Ok, so I have just completed my manual conversion, and it is no where near as fast as my old manual vl (both stock). The only difference on my old vl is that it had a cold air intake, however I highly doubt it makes that much of a difference. A mate of my old man is checking the car on thursday (service kind of thing), is there anything to look for that can freshen it up a bit? Thanks, Josh

Timing, from stock to say 15deg you will notice a fuck bag.

Timing std is 15 deg! Leads, plugs, filters inc fuel and check dissy cap and coil for cracks! Other than those items, it will be what it is forever unless you open it up and do a cam and so on!

right. . So should I advance the timing any at all?

Not by much, depends what fuel you run mainly. You might be able to squeeze another 2-5 deg of timing into it, Just start small first and see how it feels and wether it is or isnt pinging!

haha yeh.. 15is stock, its 20ish i use to put my NA too, my bad.

was ur old one non power steering and air con..and ya new one is???

I know you said both cars were stock, but are you sure someone hasn't played with diff ratios in your old car? Fitting a R31 ratio of 3.9 or 3.7 will give much better accelleration off the line compared to the standard 3.45 Yes, timing and fuel makes a huge difference. How tired is the engine? What are the compressions like? The engine on your old car may have been healthier. What size wheels are you running? I know changing from 14s to 17s on my manual made a noticeable difference. There is alot more weight and friction with 17s. Are both cars cars Execs/SLs? Calais weigh considerably more than Execs. It's like lugging another 1-2 passengers around. We worked out my mates Calais wagon manual weighed 200kg more than my Exec Manual Sedan. How much extra stereo gear (amps subs crap) does this car have that the old one didn't have? I've seen systems weigh in at 50-100kgs. Weight is a big factor as it kills performance.

i recon its in the motor dude. some engines are just freaks and make more power and go harder than others. some rb30's are slugs and others pull pretty hard, thats what happens after 20 odd years of use... fix it all up and service it and stuff, but i wouldnt expect you to notice much difference.

You'll find it was just a freak motor... My n/a was pretty quick. stock as with an exhuast did 16.1 (hahaha what a joke) just on full pressure 16's and would smash pretty much every othe n.a vls... Even a few stock turbo ones... Some are just more tired than others...