EA Fairmont Ghia Turbo super-sleeper

[Sneepy]

Hey all,

I've been by a few times and never posted, but thought I'd share my EA with you.

Have had many Fords over the years, about 50 all told from Escort RS2000s, 4.1 Cortinas, XF Ghia, XB GT coupe, couple of XHs, BA Fairlane and more recently an AU XR8 (still got that). But with work and buying houses we sometimes don't get to have a toy to play with. Mid last year I decided I wanted something to muck around with, so when this came in to my family's car yard I snapped it up:



It was really one of those cars that was right on the edge of going for scrap. It looks much better in that shot than it really was. Big dent in the rear quarter, paint stuffed, 320000km, auto (mad-rooted), electrics not working, oil leaks... but to be honest there was something about it I liked and I didn't want to send it for scrap. I have the full history of the car as well and after I bought it I realised I knew the car early in its life. It also had an engine rebuild about 30000km ago.

After fixing all the usual crap that goes wrong (windows, electrics, oil leaks, etc etc) and getting it registered, I did a manual conversion and ordered a turbo kit for it.

This is me trying it out in a local hillclimb event, completely stock except for the T5 - which was finished the week before.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/lRel-HoQffk[/youtube]

and

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt1wknj0OQU&list=UUJEJJHTskGRHjXHbwvCBVcw&index=4&feature=plcp[/youtube]

The day after that, it came off the road and got most panels repainted in the original silver. Apart from that it spent a lot of time under my house waiting for me to get time to do anything on it, but eventually I finished getting the turbo on there:



I bought the manifold and turbo, got it all ceramic coated and went for a liquid/air intercooler so I didn't have to chop the front bar. Has only done about 1000km since it's been back on the road and is currently running about 8psi. Maybe I'm too old now or something but for the most part I just stroke it along and give it a good solid squirt when I really feel like it. However, I really enjoy it and it does lift up its skirt and boogie when you give it some stick.






The idea of the project was for it to be a complete sleeper. It sounds a lot like a stock XR6 Turbo (not loud, at least when it's not on boost!) and nobody picks what it is. I have deliberately not gone down the road of overdoing the sleeper thing by putting roof racks, visors, kerb twangers, white walls etc on it - I've just left it as it is. I've put better brakes and nolathane bushes right through it but don't intend to lower it or put fat wheels on it.

Plans for the foreseeable future are to turn the boost up to about 10psi and then just to fettle it and get it running and working as perfectly as possible and enjoy it. The XR8 is the daily, but this is a good bit of fun and because it's not overdone the cops leave me alone and I can drive it to work (office job) without drawing attention to myself.

Not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it's turned out just about how I like it. And it's been a great trip back to when I spent all my time doing cars up lol

Thanks for reading (if you made it this far lol)

[needfordspeed]

I love it mate good stuff!

Any idea on how much power it's making?

I'm guessing it's a Snort kit....

[EFFalcon]

hahaha very cool.
its truly Dezza spec too (in joke)

keen to know what kind of power its making

[galapogos01]

Looks great! Any more pics of the build?

I'd be tempted to lower it *a little*, de-mudguard it, and put some 225s on the turbo blades. But that's just what I did with my EA

[Rollin]

I approve of this vehicle Looks like you've done a nice neat turbo setup as well, good stuff.

Never seen a blue interior in an E-series though, I have to confess I got a bit slack-jawed when I saw that :O

[SnipeZ]

Nice car mate

I approve of this vehicle Looks like you've done a nice neat turbo setup as well, good stuff.

Never seen a blue interior in an E-series though, I have to confess I got a bit slack-jawed when I saw that :O

My dads ea had full blue.
Was pretty wild haha

[nstg8a]

love it, but the interior reminds me of an early commodore or something.

would be funny as beating the ever present over confident ls owners.

[Bipolar]

<3

I remember there being a name for that type of interior. Sunny would know. Not a fan but do like how it ads to the sleeperness.

[XR_Lightning]

this thing is sick man! love it!

Never seen a blue interior in an E-series though, I have to confess I got a bit slack-jawed when I saw that :O

lol, you need to come down to Vic and go to Jolly's wreckers, its usually full of EA's with blue and brown interiors

[Sneepy]

Thanks guys, haven't put it on a dyno yet but we've got a BF XR6T with the ZF auto at the yard and I gave it a run to 120 and the EA was comfortably pulling away. Also comfortably sorts out my sister's MY11 WRX (from a rolling start). I'm surprised how quick it is on 8psi actually. I went for a 2 1/2in mandrel bent system, was going to go for 3in but was worried about noise and if it was noisy it'd defeat the whole purpose of the build! It does feel like it'd go a bit harder with a bigger exhaust on it tho.

