Boosted Falcon

Hey boys and girls. I've been lurking around here for a little while, and figured it was time put up a thread, because... well why not. I'm also doing it so i can keep track of the stuff thats happened and been replaced/done to the car, so i warn you now there will be some rambling.

I bought the XR8 almost 2 years ago after searching for a while for a low km EF/EL XR8 or VR/VS SS (or clubbie). I was looking for the usual - Low km's, manual, decent condition all that crap. As most know, manual low km EL's are impossible to find. So stumbled across this one, bought it, lovely lovely. 150k km, auto, cat-back zorst, immaculate interior, Navy blue paint still sparkled.
Luck had it that the next week a burgundy EL XR8, manual, stock as a rock with alot less km's popped up. It was even owned by an old fella living even closer (a 2 minute drive). pissed off! i even contemplated selling mine to buy it. In hindsight i should have!

anyway heres the car from the carsguide ad, looked fairly neat -







So, drove it around but shifted like a pig, so dropped it off at local Rileys Garage. got S5 replaced and an auto service. drove nicely. unfortunately when i parked it there it pissed coolant, as seen below -



i had them install a decent sized trans cooler with new lines (not through the radiator) whilst there

So new heater tap, all new radiator hoses & overflow bottle. a home radiator flush and tonnes of murky brown shit came out... mother f*cker! anyway, topped it up with new coolant and tightened it all up and it's been pretty well behaved.

Next thing was the oil pressure guage was shitting itself on long drives on the motorway (M7 & M5 for the sydney siders). Which was concerning! it was dropping off to nothing and beeping and carrying on. SO my Mechanic (Mr John Leffler for all those Group C buffs) checked it out with a mechanical guage and all fine. replaced sender unit twice too. At some point soon after he replaced a few bushes and the intermediate steering shaft, which apparently none existant now? so dont f*ck your intermediate driving shaft

Sept/Oct 2010 i decided the cat back which was on it when i bought it sounded shithouse, so went and got a twin 2.25 inch mandrel bent exhaust, pacies, hi-flow cats to make myself feel better. Sounds great, it even impressed the die-hard holden/HDT guys who did the job. Not bad for a stock 5.slow auto








Soon after the engine mounts went. gay. replaced

Also bought new tyres, i was interested to see if i could get 245 or 255's on it at the back, purely for bulge purposes. i dont race my car, its slow so a soft sidewall doesnt bother me. Couldnt, disappointed, so i'll just have to wait for Simmons

Went on a few little cruises with my brother (BNG - in the blue EF & then the burgundy EL XR6) and car nut marty (white EF XR6) down to Wollongong or out to douglas park/camden. Pretty fun. They have involved a few other guys too, most from camden (Tony, kimber, craig/gary/greg/g-banger/whatever, Mark, & of course corey from the gong).
It's great being the only V8 amongst a flock of XR6/XR6Ts











E-series look better then B-series!



E-series pop up everywhere, including work...



car was travelling along nicely, a few minor kiccups (i'll explain later as i've still got them).

Earlier this year I managed to ground the terminal at the back of the alternator, destroying the alternator, battery and the 100A fuse. Won't be doing that again. New alternator, battery and fuse and car's checked over and all ok.

Unfortunately my Dad succumbed to cancer and passed away in June, sort of relegating all things in life to unimportant. The project 1963 mini is at a standstill and the XR8 copped no love for a while. A week later my uncle passed away unexpectedly. Pretty f*cked up timing.
So with spirits high *cough* a month later in the pissing rain the car lost all power, everything. Life cant get much worse can it? Cue small engine fire and much swearing. Fire out quickly, minimal damage as it was on the passenger side extractor.
So the wonderful missus and i sat in the back of her hatchback and waited for a towie for an hour, he turned up and we headed to my auto electrician. Conveniently his pneumatics decided to not work, so we waited another hour for another towie to turn up (still pissing down)
Anyway, the cable to the starter had shorted to the extractor and blown battery and fuse again. New battery, cable to the starter and starter was rebuilt by my now close mate auto electrician






needed a new fuel pump (i think)



Recently i decided the shagged suspension was needing a trip to the tip and replacements were needed. Original shocks and springs!



I had thought about some springs and good quality shocks, but i like the thought of adjustment. The first pic shows it in its 4WD glory...



