Project Car / Motorbike thread. Let's see 'em.

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
Enter the bogan. Ha, I've owned this hsv enhanced 1991 VP Calais since 2004ish, much to my wife's disgust (and persistent pressure to sell). First thing I did, like every other early/mid 20's male with a V8, was put in a twin 2.5 inch into 3 inch exhaust. Its pretty loud haha. Has 151,000 km on it. Has the 180kW engine pack, HSV body and suspension kit, and 16x8 wheels.

Drove it for a few years before its issues got too much and I parked it up in a shed in 2008. There it sat until around 2017, when we moved house and I was forced to get it going again. I tried to sell it in 2008 but had no bites. Interest in these was low.

Anyway, gave it a service and fixed up the issues and have started driving it a couple of times a week, reliving my early 20's haha and marvelling about the early 90's totally shit build quality and how far cars have actually come in that time. I'm getting an average fuel consumption of over 20 L/100km and all the pensioners at Kenmore Village shopping centre give me filthy looks. And my 6 year old son actually likes the "noisy" car now, which pisses wifey off. Bonus haha.

Dragged out of shed after nearly 10 years

View attachment 378134

Cleaned up and regoed

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View attachment 378137

View attachment 378138

View attachment 378139
New Wife Time

Mine keeps pressuring me to get the Kingswood going, zero appreciation for how many resources it takes to do that.
 

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
Enter the bogan. Ha, I've owned this hsv enhanced 1991 VP Calais since 2004ish, much to my wife's disgust (and persistent pressure to sell). First thing I did, like every other early/mid 20's male with a V8, was put in a twin 2.5 inch into 3 inch exhaust. Its pretty loud haha. Has 151,000 km on it. Has the 180kW engine pack, HSV body and suspension kit, and 16x8 wheels.

Drove it for a few years before its issues got too much and I parked it up in a shed in 2008. There it sat until around 2017, when we moved house and I was forced to get it going again. I tried to sell it in 2008 but had no bites. Interest in these was low.

Anyway, gave it a service and fixed up the issues and have started driving it a couple of times a week, reliving my early 20's haha and marvelling about the early 90's totally shit build quality and how far cars have actually come in that time. I'm getting an average fuel consumption of over 20 L/100km and all the pensioners at Kenmore Village shopping centre give me filthy looks. And my 6 year old son actually likes the "noisy" car now, which pisses wifey off. Bonus haha.

Dragged out of shed after nearly 10 years

View attachment 378134

Cleaned up and regoed

View attachment 378135

View attachment 378137

View attachment 378138

View attachment 378139
Faaaaaaaaaaaark yes. So much want.

Also bonus feature you can drown out all the interior plastic noises while moving by applying more engine.
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
Enter the bogan. Ha, I've owned this hsv enhanced 1991 VP Calais since 2004ish, much to my wife's disgust (and persistent pressure to sell). First thing I did, like every other early/mid 20's male with a V8, was put in a twin 2.5 inch into 3 inch exhaust. Its pretty loud haha. Has 151,000 km on it. Has the 180kW engine pack, HSV body and suspension kit, and 16x8 wheels.

Drove it for a few years before its issues got too much and I parked it up in a shed in 2008. There it sat until around 2017, when we moved house and I was forced to get it going again. I tried to sell it in 2008 but had no bites. Interest in these was low.

Anyway, gave it a service and fixed up the issues and have started driving it a couple of times a week, reliving my early 20's haha and marvelling about the early 90's totally shit build quality and how far cars have actually come in that time. I'm getting an average fuel consumption of over 20 L/100km and all the pensioners at Kenmore Village shopping centre give me filthy looks. And my 6 year old son actually likes the "noisy" car now, which pisses wifey off. Bonus haha.

Dragged out of shed after nearly 10 years

View attachment 378134

Cleaned up and regoed

View attachment 378135

View attachment 378137

View attachment 378138

View attachment 378139
Ooh, its even got IRS - fancy!

Doubt you'd have trouble selling it these days.
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
I think this was the first generation that came with it. Might've got a wider track too (or that might've been the VR)
Yeah, VP was the first. And no, it was very narrow track and very prone to tramp on hard launch and toe issues ;) VR got a minor tweak to track i think, VT certainly did and VX was when they finally got off their lazy arses and put the toe control links the original Opel sourced design was supposed to have from the start.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
They still tucked in and could let go nastily. No idea how I know this. VE sorted it with a complete redesign. HSV variants were better but not perfect.
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
They still tucked in and could let go nastily. No idea how I know this. VE sorted it with a complete redesign. HSV variants were better but not perfect.
The design worked fine in Peugeots and BMWs... I'd happily have the GM version though in a Lotus Carlton :)
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
Enter the bogan. Ha, I've owned this hsv enhanced 1991 VP Calais since 2004ish, much to my wife's disgust (and persistent pressure to sell). First thing I did, like every other early/mid 20's male with a V8, was put in a twin 2.5 inch into 3 inch exhaust. Its pretty loud haha. Has 151,000 km on it. Has the 180kW engine pack, HSV body and suspension kit, and 16x8 wheels.

