Hey guys, figured I should finally put my car up. Name: Lachlan Age: 18 Location: Western Brisbane Car: Holden Model: VL Calais Year: 1986 Colour: White over Silver Body kit: Stock Engine: RB30E, 3 Litre Exhaust: Stock Diff: Stock Brakes: Stock, Discs all round Suspension: Stock Wheels: Calais rims, 3 of 5 polished Sound: 6" Pioneer speakers on the parcel shelf and a Pioneer head unit Being a poor uni student, I havnt been able to do as much as I would have liked so far. But I have been saving up a little bit lately. So far the car has: � 3 out of 5 polished Calais wheels (including spare) � Brand new waterpump, alternater, stater motor, master cylinder and timing belt kit. � KnN panel filter � Bosch platinum plus spark plugs � Slightly less shi**y ignition leads � Painted rocker cover white � 4000 K headlights � Brand new drivers side front power window regulator, reconditioned passengers side front power window regulator. And I�m in the process of reconditioning the rear power windows but there are a real bitch to put back in so it is taking a while � New brake pads and Gates racing drive belt My auo transmission has slowly been dying (clunking into gears and slipping) so today i picked up a second hand one from the wreckers, will chuck that in in a few weekends time, it needs a clean and service for now Also picked up a few sets of bonnet struts, but i forgot the piece that screws onto the bonnet :cry: so ill have to get them from the wreckers some time soon I�ll also be geting a few things between now and the summer holidays and then spending a few weeks installing it all. This includes: � 2.5� Mendrel bent exhaust with dump pipe tip and extractors � Bonnet and boot strut pieces � Sub and amp setup hopefully soon to � Venetians (if I can ever find some) I do have a few mechanical/electrical/aesthetical bugs I need to tend to � Boot release button in glove box has stopped working � Pop up headlights no longer moving without pulling them up (after a minor accident :doh � Rear window needs to be jammed up until regulator is fixed � High beam not staying on Heres a few pics Hope you all enjoy, ill try to update as i go. Any suggestions and opinions welcome Thanks, VLC86 ---------- Post added 15-09-10 at 00:15 ---------- So here are some photos of my lights i installed. There are 2 blue leds in the front footwells, 1 blue dash 6" neon that moves to the beat of the music and 2 overhead black lights in the rear (they make everything white glow awesome). They are all wired up to a switch mounted in the dash and the centre light acan be independently switched on/off. and a video showing them in action <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-ScWxorChiI?fs=1&amp;hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-ScWxorChiI?fs=1&amp;hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> ---------- Post added 15-09-10 at 00:17 ---------- So here are some photos of my lights i installed. There are 2 blue leds in the front footwells, 1 blue dash 6" neon that moves to the beat of the music and 2 overhead black lights in the rear (they make everything white glow awesome). They are all wired up to a switch mounted in the dash and the centre light acan be independently switched on/off. And a video of them in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ScWxorChiI Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

picked up a dumpy from '86 gmh' today. And finaly got a job so should have exhaust this week or early next week ---------- Post added 15-09-10 at 19:52 ---------- forgot to add pictures, i like to keep track of what is happening with my camera. So there is always plenty of photos Before: After: Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

lookin good man. keep up the good work. wish i new about the dumpy for sale. i'm lookin for one too! good score!

yeah man gonna look sweet, and only $15 You could always grab one from super cheap except they are $50 haha such a rip off. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

yeah i looked at those. i'd get it at trade so like 35 hehe. but i'm gonna just get a 3.5" tip when i get my system welded up, it's all one piece Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

fair enough, what are you getting 3"? where are you putting it in? Im getting mine in the next week sometime over at Ipswich.

nah 3.5. bought it this arvo. 45 bucks. theivin mongrels. a mob out near the olds at slacks creek are doing the work

Quote: Originally Posted by the_duff [View Post] nah 3.5. bought it this arvo. 45 bucks. theivin mongrels. a mob out near the olds at slacks creek are doing the work ahh yeah, I love slacks creek, A and B holden wreckers there are great. The shop im getting m exhaust from is booked out for ages, so im thinking it couldnt be too difficult to bolt on a 'bolt on exhaust' I might do the work myself, its cheaper and more rewarding that way Today i freshened up the interior a bit. This included taking the door panels off, and treating them with some carpet cleaner. Came out alot cleaner Before: After: Also did the same for rear seats Also, if anyone has, or knows where I can find this piece of trim. It would be much appreciated (Chrome is intact, just need plastic) Sorry about the mismatched photo sizes. I can't seem to fix it Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

just bolt the exhaust up yourself man its not that hard. car looks like a nice starting point, my first calais was the same, white over silver, blue interior, except mine was a late 87 model.

Quote: Originally Posted by -pumba- [View Post] just bolt the exhaust up yourself man its not that hard. car looks like a nice starting point, my first calais was the same, white over silver, blue interior, except mine was a late 87 model. Thanks man, I love your calais, Iv been watching it for a while and it always looks mint. Well the other day driving to my girlfriends place the rear muffler fell off Rusted completely through. So the other day i went and picked up my exhaust from Scotts Rods in Ipswich. Iv decided to put the exhaust in myself and save a bit of cash. Spent a few hours last night trying to get the damn studs off where the exhaust meets the cat but couldn't manage it. So going to get the local mechanic to blast it with a blowtorch to loosen it up today and hopefully ill have it all in tonight Also gave the new gearbox ill be putting in a good clean and a service (including gasket and filter) The old pan didn't have any specks of metal i it or anything so im hoping that means it is in alright condition? Also, some pictures of the calais rims polished. Looks pretty nice Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

well after a whole days work. I got the old exhaust out and put in my new 2.5" mandrel bent catback exhaust... Sounds really great and the best part is how satisfying it was to do all the work myself. The car has been running like absolute sh*t latlely though. So yet to discover what the problem is now Possibly missing? or some electrical issue (as always) Next on the list now is new rear tires, get the auto gearbox in and hopefuly get the car tuned to see it running well once again. Off to NZ for a week, so gearbox hopefully in on the weekend after. Ill try to get a video of the exhaust soon. its really sounding nice, little drone and sounds good taking off Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

