OK GUYS I HAVE A VL CALAIS NA. Just want to put a 350 into her so wat has to be done????

you need to ring castlemain rod shop and ask for the conversion kit!!! they will be able to answer any questions you have about the conversion aswell!!! Good luck!!!!

because he is in AUSTRALIA and all... Depends on the laws in NZ i'd say, but maybe bigger brakes, reinforced chassis, stronger suspension?? Then theres the matter of actually changing the engine mount brackets for a 350, bonnet clearance....seeya in a year Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

NZ is accesable by phone and by mail last time I checked... And there is no need to do any chassis or suspension strenthening, brakes would be a must though (for your own saftey )...NZ are very leaniant with there modified cars!! Lucky ba$tard!!!! All you need to do is get yourself a VB-VN V8 engine cross member, they all bolt up. You would probably benifit with v8 king springs and shocks if your street driving or a softer 6 cyl spring for drag... up to you.... from here give castlmain a ring and they have a full conversion kit... starter motor conversion, pipes (block huggers), engine mount conversion and ALL!!! I think its around the $1200-1500 mark??? I think you guys are allowed to run carby's cause that rule of only going newer with engine type doesnt apply to you... if so a carby chev would be a good to put in!!!! Nolathane mounted engine plates are also good if your cashed up as they free up a bit of room down low!!! Then once you got that fitted up start to think about what your gonna put behind it!!! any fabricator can make up some turbohydro350 mounts to suit!!! there the smallest and lightest....Good luck mate!!! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

This interests me as the 350's are alot cheaper to build than 308's it seems. what are the laws surrounding this in Australia and how hard is the conversion

australia is a bit different to NZ.. we require engineering and everything. and it isnt as easy to do as everyone thinks.

in NSW which is where i am too we got it the worst... it has to be a small block and it has to be EFI to get it engineered or also i think you might be able to use carby but on Gas... your best bet would be the 350 or 305 chev TPI (Tuned Port Injection) they were in the camaros and stuff... and yeah.. heaps cheaper to build cause parts are in such abundance!!! I cant tell you how hard the conversion is with the castlmain kit casue I have only gotten the engine mount adapters to dummy fit the block to make up engine plates... id say they would have made it pretty straight forward though!!! Its got everything you need.. its great!!!

yeh but the power steering and air con are on the other side making it a tight squeeze.. make sure you use thermo fans too, no clutch fan fits

Quote: Originally Posted by Epitaph and it isnt as easy to do as everyone thinks. werd. Even putting a 308 in my tonner wasn't fun (being a blue engine and the mounts were built for red engines). We changed the sumps over and then spent hours playing with getting it in with the trans, getting all the wires hooked up properly...then timing, tuning etc etc.

Been to the cert guy, all i have to do is the cross member and that is it nothing else thats it. To turbo it i dont have to cert anything. its going to be cheaper to turbo it and maunal box it,, and more power??????????? heres a pic of my car,, its just on there to show wat the side shrits look like. http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/0...n-28067353.htm (http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/0001-0877-2752-2756-/auction-28067353.htm)

Seeing is believing...

Quote: Originally Posted by revelry Seeing is believing... wAT U MEAN???? wat u think of my car????

they r the same mounts for a red / blue motor just differ from commodore to HQ series , would have been best to put motor and box in as 1 unit ,

Would a na 5 speed bolt up and take the power of a 350?????????????

I doubt it. Toploaders do. Go auto and whack in a TH350 or TH400

wats every 1 think of my car its on the link above???

I mean that i'll believe all this when I see progress pics of it.

Kiwi , i was thinking u might be able to pull off the conversion but then u ask if a n/a 5spd bolt up and will handle a 350chev ?? changed my mind now !

Well yeah it would wreck the box but a na box is only round$200 4 one so who cares if go through one once every 6 months. This is nz. Wat otha 5 spd could i get 4 that type of money?????? So does every one think this could be done?? i know it would not be easy but up 4 a challage, but am i biting off more than i could chew??? would ibe able to pull this of by xmas????

Mate i think u need to have a sit down, grab a piece of paper, then throw some idea's on it, look at the one u'd most like to do, for your own reasons only, then figure out what kinda budget u'd need,then call up some PROFESSIONALS and have a chat. Im pretty sure a na 5 speed would get chew'd up much faster then 6 mnths, and in the long run, isn't it smarter to do the better and mildly more expensive option, which will be more reliable and much less annoying.