bought it already converted to manual, looked like this... bought it for $1500 chucked a new CAS and injector hoses in to get it running first things i did was fix oil leak from rocker cover and sump, all they were was loose bolts, same as the coolant leak just a lose hose clamp. power steering rack was leaking from everywere so i replaced it with a recon genuine part, cost me around $350 the calais eyelids didn't work so took it apart and unseized everything that was seized and rewired the relay and it worked After all the fixing was done i started making it look presentable, first thing i did was got a new LH headlight, RH indicator, rear garnish, chrome door handles, managed to get 1/4 window Venetians just need the rear one and paint em whiite and a set of VL calais rims and polished them up Then i was driving on the freeway one night and a wheel bearing let go so i got new front bearings and brake rotors all round cos they were really bad and cheap, i think like $48 for fronts and $32 for rears Went to Melbourne and picked up bits for the turbo conversion, i got a T04e highflowed on some aftermarket manifold with front and dump pipe, stinger 4244 ECU, injectors and fuel pressure reg, also just bought a Bosch 044 external fuel pump and Plazmaman intercooler kit Bosch 044 next to standard VL fuel pump, managed to mount it with the stock fuel pump bracket pics of intercooler install coming up when my thread gets cleared cos theres a 30 pic per message limit.. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Interesting thread so far! Keep the updates coming!

Great work dude

thanks fellas here's some more pics managed to squeeze the 044 in the stock bracket by slotting the hole and using a longer bolt, good thing bout the bracket is the rubber mounts makes it so much quieter, inside the car you can barely hear it and outside its a little noisy but nothing crazy, i was happy with that. someone broke into the VL last week, busted my lock and dented the door and i know noones gonna like it but i shaved the door locks on both sides and repaired any dents on them too, they also smashed the RHR door 1/4 window which was only $30 brand new non genuine. as you can see i got the calais rims on now and selling the VX SS rims so if anyones interested have a look here; http://perth.gumtree.com.au/c-ViewAd...1-26f2fffe0b60 (http://perth.gumtree.com.au/c-ViewAd?AdId=341159840&MessageId=MSG.VIEW_AD.EDIT_AD_SUCCESSFULMXAdIdMZ341159840MXGuidMZ1347d4e2-ec20-a20b-2751-26f2fffe0b60) Installed the front mount yesterday, took my time and got it right, the plazmaman kit was good only had to cut one hole under the air box and chop the middle of the front bumper reinforcement and the intercooler had tabs welded to the top to bolt into the sides of the headlight supports and came with 2 bits of ally to make the bottom brackets, took like 5 mins. the plan was to get the whole conversion done this week before i get back to work but the turbo and manifold are still in Melbourne with my sis and shes coming the day before i start work now so im just doing everything else while i got the time so all i got left to do the next weekend is slot the turbo in, if the VL doesnt run too good with the injectors and ECU without the turbo i might have to drive the silvia on permits for the week, thats always fun haha ---------- Post added 30-12-11 at 21:36 ---------- Went to the pits today to get it inspected and ask what i need to do to get permits for the conversion and FMIC, he had a look at it and pointed out my bottom brackets and mesh have sharp edges but the heights legal but didn't make me pay for the inspection, maddd! he just told me to get a modification form and fill it out and hand it in and go from there, was happy with that. i don't think it will be legal though because i had to cut the reo and they usually dont like that, also it pokes out the bumper soo see how it goes Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

forgot to mention when i first bought the car i gave it a service, did every fluid incl gearbox but not the diff cos id be getting a LSD after the turbos in lazed around most of the day, stole the boost gauge and turbo timer from my silvia since it wont be needing them for a little while, just to see what boost its running at till i buy a new gauge decided to mount it on the glovebox like that, seemed to be the best place out of the way and visible going to wire up the turbo timer tomorow and do the ECU, wiring loom and injectors! turbo comes tomorrow arvo! previous owner (spray painter at my work) found the headrest so i chucked them in ---------- Post added 01-01-12 at 21:22 ---------- also i just checked how many volts the 044 is getting and it was reading around 11.7v so ill play around with that tomorrow try fix that Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

fixed the fuel pump, ran a thick (~5mmsq) wire from the battery to the fuel pump with a new relay and pulling around 14v and the pumps much louder now. got my turbo bits yesterday and started heat wrapping the manifold and cleaning it all up for install and my manifold gaskets came in the mail today, ordered them from some holden dealer in S.A i always like to get genuine gaskets for manifold, turbo flange and dump then the rest of the exhaust doesn't matter as it doesn't see nearly as much heat.. as you can see i ran out of heatwrap, this is two small rolls worth, each role did two, just gonna buy a big role and finish off the manifold and do the dump aswell ---------- Post added 03-01-12 at 22:59 ---------- i searched a bit about how to wire it up, no one actually showed how to do it exactly so i poked around with a multimeter and this is how i did it, because my car was auto originally, the relay for the neutral start wasn't being used so i used that (next to the battery) and ran the wire to the fuel pump along the fuel lines.. made sense.. i'm not an auto sparky or anything so if i did something wrong ill be happy to know, i think i need a fuse in there somewere but not sure were to put it, the power wire is roughly 5mmsq from memory (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/521/bosche044wiring.png/) Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

