01-01-04, 06:40 GMT+10#1
This is Brian's RB20DET powered VL which has been in his family since brand new.
The VL you see today has gone through many changes. Brian's Dad bought the car brand new in 1987. It was a stock SL with an automatic gearbox and Calais instrumentation cluster. It had the naturally aspirated 3.0 litre engine. Other factory options included colour coded bumper bars, HDT rear spoiler and SS Grille.
11 years later Brian took ownership of the commodore with big plans in mind. Over a period of five years, the following modifications have taken place. The objective was to build a neat clean car with a bit of power.
This is the order of how things have progressed with this car.
Brian bought the original VL Group A SS front spoiler off a friend who wrote off his car. He also took ownership of VK Calais side skirts. Bought two sets of wheels, the first being 15� CSA and the second set, which he still has on, are the 16� Speedy wheels with 225 rubber. Soon after having the spoilers and side skirts painted and fitted Brian was unfortunately involved in a car accident that was not his fault. The other driver was not insured, but offered to pay cash for the repairs. The quote came to a whopping $3,200.00. Brian took the opportunity to respray the entire car and pay the difference. The original Blue factory colour still remains as Brian likes it, and now the car looked a treat.
Brian then modified the suspension and shocks at HDT Revesby. The car was now sitting approximately 1.5 � 2� lower than standard, and the handling improved remarkably. Also fitted was a 2.5� exhaust from the cat back, but it did not make much of an improvement in terms of power gains. Over a period of time the gearbox started to slip. The car was taken to my mechanic and to Brian's amazement, a full rebuild was in order. It was at this stage that a MX7 5 speed gearbox was fitted since he had plans to turbocharge the car and Brian always wanted a manual anyway. 6 Weeks later he got his car back!
You may remember the huge hail storm in Sydney in the late 1990�s. Unfortunately he was caught in the middle of the storm with no where to hide for cover. Brian was not a happy man at all... This resulted in the car being sent back to the panel beaters for repairs as the car was smashed up by mother nature. A new bonnet, boot and door mouldings were required and a full respray was performed once again. Next was the stereo. A Pioneer CD player and CD stacker were installed along with 2 x 6� pioneer speakers in the parcel tray and 2 x 4� Sony�s in the front dash.
After a couple of years contemplating how Brian was to turbocharge the current engine, he decided it was cheaper and easier to install a VL turbo engine. After doing some research, most of the VL turbo engines he came across had travelled well over 150 to 200K and were going to need a rebuild some time down the track. This is when Brian started to look at the RB20DET and RB25DET engines from the Nissan Skylines. The more he researched these engines the more he felt like they would be the perfect replacement for the standard N/A engine. Working on a budget, he decided to purchase the RB20DET. Brian sourced one at an import wrecker and they had several to choose from. The one he bought had the original computer, harness, air flow meter and dump pipe and it had travelled only 65K kms. Next was an intercooler. A JZA70 intercooler was sourced from the Supra 2.5 litre twin turbo. It was 55cm long, 36cm high. Perfect for the job. Brian then took the engine and the car to his mechanic to get fitted. A Redline Rampod air filter was also fitted to help the engine breathe better. Two weeks later the car was transformed. The car was producing 152 rwhp running 7Psi boost.
After driving the car for several months he decided it was time to up the boost by fitting a Turbosmart Dual Stage Boost Controller and while he was at it, a Turbosmart Stage II Blow off valve was also fitted. The lower boost setting is at 9Psi and the high setting is at 12Psi. A new 3� Mandrel Bent exhaust was fitted from the turbo back finished with a 4.5� S/S muffler.
Brian says next on the list of things to do is to replace the diff with a LSD unit with disk brakes. The current diff can not handle the power, which equates to massive wheel spin in first and second gears. DBA cross drilled brakes will also be fitted at the front. From there? Who knows... but you can be assured it will be something bigger and better along the way.
(c) 2003 www.calaisturbo.com (http://www.calaisturbo.com) Pics and Info from Brian. Edited by sin.
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
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