My other love!

**Kiwivan** · 09-11-2010, 03:40 PM

My wife brought this in Perth in 2005,I spent 5 years restoring her and took it to the Nationals.To say it won would be an understatement.It is an HDT Calais sport wagon.
I spent more than 2500hrs on this,That is not including paint work or the engine build.

Cheers Kiwivan

**ozbox** · 09-11-2010, 05:26 PM

very nice and very rare...

**HK1837** · 09-11-2010, 06:47 PM

5.0L?
I saw a 5L Holden Calias the other day and thought to myself "that'd have to be pretty scarce". A HDT version would be even rarer I suppose.

**Kiwivan** · 09-11-2010, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by HK1837

5.0L?
I saw a 5L Holden Calias the other day and thought to myself "that'd have to be pretty scarce". A HDT version would be even rarer I suppose.

Yes this one is the 4.9 V8,One other has the 5.6 litre engine.Paper shows that this was hdt's own car.We have all of the paper signed by PB himself.This one we did a full restoration,right down to a NOS wiring loom.

Cheers Kiwivan

**commodorenut** · 09-11-2010, 07:18 PM

And here's it's slightly older (by 6 cars!) sister - the only other VL Calais Sport Wagon, which just made it back onto the road after 5 years.
I didn't go as far with my resto as Marty did (mine's all under the skin & in the mechanicals - except for the scuttle/screen rust repairs).

--- Updated ---

Originally Posted by HK1837

5.0L?
I saw a 5L Holden Calias the other day and thought to myself "that'd have to be pretty scarce". A HDT version would be even rarer I suppose.

Even though the badge says 5.0L, and the capacity was 4987cc (304ci) HDT continued to call the 304 the 4.9L to differentiate it from the earlier 5044cc 308ci motor.

My car has the HDT 5.6L stroker option in it (346ci). It runs an overbored block, but it's not clearanced like the 350/355 strokers need. The pistons are 327 chev pin height, and they are fitted to regular A9L (VL Group A) conrods. They **just** clear the bottom of the bores. There are many conflicting reports as to what made the 5.6L - one media source in '87 claimed it was an offset ground crank, with small journal cleveland rods used, however I had mine stripped right down, and it's definitely A9L rods in it, running standard size journals. The crank has a Harrop stroker style counterweight cast onto the rear flange, but it's not a Harrop crank. There are no markings, no casting dates, nor even part numbers in the crank itself.

**wbute** · 09-11-2010, 07:47 PM

Sounds like a special crank cast specially. What did they use in the other stroked Brock engines like the Magnum ute?

**commodorenut** · 09-11-2010, 08:10 PM

The Magnum super-ute (the white one) is also fitted with a 5.6L stroker, and was done later than my car, so it would be safe to suggest it should have the same components in it.

You could option the 5.6 into any V8 HDT in '87 & '88. Here's a 5.6L Bathurst for sale at the moment: http://www.musclecarstables.com.au/details.php?id=482

**HK1837** · 09-11-2010, 08:57 PM

Mick

I knew they called them 4.9L but I just used 5.0L to distinguish from the Nissan hand grenade versions.

Did the 5.6 litre versions have a different engine number prefix to a regular HDT VL 304 engine?

If they used 327 pistons they are probably machined to keep them under the deck. Unless the small amount less stroke to make 346ci (I assume this is at 4" bore?) keeps the 327 piston at the right deck height? This would explain why the rods just clear.
Is it possibly a cut and shut LJ Chev crank with the big ends ground down to Holden size? It'd probably be obvious if this is the case though as it'd have a Cleveland like thrust cap on one of the inner bearing journals.

Edit, read the link above. Using 30 thou over pistons, stroke to get 346ci would be 3.39" so that puts the pistons 45 thou further down the bore so this probably explains the stroke (so special pistons weren't required).

Also the link shows the engine prefix as VJ, so just a standard VL block.

**Kiwivan** · 10-11-2010, 04:25 PM

Ours has the Group A front and Micks has the Group 3 front.I have to say his car is stunning in that colour.when I last saw it about 3 months ago he had a power of work to do to it.And he has done it.
also his has 245kw engine(is this correct?)where ours is just the baby 196kw.The rear bar HDT did for me about 4 months ago as the original one was removed for a tow bar,As you can see HDT had a Sport wagon 20 years before holden had theirs!