Heron's VK SL Build – LS3, TH400, Sleeper Style

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

Not I my list but I asked the tuner to go over the whole car to check it out, that was meant to include a fluid check on everything.

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

I reckon if they are the only two issues you get your have done bloody well.  When you add up how many little details jobs you have done, getting one or two wrong is just part of the game. and to be expected.

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

Cheers Gary, theres so much involved there’s bound to be some mistakes.

picking it up tomorrow morning from the exhaust shop and dropping it back to the tuners. Hopefully get it sorted so I can pick it up Saturday

[Anonymous View build HERE Member since: January 1, 1970 Posts: 0]

Ditto, I’ve been doing this shit since I was 13, 57 now and still get things wrong, anyone that says they don’t is a liar, just need to look how often F1 screws the pooch, they’re arguably the best mechanics and engineers in the world with insane budgets, you’ve done well!

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

Thanks Ian. As the saying goes, you learn from your mistakes, it’s part of life.

Picked up the VK this morning and dropped it to the tuner. Pipes look good, heaps of clearance under the car now. Plenty of room around the steering rack which will help with engineering. It’s actually pretty quiet when it is idling, roars a little on start up but settles down to a nice sound.

Starting to have a think about putting it back together, going to see if i can put some rivnuts in along the top of the guards so i can use some fancy allen key bolts to hold them on so it looks mint

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

Still hasnt been tuned. Spent the weekend painting the front and rear bars. Got three cans of MX Grey from Supercheap, ended up using just over two cans and did four coats, have enough left over to do the door moulds later on. Also gave it two coats of clear. Came up pretty good for a rattle can job.

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Sweet, might put that 0n the list to do on my VL…

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

Spoke to the shop today. Their mechanic is off with bronchitis this week. They’re trying to get another guy in but I’m not holding my breath. Going to make a start on the bonnet, have to strip it back to bare metal. Planning on using stripper on the top, but I’m not sure how to tackle underneath. Any suggestions?

[Judge1 FrazerParticipant new zealand1983 VB LSA MG9 6060 6 speed View build HERE Member since: February 5, 2016 Posts: 775]

Man the drama’s of building a car

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

Pretty much. I’ll reserve my judgement of the shop until it’s done and I see what the end result is like. I know things sometimes take longer than expected, but the communication side isn’t too flash so far

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Worth maybe getting it all media blasted?

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

VRSenator065 wrote:

Worth maybe getting it all media blasted?

i was looking into that but it can warp panels if it isn’t done properly. I had a look at the bonnet today. The paint underneath is in pretty good nick considering it’s age. Still has shine to it. A few rust spots here and there. I’ll clean the rust spots off and cover with etch primer, rough up the rest and it should be fine to paint. Going to take the top back to metal cause it’s heaps weathered and cracked. Bought some paint stripper, etch primer and build primer today, going to give it a crack this weekend.

also bought a can of cerulean spray paint off eBay to coat the dash and centre console.

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Nice. Yea when I had the Kombi blasted was told there was pretty much only one place to take it to that wouldn’t wreck it.

[daveParticipant daveVK, L98, tremec tko600 View build HERE Member since: March 6, 2015 Posts: 46]

When I did my Vk interior some of it needed touch up with cerulean and console I got was grey so had to completely do that. Got the cerulean paint code and took it down to local Paint Place and they mixed me up 500ml of acrylic  paint (which is apparently what was used originally). Gave it a test try and was not quite right so took an original piece of dash down there with the paint and they matched it up perfectly. Added a bit of flatener and I think bit more black and came out spot on.

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

Stripped the bonnet on the weekend. There has been some work on it previously, there was a fair bit of bog on the top, there are two spots either side of the centre that droop a little, i can push the sheet up from underneath but it wont stay, it drops back down. Took it all back to metal and used some filler to smooth out a few small dents, using the correct amount of hardener is a battle, the first batch was a fk up and cured way too quickly, the next two werent too bad. Smoothed it out as much as I could, sanded it down, gave it a clean and covered it in etch primer. Doesnt look the best at the moment, can still see heaps of fine scratches, just gonna take my time and give it a rub back and hit it with some hi fill primer, and repeat until it’s as smooth as I can get it.

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

Worth getting a better bonnet ?

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

sands vs wrote:

Worth getting a better bonnet ?

Probably. I’m running out of time to get the car ready, I already have the paint and the bonnet was only 100 bucks so I’ll see how it turns out for the time being. I’ll use it as a bit of a learning curve on body work. I still like reverse cowls so I might get one of the Group 3 style ones next year, that might help disguise some of the problems.

[Anonymous View build HERE Member since: January 1, 1970 Posts: 0]

Sounds like it needed a few heat shrinks before the filler, if it oil cans and flexes the filler won’t last..

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like it needed a few heat shrinks before the filler, if it oil cans and flexes the filler won’t last..

It probably needed someone who knows what they’re doing hahaha. I’ll see how it goes, I just want to get it together and looking somewhat decent for my kids formal in December. After that I can plan some more longer lasting work.

[Heron SSVParticipant Central Coast NSW2009 Pajero Exceed 84 VK SL LS3 View build HERE Member since: May 5, 2015 Posts: 585]

Spoke to the tuner, they  have one car they;re finishing off on the dyno then mine is going on. They have relocated the trans cooler lines, fingers crossed there is nothing left to do.

Any guesses on what it’ll make? I’ve seen VFII LS3 autos make around the 370-380 mark with similar mods (intake, full exhaust and tune), mine is through a TH400 with 3800-4000 stall, I think around the 350 mark would be in the region

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