One day I'll put it on the dyno - I'm very protective of my cars tho, and not keen to let other people play with it lol

I've got the brochure for the EA Fairmont and Ghia here, and according to that the Ghia is trimmed in "durable, yet sophisticated, 'Panache' velour". When I got the car it had a dashmat that looked like a carpet warehouse offcut so I got that one for it, and they had to special order it. Apparently only the EA Ghia and DA LTD had the blue dash. It's not as bad as it looks in the photo, the sun was just on it hahaha

I have to confess I loved the EA when it came out, I know they're crap and everything but I just like them. Maybe because everyone else hates them haha!

Yep, it's a Snort, how could you tell?

You'll have to tell me what "Dezza spec" is, since my car is one!

I was originally going to lower it a bit, but now it's on the road I think I'll leave it like that. It does actually drive pretty well with good shocks and bushes in it, and I go on the highway a bit (and like my smooth ride as I get older!)

The mudflaps are staying Tho when I get new rubber for it I will definitely go a bit wider on the turboblades.

Thanks for the welcome guys. Nice to meet a group of like-minded people!

[ed40]

Well one thing you really need is a dyno tune so you don't blow it up!

Awesome car man and +1 with the trackwork, i love watching e-series on the track and that one looks fun.

Around 8 psi would be safe to stay at to look after that clutch and box, esepcially if you are gonna take it to track again.

[fez_k]

Would love to see the look on peoples faces after dropping the clutch in this thing at the lights!

[old_mate]

EA's are the shit.

Awesome toy you have here, would like to see it run 25psi and flat 10's though haha.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk 2

[DJV8T5]

If you don't really want to lower it too much you could just put King Spring lows in, they don't take much height out but they do make a difference in the handling. Car looks pretty mint though.

It's pretty different to see a liquid/air intercooler in there, but it just looks like someone ran the intake piping wrong at first glance. Has the car been tuned (J3? Unichip?) or just running off the stock ECU?

[kwikxr]

Awesome looking setup man! Gotta love a sleeper grandpa spec EA. Pretty tidy example of one too

[braad]

thats unreal. It isn't just a sleeper, it's almost cruel to all those LS1 boys!

love the blue interior, there's an immac optioned EA fairmont near me with the blue interior, they look good

[Dezza]

Thanks guys, haven't put it on a dyno yet but we've got a BF XR6T with the ZF auto at the yard and I gave it a run to 120 and the EA was comfortably pulling away. Also comfortably sorts out my sister's MY11 WRX (from a rolling start). I'm surprised how quick it is on 8psi actually. I went for a 2 1/2in mandrel bent system, was going to go for 3in but was worried about noise and if it was noisy it'd defeat the whole purpose of the build! It does feel like it'd go a bit harder with a bigger exhaust on it tho.

One day I'll put it on the dyno - I'm very protective of my cars tho, and not keen to let other people play with it lol

I've got the brochure for the EA Fairmont and Ghia here, and according to that the Ghia is trimmed in "durable, yet sophisticated, 'Panache' velour". When I got the car it had a dashmat that looked like a carpet warehouse offcut so I got that one for it, and they had to special order it. Apparently only the EA Ghia and DA LTD had the blue dash. It's not as bad as it looks in the photo, the sun was just on it hahaha

I have to confess I loved the EA when it came out, I know they're crap and everything but I just like them. Maybe because everyone else hates them haha!

Yep, it's a Snort, how could you tell?

You'll have to tell me what "Dezza spec" is, since my car is one!

I was originally going to lower it a bit, but now it's on the road I think I'll leave it like that. It does actually drive pretty well with good shocks and bushes in it, and I go on the highway a bit (and like my smooth ride as I get older!)

The mudflaps are staying Tho when I get new rubber for it I will definitely go a bit wider on the turboblades.

Thanks for the welcome guys. Nice to meet a group of like-minded people!

Welcome aboard! I'm the reason for the term Dezza-spec. It's basically because when I joined the club, my EA remained completely stock for years! With the factory self levelling suspension it sat higher than most E-series. In the end, I gave in to the mod bug and well... it doesn't look much like what it used to!

Your's looks pretty much the same as my EA used to but with a lot more power (and a blue interior) . It looks like you've done a great job of it. With the blue dash, that was an option on the higher spec-models. I've got the grey version in mine. Here's my beast several years back

[Troutman]

Great work mate, regardless of how many years have passed I still think they are great looking cars. And who can say no to a sleeper?

