VL BT1 V8

[ultim8m]

Now the cars looking half decent thought i should post up some details

1987 VL BT1
304 V8
Shift Kitted Trimatic
Lowered
Pacemakers
Calais front end and seats
HBD XU6 Wheels
Calais Taillights

Basically Picked it up looking pretty bunky all white and sitting on pursuit rims

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/100_2297.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/100_2299.jpg

Straight up had it tinted in 20% and serviced

Managed to get hold of some XU6 wheels for a decent price

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/100_2367.jpg

and then had the bottom half painted and fitted chrome door handles so this is how she looks now

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/IMGP9018.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/IMGP8964.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/IMGP9006.jpg

Picked up some calais taillights on friday night has cleaned up the rear end a little just need to get the centre garnish now

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/100_1097.jpg

No pics of the interior or underbonnet because they both look like shit at the moment

the exterior is pretty much where i want it now, so will start on the motor as budget permits for now it will just be a new carby, plugs, leads, tune and minispool before powercruise then will work on getting bigger cam, vn heads highrise manifold etc aiming for 350-400rwhp

let me know what you think obviously its nothing special or quick yet but she does a decent skid and has plenty of potential

[Sandy]

Looks to be in awesome condition for an 87, well done.

[Jordans15]

:yum: looks decent mate thumbs up

[VT SS]

potential for sure ! not a huge fan on the rims but a improvement over the pursuit rims !

[31-EVO]

:boink: needs vl hdt rims, k go

[ultim8m]

yer ive had mixed opinions on the rims, might have to try some others

[Gr3mlin]

Looks in bloody good nic......well done

[900]

i like the rims - there's a +1 opinion.

[31-EVO]

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong they look fine on the car, but I just heart VL HDT rims is all :) Local workshop owner down my way had them on his VL ' EVIL HDT' and it looked very nice.

[DanWA]

Ill swap you some VZ SS rims for the XU6 rims!

[vzls1]

i would be running chasers on that man and needs to be lower.

[ultim8m]

hmm ive looked at vz ss wheels but i think the lines are too sharp for what i want and.... i work in a car yard so i can swap whenever :) thanks for the offer though

[ultim8m]

i would be running chasers on that man and needs to be lower.


I didnt like the chasers on it made it look bunky and too many vl's with chasers

definately needs to be lower but ive already got problems because its got a one piece tailshaft it hits on the floor when i have people in the back as it is thinking about going back to a 2 piece

[thrtytwo]

rear lights look in good nik, nice job. most of them you see on cars are farked and faded

[ultim8m]

rear lights look in good nik, nice job. most of them you see on cars are farked and faded

yer the ones that were on her were faded and looked shit, was pretty happy to find the calais ones especially cause they were cheap cheap :D

[AGIT8D]

I've got VX SS wheels :)

PM me if you want em

[kirbo]

You got through cars like BLAAA does punishing the females.
Tidy, look forward to seeing before/after engine shots.

[ultim8m]

lol yer short attention span :P i get bored easily

[Sandy]

I've got vy ss rims LOL
PM me if interested

[ultim8m]

lol the yard i work at deals with commodores mainly :P vy vz ss, clubsport etc etc i got options for swaps whenever i get bored :P

[ADZR8]

nice car mate

get sum 18's on it perfect size for a VL

[mitchy]

I didnt like the chasers on it made it look bunky and too many vl's with chasers

definately needs to be lower but ive already got problems because its got a one piece tailshaft it hits on the floor when i have people in the back as it is thinking about going back to a 2 piece

thank god for that..
i have no idea what the big facination over pursuit rims is, they look FUCKING GAY, especially all the sikunts with late model SS's and pursuities

it looks great 2 tone as well.. something about that era of car's and 2 tone paint just works so well.

[[RX2]]

looks 300% better with the silver 2 tone !

