Hi, I recently bought a VK Commodore, 4 spd manual, calais badges (some have been stolen from the car), has been sprayed to look like a calais (bit dodgy cause it isn't the original calais silver). I am pretty new to cars, have only had my licence for 3 months since i turned 16 and a half, so I wouldn't know to much about whats in the car. It came with and alarm, gas system, sports steering wheel and mags (kinda sh*ty) for $1300. Sounds like the exhaust may have had something done to it cause sounds alot more beasty than my other vk. So basically I've started this thread to see if anyone could help me with suggestions for modding the car, mechanically and visually? On my to do list I have already thought about: Getting new Calais badges New Mags (Ideas for mags that will look good? Prefer 17") Lowered (How much should it be lowered for 17" mags?) Interior is Blue, would like to change it to VL baige or grey Extractors (not sure on prices?) New Exhaust (2.5"?, 3"?) Will eventually get a sound system A better air filter system Wouldn't mind getting a repray of the white, and having the silver at the bottom either changed to the same white or original calais silver, but unsure of what prices I would be looking at? Maybe a Tacho So is there any other mods I should be thinking about? Especially mechanically? Thanks for any help I recieve. Below is a link with a photo of what the car looks like as I bought it. http://au.geocities.com/ggho5t_200sx/myvk.jpg

what motor does it have? is it a 5L? is it the olld carbie 3.3L (i think) or an injected?

Yes its a the old 3.3L carbie

honestly, it's hard and a waste of money to mod that motor, you picked it up for $1300, i would spend another $1000, and get a 5L dropped in. You can find them prety cheap, even look for a smashed VH-VK 5L and buy it (they go preety cheap) and everyhting will be their ready for a conversion. Or If you feel like being different get a VL turbo motor put in...

Yeah sounds like a good idea. I was looking at putting in a VL motor, I've seen a few VL turbo motors in the paper for around $1500. My mate said it cost him $500 to have the motors swapped when he had his RB30 put in. Dont really have $2000 spare at the moment yet though.

As said, ditch the 202, drop in a 5'er, and header + 2.5" mandrel exhaust, trans jobby, cams...should have a decent package...

first thing to do is get rid of the gas system. not only will ur car go better on fuel but u'll also have room for subs in the future.

drive this car around till you save up abit more then buy something better

moved to other cars section.

You can get good power out of the 202. Have a look at the LJ XU1 it had, I think, 150kw which is the same as a VL turbo... Quote: Originally Posted by brettw Hi, I recently bought a VK Commodore, 4 spd manual, calais badges (some have been stolen from the car), has been sprayed to look like a calais (bit dodgy cause it isn't the original calais silver). I am pretty new to cars, have only had my licence for 3 months since i turned 16 and a half, so I wouldn't know to much about whats in the car. It came with and alarm, gas system, sports steering wheel and mags (kinda sh*ty) for $1300. Sounds like the exhaust may have had something done to it cause sounds alot more beasty than my other vk. So basically I've started this thread to see if anyone could help me with suggestions for modding the car, mechanically and visually? On my to do list I have already thought about: Getting new Calais badges New Mags (Ideas for mags that will look good? Prefer 17") Lowered (How much should it be lowered for 17" mags?) Interior is Blue, would like to change it to VL baige or grey Extractors (not sure on prices?) New Exhaust (2.5"?, 3"?) Will eventually get a sound system A better air filter system Wouldn't mind getting a repray of the white, and having the silver at the bottom either changed to the same white or original calais silver, but unsure of what prices I would be looking at? Maybe a Tacho So is there any other mods I should be thinking about? Especially mechanically? Thanks for any help I recieve. Below is a link with a photo of what the car looks like as I bought it. http://au.geocities.com/ggho5t_200sx/myvk.jpg

if u wanna keep the 202 u can get it as fast as modern commodores for less then people think, aftermarket intake + 350 holley or triple carb set up(SU's, strombergs etc). Cam (www.crowcams.com.au (http://www.crowcams.com.au)) extractors and exhaust set of lower diff gears (3.45:1 or around there)

as stated earlier dont spend anything that you dont have to, save up and get what you want as conversions & paint jobs dont come cheap unless you can do alot of the work yourself . look out for ads "unfinished project" generally 80% of the work is done & someone has run out of $ so you can get them at a lot less than it would cost you to do , remember "POOR MAN PAYS TWICE" hope this helps. cheers Martin

Yeah, im driving this car around til my bank fills up a bit more to get either a v8 VL or a VL Turbo. But either way once I actually have all the money its gonna be impossible for me to get insurance at my age. I thought I would make this car a bit of a project for me since this is basically my first car (except for the other vk i had which some stupid bitch drove into me), to see if I can actually make the car look nice! Also to give it a bit more power. Will probably on spend higher amounts of money on things I can take off when selling the car (mags/stereo system).

heh. i have a VK calais, with the 5.0l. wanna get rid of it cos i find driving it, the bank empties more than it seems to fill up. damn fuel prices.... oh and the 5 litres of engine. cant forget that insurance and registration are a bitch as well. steve

the 202 will suck fuel like nothing else, a 253 sucks just as much or less than the 202 and it sounds better, goes harder and its an 8. but if you were to put in a RB30et then that would have it in over all of them.

i got a V8 VK 4 spd man......i'm 17 just got my licence like 2months ago......u can get insurance hey it's not that hard.....i got comprehensive cover u just gotta shop around a bit......it's annoying and time consuming....but in the end it's worth it for when stupid idiots smash into u.....but yeah for your car make it look decent and sell it to some young guy who doesn;t know anything and think he'll look cool driving a commodore.....thats what i did with my old VK

I would save for another car. eg.vl turbo or the likes. It will be worth the wait dude.

Yep dont repair what you dont have to, dont sink money into a car you own, when you will always pine for a vl turbo. No matter how much you spend on the VK you wont be completely happy until you own the car you want and can reasonably afford. Patience young Padawan, use it as a cheap to run daily driver (keep it on the gas)

thanks for all the help, i think Modesty has got the right idea, so Im gonna make it look decent, have it lowered maybe, cheap mags, exhaust tip, extractors only extra under the bonnet....cheap stuff that can be done but will atract buyers. Not sure what I would be able to sell it for though???? Then sell it once I've saved up a few grand to buy a VL, hopefully a nice calais (want a VL turbo or a VL V8 but still unsure whether anyone would insure me). Quote: Kingyvl I would save for another car. eg.vl turbo or the likes. It will be worth the wait dude. Yeah, I just wish I had more paitence. I had no choice at the time of buying the car cause I needed to be able to get around (didnt have much cash to spend either since my other vk got written off) but now i can keep saving the cashish and use the vk just for a run-about (hopefully sell it before another di*k drives into me).

Yes will people learn how to drive please....whats it with VK and crashes....i just got my new one and some idiot nearly smashed into me in the car park..... Ne way if it looks smart you'd be shocked at what u can sell it for hey....i had a car pretty much the same as what u got....did a lil bit of tarting up not much tho sold it to some guy who just got his licence and thought a commodore would make him pick up chicks....there are a nieve buyers out there