macman

Nostalgia, some level of originality, engineering/licensing considerations, emissions considerations and the logistics of keeping a non EFI car not EFI (additional wiring, fuel supply etc). You could say "why would anyone think of restoring a ZK Fairlane AT ALL when a nice BF Fairlane can be bought for less than $10,000." No one ever said car enthusiasts were motivated by fuel efficiency or whether their project is economically a good idea. We do what we want...?

I've considered one myself a few times, they seem excellent. Did it fit into the original mounting bracket without too much mucking around? Were you able to use the original fascia and knobs as well?

Sadly they weren't just put there intentionally to look messy, funnily enough they all have a function You can start blocking things off (as someone did on my XD) but then things stop working! I can't think of any that I'd recommend removing. But I would recommend referring to a factory workshop manual or diagram to make sure everything's where it should be and then some clever routing and some cable ties or conduit can make things look a lot tidier.

Yep, been there recently also. Replacement water pump and the thread for the four small pulley bolts were different. Who'd have known, pretty frustrating at the time

When I did mine I saw no way other than removing the A/C compressor bracket. That said, I know there's a couple of variations of the mounting bracket (probably depending on whether it was factory fit, dealer fit or aftermarket? I had to unbolt the compressor from the bracket, and then unbolt the bracket from the block before I could remove the water pump.

You don't need to plug them, nothing more than a residual dribble of trans fluid will come out (unless the line in the radiator tank fails and lets coolant through). But you can get plastic caps from Clark Rubber, push-in bungs that would at least make it look neat once the lines are disconnected/gone.

The more I look at your "broken" switch, I reckon you should carefully retrieve the guts out the thermostat housing and put the switch back together. I think that brass end just fits tight into the body, I don't think yours is actually broken, just separated?

In stock... No kidding, for $187 it'll be there a while I reckon https://www.justparts.com.au/parts-for-sale/ford-falcon-xe-ported-vacuum-switch-pvs-yellow-/JPW3972382 These things can be expensive!

Yeah always the way isn't it... It may be easiest to see if anyone local is wrecking an XF or similar to grab another second hand PVS? Other option is to buy a bung for now, block the vacuum tubes and see if someone can post you a second hand PVS.

Yeah I do the same, use whatever goop you're using. By the time you've coated both sides of the gasket , it's sticky enough to hold the thermostat for a few seconds while you plonk the housing into place. Also that yellow switch is a Ported Vacuum Switch (PVS) and they're really expensive to buy new. They are colour coded for what temperature they switch at so you need another two port yellow one. Yours is broken and has left some of its guts behind, jammed in the thermostat housing. As deankdx said, I'l also be tempted to carefully cut the old thermostat housing apart and see if you can retrieve that piece and perhaps it can go back together?

So amongst the masses of spare parts I have kicking around for disposal I have these two rear axles / differentials. First one was from an XE Fairmont Ghia (i6/auto) and is 2.77 ratio, limited slip and disc brake. Second one from a ZK Fairlane (v8/auto) and is 2.92 ratio, limited slip and disc brake. Both have been in the weather for roughly 10 years. Are either of these desirable ratio's? Usable for anything other than what they came out of? Do I bother asking money for them or will they be scrap? I just don't know if there's any demand for them as I guess E-series parts are the usual go-to, right?

Since this thread was created, there's a seller "Resto Country" who I've happily purchased items from in the past, wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experience in regards to the steering and suspension parts they now offer for our X-series? Specifically https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ford-Ball-Joint-UPPER-XA-XB-XC-XD-XE-XF-XG-Falcon-Fairlane-ZF-ZG-ZH-ZK-ZJ-ZL-x2/351418552391 and whether anyone has previously asked what brand or specs they supply? The price seems good, better than some others, but as we know from this thread, going on price alone is dangerous here. If no one already knows, I may ask the question directly.

Hopefully with everything going on at the moment, more time will be put into our neglected projects. Looking great there, love that green colour. I'm chiming in a bit late I know, but in regards to the hinges, in your photo with the hinges laid out on the ground, the pair second up from the bottom in the pic are the imposters.

I'd probably lean towards leaving it out too. And the smaller one on the passenger side. If I had needed to do an in-depth repair of the area, I'd have made some modifications to reduce the chance of water and muck getting trapped in there too. The drivers side one does look more like a strengthening brace, but it doesn't look to be relating to the wiper motor assembly or pedal box or anything IMO.

If the starter just clunks with 12v directly onto its terminals, try as @wok said and give the solenoid a knock with something solid. Gentle tap with a hammer or tap with a big spanner. My XD starter used to jam all the time so I'd jump out, give it a tap to free it up, jump back in and it'd be OK again. If that's the case, it can get you out of trouble for now, but new starter required long-term obviously. The Fairmont Ghia has so many small extras over the XR6 (Falcon) so I'm not surprised you have found it a much nicer car. Plush carpet, extra interior lights, felt headliner, much nicer dashboard etc etc. I love my AU Fairmont Ghia... Being 2002 yours would be a series 3 though, correct? They have the nice leather seats with cloth inserts and other small refinements.