[ultim8m]

haha thanks, was pretty happy with how it came up. cant wait to get some more power out of it now

[ultim8m]

UPDATE: Fitted my new carby (600 Holley) last week and had her tuned, really really dissapointed with the power output only made 151hp atw, my mechanic said he thinks my cam might be screwed so will be putting in a new cam and histall in a few weeks. also havent done plugs and leads yet so going to do that this week i'm hoping that will bring it up a little bit.

pics of engine bay and dyno sheet

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/100_2509.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/dyno2.jpg

currently working on tidying up the engine bay too, I have a new washer/overflow bottle on its way and will be getting some now rocker covers, and thermo fans.

[family guy]

could ya use a vn or vp v6 radiator and thermo. should slide into the factory rad mounts just the hose locations? but a big single thermo with out to much work. otherwise ford twin thermos

[VT SS]

yeah but those have big gay shrouds least say au fans will sit nice and close and pretty much flush with the radiator and take up less room so less clutter instead of big gay shrouds hahaha

[Lasoya]

was ur original pic with rims taken at kwinana tyrepower? lol

[ultim8m]

yer most likely going to go with au thermos modified to fit,

and yer kwinana tyrepower lol just around the corner from me

[Fusion]

Have a look at the Ford Mondeo thermo's. They are a bit smaller then the AU fans, but I have found them to be a better fit.

[ultim8m]

do they still push as much air??? and which mondeo new shape or old?

[family guy]

yeah but those have big gay shrouds least say au fans will sit nice and close and pretty much flush with the radiator and take up less room so less clutter instead of big gay shrouds hahaha

u can trim down the shrouds, and would slot straight in, thinking cheap cheap:wave:

[Bakerboy]

they have twin thermo kits on ebay for vl's dont know how good they are here's the link http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Commodore-VB-VC-VH-VK-VL-V8-Turbo_W0QQitemZ390080657882QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_C ar_Parts_Accessories?hash=item5ad29e79da&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[Fusion]

do they still push as much air??? and which mondeo new shape or old?

They push a little less air then the AU's, from memory about 2" smaller, but had no issues with keeping a VC cool running a 355.

Was around a 2000 model mondeo according to the wrecker, best to measure your radiator then head down to a wrecker and just compare widths, find which one suits best. The EL/EF also had twin thermo's, flow rate similar to the AU but different width again. I know one suits VB-VL better and the other is suited to later model (VN-VS). It's just been a while since I did one, so can't remember which way it was.

[RICEY]

Car looks sweet but its going to cost you a lot of money to get the horsepower you want with that engine..

[ACTIV8]

350-400 with std stroke ur dreaming.. a big $$ stroker motor will make that tho but ur better of dropping a ls1 into it.

[RICEY]

My VN had 15k spent on the engine made 300rwhp
My VZ had a tune only, everything else stock, 300rwhp hahaha

[ACTIV8]

yer ricey i remember a run against u along time ago id spent around the same and gotten about 300rwhp too

[RICEY]

Who won I cant remember haha

[ACTIV8]

was side by side the whole time. Dont think my cars seen a cruise for about 5years lol

[Passage GT]

Car looks sweet but its going to cost you a lot of money to get the horsepower you want with that engine..

can buy a nos kit for about 800 bucks
cheap horsepower haha
god i hope my ute makes more than 150hp
pretty clean calais though, hope you get some grunt out of it dude

[RICEY]

was side by side the whole time. Dont think my cars seen a cruise for about 5years lol

Sweet I can live with a draw haha

[ultim8m]

UPDATE New rims, new cam, new lifters, springs and pushrods, new waterpump, thermos fitted tranny cooler fitted.

still not huge power but sounds a lot healthier and runs a lot nicer

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/dyno.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/imgp9092.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/WALL.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/100_2882.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/100_2883.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/ultim8m_photos/vl/100_2886.jpg

[ITGRIPS]

big fan of pre VN Commodores, especially VL's....... i miss my old one!!!

it's a shame i can't see pics ( stupid work computer ). what power did you end up with after cam etc??

