25-11-06, 17:22 GMT+10#1
This is my current project, First car was an R31 and this is now my second VL. needless to say i'm quite a fan of the RB30... I got this car from pickles auctions for a good price but in pretty bad shape...
It had suspension issues, light panel damage everywhere and the aftermath of a previous p-plate owner.
i towed it home, put it on blocks, threw out all the crap that the previous owner had on it and started again from scratch.
Shortly after getting rego I decided to go all out... (Full 2pac respray, calais doors, skirts and moulds, All new lights and plastics and chrome, decent stereo and tv etc. etc. etc.)
From This: This is the car as I saw it on the pickles website... by the time i got it at auction it had chasers on the rear, (both the VYSS wheels were on the front still but one was bent and the other had a chunk missing. the tacho was also gone and so was the woodgrain wheel and any evidence of a stereo.
I put the car on blocks, replaced both bumpers, completely stripped the underbody and replaced everything. The Whole K-Frame, Engine mounts, Wheels, Tyres, Bearings, Shocks... Everything was replaced. The only rolling stock i kept was the diff kos i'm eventually going to go LSD but i had higher priorities first.
To replace the K-Frame i had to take out the motor, so naturally while i was in the neighbourhood It got some new leads, reconditioned dizzy (with new CAS), all the electrics in the bay were overhauled and the motor got a little port here, a little polish there A new sump, upgraded cam and a full fluids change. I also replaced the tailshaft and fitted a 5-speed from an R31 Skyline (it was a stocker with 125,000k's on it so the box is perfect) I then raised the ride height, got rego, and lowered it again the next day...
To This: After driving it for a while with one black panel and a couple of bogged up bits here and there my neighbour reversed a land rover into the dead centre of both drivers side doors. This is when i decided to go all-out, bought four calais doors and started stripping the whole car and trying my hand at bodywork.
This is what it looked like when it left my place for paint, By then i had removed the locks, all the badges and the aerial hole, repaired the rear quarter panel, replaced all four doors (so i now have power windows) fitted calais lower moulds and bought some calais side skirts.
Not a bad effort i reckon since i've never done any kind of bodywork before, many a dollar was saved by doing it all myself.
This is pretty much how it looked when i sent it off for painting.
{EDIT} These some progres spics at the spray shop, in the first two it's straight off the gun and still needs some touching up and polishing. There are a few minor imperfections but for the price i paid you can't expect a showcar. I am extremely happy with how it looks. all external plastics and chrome bits have been either sprayed black or polished. (calais side skirts, calais front and the upper bumper moulds are all painted the same blue but not yet fitted) i also have brand new lights front and rear to go in and a new calais garnish (basically nothing old is going back on) even the windows are coming out kos i have a better set...
****ty camera phone does not do it justice... it looks awesome.
Finally, Almost there.
as you can see color was originally two tone Eucumbene blue over asteroid silver
it is now just the blue, single tone.
The restoration... Step by step:
Suspension:
* New monroe gas shocks front and back.
* New tie rod ends.
* Sway bar replaced.
* Front Brakes replaced.
* replaced front struts.
* Lowered on Kings Supalow Springs (2.5 inches i believe, not sure).
* Adjustable Strut Tops.
* adjustable panhard bar. (all Nollothane Items).
* K-frame replaced.
Interior:
* Added calais tacho dash
* Installed New crash pad and glove box (pad had holes from previous owners monster tacho, glove box was broken),
* Skyline Shortened shifter (these are thicker and have a different type of rubber in them so they dont flex as much as VL ones)
* New wheel and boss kit.
* Designed, Built and installed custom fiberglass/vynl parcel shelf and front door-pods.
* Removed glove box boot release button and wiring, (it's now hooked to an accessory on my Alarm)
* Also I had an 8 inch touch screen lying around so i went a little custom and udes fibreglass and plasti-weld to reshape what was originally a VR dash centre. This houses my head unit and an 8 inch touch screen
* Installed Series 2 calais rear seat and series 1 calais front seats.
Electrical:
* Normal battery up front is running parralell with a truck battery in boot.