So good old Pedders came to the fore and smacked some of their coilovers in all round.





i decided i'd quickly lower my front left as low as i could go with the trolley jack under it and it looks like this... this was done but the rears and front drivers werent touched. The last pic shows how much thread was left. So it can go pretty low!






The coilovers went in and it now sits better... so this is how she stands atm




you may ask "why doesn't he slam the mofo?" well because my driveways a c*nt. As it is now, it just gets down with me in it driving like some homo in a lowered civic (i.e. slow, wide and at angles)






so future plans? well have it running for a while, it's my daily driver. One day i'd love a 347
but i'd rather clean it up, there are a few little things needing to be done.

- The red strip goes pink and is trying to get away from the car, so needs re-painting & re-sticking
- cruise buttons cracked
- drivers seat base broken (will get the seats re-padded i think too)
- i'm on the lookout for some Simmons, i had FR17's on my old calais and would love some OM's. 9.5 will fit, maybe 10 if we can find the right inners and outers
- possibly look at a trickflow top end kit + tune

I'll try to slam it as far as it'll go soon. Marty has offered to help haha, and then i'll post pics here and in the coilover thread (for anyone interested)

let me know what you think!

cheers,
Brad

very tidy looking car.

love those coil overs too

what the coils set you back also any pics of the rear's?

tidy ride dude

thanks john. The coil overs are awesome. I had to tow a load to the tip and just firmed it all up and the car sat flat. beautiful

D1SCNT - i dont have any decent pics of the rear yet, i did throw my iphone up and took some pics but nothing terribly good. I'll look through them and see if any show the coilovers. installed were $2200, i could've probably got them cheaper maybe (?) but i have to work it in with work and crap, so i pay a bit for convenience i guess.

i'll get back to you on the photos

these may help a bit. Rear coilover

2200 installed yer? them pics are fine man, how do you find the handling now over the standard spring strut set up get much body roll when you throw it in to a corner?


wouldn't mind a set for mine

cheers for the pics

mmmm, so tempting to replace my koni's

shit yeah i didnt know they made em for e series
how low can the rears go?

Nice read brad, you have a lot of good stuff going on there. Sorry to hear about your dad too. r.i.p. I think we all know of a sad story when it comes to cancer unfortunately...

Mmmiiiiiiinnnntttt.

Looks great. I want coilovers. So baddd!!!!! Wish I had 2200 for them.

Nice read cant wsit to see what. Comes

[D1SCNT] wrote:2200 installed yer? them pics are fine man, how do you find the handling now over the standard spring strut set up get much body roll when you throw it in to a corner?


wouldn't mind a set for mine

cheers for the pics

yep, $2200 installed. it handles shit loads better obviously, i havent given it a good go, but moderately it sits flat and copes with rough roads, doesnt skip and find something to track to. I've only had them for a month, so they'll surely get a bit better once settled etc. I'd compare it to a lowered spring/shock set up but i honestly havent been in any! I do know it rides as good up high as it does lower. I'm yet to trial the ride when it's super-low, but i'm confident it'll be the same

EFFalcon - it's great, i'd show you but you're a bit far! i'd say definitely have it as a viable option

I'm pretty sure with a bit of talking or with the right contacts you could get them & installed for cheaper. I just needed them done ASAP. I still have rubbers needing replacement too so they're giving me some slop in an otherwise nice set up. Adjustable sway bars were another ~$950 installed. I'm pretty sure i could do them though

travs ea-xr6 - not sure how low yet, hopefully manage to try soon, it'd be heaps easier with a hoist.

EL2794 - thanks mate. Cancer is a scourge on life! I think i've had way too much exposure to it so far, too many family members passed and affected. Hate it. I dont know how i'd go having to deal with being in another oncology ward.
Enjoy the lives we have, and all those in it. Find a passion/hobby too, like cars, because you never know when your times up

thanks superhuS! and SnipeZ! we'll see whats going to happen. Mind you all of these improvements have happened over 2 years so i'm not exactly fast paced. I do however prefer to do things once and right. i hope that comes across in the exhaust and suspension, "experienced" people tried to tell me it was impossible to fit that exhaust i refused to accept their lazy views. Thankfully there are guys on here with a similar view to me!
I have goals and i'll get there, eventually...

Even though I know every thing that gone on with the xr8 I still loved this read =) especially the part about the super sexy white xr!! =D

Also I love your signature, one of casey's efforts?