[thrtytwo]

191.4 hp

[ITGRIPS]

191.4 hp

cheers

[ITGRIPS]

UPDATE New rims, new cam, new lifters, springs and pushrods, new waterpump, thermos fitted tranny cooler fitted.

still not huge power but sounds a lot healthier and runs a lot nicer

what cam did you end up with? i reckon the next thing you should be looking at would be heads and inlet manifold. std VL heads aren't really that great.

[DanWA]

Congrats on getting it running sweet again mate.

Being Bt1 it should already have the larger "l34 style" valves.

Getting close to the power rating of my first car (blue bt1), i managed 239rwhp and a 13.3 with the stock manifold/carb, changed cam/rockers/shift kit/custom tailshaft/3.55's

[thrtytwo]

Congrats on getting it running sweet again mate.

Being Bt1 it should already have the larger "l34 style" valves.

Getting close to the power rating of my first car (blue bt1), i managed 239rwhp and a 13.3 with the stock manifold/carb, changed cam/rockers/shift kit/custom tailshaft/3.55's

Nice 1/4 for that power. Can u remember ur 60ft ? Also any idea of the weight of vl ?

[DanWA]

It was a pretty decent 60ft from memory, i'd still have the slip somewhere in 5 years or paper crap.

The BT1's are quite light as they never had power steering/aircon etc, bit lighter then a factory SL. 1250kg is the basic SL weight.

[thrtytwo]

Shit ey. That's light. My car is 1380kg from memory. I thought ur run sounded quick :P

[ultim8m]

cant remember what the specs of the cam were will have to check on monday, i know it was the biggest he could fit without putting in a hi stall at the same time, he said that i could probably get more pwer with a different carby apparently the 600 is holding me back

[ITGRIPS]

Congrats on getting it running sweet again mate.

Being Bt1 it should already have the larger "l34 style" valves.

Getting close to the power rating of my first car (blue bt1), i managed 239rwhp and a 13.3 with the stock manifold/carb, changed cam/rockers/shift kit/custom tailshaft/3.55's

they have the bigger valves but the ports are too small. i've compared my HDT "B" casts to a set of big valve VL heads and the valves are the same diameter but the ports of VL's are heaps smaller.

[ITGRIPS]

cant remember what the specs of the cam were will have to check on monday, i know it was the biggest he could fit without putting in a hi stall at the same time, he said that i could probably get more pwer with a different carby apparently the 600 is holding me back

my vk is putting out 230rwhp with a std Rochester on the std GMH manifold. rochesters are a very good carby. dont discount them

[DanWA]

Yeah this is why i stayed rochester on mine to, they are much better then a 600/650 Holley. 191 is nothing to worry about yet, change diff gears to. 3.08 are crap.

[ultim8m]

yer definately want to change diff gears, what would you reccomend just 3:45's or go straight for 4:11s,

so i'd be better off getting the rochester that was on there rebuilt and finding someone to tune it then buying a 650dp?

[ITGRIPS]

yer definately want to change diff gears, what would you reccomend just 3:45's or go straight for 4:11s,

so i'd be better off getting the rochester that was on there rebuilt and finding someone to tune it then buying a 650dp?

personally i'd stick with the Rottie, i bought one new from Auto One in Bunno a few years ago for around $400. not sure on cost of rebuilding.

diff gears depend on what you want to do, 3:45's, 3:7's or 3:9's .

[DanWA]

3.7's would be the go can still go on the freeway

[reNEGade]

Love the new wheels on the VL. But still reckon you need a hair dryer under the bonnet. Seeing as your making under 200hp from a 5L V8.
Could you use the R31 pintara 4.11 diffs like VS commodores?

[ultim8m]

sweet i'll look at getting mine rebuilt i want to do a bit of drag but still have it street driveable i live in kwinana and work in maddington so need to be able to cruise on the freeway reasonably comfortably every now and then

[DanWA]

Yeah if you're going 4.11's get pintara gears, thats whats in my skid pig