Nath

Not that I've done it more than a handful of times but I always prefer getting someone else to work the pedal. At least that way I've seen myself that there's no bubbles. Not that it's 100% certain but I've never had to do re-do it yet... touch wood as I'm doing the XR8 brakes soon.

Hey guys, doing some pricing to see what it's gonna cost me to upgrade my AUI brakes to AUII ones. Got almost everything from the wreckers but figured by the time I get new bushes and ball joints and stuff I may as well just buy new arms with them already in there. Have a few options. Can get: New Nolathane ones @ 380 a pair. Don't really want to use these because of the bushes but I know it will be quality - ball joints are TRW I think. "Reconditioned" ones from ebay @ 315 a pair. Autolink? Advertised as genuine ball joints http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FRONT-LOWER-CONTROL-ARMS-TO-SUIT-FORD-FALCON-FAIRMONT-FAIRLANE-AUII-BA-BF-PAIR-/121591658639?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item1c4f6d788f New "JustCarParts" @ 280 a pair. Apparently they do all the taxi ones according to their site anyway... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ford-Falcon-PAIR-AU2-BA-BF-XT-XR6-XR8-Front-Lower-Control-Arms-LH-RH/180748193415?_trksid=p2045573.c100034.m2102&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20140410092834%26meid%3D9b2f555e29fc4d72a5f836b7b262797f%26pid%3D100034%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D8%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D201160495630 Random ebay parts shop @ 275 a pair. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ford-Falcon-PAIR-of-Front-Lower-Control-Arms-to-suit-AUII-BA-BF-XT-XR6-XR8-/121205292987?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item1c3865ffbb#shpCntId Any recommendations? I'm leaning towards the taxi ones. If nothing else I should get a lot of Kms out of them. Just thought it'd be a good idea to run it past you guys since there seems to be a lot of crap ones that break easily floating around. Don't mind ponying up for the good ones but I didn't really want Nolathane bushes in there.

That sounds unreal!

So we replaced the whole unit and he's still having dramas. The arms work but when you turn them off don't return back to the bottom position, they just get stuck. Is this a crappy unit or could something else be causing this?

Hey guys, the old man rang me up last night and says the windscreen wipers have clapped out on his BA Wagon. He says the motor seems to operate fine but the actual arms don't move, and thinks it could be a problem with the linkage or something. New ones are pretty expensive so if we can't fix it it's off to the wreckers for a new assembly. Anyone know if there's a common issue/easy fix for this?

Let me know how it goes, might get one myself. I'm actually re-locating my head unit to the centre console box this weekend because all the lights are giving me the shits and it looks really out of place. So glad I didn't do any butchery to fit it.

Something I was wondering - does ducting actually help for a carby application? I experimented with it a little when I first had the car on the road and it seemed to be more restrictive but I could be wrong. Let's say I've lifted the lid on the air cleaner, would the XF style intake ducting even do anything since it's probably sucking more air from the top than the snorkel? And for arguments sake, if the air cleaner was sealed, would the snorkel matter then? I get that the difference is probably negligible it's more the principal I was curious about.

Was that with the rubber seal or without? One thing I did notice when trying to tune my XD ages ago was that it actually did make a difference - was running lean and bogging down and raising the lid made it lean out more and bog worse. So I always thought it did make a difference.

Can't help you with the a/c but damn that's a nice looking donk. Giggity.

I agree with these guys. Same experience as bear, all Nolathane and regretting it. Anything that moves left and right, nolathane. Anything that goes up and down, rubber.

My two cents, having just done most of my bushes in Nolathane and regretting it a bit, is anything that goes left or right, do it in Urethane because tighter will be better (steering, sway bars etc) and it won't impact on comfort that much. Anything that goes up and down, do it in rubber because it will ride a bit softer. Unless you're taking corners at 130km/h I don't really see why the tiny increase in handling is worth the shittier ride over bumps and crappy roads.

Never understood why people have stupidly low cars. I keep hearing that it looks good but it just makes you look retarded when you scrape it, have to go over speed humps at 3km/h and can't make it up driveways without going sideways.

That's way too little clearance between the bump stops and upper control arm. I'd be putting the shitty rubber ones back in and cutting them in half. It's still gonna ride like shit but it won't be as back breaking as before. Looks like you have 2 problems, literally the same ones as I have - 1. It's hitting the bump stops way too early. 2. Those shocks are too firm so over the smaller bumps they don't compress and do their job. Cut the stops in half and change the shocks and you're golden. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but there's no really good reason to have Nolathane bump stops, it's not gonna make the car handle better, costs more and will make it slightly harder when the control arm does hit them. AFAIK all the bump stops do is stop the shocks bottoming out, since you have shortened shocks there's no need for full length bump stops. There's no disadvantage to cutting them, just try to do it straight (like the stock ones).

