Hi Guys, Got bored and thought I would post this up. Holden VL Calais (Series II) N/a Converted to Turbo. From factory it's an n/a but over time everything has been replaced to turbo or better. It's a 1988 Series II Calais painted in Imperial Blue over Asteroid Silver. It has grey calais interor. I bought this car back in August last year from a member off this site (Deano). Since purchasing the car off Deano I've probably spent more on it then the actual sale price! Here is a link to the original for sale thread: http://www.calaisturbo.com.au/showthread.php?t=85274 When I bought the car it already had the turbo conversion completed with a t3 hiflow and a 2.5" exhaust. The first mod I did to the car was adding an black leather autotechnica steering wheel, changing the rear springs (springs in the car were chopped) and a few other items for rwc (the steering wheel was obviously changed after rwc). The car was also and still is riding on polished calais wheels. This kept me happy for a little while until I was after a bit more power. While looking for intercooler kits I found a kit that interested me a lot. I purchased a GKtech intercooler kit off Greg as it was exactly what I was after. I did not want to have to cut any holes in the car and I wanted a nice intercooler hidden behind the bar so Greg's kit was perfect. The intercooler measures at 600 x 230 x 76mm's and has 2.5" piping. I also changed from stock airbox, to pod with afm, to relocating the afm into the cooler piping and having pod off the turbo. I have changed the pipes around a few times until I was happy with it fitting. I then got Doug (Eastside Installs) to fit me with a new alarm kit and turbo timer. While he was doing this he ripped my stereo out of my old car and put it into this. The stereo consists of a sony flip down head unit, pioneer 6" front splits, pioneer 6" rears, pioneer 12" sub in box, cadence amp and an audioline amp. The stereo was a huge difference from a cr*ppy cd player and 4" speakers lol. Shortly after installing the kit I got the vlt bad bug (lots and lots of problems). I had a lot of problems with the car idling properly and driving. This then began a simple trial and error. A few of the problems were: leaking vlt injectors, internal fuel pump dead and problems with several sensors (tps, o2, afm, cas). All up I got brand new or reconditioned: dizzy, internal fuel pump, fuel regulator, fuel rail, vlt injectors (all ultra sonically cleaned), temp sensor, afm. Also somewhere along the line I replaced the uni joints, panhard rod bushes, front and rear brakepads (bendix), rocker cover gasket, exhaust manifold to block & exhaust manifold to turbo gaskets, new battery, welsh plugs, plugs, leads, exhaust tip, knock sensor, indicator stalk, all 4 brand new tyres and many other little things. During this time I managed to also install a TurboSmart boost controller and a AutoMeter boost gauge (thanks Jim) and managed to score them off a close mate for a total of $50! I whacked these on and set the boost to around 8-9 psi. I also installed a Catch Can that I had lying around & during this time also painted the rocker cover black. Some time early this year the n/a gearbox lost reverse so I decided to get it rebuilt. Sam from RaceShift built & strenghtened the box and its basically a rebuilt auto with a stage 2 shift kit. I had the car dyno tuned at JPC as I was still having minor problems with the car and it managed to reel off 140rwkw however the car was shuddering at full boost and was running very rough. This was due to an exhaust leak, no water in the battery and a few other minor things. Once I got all these things fixed I took the car to John at Bresciani Racing and it was put back on the dyno and reeled off 164.5 rwkw after a bit of tinkering with the timing. Keeping in mind this car only runs a 2.5" exhaust and fairly certain still a n/a cam (both need changing). I was rapt with how the car went and it goes well for a daily driven car. Since then I've done a few cosmetic changes the main one being repainting the rocker cover imperial blue with a flake through it (Thanks Ricky). Ricky did an awesome job and I could not have been happier. Things went fairly quiet with the car until my spider gears decided to say good bye so it was diff rebuild time. Once again John got the job and whacked in a Borg Warner 28 spline 4 pinion LSD which was a major change from the cr*ppy N/a 25 spline Single Spinner. Shortly after the LSD was fitted I tried my luck and raced the car at Heathcote for the first time. I managed to reel off a best of 14.3 at 86mph with a passenger on street tyres. I raced the car on the same boost etc... as how I drive it. My highest mph was 96mph so it suggests that the car still has a bit more in it, next time I'll be sure to race with retreads or slicks and lose the passenger. I can't wait to get back out there and have another shot (maybe this time I might not break before the finish line lol). Future plans for the car is none really, just as it comes. I'm getting married and buying a house, any spare cash I have left over (doubt it) will probably only go towards minor things to keep me happy. As always, the majority of money spent on the vl goes towards maintenance rather than performance. I'd like to get a full 3" system, vlt cam and possibly in the future gtr injectors, microtech and I've always wanted to paint it jet black over silver. Only time will tell, that is, if it hasn't blown up by then. I'd like to thank John from Midas, John Bresciani, all the guys on here for their input and also the items I've purchased and a special thanks to my mates & Klem (my 24 hour mechanic haha). Big special thanks to the mrs aswell for putting up with the constant problems and having to drive me around to work or even to buy parts. Any input appreciated Matt Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

I have seen that car around,looks very nice Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

The pics above are from when I just bought the car. Here is a few random photos: Here are some shots as the car sits now: This is when we went out to Heathcote: Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Looks tidy mate!! Keep up the good work!

Nice car mate, thats a pretty decent figure for a converted turbo with a 2.5" exhaust. Nice colour too.

thanks for the kind words guys. yeah that's when it had the bald as tyres and the stuffed single spinner I'll put up a new engine shot when I can be bothered taking one, the glitter effect on the rocker cover is awesome and was done by Ricky (picketvlt). Heres a dodgy pick of it Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

my old daily, i miss it so much and stil wonder why i keep seling cars that i love, but oh well as long as it makes other people happy then i am happy! she's looking nice man!

Looking very nice indeed!!

Nice car dude. What did it run down the quater?

out of 4 runs best time with passenger was 14.3 @ 86mph (I backed off before the finish line) and that was ran as the car is on 205 street tyres. All other runs had a mph of 95-96. Next time I go out I'll be sure to stall it up more on the line as I was just mashing the accelerator when the lights went green. Was good fun though at least next time I know what to expect, i'm hoping to get around the mid to high 13's

i see this car everyday, looks nice mate

thanks mate where abouts do you see it? in the northern or city?

nice care mate, what type auto did you have in it when you ran the quater?

with a rebuilt jatco with stage 2 shift kit, standard stall

Quote: Originally Posted by oso thanks mate where abouts do you see it? in the northern or city? in the city latrobe street always turning left on russell and then dosing it haha.

lol yeah the traffic down la trobe gives me the sh*ts hard lol its a celebration once i reach russell i haven't been down that way for a week now cause they were fixing the roads there lol

I love the look of a stock looking calais on the track, with stock wheels and all . Looks nice man. Wish SA had a strip Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

thanks SXC - 747 build your own strip or shut down an airstrip runway close to you :P I want to headout again down to the track, also not really any updates but just fixing a few little things and getting custom plates for x-mas

Just changed the lifters and alternator Also big thanks to Steve (YEP_Boost) for fixing up all those little things in the interior! Ill whack up some new photos shortly

Car has been sold, congratulations to Dave. The new car... 2001 VX SS 5.7L ))) Some original photos have not been recovered yet.