deankxf

somehow missed last weeks update, 

radiator looks much better in black, you've been doing very well to get all the little things sorted and back on the car, well done indeed!

good luck on the first drive, make sure the simple things are done prior (i've driven off with radiator hoses loose, and loose wheel nuts etc before after a long time project. )

15 minutes ago, CHESTNUTXE said:

x file or not ? the bolt that holds the spare wheel in a std GL is smaller in length than say a xe ghia ,my 14x7 hotwire does fit in the well,but the bolt wont reach even tho the wheel is in the correct way with it facing backwards to give more room on the offset of the mag to fit,but wait a 15x7 snowflake fits ? or is it the offset of the snowflake that lets the std bolt go in all the way ? really moulder your bolt is that long.

ghias had a longer bolt

1 hour ago, IVC434 said:

Does anyone have a recommendation for the best adhesive to reattach it to the windscreen again please? 

@SPArKy_Dave has a preferred one,

i think the glass could do with a bit of sandpaper in that spot, like get a piece of 240 grit over your thumb and twist a couple of times after scraping the old glue off. same for the metal part..

i've had some take a chunk of glass out when being removed, they'd been stuck on so well. 

2 hours ago, Panko said:

So with today being a bad omen for me, I refuse to go anywhere on this day every year. I’m not kidding, I have previously even taken a day off work if its during the week so I don’t need to leave the house. 

that's what My cousin did, had an near death car and motorbike accident a year apart on the same date or very close to it, didn't go anywhere that week the following years. (i wonder what that date was, it was around this time of year)

 

2 hours ago, Panko said:

On the flip side, I went and spent a good chunk of money on it during the week, picking up new underlay come sound deadener. 

that sounds like what the LTD/Ghias etc had back in the day, 

as bear said, any progress is progress. doing well just getting out in the shed even. 
who's doing the re chroming? any idea what that would cost assuming they don't need to fix dents etc. 
i wonder if the company would be better off shipping the un finished chromed stuff from china and finishing them here. 

1 hour ago, Adrian853 said:

Here’s what I’m thinking for the front;

 

King low springs KFFL-02

Koni shocks 82-1742SP4

Global West Negative Roll A-arms MNR-733

Global West eccentric lock kit Loc-2

Opentracker roller spring perches ORP-1001

SuperPro strut bush SPF2254K

@BGDAV fitted the global west arms and the eccentric lock kit for the lower control arms (awesome stuff) 

but the thing to be careful of, is due to the shelby drop the springs weren't relatable (eg, the king lows were like super super low or something, or higher i can't remember)

so BGDAV decided on going adjustable coil over that bolted in still using the global west arms and assume spring perches. (hopefully he'll pop in unless you feel like searching global west and BGDAV for the posts.  (in his XE) 

2 hours ago, Adrian853 said:

Please share your thoughts and experiences with different set-ups

is it an XA falcon? (from Australia)

if so, then it should have in to My understanding the same spindles as the later cars @bear351c may be able to confirm

if i had one, i'd go no lower than king lows.

get if they still make them KMAC camber bolts( the pre XE bolts are a smaller diameter and more prone to slip, depending on road conditions)
 

@SPArKy_Dave and I generally go for zero camber and 2mm toe in and caster i can't remember. 

good quality rubber bushes in everything other than nolathane sway bar bushes. 

stock sway bar should be fine i would imagine, i'd try it first. (i've never upgraded them, depends how you drive i guess, king springs are quite stiff and don't require a thicker bar, but Pedders are softer and they sell a thicker sway bar as a package)

that's My 2cents/pence? worth

5 hours ago, Searley said:

As for the ZG Fairlane _ _ and they are'nt small & light

i wouldn't be surprised if it's smaller and lighter than than AU wagon, and with less power. (6 cyl EA wagon would have been pretty similar in power and overall weight i reckon)

yeah that car yard did a lot of shonky stuff as with many at the time, rust? we can buff that out, grinder, bog paint. cross fingers it's good for a month or so

the other thing was the finance companies they dealt with, My mate due to no credit history, $4000 car with $200 trade in (they probably bumped the trade in value up and increased the sale price to get the finance through.. and was like $10k by the time it was paid off and the car didn't last the life of the loan ..(P plater plus abuse = trashed car in 12 months)

On 11/25/2023 at 11:38 PM, SPArKy_Dave said:

 

 

reminds me of normal x-series steering... @deankxf

 

When I drove the $300 Grandpa XF ute back from near Maldon, (in the dark and rain mind you), it was extremely taxing to steer.

Terrible even for an XF...

I wasn't comfortable going over 80.

 

A look over in the following days, revealed an idler arm with no bushing left on one end.

