This is my N/A 5sp manual VL built May 87. I originally bought it back in Jul 98 with 328 500kms on the clock. It has just today clocked over 500 000km and as far as I know the engine is as original, never rebuilt and with no internal mods. It does have a k&n airfilter and a set of Genie extractors with a custom 2.5" exhaust system though.
Externally the car varies dramatically from when it was purchased being basically stock with gray bumpers and hubcaps. This soon changed when I lost control of it and wiped out a small tree with the left hand b pillar, doing 4k of damage and nearly writing it off. So while it was in for repairs I had the bumpers colour coded, fitted the Brock front spoiler and grille and left it debadged except for a VS Holden badge on the nose.
After the paint it needed new rims and and to be lowered which was done by Pedders suspension. With these mods it sticks to the road and handles so much better than the stock setup.
It has a custom Alpine stereo setup with 2 12" subs in the boot, 12 stacker cd, 2x amps, 6x9's on the parcel shelf, 6.5" in the doors and 4" 2 ways in the dash.
As stated the engine has been left alone, partly due to the high k's and it became a goal to reach 500 000 with out messing with it. The car has been a daily drive until late last year and has proven to be very reliable, starting first time and still running smoothly. It has gone through a gearbox, had the crank angle sensor changed and a new set of leads but that is about it.
As I've now reached this goal of 500 000km and that it is not my primary vehicle I can now work on it without causing issues if it's off the road. I'm planning to do an efi 5L conversion from a VN or VP.
As part of this conversion I've recently upgraded the rear brakes to disk and am keen to fit a VN Group A brake kit to the front.
Anyway here are some pics, I've had this car for so long now I couldn't even consider selling but plan to continue enjoying it hopefully with some more horsepower soon!
As it turns out I came across a set of VLT callipers for a good price so I've done them up and installed them along with some slotted rotors. I bought a 1" master cylinder and booster and have fitted them as well, so now I've got a complete V8/Turbo brake setup. The EBC greenstuff pads off my original calliper's were about half worn down so I've reused them on this setup. The car pulls up so much better than it did before and I'm pretty happy with the brakes, for now. I'm not sure if the VHT Calliper paint will hold though as it is starting to peel off the hubs under the rims, even though I followed the instructions on the can. Might need a repaint sometime.
I've also bought some VS Statesman seats from a local wrecker as my original seats were completely stuffed. Check out the pic of the old seat's cracked frame! The new ones match with the interior fairly well and are so much more supportive and comfortable than the ones they replaced. It's like driving a new car!
My plan is now to save up to buy the parts required for an efi 5L conversion along with a T5 gearbox, preferably a VN/VP wreck but will see what I end up finding.
New Engine In!
Ended up buying a VN 304 and T5 conversion. Finally got it in after prepping the new engine and the bay. Installed an Excedy HD clutch and discovered that it was a VS clutch and not a VN one. Installed a VH V8 clutch pedal and hooked it all up, seems to be working ok. The headers didn't have a nut for the O2 sensor so I'll be welding one on over Christmas and also fixing a crack in one of the seams.
The next big task is wiring up the engine. Seems I have a late VP/VQ wiring loom which has previously been adapted for a VH. I will be integrating it with the VL wiring and using the existing EFI and Fuel Pump relays.
Will be a while before I have it back on the road. The suspension needs a bit of work with most of the bushes in the rear requiring replacing and new springs in the front. Not sure what is required to get it registered here in QLD, most places have different opinions on whether a mod plate is needed or not.
Anyway here are some pics, and I look forward to getting it back on the road!
RB30 Coming out
Empty Engine Bay
Engine and gearbox
V8 going in
Engine with covers
The V8 in the VL!
Love the colour of your car man, the same colour as the VK Blue Meanie yeah?
I reckon it'd look wicked if you did a full Group A kit but keep it all the colour it is now (paint the window surrounds black though ).
With that brake paint, did you prep the surface well? And did you bake them?
I used the VHT (Red) caliper paint when I did my brakes in February (mind you my front calipers were new and my rears I had reco'd so they'd been acid-cleaned), sprayed them with about 3 coats (all out of 1 can with paint to spare too!). Then the instructions say to leave it for 7 days or so to cure, then to bake them at around 90 degrees C (or cold enough so the least heat resistant part won't melt etc). On calipers that'll be the rubber seals - but at 90 deg I think they'd be ok as brakes get much hotter than that.
But I just dropped mine off at a panelbeater and they stuck them in their bake oven with the next car that went in there - it was only 60 degrees but that should be ok. haven't driven the car much since then so can't say if they're flaking - they look fine at the mo so they should be ok for a while.
Anyway, nice car man, keep us posted
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
nice looking car man, love the 5l conversion. As with what madrx3boy said, get the window surrounds sprayed black, would set it off.
Also have you thought of putting maybe some walky or hdt rims on the car, would look sex IMO.
What rims are on there now? if u dont mind me asking... They look decent
The colour of the car is pretty much as per the factory paint, except now 2 pac. Its a slightly different shade than the VK Brock. I would like to get the whole car repainted one day and will keep it blue but probably use the same as the VK. Might get the window pillars painted black too. I like the idea of a Blue VL Brock theme.
As far as the brake callipers went I gave them a good clean up and wiped them with grease and oil remover before I painted them. I did also bake them as per the directions. Didn't stick as well as some Septone paint I used before but the VHT stuff seems to be doing the job ok.
The current rims are 16" PCW VP clubsport replicas. Had them for ages and have been pretty happy with them. I always thought a set of 17" VR Senator rims would look sweet on her.
Will be while before anything cosmetic gets done, after I get the engine going and get the car registered again the next thing will be upgrading the diff to an LSD.
So after just over a year I have my VL back on the road! It is now mod plated with the new engine and gearbox and registered in QLD. It was great to take it for a spin after so long off the road.
The engine has a cam and a Chip Torque tune for the 775 injectors. I ended up buying a 3.08 LSD from a VL V8, it came with nolethane upper arms and bushes plus good bushes in the lower arms so the rear end is all sweet now.
The engine seems to have a slight ignition problem and is not quite misfiring but is surging a little when driving so I'll have to sort that out.
Anyway here's a couple of pics:
QLD Rego
Engine bay
