Commodore Picture Archives

So the VL Calais was tracked down, and Sash got involved in the business of figuring out exactly what sort of look he was after. It was always the plan that the car would end up wearing a body kit, but there are a lot of fibreglass kits around to choose from.

The Aero kit looked almost perfect, with the exception of the rear bar, so the next job was to track down a set of the panels. At the time that the kit was being developed, Peter Brock's HDT was not on the best of terms with Holden, and as a result, development of the kit was the responsibility of Peri Integrations. This all made the job of finding the parts a little more tricky for Sash, but was nowhere near enough to put him off the idea of building the car. The original kit was purchased, with a Group A rear bar instead of the Aero piece, and work began.

With the car parked at home in the garage, it was time to get rid of the old paint and prepare the body for the new panels and paint. "There was a bit of rust around the sills and the rear window, which is pretty common on VLs, but apart from that the body was pretty good." said Sash of the bare shell. He did all the body preparation and body kit fitting himself before towing the car down to the paint shop for the next step.

Even though Sash is a boilermaker by trade, he does a bit of work for Koras Smash Repairs in Wollongong in his spare time, so it was only natural that this is where the car would go for the new Spartan paint covering.

A bit of tinkering with the motor was next on the list, but the basic internal components were in good condition so there was no need for a complete rebuild. A Crow cam was substituted for the original and the computer chip was modified by Chip Torque in Queensland to get the most out of the new cam, while a 2 1/2" mandrel-bent exhaust system was also added.

Sash was keen to add water injection to the induction end of the motor, so he set about building an appropriate system himself. He manufactured a pressure vessel system which is force-fed by the turbo. This results in no flow at low boost, rising appropriately as the motor's pushed harder. Methanol can also be run through this set-up to give the 3.0 litre Nissan engine even more punch.

The car was recently strapped down on a dynomometer to try and get a power figure at the rear wheels, but the dyno spat the dummy before an accurate number could be taken. The test did reveal that boost was running at 14lb at 4,500rpm, but the power figure could only be estimated at 180kW at the back wheels.

Working back towards the driving wheels, a Centreforce clutch sits in front of the MX7 five-speed box, rebuilt by Driveline Gears. Further back, the stock 3.45:1 LSD has shown itself to be reliable and solid after 102,000km, so it won't be replaced for a long while yet.

GTS style wheels -17x8 are shod with 235 Falkens, and stop the car convincingly when the cross-drilled disc brakes come in to play. The original FE2 springs are still in place, but Koni adjustable shocks sit on each corner now, offering variable suspension settings to enable the precise set-up of the car.

The interior has been assembled to enhance the already comfortable Calais appointments. A pair of Recaro Designer 2000 fronts seats have been retrimmed to match the rear bench, but now sport the Aero logo embroidered across them. The stereo has also seen a major overhaul, with a Kenwood system replacing the old unit, and a ten stacker sitting in the boot along with the 250W amp.Seven by ten 240W speakers sit on the parcel shelf, while four inch splits with tweeters are used up front.