U will probably find it will get louder after driving it for a bit. That's what I've found anyway. And good on ya for doing it yourself man.

just did mine last weekend too bro, smashed my fingers up bad though ey. i had to drop the left shockie bolt to get the diff down and hook mine over the as$ end. prick of a job mine sounds unreal. one muffler and hi-flow meow. really cracks open at 3000rpm up. whole car starts vibrating lol. god i feel like a 17 yr old again carrying on about how loud my exhaust is lol. i did extrctors too. 120 for the whole system 2nd hand. from ipswich too... sorry brother. i bought it a few months back but. my exhaust mani studs were a piece of p!ss too they had been recently replaced cars lookin the goods brother. keep it up

Quote: Originally Posted by the_duff [View Post] just did mine last weekend too bro, smashed my fingers up bad though ey. i had to drop the left shockie bolt to get the diff down and hook mine over the as$ end. prick of a job mine sounds unreal. one muffler and hi-flow meow. really cracks open at 3000rpm up. whole car starts vibrating lol. god i feel like a 17 yr old again carrying on about how loud my exhaust is lol. i did extrctors too. 120 for the whole system 2nd hand. from ipswich too... sorry brother. i bought it a few months back but. my exhaust mani studs were a piece of p!ss too they had been recently replaced cars lookin the goods brother. keep it up Thanks heaps dude. The exhaust sounds so good, but unfortunately the engine is running so rough i cant enjoy it as much as I'd like to. Might be getting some genie extractors off a member on here soon. But before any of that happens I need to get the new gearbox in and get it tuned so its running properly. Everytime i get out of the car after driving I can smell exhaust fumes and fuel. Does this mean I'm running rich or something? And how can i fix/check? Also, is there a simple way to identify which ignition leads are which? Or is length the only way? Cos i need to swap mine over to see if thats why it is running so poorly. Off to NZ early tommorrow morning and planning the do gearbox the weekend after getting back. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Well pretty bad last few days. Last night heading to work going in the pouring rain the car aquaplaned across the road and ran into a steel barrier and almost slid into oncoming traffic. Smashed the indicator (luckily i have a spare one) cracked the fibreglass ends of the headlights, dented the front passenger panel and cracked the front bumper. Most likely due to the dangerously low amount of tread left on my rear tires.. So got 2 new tires today.. Also realised my chrome dump tip has fallen off somewhere. and hte car is STILL running like sh*t, something wrong with the EFI.

I had another go at fixing the problem of running rough. Checked the firing order and double checked all the leads were at the right spark plug. Checked distributor cap and all of the plugs which are brand new.. The car is still not firing on all cylinders. i took the ignition leads out one by one to see if it made it worse. the problem is that 2nd and 3rd leads didnt make any difference when i took them out.. so any ideas on what i need to check still? Im going to take the car to ultratune tomorrow morning for a free check and see what they say, hopefully ill know pretty soon. Here is a few pictures of the car after i spent the afternoon fixing what i could..resprayed the bumper, banged out some of the dents, put in new indicator Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Well i have bad news. Got the car back from ultratune today, and the result is a blown head gasket with low compression in 2nd and 3rd cylinder So i have a few options to choose from... I sell the car [very unlikely as i need a car] I scrap the car and buy a piece of **** car.. however i dont want to do this I get the car fixed for some ridiculous price ooorrrrr I put the car away for a few weeks, borrow my cousins spare car (kia carnival ) and spend my 3 month uni holidays fixing the car up properly. Im planning on getting the car looked over again to get an estimate of the damage. Any opinons on what i should do? I really love this car and dont want to part with it.. What damage could have occured to the engine if it has been driving on only 4 cylinders for about 2 weeks now? the temp guage hasn't budged off 1/4 once so i doubt cracked head but....? hopefully someone can help ---------- Post added 12-10-10 at 14:20 ---------- Iv been quoted $2166 to fix the car. Including a recond. head fom utratune... I also got a quote for an ACL rebuild kit from repco, $695 which has pistons, rings, bearings and gaskets. Ill have to take the head off first to inspect it though because i need to order a specific size from ACL. This won't be done for another few weeks until uni is over. Unsure of what exactly ill be doing, but i am going to stop driving the car before i damage it any more.

Well plan at the moment is to park the car in the garage for the next 5 weeks until uni is over. Then I gather the parts to fix the car and bring it up to roadworthy cos its pretty shocking at the moment. Ill keep updated on what i decide but basically the car isnt being touched for another month

Well I have already started taking the head off. The plan was too clean up the engine bay at the same time. Iv taken the hot side stuff off the motor, and im working at taking off the intake manifold and injectors and fuel rails etc all together to save taking it off piece by piece. but today I got pulled up for not coming to a complete stop on a stop sign. Lost 3 more points So now I have lost my license for the next 6 months. Which I'm pretty pissed off about. But yeah... I'll continue to fix the car but my time frame is now extended to about 6 months haha. I got the head gasket and exhaust flange gasket yesterday and a few more of the engine bay Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

lol at how dirty your rocker cover is. that will be fun to clean! but seriously looking good man.