Drove it for a few years before its issues got too much and I parked it up in a shed in 2008. There it sat until around 2017, when we moved house and I was forced to get it going again. I tried to sell it in 2008 but had no bites. Interest in these was low.

Anyway, gave it a service and fixed up the issues and have started driving it a couple of times a week, reliving my early 20's haha and marvelling about the early 90's totally shit build quality and how far cars have actually come in that time. I'm getting an average fuel consumption of over 20 L/100km and all the pensioners at Kenmore Village shopping centre give me filthy looks. And my 6 year old son actually likes the "noisy" car now, which pisses wifey off. Bonus haha.

Dragged out of shed after nearly 10 years

View attachment 378134

Cleaned up and regoed

View attachment 378135

View attachment 378137

View attachment 378138

View attachment 378139
Not a lot went wrong with them to be honest, a rough ride they were, but reliable. Great to see one still going in good condition and not on the scrap heap.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
The design worked fine in Peugeots and BMWs... I'd happily have the GM version though in a Lotus Carlton :)
Now you are speaking from another orifice. The semi trailing design suffered the same issues in BMWs, I had a couple a few years apart. Load up the outside wheel and the inner tucks in, when the outer is unloaded, slides or straightens, the inner unloads in a hurry and unsettles the rear. You can drive around it but should not have to. Additional links and stronger bushes help but the basic design fault is there. Easiest way I know how to reverse out of the carousel at Lakeside. Guess Puggets didn't go fast enough to explore this.
 

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
Now you are speaking from another orifice. The semi trailing design suffered the same issues in BMWs, I had a couple a few years apart. Load up the outside wheel and the inner tucks in, when the outer is unloaded, slides or straightens, the inner unloads in a hurry and unsettles the rear. You can drive around it but should not have to. Additional links and stronger bushes help but the basic design fault is there. Easiest way I know how to reverse out of the carousel at Lakeside. Guess Puggets didn't go fast enough to explore this.
Wasn't that the issue with the E36 Compact and Z3? People expected them to drive like other 3 Serieses (i.e. well) but they used an ancient trailing design to save money?
 

MasterOfReality

After forever
New Wife Time

Mine keeps pressuring me to get the Kingswood going, zero appreciation for how many resources it takes to do that.
I'm actually re-assessing if I want to keep it - it takes time to fix stuff but its time I don't really have!

Faaaaaaaaaaaark yes. So much want.

Also bonus feature you can drown out all the interior plastic noises while moving by applying more engine.
Oh yeah, it rattles and squeaks like nothing else. Torsional rigidity of a mattress! The plan was to strip the interior down, apply Dynamat everywhere, and felt backing on all trim surfaces that touch. See how that goes.

Ooh, its even got IRS - fancy!

Doubt you'd have trouble selling it these days.
12,000km out of set of rear tyres ;)

Had a few offers now.

Not a lot went wrong with them to be honest, a rough ride they were, but reliable. Great to see one still going in good condition and not on the scrap heap.

Yeah I can't even recall the last time I saw any VP in decent condition.

A few months ago I tried to chase more info on the car. The HSV build plate has a weird stamping for the model. HSV had no idea, they said we can see the car in our records but have no clue what the stamped model number means. I put it up on a few facebook groups and got a massive wtf, then multiple requests to sell. Turns out HSV were pretty sloppy in their record keeping, and quite a few special order cars or prototypes were quietly sent out the door with unusual model names/stamping on build plates.

Who knows!
 

creaky

XMAS Plumper
Enter the bogan. Ha, I've owned this hsv enhanced 1991 VP Calais since 2004ish, much to my wife's disgust (and persistent pressure to sell). First thing I did, like every other early/mid 20's male with a V8, was put in a twin 2.5 inch into 3 inch exhaust. Its pretty loud haha. Has 151,000 km on it. Has the 180kW engine pack, HSV body and suspension kit, and 16x8 wheels.

Drove it for a few years before its issues got too much and I parked it up in a shed in 2008. There it sat until around 2017, when we moved house and I was forced to get it going again. I tried to sell it in 2008 but had no bites. Interest in these was low.

Anyway, gave it a service and fixed up the issues and have started driving it a couple of times a week, reliving my early 20's haha and marvelling about the early 90's totally shit build quality and how far cars have actually come in that time. I'm getting an average fuel consumption of over 20 L/100km and all the pensioners at Kenmore Village shopping centre give me filthy looks. And my 6 year old son actually likes the "noisy" car now, which pisses wifey off. Bonus haha.