* I serviced and re-gassed the air conditioning so that's nice and cold.
* Installed a pager alarm system
* Installed Programmable remote start and remote kill relays
* Installed central locking
* Installed Power Windows
* Remote Immobiliser
>> Audo/Visual: (In Progress)
* Custom Dash centre with 8" touchscreen and CD head unit. * Front roof mounted tweeters
* custom door trims, 2 speakers in each front door
* custom parcel shelf. (2 6x9"s and 2 6" mini-woofers)
Mechanical: Series 2 NA RB30
* Replaced all engine bay electrics, Plugs and sensors.
* Got an XF throttle body [Now Fitted, made quite a difference]
* Engine Removed, Head off, valves cleaned, timing belt done, sprarkies done, injectors replaced, dizzy serviced, full fluid service and put back in. (it's still NA for now just with an upgraded cam, port polish and timing advance)
* Modified and installed aftermarket holden Cold Air Intake.
* Replaced tail shaft.
* 5 Speed swapped for a skyline box from a pensioners R31 with 115,000 on the clock.
* "Hi-Tec" Extractors, Tubed Cat, complete 2.5 inch system to twin stainless tips
Body:
* Replaced spare-tyre-well (new metal it was rusted) then converted it to a battery mount for a truck battery
* Replaced both front and rear bumpers.
* Fitted calais rear lights.
* got Reconditioned Calais boot strip and eyebrows and brand new aftermarket calais lights and garnish
* Replaced Front Right Fender.
* straightened rear right quarter.
* purchased, straightened and fitted four calais doors (with moulds).
* Fitted Calais Front.
* Repaired and Fitted LE boot-lip.
* Welded, moulded and smoothed both door locks and the aerial hole.
* and finally, one panel at a time i straightened sanded and primed the whole car
[Edit] All chrome bits have been polished. new aftermarket calais lights and garnish for the rear and have new lights for the front. All black plastics and window surrounds are reconditioned and resprayed also.
somewhere down the track i will definitely be chasing more power...
Leaning towards an invected 8 but who knows...
Here are some more progress pics:
Damage to front panel and drivers door: (if you look where the wheel is you will see why i decided to replace every single part of the suspension) i had it checked out and luckily there was no structural damage. I replaced everything it sits on just to be on the safe side (as well as making it sit a bit better)
This is how it sits on the new suspension: decent improvement in looks and handling...
Engine Out...
Engine Back In....
fitted the LE wing:
Custom fibreglass Parcel Shelf:
[EDIT] This is the dash centre i've made. (it's a VR centre, cut down and re-moulded with fibreglass) It's covered with some suede for now kos thats what i had lying around but will be vynl wrapped at the trimmers ASAP, (same colour as the dash) I have higher priorities to deal with first. (It's very Very different i know but who cares... I love it...)
[EDIT] I've half built the custom trims for the front doors (MDF Frame with fibreglass wrap). The outline of the speaker pod copys the lines of the berlina door trim, so the cloth centre will separate top from bottom.
Rear pods will be similar but with one speaker per door. bringing my total speaker count to a healthy 16. (i'm re-covering my parcel shelf with this vynl as well.)
Venetians installed
Theyre perfectly straight still and look mint, and also keep sunlight and theiving eyes off my speakers.
This is a little collage of the work i have done preparing the body.
To Be Continued...
Current Situation:
Everything is fitted and working, body is perfect, all the calais bits are in except for the power mirrors and cruise control kos i really don't see the point. The only trims i don't have yet are the calais chrome bumper strips. They can wait. Everything else is either reconditioned and sprayed black. or brand new (including all lights and garnish etc.) All the windows have also been replaced kos i dont like the tint on he old set.
I am also planning on putting custom made LED panels INSIDE the Stock Tail Lights. (red panels for brakes, orange for indicators, white for reverse...etc.) Thus updating the technology within the stock light. from a distance, or in the daytime you uprobably wouldn't even notice the difference but they will be a LOT brighter and a LOT more responsive as well as using less power. Combined with HID in the front it Should look awesome at night.
More updates coming sooooon
Let me know what you all think, compliments, insults or advice.
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
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