[Sneepy]

Ah, all makes sense now! It certainly is Dezza-spec!

And yes, I reckon the EA is fundamentally a handsome car and especially like the Ghia and S pack - shame about all the grief they had lol

Thanks, yeah I'm very happy with it. Always more to play with but I don't think I'll change it in any significant way. Maybe just tidy it up a bit more.

Would love to get my hands on an SVO one day (still have all the old magazine articles with those in them) but I would keep that relatively original. As you can tell I like subtle cars... all for walking quietly and carrying a big stick.

[Sneepy]

I'd like to see it running 10s too, but I love the streetability.

Yes, looking forward to the day it comes up against an unsuspecting LS1. My brother in law has a WM Caprice V8 which is pretty quick but I don't think he wants to run me because it'd be embarrassing to be beaten by an old EA.

It is very tidy for an EA, but like I said I spent a bit of time and money getting it that way. It was a pig when I got it. In retrospect I should have just found a nice one to start with but then this one would be part of the steel in a Chinese skyscraper by now and at least I've saved an E-series from the crusher this way.

Running the stock computer at the moment, but I'm thinking of upgrading to take better advantage of what the car has to offer. Everyone said I'd do this - I said I'm just going to build it and stop, but it's pretty hard to do that... "oh, I'll just get a computer, just do this, just do that. The main thing for me is that I don't want the car acting up and I don't want grief from the cops. And it has to stay sleepy. Apart from that, I'll do bits here and there.

I probably drive the car more gently than just about anyone on here, but I do love giving it a good solid spanking every now and then.

I really don't want to lower it at all, but who knows what the future holds. It certainly will never be much lower than now. I like it comfy, and willing to put up with a little wallowing if it means I can drive it on a country road. It's going to do 1000km this weekend visiting people and I remember from when I was younger how much of a b*stard it was driving around in my Escorts and GT etc lol

[Nikk O'lass]

I came for the stealthy turbo, and stayed for the Blue interior.

[superhuS!]

I've heard/read somewhere that the option for blue interior was "bluegum" but correct me If I'm wrong.

I love this thing to bits. It's almost like John's deathwagon. Cunce freak the f*** out when you dose it.

[Sneepy]

Haha I love the fact that everyone's so impressed with the blue interior!

To be honest I thought most EA Ghias had blue interiors but as I said in the beginning I've known this car since it was new and really I probably drove it more than any other EA Ghia back in the day so that's probably why I thought that. Saw an ED Ghia the other day with grey interior and I gotta say I liked it more but then if I'd had a grey interior I'd probably want a blue one!

Next time I have it out on a sunny day I'll get some more pics of it lol

And thinking I will do something with the computer - better start reading. I'm a shocker, I only built it because I promised myself I'd stop once it was done - but here I go again...

[Sneepy]

I love this thing to bits. It's almost like John's deathwagon. Cunce freak the f*** out when you dose it.

That's what I love about it too. Gotta love messing with people's heads.

[Dezza]

I've heard/read somewhere that the option for blue interior was "bluegum" but correct me If I'm wrong.

I love this thing to bits. It's almost like John's deathwagon. Cunce freak the f*** out when you dose it.

Sounds about right as the grey version was called "Ironbark". You could also get a version in brown but I don't know why people would have wanted to

[Nikk O'lass]

wasn't there a white EB (or ED) ghia getting around with an brown EA interior? Had GMKILA plates...

[private9]

Love the car mate, such a great sleeper - and the blue interior is 80s cool

[Sneepy]

Big girl hit the track yesterday (wasn't planned, but she got a run because another car gave up the ghost).

Got the boost turned right down because it still isn't tuned but still had a bit of a larf - and was good fun for the crowd.

Given I failed in my attempt to link to the YouTube vids earlier in this thread I'll just paste the link here if anyone's interested in seeing her in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RtIkppN ... ature=plcp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Sunboost]

Blue interior was available across the board, not just high series. I believe a variation of it made it all the way to EB2.

[galapogos01]

Big girl hit the track yesterday (wasn't planned, but she got a run because another car gave up the ghost).

Got the boost turned right down because it still isn't tuned but still had a bit of a larf - and was good fun for the crowd.

Given I failed in my attempt to link to the YouTube vids earlier in this thread I'll just paste the link here if anyone's interested in seeing her in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RtIkppN ... ature=plcp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looked fun!

[Sneepy]

hehe yeah, it was fun. ;o)

[edfairmont4.0]

Awesome car man love the stock clean look i love turbo blades too would shock people at the track!