hey all brought a vl calais 5L Car is pretty mint.. From what i know Motor is a STOCK 304 , Edelbrock manifold , rockchester carbie and its got Pacemaker extractors.. How can i get it going quicker , not worried about mega quick just want it to sound tuff and have a little go.. Any suggestions on what i can do , also does any one know of anyone donw WOLLONGONG way that could help me out i Was told to just do stage 3 heads and cam - Would this be any good .. i can get a 355 stroker for $5000 but then i gotta change box and stuff and its alot of $$$ So if any one has any sugestions about a cheaper solution please let me know , If i can get away with just doing top end ( heads ans cams and that sorta stuff i will ) car is only a weekend cruiser not drag racing so dont need it really fast , just want it to sound fairly tuff... thanks all

It will be a 308 if its a VL carby. I would go with VN-VS heads, mild cam, headers, exhaust, and a JP Performance Gear Drive to make it sound tough. And if its an auto change it to a manual with a short ratio LSD

lol and whats that gonna cost .. just want it to sound tuff , didnt wanna go vn injected heads cause gotta change computer and all was just going to leave it carbie

Nar leave it carby and use the VN heads, they flow way better. If you want it to sound tough just do the JP gear drive and exhaust. Auto or manual?

Quote: Originally Posted by NZ EVLHSV It will be a 308 if its a VL carby. Nah, it'd be a 304. If you want it 2 sound tough, chuck a little cam in there and put twin 2" systems. My ute was fairly stock with a blue 308 and had twin 2" and got commented on how good it sounded all the time.

Quote: Originally Posted by revelry Nah, it'd be a 304. If you want it 2 sound tough, chuck a little cam in there and put twin 2" systems. My ute was fairly stock with a blue 308 and had twin 2" and got commented on how good it sounded all the time. I thought the 308 was the carby and when they went injected in the VN it was a 304?

vl came with 304 to satisfy racing regulation i think bringing the engine capacity to just under 5 litre.

have you thought of changing your diff ratio? just by changing ratios gives the impression of a power increase. you could slot in a vl n/a6 or turbo6 diff which has a 3.45 ratio helping your take off.

Quote: Originally Posted by XSV355 vl came with 304 to satisfy racing regulation i think bringing the engine capacity to just under 5 litre. This is correct. group A racing regulations at the time brought the 5ltr in just to big so the vl was a factory 4.9ltr 304ci. I also agree with hot308vb in regards to diff gears. the other cheaper option is put in a cam a couple of sizes up and like a 2.5" exhaust. If its a stock cam thats around 428 lift. when i first bought my calais i put in a 448lift crane cam being 2 sizes up and with the pipes and extractors it had a nice little growl and went ok...not a race engine but much better than it was. crane do that in a 'blueracer' cam now which is only about 200 dollars http://www.cranecams.com.au/caminfo/holdenblue6987.htm you will need new lifters which you should be able to buy a stock set for about 60 dollars. other than that id maybe yank your heads, have them and the valves all cleaned and re-assembled with new valvestem seals and valve springs. The edelbrock manifold is a good manifold. the only other big letdown will be your carby. if you get the rochester blueprinted (up to 600 dollars) theyre a great carby, otherwise i would suggest buying a 600 holley vac (should get reasonable one secondhand for around 150 bucks and have a kit put through it which is probably about 130 dollars). and all up you will have a bit more power and she will sound better and rev a bit easier for around or just under a grand. much cheaper than vn heads, 700 dollar manifold to suit etc etc etc. besides, unless you do a full engine rebuild and start putting big performance gear on it your gonna break it...the engines 20 years old now.

thanks alot for im put i have a few grand to spend on engine just wann aget a few idars of ppl Thanks