Ive previously owned a couple of quick turbo cars, most notably a 430whp sr20 180sx which ran an 11.7 @ 121mph way back in 02, that was my last one though so something quick is well overdue. This build had started off as an XG build well over a year ago now but got put on hold due to life happenings, only to be recently resurrected, then finally a curve ball was thrown when i stumbled across this badboy at the auctions.
Now i have to admit it wasnt love at first sight. Initially all i saw was a dusty shitbox with dull paint, in the worst colour i could have though of, with disassembled poo brown interior. Having a few giggles i continued to look over the car with my old man and noticed the door trims were just off because of the busted door handles, and was actually in really good nick. Quick look at the ODO and showed 163000km, looking over it some more and there was minimal rust, and the dull paint looked original and quite thick still, and started to picture my current build concept.
36hrs later it was sitting in my driveway. Gave it a quick wash n scrub, and CT18'd the engine bay down the car looked completely different. Next on the list was to fix up the interior and get it functioning again. Turns out it was just a drivers inner and outer door handle, and passenger outer. No biggy. Was feeling pretty excited at this point because i could see it was going to clean up really nice, and with where i pictured the build going be something really different... something which is important to me.
Got the car up on to the hoist and got some nice surprises. Lots of nolathane bushes, relatively new shocks, and immaculate condition underneath. The car has been kept well serviced and was well looked after for the majority of its life. The car isnt registered yet but starts great and is a good sounding engine, so wins all round really.
The plan now for the car is to put all the good bits i had from my XG ute - A set of 20s, xg xr6 seats, au 3.45 lsd, grille, stereo, xr6 map pockets, and the cloth inserts for the arm rests + some other gear ive probably forgotten. The car is staying cream, and the interior is staying brown. The seats are going to be repaired and then retrimmed in the same cloth that the original seats were, and im going to avoid putting any other late model falcon parts like consoles/dashes/twin lights etc as theres no avoiding the fact that this is a big square 80s car and i think its best embraced rather than hidden, if not i would have bought an ED. Exterior wise its going to be cream and black. The wheels are getting powder coated satin black through a friend, the window trimmings, upper parts of the doors, black plastic stripe on front bumper and whole rear bumper are getting painted in a satin black also... with the windows going dark. Few other bits are getting painted in the original cream or satin black to tidy up the exterior a bit.
First job was to restore the paint as best as possible. Seeing as it was in really good condition and mostly if not all original i thought this was really important for the car. Subsequently I spent hours on the net trolling through marketing bullshit and eventually stumbled on this awesome guide on autogeek. Well worth a read... http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/25304-secret-removing-oxidation-restoring-show-car-finish-antique-single-stage-paints.html
Just doing the initial cleaning, using non-abrasive cleaners and all done by hand the results IMO are nothing short of amazing. Was really stoked how well the car came up and still cant believe it hasnt had any sort of cut/polish over it yet. Also while i was at it i couldnt resist dropping the 20s on. Sitting pretty high in the back but thats easily fixed with a set of springs i have sitting in the garage. Quite happy with how the front is sitting as i dont want another super low car, nor do i want clearance issues with the exhaust.
Now to the good part... drivetrain!
I had a few options in mind but the most likely path i was going down was getting a wrecked FG and dropping that in, running a turbo with low boost for a bit and backed with a built BTR. It has to be a daily and IMO its not a daily without AC and an overdriven gear. I had a megasquirt 3x i had built a while ago for the XG but then i got thrown yet another curveball when a friends ba 2 xr6 turbo with a t56 (which he sold a month ago) appeared at the auctions as a stat writeoff. Unfortunately for the new owner he'd peddled it into a tree smack on the passenger b-pillar in probably 2 or 3 weeks of owning it. We knew the car well as had worked on it. New mal wood clutch, atomic valve springs, 61lb injectors, intercooler, 4" dump, fuel pump and was making around 400rwhp. Also had a bunch of other goodies like 19s, bilstein shocks, new bushes all round, new discs etc all of which were not visible when you look at it. As they say in car ads, their loss is my gain and woddya know i won the auction, with this being a garden ornament 24hrs later. Happy days.. The car itself is/was immaculate. 113,000km.
Looks immaculate until you see this side... hopefully there werent any passengers in the front as it would have been untidy.
The previous owner before the one who binned it was hardcore about looking after it, so i was happy to pay a higher price for the wreck. With all but the left side being perfect on the car im looking to recover a bit of what i paid for it in the part out. Thats currently how the cars are sitting. I have to clear out a bit of garage space and have 2 cars which i need to sell before i can get cracking on the XF.
Progress is going to be slow till the new year but im going to keep the conversion simple for the moment to get the car up and running. Still deciding on the wheels as well. Not sure if i should put the 19s on from the xr6 and paint them black, or sell both and buy a nice wide set of 20s. The parting out of the xr6 will happen next week so everything bar the engine bay and trans will be up for grabs. Should be fun!
