It all started 8 months ago. The day was Sunday, June 13 2010, the day I purchased My 7th VL. It was a fpos to say the least. Faded paint and rust but it was bought to project from the start. My last VL was a Calais which had faulty windows, faulty mirrors, faulty pop-ups and leaking power steering. So this time around I wanted none of the options, only the bare necessities so, an SL is what I wanted. An executive was what I brought home that day. It was ordered from the factory with a turbo engine, automatic transmission, and no A/C. It only had an A6 bottom end, it had aftermarket standard replacement injectors and the turbo had a lot of shaft play. The calais nose cone and tail lights did not come as part of the sale. It then sat for about 3 weeks until I had My painter come over and quote me up for a full inside and out respray including labour charges to have someone cut out front and rear cowl panels, boot floor and spare wheel wells. Then the ball started rolling! I went in to rare spares with a long list of parts I wanted including the above mentioned rust repair panels, all new lights, badges, rubbers etc. I ended up spending over $2,000 there that day and it felt good I then took a few days off work to strip the car down to a bare shell. I spent three days working 8am til 5pm stripping the car down and didn't quite get everything off before the time came to load it on the trailer. It was dropped off to the painter with a cash deposit and the wait began. I sold the turbo set-up as a conversion, also sold the turbo auto trans as the plan was to go manual. I then started acquiring parts, starting with a manual steering rack and intermediate shaft! I got My hands on a low kay, complete A8 motor with all accessories and three quarters of an MX7 conversion for a good price! Also got a set of five 15x7 police wheels and a 90L fuel tank with straps and sender, which I sent straight to the painter! On Saturday, October 3 2010, the freshly painted shell was delivered to it's temporary home. I was impressed! It was the first time I had seen it since I dropped it off. In the following weeks, working on it for an hour or two after work every now and then, I got all the doors back together with rubbers, glass, etc. Also fitted new tail lights, garnish and trims and fitted the rear bumper and fuel tank. to be continued... ---------- Post added 28-02-11 at 19:25 ---------- I took the rocker cover in to Pedersen Race Fabrications and had -8 fittings welded on the rocker cover so I could use 1/2" 90' Speedflow fittings to My catch can. Then I went in to SCA and bought Dulux Dupli-color anodized red paint and Dupli-color base coat, some paint stripper and some sand paper. I spent a few hours stripping the gloss red paint off and smoothing out all the imperfections on the rocker cover before laying on the base coat, followed by a couple of layers of the red. I then rubbed back the Nissan lettering and polished it up to a mirror finish. In real life, it looks a lot like candy apple red. I bought a PWR intercooler and stainless steel piping to suit low-mount turbo and Rajab plenum. I also bought a fake Rajab plenum which I am not really happy with but, it will have to do until I can afford a genuine item.. The trim is going to be grey and I have already purchased: Devonish VR clubsport seats, Charcoal plush pile carpet, S2 Calais instrument cluster, Berlina door trims, Calais hoodlining and interior lights, full Alpine sound system and a Brightline 3x 2.5/8" gauge holder for the console. Other bits I still need to collect are: VY SS pedals, MOMO race steering wheel, venetians and Auto-Meter gauges. I have also bought a Rollmaster adjustable cam gear and a Gates racing blue timing belt. I am planning to run a matching Gates racing blue altenator belt. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

good to see you finally put up a thread.. get it on the rd already country

awesome stuff mate, keep it up!

looking very nice mate glad to see your doing it properly and taking your time no rushing involved. keep it up mate.

A couple of weekends ago Sean (-pumba-) came over and gave me a hand changing the front spring and shocks. We slogged it out in 42 degree heat changing the old, worn out item for King Spring 'low' springs and short stroke Monroe GT gas strut inserts. We also removed the power steering rack and fitted up a manual item. I already have two NOS GMH front wheel bearing kits on the shelf, just waiting on the purchase of DBA Gold rotors and EBC Green Stuff brake pads, which will come at a later date. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

looks sweet,keep the updates coming please

excellent seats. mind if i ask how much they cost and what condition? i bought vn le seats (walky) for 400 and they will rewuire new side bolstering and trim but i recon its a bargain.

good stuff man.. keep it up!

I got front and rear seats for $600. That photo is the actual passenger seat that I bought and they are all that clean. The drivers seat only has minimal wear to the foam. Thanks for the compliments. Locky.

Hi mate looks mint as very nice build and whats the colour to the rocker cover very nice colour

looks fantastic dude cant wait till its finished

Little update: I have purchased an RB25DET top end, minus turbo, coils, cam gears, CAS and throttle body. Got it for a good price. Also fitted some 3" long 1/2" ARP wheel studs to My 28 spline axels. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

looks better then whem you first purchased it lol

Yesterday, I fitted up the chrome around the gutters and along the top of the doors. Also fed the fuse box loom back in to the bay, fitted up the blower fan and the brake booster. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

is this your sickest build or what? i love it.

Cheers mate. Over the past week, I have been rebuilding the diff in My spare time. I bought an SCW mini spool off eBay and fitted that up to an open center I had. I also went to U Pull It and got a 3.89:1 gear set out of an R31 Skyline. I then went out and bought a full set of new bearings and seals and fitted them all up with the press at work. Last night, I completely stripped down a housing and tonight I will give it a thorough clean before assembly then once it is together, I will give it a few coats of KillRust black and fit some new bushes to the lower trailing arm mounts. I will post pics once it's done!

Ok, so after a few set-backs with building the diff and the one year anniversary of buying the car passing, I have decided to get it on the road asap. So, I scrapped the DOHC idea and I sold the un-finished diff in parts. With the cash I got for the diff, I purchased a set of VLT injectors and a complete disk braked, 25 spline LSD. I pulled it apart, thoroughly cleaned out the housing then over-hauled and shimmed the LSD. I also swapped the foreward facing plenum, intercooler and piping set-up for an LW5 intake manifold and a used JD customs FMIC kit. Other things I have sold off are: adjustable cam gear, rocker cover and ARP head studs (thought I was going DOHC) Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Well last night, I thought that I'd get some work done on the VL. So, I filled the diff with Castrol SAF-XA LSD oil, fitted up the new shock absorbers (Monroe GT sport, short stroke), then lifted the diff in with the new King lows and bolted her all up. Here is another sh1tty phone camera pic. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Fitted some tyres up to My chasers last night the finished off the last little bits with fitting the diff and got it back on the ground! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

loving it! seriously turning me on!!! well done mate