Some further investigation, showed it'd been off the rd for almost 10yrs!

 

 

My mates first car over 30yrs ago, a ZG fairlane bought from a car yard with RWC had stuff so rooted, it chewed tyres out on the front in very little time, and what we didn't know then would have been how to check what was loose or stuffed.
when you looked at it from the front, it was towed out and negative camber.. put it in reverse and back up 6 feet and the wheels would toe in and camber to approx zero.. 
you can imagine the driving experience of that one lol. 

7 hours ago, CHESTNUTXE said:

another x file is ,is the watts linkage the same between xf and xe ? i have heard there is a slight differance  in them.

I'm 99.99% sure they'd be same due to i used my XE ones in My brothers 1991 EB falcon, and possibly all the trailing arms too

1 hour ago, Searley said:

But on my "Bucket List" is to do "Thoms SOHC Mods" with another motor.

on My bucket list, is the moto sparkydave lives by.. keep it stock, and work on more important/enjoyable things  (you'd barely be able to enjoy the power of a stock EF these days if you were being a hoon, fuel prices and cops and the risk of breaking something else is always in the back of My mind)

5 hours ago, Searley said:

Hello Fordys, Something is reminding me of a saying  _ _ " Don't Give Up _ __Its Never Too Late!_ _ _ Something Will Turn Up _ _ Somewhere & Sometime"

an EF/EL engine is a direct fit to My understanding (change the intake) and air con bracket with your current one and bolt it in. 

does it need changing anyway? they are usually good for 500,000kms with a head resurface and reasonably well looked after. 

1 hour ago, Searley said:

Hi deankxf, I'm  Celebrating that today after many Moons I've finally found a Scanner that not only Fits the XH Socket But is Specifically made for the Ford XF XH and the E Series. Made by T.I. Performance for about $270. Yes there is a God!

EA EB ED EF EL Falcon Diagnostic Code Reader – T.I. Performance 2.pdf

wonder if that's the one @SPArKy_Dave has?

10 minutes ago, Searley said:

What fitting is that? Is that for an OBD1? 

no idea about scanners at all, but i do know many can work with other cars with a simple adapter (the one my mate used,  had about 10 adapters with it)

1 hour ago, Searley said:

Hello Fordys, Can an AU motor be fitted to an XH?? Is it straightforward? I suspect there are some important differences. Any Adivice & Guidance always Appreciated. Have a Good Happy safe & Sane Day.Searley.

I think in @Thom  Thoms 4.0 thread, it mentioned the air con pump won't fit with the XH log manifold(intake) 

sump is bulkier (alloy) and may require the front brace on the k frame moved also ? 
see if Thom replies,  he had similar in his XH once. 

1 hour ago, cisco said:

Some people have gotten the 200 crossflows really screaming them being a square engine or slightly over square when bored out. They are under rated I think.

SLY250 (slydog's ute) goes to 7000rpm with a heap of mods (250 crossflow)

i had an XE panelvan many years ago with a big cam that was a pig until about 2500rpm then hauled to 5500rpm(would been better with a manual and 3.45 diff)

yeah annoying with car ads, try selling one, just as annoying. 

i like the "tow and go" type cams, the old days the "upgrade" to a stock engine was fitting the EFI spec cam, it's slightly bigger than stock. 
worn timing chains make a gutless issue also, i have had GOOD stock crossflows back in the day (20+ years ago) anything these days with 250,000kms ish is likely due for a freshen up, but they do rattle away for another 100,000 without much fuss and even beyond 

26 minutes ago, cisco said:

The compression ratio in my XE went up a bit after 2 head removals over the years and just would not run without pinking unless I retarded the hell out of it. With that I have become accustomed to only using 98 octane fuel all the time. It actually uses less fuel on 98 but not quite enough to offset the cost. The added benefit of 98 is getting a cleaner burn.

yeah back in the day i did notice i got better economy from 98 by about the difference in cost, but i believe it's tunable to run on 91 if needed still. 

what i think could be causing the pinking is sharp edges on the head chamber, or carbon. (or just advanced too much anyway)

91 rattled it's head off in My ute which i advanced the timing heaps for LPG, so i had 95 in the tank for that reason., 95 seems plenty good if you can get it. 

1 hour ago, cisco said:

A couple of handy pages with specs for xe and xf. 

 https://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/falcon_XE_technical_specifications 

 https://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/falcon_XF_technical_specifications

 

You will see the pre unleaded XFs had a 9.35:1 compression ratio and then 8.7:1 for unleaded and the XEs had 8.8:1. I would think 9.35:1 is an ideal compromise for performance and economy.

yeah i'd assume 9.35 ish would be fine. 

interesting the efi which was quick by comparison had lower compression ratio than the carby ones. 

i'd just be saying to the engine builder, i want it to be happy on 91 with no issues. because paying for 98 or HAVING to use it can be a pain. 

