SPArKy_Dave

I have no idea what you're talking about..........

Me?........ never!...... But I do enjoy pointing out the natural gutter instincts, this forum brings out in the good folk on here....... They literally don't even know they're writing it.

Man, this thread is even dirtier than the eye candy thread......... (might have to do some post censoring.... )

If you take the cam to Clive, at Clive Cams in Ferntree Gully, he can run it on his cam profile mapper for $100.00, and then give you a print out of what the specs are. I had that done for two standard cams - a 91DA and a 94DA.

Yeah, that'd be the seam I was thinking of. Didn't they paint the A pillars? I see rust on it.

The C Pillar trim above the rear window, should have rubber washers on the threads, before they are bolted to the car. The windscreen might not be sealed properly - I had that issue, and found the cause to be a join in the A pillar. The A pillars have a factory overlapping join, under the chrome trim and usually the glass sealant covers it. If the glazier hasn't added enough sealant, it can be partially exposed, letting water in. On mine, it was very hard to see the gap - it was miniscule, but yet it was the cause of all the water in the passenger footwell. My water leak, was tracking in behind the seal too, just like yours. Take the A pillar trim off, both inside and out, and have a really close look.

TRW are a shadow of their former self. It's just a brand name now. Sankei 555 were never TRW, but they mirrored the original TRW ball joint design. Roadsafe used to import the 555 balljoints - BJ94/BJ75 and 555 tie rod ends - TE548/TE549 They stopped that a few yrs ago, sighting a lack of demand. The 555 componentry has awesome build quality IMO. I have a small stockpile of it, from before they became impossible to find. I have tried contacting 555 direct, but they never return any emails. The genuine Ford Motorcraft steering parts, aren't much chop either, these days....... nothing like the old TRW componentry. - they seem to be made for Ford, by a mob called the 'Central Steering Corporation'. There is a seller on ebay, selling TRW ball joints.......... however, they're the modern day version. But yes, most of the stuff on ebay, is cheap and nasty. Austral Distribution, make the 'WASP' brand of steering components. They seem to be quite reasonable from all appearances. They are greasable, with a castle nut/split pin. Even the parts Rare Spares carry, are nothing like the original TRW parts.

Because of the suspension design, the x-series lower ball joints last forever. (provided the dust boots stay in one piece) The uppers usually flog out every 100,000km's or so - as they take all the pushing and pulling suspension loads. The L/H front upper, (curbside) will often be worse than the R/H front upper. The inherent design problem, isn't helped one bit, by the chinese pig-iron steering componentry, which is all that seems to be available these days, for our x-series.

Anyone notice, that OP's upper ball joint pic, shows it's still the riveted one? (ie, original, never been changed) How many KM's on the XG ute?

You freeze the bearing, and warm the alloy casing to about 100 degrees. Bearing should almost drop straight in then.

Motospecs can supply the new roller top - part no. A50280RM - branded as 'Newcom', where the 'Kirby Bishop' writing was. Newcom Industries Pty Ltd, is the Pedders parent company, and who make the Pedders springs, rebuild their steering componentry, etc. http://www.newcomindustries.com/ The Newcom roller top, also comes as a part of the Motospecs full steering box rebuild kit - part no. GSB-3021 Before they were available, I got some bush tops retrofitted with a bearing, by searching the Timken catalogue at Bearing Wholesalers. The existing bronze bush, needs to be machined out on a lathe, and the recess where the bush was, needs to be center bored to open it up slightly. The bearing I used, was a Timken full complement torrington race needle roller bearing, part no. 32208. http://www2.timken.com/timken_ols3/Bearings/GST/WEB_GST2008/GST_BrgSrchDataPlus.asp?BrgMainType=TRB&BrgSubType=TS&Cone=33208&Cup=33208&Series=33208&PNum=33208&Unit=false&BrgImage=Images/TRB-TS.bmp&DataPlusStr=0.36::1.68::40::80::32::143::37.1::144::321.5::51::47::2.8::2.4::25::1.5::70::76::-10.9::9.316::6.684::2.898::0.4178::0.5822::-::&DataPlusStr1=&DxfFileStr=8350**37100**1.63**5120**22800**32200**143000**1.61**0.73**1.5748**40**3.1496**80**1.2598**32**1.2598**32**0.9843**25**0.06**1.5**0.06**1.5**14500**64700 http://www.timken.com/EN-US/products/bearings/productlist/roller/needle/Pages/drawncup.aspx The Newcom roller top, is NOT a full complement torrington race bearing. The bearing is branded NTN, with a part no. of SCE 208A Full complement, means that each roller abuts the next roller, all the way round the bearing.</p> Caged needle roller (torrington) bearings are cheaper, and have half as many rollers - which are spaced apart by a plastic insert (cage). I have a NOS Ford top, which came from the factory with the torrington race bearing, (they were obviously being fitted at a later stage - XG?) - Part no. XA3580AKT. It's branded 'Kirby Bishop', and has a full complement torrington race bearing - with an outer cup part no. B208 (could be timken branded) It must be a late production item, as the wording and finish of the top, is very average - hence the sand casting mould must have been very worn out. The Newcom tops are cast very tidy, so they must've purchased and refurbed (or copied) the mould, then rebranded it too. Interestingly, the four bolt holes are tapered holes. BUT...... the holes in the Kirby Bishop top, are tapered with smaller opening on the inside, and larger on the outside. Whereas the four bolt holes on the Newcom top, are tapered opposite - with the larger end on the inside. One of them, has had the holes cast from the opposite end - ie, one top has been cast in a mould facing up, and the other, cast facing down. How (or if) that would affect the fit, I dunno. We'd have to compare it with a couple of tops, off some non-rebuilt steering boxes, to get the best two out of three or something. On both tops, the holes are cast as part of the mould, they're not drilled afterwards. Note the awesome quality control with the NOS Kirby top, in the last pic......