Dragged out of shed after nearly 10 years

View attachment 378134

Cleaned up and regoed

View attachment 378135

View attachment 378137

View attachment 378138

View attachment 378139
Sell that now !!
It is amusing the build quality of those commies now but still worth heaps at the moment.
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
Now you are speaking from another orifice. The semi trailing design suffered the same issues in BMWs, I had a couple a few years apart. Load up the outside wheel and the inner tucks in, when the outer is unloaded, slides or straightens, the inner unloads in a hurry and unsettles the rear. You can drive around it but should not have to. Additional links and stronger bushes help but the basic design fault is there. Easiest way I know how to reverse out of the carousel at Lakeside. Guess Puggets didn't go fast enough to explore this.
ok fine - worked better then ;) Pug 504 and 505 were very long travel and softly sprung, very different set up and I never had any of them do anything untoward...
 

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
It's a Kingswood. Jumper leads from the nearest running vehicle, splash a bit of fuel down the carb, turn key. There - it runs. :p

Steering and stopping might be more involved.
Time proven formula :p. If you're careful you can pour fuel down the float vent pipe of the Stromberg and the rest takes care of itself.

Was firing it up in the presence of my brother one day. He was getting all mechanicy and was trying to tell me it wouldn't fire because the battery was too weak and was drown.....

I couldn't hear the rest over it barking back to life :D
 

ForkinGreat

Knows his Brassica oleracea
Enter the bogan. Ha, I've owned this hsv enhanced 1991 VP Calais since 2004ish, much to my wife's disgust (and persistent pressure to sell). First thing I did, like every other early/mid 20's male with a V8, was put in a twin 2.5 inch into 3 inch exhaust. Its pretty loud haha. Has 151,000 km on it. Has the 180kW engine pack, HSV body and suspension kit, and 16x8 wheels.

Drove it for a few years before its issues got too much and I parked it up in a shed in 2008. There it sat until around 2017, when we moved house and I was forced to get it going again. I tried to sell it in 2008 but had no bites. Interest in these was low.

Anyway, gave it a service and fixed up the issues and have started driving it a couple of times a week, reliving my early 20's haha and marvelling about the early 90's totally shit build quality and how far cars have actually come in that time. I'm getting an average fuel consumption of over 20 L/100km and all the pensioners at Kenmore Village shopping centre give me filthy looks. And my 6 year old son actually likes the "noisy" car now, which pisses wifey off. Bonus haha.

Dragged out of shed after nearly 10 years

View attachment 378134

Cleaned up and regoed

View attachment 378135

View attachment 378137

View attachment 378138

View attachment 378139
if the Calais isn't your daily driver, you could check out having a club permit rego for it. Much cheaper, I've heard. Not sure about the max # of days per year you are allowed to drive it though...
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
I'm actually re-assessing if I want to keep it - it takes time to fix stuff but its time I don't really have!



Oh yeah, it rattles and squeaks like nothing else. Torsional rigidity of a mattress! The plan was to strip the interior down, apply Dynamat everywhere, and felt backing on all trim surfaces that touch. See how that goes.



12,000km out of set of rear tyres ;)

Had a few offers now.




Yeah I can't even recall the last time I saw any VP in decent condition.

A few months ago I tried to chase more info on the car. The HSV build plate has a weird stamping for the model. HSV had no idea, they said we can see the car in our records but have no clue what the stamped model number means. I put it up on a few facebook groups and got a massive wtf, then multiple requests to sell. Turns out HSV were pretty sloppy in their record keeping, and quite a few special order cars or prototypes were quietly sent out the door with unusual model names/stamping on build plates.

Who knows!
A mate of mine went to order parts for his Walkinsaw and the body number didn't match the build number. It was actually No1 Walkinsaw that was stamped No3, apparently No1 was ordered by someone important and wasn't ready, so they swapped the tags on it with another car. So it wouldn't surprise me one bit if numbers are incorrect.


Be careful posting anything that can identify the location of the car because it will be worth 3 times its value in parts than a complete car.
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
Enter the bogan. Ha, I've owned this hsv enhanced 1991 VP Calais since 2004ish, much to my wife's disgust (and persistent pressure to sell). First thing I did, like every other early/mid 20's male with a V8, was put in a twin 2.5 inch into 3 inch exhaust. Its pretty loud haha. Has 151,000 km on it. Has the 180kW engine pack, HSV body and suspension kit, and 16x8 wheels.

Drove it for a few years before its issues got too much and I parked it up in a shed in 2008. There it sat until around 2017, when we moved house and I was forced to get it going again. I tried to sell it in 2008 but had no bites. Interest in these was low.

Anyway, gave it a service and fixed up the issues and have started driving it a couple of times a week, reliving my early 20's haha and marvelling about the early 90's totally shit build quality and how far cars have actually come in that time. I'm getting an average fuel consumption of over 20 L/100km and all the pensioners at Kenmore Village shopping centre give me filthy looks. And my 6 year old son actually likes the "noisy" car now, which pisses wifey off. Bonus haha.

Dragged out of shed after nearly 10 years

View attachment 378134

Cleaned up and regoed

View attachment 378135

View attachment 378137

View attachment 378138

View attachment 378139
Did you pull a sick cunt ya burnout? Yiew!

The boat scrubbed up well! Sometimes it’s best not to look too closely at mileage on a toy car cries in petrol 75series cruiser.
 
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