got my Earls braided lines custom made at Enzed today! After work i ripped off the intake manifold, injectors etc. (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/716/05012012639.jpg/) Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

just chucked the turbo in here's what i did for the coolant return ---------- Post added 08-01-12 at 01:36 ---------- new loom and ECU is in, just running a Stinger 4244 ---------- Post added 08-01-12 at 19:15 ---------- having a problem, car starts and runs like **** for a sec and dies, keep foot on throttle and it backfires quite a bit, all i can think of is maybe my engines got the wrong cam timing for the tune thats on the ECU or something like that.. ive tried all i could think off, might just take it to the tuners and get them to sus it out and tune it. im tired.. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

lookin good man!

thanks, im a ****head, fried my starter motor trying everything i could possibly think of to get it to start and run, and i got one thing left i want to try but it wont crank.. so new starter tomorrow and possibly into the tuners, no pics today all thats changed is its got cooler piping now

New starter motor going in tomorrow, getting full custom 3" turbo back exhaust made up on Thursday and then off to the tuner on Monday, car ran fine before so I'm assuming its just the ECU needs to be played with as it seems to be getting fuel and injectors are working etc, wish me luck.. anyone know how I'd be able to tell if i got the mx5 or mx7 gearbox? without waiting till it breaks :P, being a converted manual I'm not sure which one they used.

Search is your friend..... http://www.calaisturbo.com.au/showth...5+differenc e (http://www.calaisturbo.com.au/showthread.php?t=76549&highlight=MX7+MF5+difference)

Keep up with the updates! Nice work

cheers yeti, still not sure though, on the side of my box says RP71C #1 and the reverse or neutral sensor is at the front right of the box? picked up my started motor today and it was $150 from repco i was expecting it to be a bitch to get to the bolt closest to the engine but it was really easy both ways, bottom one was right there with heaps of room from underneath, literally took about 10 mins in and out. SO.. i got the VL cranking again and ready for some more diagnostics lol, so far its still starting and firing then dying, if i hold the throttle on a slight sweet spot i can get it to run around 1500rpm pretty smoothly, or it will backfire and carry on or die, i checked everything i could think of that i touched in the process leaving me to believe its something to do with the stinger ECU, although i did notice the auxiliary air control unit on the intake manifold is really noisy ever since i did the conversion? anyone have any idea what that things for or why it would decide to be noisy after changing injectors, loom, ecu and turbo? cant seem to find a whole lot of info on this

Towed the my VL to the exhaust shop on Wednesday, got a custom 3" turbo back made up, custom dump and front, hollow highflow cat i stole from my silvia and manta rear section with one muffler and 3.5" dumpy! and got it towed straight to the tuners and getting it running + tune will start on monday. ---------- Post added 13-01-12 at 21:01 ---------- also, the right hand taillight on the tow truck looks like a camel Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Looks the gds mate, lol at the camel

thanks man, can't wait to get it back and drive it again, been driving a mates Non turbo s13.. whats the go with diffs in these things? its got a disk break borg warner open diff in it, was thinking get a turbo LSD and shim it tighter? don't want to spool it cos i'd like it to be legal(ish) and reliable as it can be, all the dodgy **** can go on the unrego'd s14

just had a chat to my tuner, cos of the stinger ECU we can do a mafless tune which is great, saves me from putting the AFM in the cooler piping. hopefully see some dyno sheets in the next couple days ---------- Post added 17-01-12 at 17:08 ---------- went to check on the progress, new o2 sensor, changed some vac lines and wiring around, got it idling now just got to make the laptop communicate with the ecu properly so they can start playing with it

heres a MAAAD update, went to race 101 today after work, when i rocked up my car was on the dyno getting setup, it made 260 at 4500rpm on 12 psi, and they havn't even started tuning yet sorting out a boost creep issue tomorow morning then back on the dyno. from the start i always said i'd be happy with anything over 250hp so im excited that were already over 250 and still have tuning to do Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

fixed the wastegate problem, dropped the boost down to 9.5psi and peaks at around 11 at top end, so dropped 3 psi and gained 2hp with more timing and better fuel mixture. here's a video, just 3" intake pipe with a pod, no dose pipe... and that's the way its staying.. ignore the stupidly long title, previous owner felt the need to include every little detail http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=...p e=2&theater (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150613578683142&set=vb.566363141&type=2&theater) Some original photos have not been recovered yet.