Came across this thread on xfalcon.com........ I hope they get made! http://www.xfalcon.com/forums/index.php?/topic/40865-xe-front-lip-spoiler/

What weight oil, did you put in it?

Yeah, sometimes you may still need to run that shallow XF spacer, with the groove for the canceling cam. Sometimes not. Seems to depend on the Boss Kit brand, and the era when it was originally cast/made too. (the fit seems to get dodgier as the boss kit moulds get older I think.)

That's way wrong^^^^ Get the right boss kit, and you don't have any plastic spacer there at all. SAAS BK132 is what you want (or MOMO equivalent boss) - specifically suits the column shift XF's, and all XD/XE columns.

Uncle Tone's Landau restoration on the Australian Ford Forums - http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11360627

So, I've been drooling over all the fancy Mustang suspension setups available in the USofA, much of which will potentially suit our x-series. Ultimately, I'd like to upgrade the stock setup on the XG ute, to make it something special. There's quite alot to choose from. I'm thinking of tubular upper and lower arms, and the adjustable rose joint Caster bar kits. Also......... to Shelby/Arning drop or not?........... Keen to know peoples thoughts...... what would YOU choose and why? Here are just a few links - http://www.globalwest.net/1967-1968-1969-1970-1971-1972-1973-mustang-front-suspension-parts.html http://www.opentrackerracingproducts.com/products/ http://www.opentrackerracingproducts.com/idlerarm/ http://www.totalcontrolproducts.com/ http://www.totalcontrolproducts.com/upper_dropped.html http://www.mustangsplus.com/xcart/Mustang-Upper-Control-Arms/?page=2 Some other cool info - http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=13541 http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/chassis-suspension/mdmp-0810-mustang-fords-performance-suspension-guide/rear-suspension.html http://www.drgas.com/pro-motorsports http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=411834 http://dazecars.com/dazed/drop.html http://mustangforums.com/forum/classic-mustangs-tech/510290-grab-a-trak-suspension.html http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-73-Ford-Torino-Fairlane-Comet-Facon-Mustang-Ranchero-Spring-Compressor-/121313254908?_trksid=p2054897.l5669 http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/classic-tech/176284-mustangs-plus-grab-trak-suspension-questions-overall-suspension-qs.html http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/vintage-mustang-forum/738042-1-sway-bar-installed-who-knew.html

Get em to re-metalise your XF headlight reflectors while you're there. You won't know yourself....... they'll be like brand new.

I've got some NOS ones kicking around. In fact, I've got a NOS set of the LTD tail lights themselves. When I first got them, I was surprised......there's a million separate pieces to them when they're not assembled. So many lense sections.

and this -

Not mine of course, but I like these -

We definitely need to let them know that not only are the six cylinders worth catering for with decal kits, but also the entire XF model range! There's nothing quite like an engine bay with smick factory decals, and freshly gold/silver zinc plated bolts!

Column Auto XD, is a red plug from memory.

The decal probably varies auto to manual too.

I need a set of those black plastic wheel nut covers. They're proving exceedingly hard to find. XF steel wheels under the hubcaps, are just the same as the XC Falcon 500 steelies, but painted black not silver. The XF GL steelies, even have the flanges to clip on a metal XB/XC dog dish hubcap. Same goes for the 14 inch EA/EB/ED GLi wheels. Steve, maybe you got an EF/EL diff? They had the larger rear calipers from memory. What brake pads do the calipers take?..... that'd tell you. XH's stayed with the smaller EA/ED rear calipers too. XH's had 14'inch 's-pack' steelies up until 1997. 1998-99, XH's had the 15 inch silver painted EF/EL chaser wheels. Those 14 inch 'S-pack' wheels were called 'Sports Styled Wheels' and were an option even for non s-packs too. My XE sedan was factory optioned with them. Shows the line item on the original dealer purchase receipt I have for the car.