You'll definitely bottom out on the super low springs - I was hitting the stops with regular lows. Just cut the bump stops till it doesn't happen anymore. From memory I think i took about half off. Should get you over most speed humps and potholes without breaking your back. King springs are like 15% harder than stock too. Monroe gas shocks are shit. I have them in my XD and find they do stuff all over the smaller holes/bumps even though they're fine over speed humps. Every time I go over a bumpy section of road it feels like the screws are about to pop out of my dash. The shocks just require way too much pressure to compress. Gonna be swapping mine for koni's or something when I strip the car. I'd say put the stock bump stops back on (no reason you need Nolathane really...) and cut them until it stops bottoming out. But it will probably still be a shit ride regardless with those shocks.

Pfft just don't shift any higher than second

Legit question... Does anyone with a clevo powered anything EVER drive sensibly? I know I wouldn't.

I'd be interested to know as well... Anyone know if the TRW ones have the same issues?

Since I'm starting to gather parts for when the XD gets taken off the road, figured it might be a good time to start a thread here to ask all my retarded I-Haven't-done-this-before-please-unfuck-my-shit questions. Would appreciate any points in the right direction I can get from you guys. Anyway so, the point of this is, that I want to put a warm crossflow in, and I want to do as much of the work myself as I possibly can. Reason is mostly for simplicity, cheapness of parts (compared to clevo bits), and the fact that if I grenade the block or just generally make a mess of it, I can buy a new one cheap, transfer the bits and start again. From what other guys have said, 200hp sounds like a good figure to shoot for. Any more than that I'm just gonna consider a bonus, but if there's stuff I can do for easy HP above that then I'll definitely do it. My thinking is, I'd rather have bottom end and head work as a priority. Leaves me somewhere to go if I want to go chasing more power later on. Easier to buy better stuff to bolt on a good block than it is to rip it apart later on because all the good stuff is on there already. If at all possible I'd like to use the original 3.3 block. I know it'd be a bit more work than doing a 250 initially, but it'd be nice to keep a matching numbers car. Would be a shame if I grenaded it but at the end of the day it probably doesn't matter that much other than it being a shame. Having said that, if you guys reckon it'd be heaps less of a stuff around to start with a 4.1 then I'll definitely take it into account. I'm planning on picking up a 4.1 block for bits anyway so at the end of the day it doesn't make much difference. Thought I might use a build Stumps suggested to me as a base. Turning the 3.3 into a 4.1 would be pretty sweet, could be a screamer with the 200 rods. So for now, this is the build, and if stuff changes I'll update it. Block bored 60 thou, decked and line honed Full balance ARP rod bolts fitted 200ci Crossy Rods w/ 4.1 crank New oil pump (not high volume, not needed) Camtech CT142 528(a) - 230 degrees @ 50 thou cam Comp ratio 10:1 Oversized valves fitted Heavy duty valve springs 3 angle valve grind Ported and polished head Aussiespeed 2 barrel manifold 44mm IDF weber Carburetor with adapter MSD 6AL2 programmable ignition Pacemaker Headers and 2.5 inch exhaust Other stuff: Heavy duty alternator E series thermo fans T5 Manual box 3.23:1 or 3.45:1 LSD Out of the stuff on that list, I've already lined up the manual conversion, a set of 6-3-1 extractors, and have the MSD ignition on my desk. Got an EFI alternator and starter (not sure if different starter) to handle the extra strain. Thermo fans are cheap and easy from the wreckers. Manifold wise, Stumper's ported manifold with a spacer and a carby spacer is actually really good, but if an aussiespeed one is needed that's fine. It was also suggested I might look into using an EFI head for the better valves and chambers (will buy an EFI spare motor if that's the case) I know speed is just a question of money, but seeing as I have a fair bit of the gear already, I can splurge a bit more on the block itself. I may know someone who could hook me up with the machine work, so that's pretty sweet as well. Having said that I wouldn't want to go too far north of 4-5k on the engine (obviously less if I can get away with it but that's the limit). What do you guys reckon? Also if anyone has some recommended reading material about crossies, that'd be pretty good too. I'm sure I left something out of that build... Can't think of what though.

Glad Im not the only muppet that asks them haha

No luck with finding a set of Scorpion roller rockers.Anyone have any idea how much they normally go for? Street Terras are like 500 give or take... Seen Scorpion sets for clevos, I vaguely remember hearing they fit crossy as well. 3-4 hundred.

I'm happy for it to be reasonable at a few things. More fun that way.

So do I. Even though it's already decided feel free to keep talking about different setups... I'm learning a lot.

Cheers dude, at the end of the day I was kind of expecting that exact situation - doing anything for the first time is usually a soup sandwich. Everything is pretty much decided already I'm just ordering and waiting for parts this week, then deciding on exactly what's happening machining wise. Stay tuned for the "does this look right? Please unfuck my engine" thread.

I think it may be worth the extra stuff around of getting pistons to suit a boosted application and getting all of the compression from head work. That way later on if I decide to slap a turbo on it it's a head swap, cam change and turbo kit. On the plus side... I start a new job on Monday. The money is pretty good so I might have some extra to blow on the engine.

Waiting for parts! Pretty keen to get some spanner time in. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=homer+simpson+waiting Think I might try and clean everything up tomorrow (especially the head) and get it all as spotless as I can. Not much but it has to be done eventually anyway.