1 hour ago, cisco said:

, bash the ceramic out of the catalytic so  it can breathe

I wouldn't bother doing that, it's not going to be a restriction that makes any noticeable difference. the cam and valve springs are the power limiters stock, 

the only reason i'd do it, is if i was sus that it was on it's way(rattling) and therefore it won't be a problem blocking the exhaust like i had twice in 20yrs (likely from going bush and hitting rocks with it)

you've probably heard the acronym KISS (keep it simple stupid) 
i prefer KISS (keep it STOCK stupid ) these days. 

1 hour ago, cisco said:

The 87 XF had a low compression engine and was the first Falcon to get a computer.

carby model? 

unleaded 1986 that came in, an EST computer in the kick panel. it didn't control anything to do with fuel octane to My understanding. 

they'll run on 98 no issue, but if it's more of a stock engine you are planning on with fuel prices these days i'd keep it safe to run on 91 anyway. even a GOOD mild crossflow won't be as quick as most new hyundais etc. 

i don't know the compression ratios that came out stock, but i'd imagine they vary a lot between the different models (crossflows in XFs ran to 1993 with carby and same computer in the kick panel) 

i'd bump it up slightly from stock for a bit of improvement with very little risk of issues on 91, speak to the engine builder, they may just say the bigger bore and reco will be enough to make it spritely again. 

1 hour ago, Searley said:

My next car will have a Steam Engine and a Coal-Fired Boiler. Ha-Ha.

yeah none of that makes sense to me above either. suffice to say i'm avoiding any of these "modern" cars built from 1993 onwards ideally. 

i 

any update @Searley 

56 minutes ago, 408WPN said:

Hey Guy's 

Howz it.. Touching base to query some excessive RPM on New buy I'm in the final stages of. 

87 XF Fairmont Ghia 408c, race car spec's on the new engine build, running a strong C4 trans & 8 3/4" 3.25 ratio diff but doing 4000 rpm at 100k. 

That kinda sounds like it sucks, what you reackon

sounds like you have a 6cyl tacho ?

and possibly 3.5 ratio diff

4000 definitely doesn't sound right (unless it has a massive hi stall converter also ?) 

even 4.11 diff ratio would only be about 3400rpm in my calculations

great to hear the exhaust went well, and sounds how you like it, i'm always nervous getting something new on that i hadn't heard before. 

can you chuck some rubber backed carpet on the grass/gravel for better traction and roll it up afterwards (use it in the garage for comfort even?) 

33 minutes ago, iamaelephant said:

Ok so I started getting into this in the weekend and I don't think it's happening with the steering box still in the car.

 removing the steering column was how i thought you would do it.

that would give you access (not needing to telescope the end)

unplug the wiper loom, blinker loom and ignition loom, and undo the 10? screws you probably cut your hand on undoing the rag joint bolts,  and the 2 or 3 under the pedal box and the column should come out (i haven't done it for 20yrs so check @CHESTNUTXE thread for a pic of it removed) 
might be doable then?

 

37 minutes ago, iamaelephant said:

will the ball joint come apart easily or am I in for a fight?

the way to undo these is to strike the drag link on full lock with the nut loosened(not removed, so it protects the threads when you miss)

or you can get wedge type separators for tie rods(size that will be) or ball joints

*I've never used them.

crap video i found with google to show how on a ball joint

3 hours ago, CHESTNUTXE said:

wtf is this dave.https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/175964237070?hash=item28f8492d0e:g:5bsAAOSw04ZjeFiX&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4P8RlggSmgV5%2FjYu2SqGREdLSPZlAmRI1StDYxniaFOxRpUsZkeZh22J9mNhdiVlW7SiJiccee65Huji6EAWz1X6S0z7rB0BHy53lRat6S%2BGEGaZZQb0HVOScnJ2vTUOiR7XPGSR6SQ9QXsx9Wg6yNXi5dhQmLxztrptfT2J0xQp5J8euunxy8mgl%2B17DYUFx%2B1x5Zwa93yrmULoJ%2B4Og1C0vg7zdr1RyjB6NGPwpnB74FDfp%2BXjOLEBBmu5K0TkmbboHbMI8w%2B7s8ASapPJ6h6ruejoerZhZAMLuQ%2FcwyIC|tkp%3ABk9SR8bqtcLqYg

looks on first glance like an XH spare wheel winch part but the number doesn't come up in google etc