Well this is my 3rd VL Commodore that I have owned over the course of 8 years, and the first one I have posted about. Bought by me in August of 2009, it started life as a non-turbo Calais, Venetian Red, with a Sandalwood interior. FE2 suspension, an underbonnet light, mudflaps, and the radio casette (!) were all original options still on the car when I took possession, landing in my driveway with an original 179 000 Kms on the clock and still with full working electrics. It had a top half respray in the original colour a couple of years before I bought it. Unfortunately it had no chrome trims and someone had thought it a good idea to paint the bumpers in a slightly different shade of red to the rest of the car. All the exterior Calais badges had also been done with a whiteout marker. On the plus side however, the interior was immaculate except for 2 missing seat buttons, there was no rust and it was wearing a nicely polished set of Calais wheels. First night I got it: So I drove it round like that for a little while, before I put in an assortment of goodies in my garage. These all came from my old white car which met a sad end with a traffic light pole. R.I.P. my old VL: New forged engine, built in my garage: So in to the Calais went a new engine, gearbox, diff, suspension, brakes, the whole lot. At about the same time I painted the lower half moulds and bumpers in the original Asteroid Silver, and replaced the chrome trim with a roll of 3M stick on chrome. I also added rear and side venetians, and some sheepskin seat covers for the front. I also took out the original radio and factory speakers, and replaced them with something a little more modern. They're in safe keeping should I ever want to put them back in. Then after driving for a few months, the car started to lose 4th gear. Joel at JD Transmissions pulled apart the box for me and found a broken clutch drum. So the box was rebuilt with a new 3rd gear clutch drum, and some other good bits. This is how it currently looks: Currently it has: Engine ACL forged pistons 0.020" oversize Standard prepped rods King main and big end bearings Cometic MLS head gasket Tighe Cams camshaft GK Tech front mount cooler with custom stainless pipework KKR430 turbo 3" turbo back exhaust Transmission Full manual 4 speed Jatco auto TCE 2800 stall convertor Brakes/suspension/diff Rebuilt 3.45:1 LSD Koni Special shocks King low springs VT front brake conversion, VT master cylinder/VS brake booster 30mm front sway bar New Super Pro/genuine rubber bushes all round Next on the list is to install the GTR injectors and Z32 AFM I have at home, then off to get a Nistune. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

wow nice ride. whoever thought it was a good idea to paint the bars a darker shade of red should be hunted down and shot lol. id say the only thing left to do is maybe remove the mudflaps otherwise shes a very good looking sleeper dave. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Mudflaps? Nobody likes my mudflaps!

That interior looks schmick as! Very nice build. I love single tone paint though, the two tone is done to death.. but the mud flaps, I love them, keep them! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Drove my VL as a daily for years and I reckon the mudflaps were worthwhile in that they reduced stone chips on the doors and rear bumper. Nice clean Calais mate!

very nicely done man this is EXACTLY what i want mine to look like soon enough

Mudflaps are definitely staying... still tossing up the idea of going single tone, but I think it needs some sort of a kit for that to look right.

i wouldnt touch a thing man

Quote: Originally Posted by jordy [View Post] Mudflaps are definitely staying... still tossing up the idea of going single tone, but I think it needs some sort of a kit for that to look right. yeah I agree, unless you did put a kit the on the two tone suits the Calais perfectly and I certainly wouldn't be in a rush to change it. Looks sweet as it is.