issues, though most of them are straight forward I know) Future plans: -Venetians -New wheels -Maybe lower it as people keep laughing at my rather high stock height -possibly new exhaust + extractors but that is not in the near future. Will post more pictures later if anyone's interested. -Cheers Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Just a little update: Fixed my indicator and gave the car a much needed wash! Took her for a cruise up to Palm Beach with a mate of mine, was good fun. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

looks nice and tidy mate, good project.

Looks good mate!! Reminds me of mine when i first bought mine at the same age!!!! You can do good things with this Bring it out to the VL meet to get to know a few people! Theres a few guys on here who are from up your way Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Thanks guys would love to come meet some people but I don't have P's yet so it might have to wait =/

Nice clean Berlina, a good base to build on. The most likely culprit for the the leak on the passengers side is the windscreen.

Hey d00ds, Anyone heading to MotorEx (http://www.motorex.com.au/) on Sunday? I might be heading down there. Also here's some random happy snaps I've taken, with a proper camera! And why is it so hard to draw VLs? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

HELP! Ive started trying to get my instrument cluster out to fix my odometer, but I cant get the plastic cluster cover thing off. i've taken off the satellite switches and undone the screws behind the little blank plastic clip-on things under the satelitte switches, but when I try to pull off the dash cover, the part ive circled in this picture wont come off, the other side is free to come off but i cant get the vent side to come loose. Are there more screws I don't know about? or are there clips or what? please help! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

There are lugs that hold the vent part in the dash. You need to get a flat screwdriver in the gap above the vents and gently push the top ones down until they let go. There are two on top I think, once you do this it should come out.

haha thanks man, managed to find it out anyway though not long after I posted that. Unfortunately it wasn't even worth the effort in the end as I couldn't fix the odometer! it's seriously f**cked haha. I put a new sun cog thing in but there seems to be a problem where the numbers connect to the shaft as the shaft spins and the numbers don't change with it, but the numbers can still be moved, think I may need a new cluster all together, or at least that part out of a new one. Oh well, I only really wanted to fix the ODO because I have to fill that sh!t into my learner logbook, looks like ill have to fudge the odometer readings for some of it. Not a problem really, it's not like I didn't do the driving! :P In other news, I got rego out of the way this week and now I can save for some venetians! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Looks like you've got yourself a real good base to work off. I got my VL at the similar age as you (17) and have been doing little things here and there. Have a look at my thread to get some ideas Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Cheers mate, seen your thread but cant post in it as im not an official member. I really like what you've done with your car though it looks really clean. Also you have a 2.5" zorst right? Out of interest, how loud is it? is it annoying after awhile? Every day I have to fight with the idea of staying stock and keeping it OG or slamming it and putting an exhaust on it. Can never keep my mind on one thing! >.<

Quote: Originally Posted by CYNICL [View Post] Cheers mate, seen your thread but cant post in it as im not an official member. I really like what you've done with your car though it looks really clean. Also you have a 2.5" zorst right? Out of interest, how loud is it? is it annoying after awhile? Every day I have to fight with the idea of staying stock and keeping it OG or slamming it and putting an exhaust on it. Can never keep my mind on one thing! >.< Yeh mate, 2.5" all the way with a hi-flow cat, and extractors. Umm its not annoying but if Im on the highway doing say 90kmh it has like one single tone that sits in your ear... but other than that you get used to it. And it will definalty give you a bit more power not a lot but you can notice the difference straight away with a full exhaust. If you are going to lower it Id say just go super low king springs and upgrade your shocks for drivability. But if you want a similar sacked look like mine then go ultra low at the rear and super low at the front. It will be bumpy but it looks good lol.. Hope this helped, Nick

Nothing super special but I was feeling pic-savvy recently so took some new pictures and thought I'd share a few. Probably gonna give it a service on the weekend. Also been thinking of what I want to do with it, I was thinking: >Full white venetians (Horizontal 1/4 ones) >Extractors and 2.5" Exhaust (Paceys + Redback) >Lowered (Either Superlows, or more preferred Lovells because i hear they are a tad firmer + lowered shocks of course) >Red upper mould pinstripe because they look awesome imo, and the blue pinstripe i have is starting to come off a bit >Some stuff to help handling too when I can afford it, f+r sway bars, adj. panhard rod and maybe a strut brace etc >Maybe custom plates to reward myself if I ever manage to do all that haha. As well as keeping it clean and maintained. Thoughts? Also if anyone in my area or not too far away has some white venetians for sale, let me know! Cheers. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Looks nice man, really clean inside and out. The only thin I'd say is don't molest the interior (aside from little things such as steering wheel etc). But it doesn't seem like you're that sort of person. As for the odometer I think that's a terminal thing for most VLs, mine started clocking in 10000kms lol. Keep the updates coming mate.

Good start mate. Preferably id never take that head unit out. Put the aftermarket one in the glove box and leave the stocko deck in place. Dash will keep tight etc.

Cheers mate, don't think I'll ever touch my stereo. I don't care too much as the radio works fine and I can play my MP3s through a little cassette device I have. Only things I wouldn't mind changing in the interior is the steering wheel and front seats as they are both worn and the steering wheel is so big it annoys me sometimes haha, if I changed it I'd get a nice MOMO or something not one of those ricey looking sports wheels though. Also I got my P's the other week because I finally turned 17. Been doing plenty of cruising. Makes me wish my car wasn't so grandpa now. :| Might have to buy an exhaust to keep myself happy... Also I really want the red/silver pinstripes on my car but I can't find any place that sells them except ebay but it looks like a rip off. >.< Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Hey guys, been awhile since I've posted. Bought some ebay spec extractors for $100 a couple of weeks back, haven't fitted them yet as I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing with the rest of the exhaust and I'm lazy. 99% certain I'll get a 2.5" catback, probably this one: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/REDBACK-2...00759694160%26 (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/REDBACK-2-5-SPORTS-EXHAUST-SUIT-VL-COMMODORE-TURBO-V8-rear-muffler-/200667008368?_trksid=p5197.m1998&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D17%26meid%3D6184450374486382846%26pid%3D100017%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D200759694160%26) Unsure what I should do about my cat though, tempted to just run the stock cat (Don't wanna gut it because I want it to be at least mostly legal and I don't want it to smell even more fumey) Can anyone justify a point in a "highflow" cat or are they not worth the money? And some new pics; still looking for red/silver pinstripes for my bumpers so I can replace the current blue 'vacationer' style stripes that are peeling off. Could use a service, will do it soon. Been really busy with Yr12 and stuff. Also managed to score a hardcover Gregory's workshop manual off ebay for 8 bucks the other day which I was happy with... Should be delivered within the next few days I hope. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Know how ya feel mate, year 12 is draining me, my poor vl is just sitting there Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

School was hanus, poor blokes!