Sorry to hear about your uncle and old man. Glad you've managed to fix the EL up, look forward to progress pics

Thanks guys

I have a question. How do you tell a T5 is from a V8? Surely they have a code or something to identify them? I know they have different input shaft lengths (to the 6 cyl) and more splines (24 for V8, 22 for i6)
But if they're in a car still with the bellhousing on how can one tell it's the V8? Are there any codes stamped?

Engine codes? I know a ticky i6 is engine code "X"

If you give me a few mins ill get off my arse and get the code for a 5.0 from my fairy in the garage.

That's if the cars still have their I.D tags.

Thanks mate. The car was an auto and a previous owner on converted it to manual. It has no motor now. The input shaft measurement out of the box was roughly 190mm (matches scaffys description on fordmods), the 6's are about 167mm. But I can't find anything that can help determine for sure it's a V8 box. I'm looking for a pic of a i6 T5 bellhousing too, to confirm it's not a i6 bellhousing. Are the 6 & 8 bellhousings at all visually similar?

Soo I just bought an EF XR8 donor vehicle. No motor but it does have a v8 T5! Woo!
I'll post up pics soon, it's dirty as, been sitting around for 2 years.

Nice! The T5 should definitely wake things up and make it much more fun to drive.

Mint looking XR8 by the way, so jealous of those coilovers haha

Yeah the T5 should awaken the car. Make it a bit more fun. Hopefully! But the LSD needs fixing, single-pegging is embarressing!
I'm then thinking of removing the rear resonators. Just an idea that may be possible with a T5 in place of the BTR, what do you guys think? It'd probably sound ghey

I'm also going to have to buy a new clutch & flywheel. What are people's thoughts of the different types? OEM style, lightened flywheel, HD clutch?

Unfortunately I'll probably have to stop spending money on it for a while so the T5 may be the last mod for this year but 2012 isn't far away!
Oh also, i tightened the last set of front wheel bearings too tight, anyone got any ideas of doing them minus a torque wrench?

Marty! Yep the sig pic is one of caseys efforts looks good. I need another one though! The cars lower now the coilovers have settled more hehe

it will go heaps better with 5 speed

manual 5 litres are mint, nice car mate keep it up

V8 bellhousing has throw out fork hole on drivers side, 6 is on passenger side. That's the biggest difference I have noticed.

DJV8T5 wrote:V8 bellhousing has throw out fork hole on drivers side, 6 is on passenger side. That's the biggest difference I have noticed.

Heh. Learn something new every day

DJV8T5 wrote:V8 bellhousing has throw out fork hole on drivers side, 6 is on passenger side. That's the biggest difference I have noticed.

Too true. I've learnt a bit about this little experience (buying the car & g'box)

Fork hole on drivers side, starter motor positioning recess/bulge in bellhousing lower & less obvious than 6 cyl, input shaft length out of g'box casing (i.e no bellhousing) is around 186-190mm whilst 6 cyl is around 165mm. I spent a while searching for bellhousing patterns so I could get a measurement between bolts, but found none. The internetz failed me! I now realise how stupid I am. I could've just measured on my engine

I'm so keen to chuck the box in, but really I should reinforce the firewall and go over the synchros, bearings and seals. Damn impatience!

Thanks josh, I think it's decent for a daily driver, just trying to keep it that way

So I got stuck in on Saturday and stripped the T5 out of the donor EF XR8. Out came the box and tailshaft. I did it by myself, and whilst i might be a pansy i still recommend getting a mate to help! I checked the first gear ratio, input spun 3 times for the outputs one full turn. So stoked it has the correct ratios

I Quickly Mucked about with the car, found out there's no transmission control unit plugged in..? and the ECU is an EF V8 ex-chaser module. It has good pedders suspension (shocks & springs), interior is fairly neat and tidy and the paintwork is better than first thought.

Anyone want to buy a clean EF XR8 rolling body?! Polynesian green, ticky kit, barely used pedders suspension (apparently only 2 weeks of on road use), police ECU (4DKD), 5-spoke 16" rims, full interior etc. Just no motor or gearbox!

I'll hopefully post pics up of the work and the car tomorrow arvo when I'm home with a pc

alright heres the donor vehicle in all its sexy spiderwebbed glory!









and the reason why i got it



it looks better on the tow truck

on saturday i figured i'd go and get the gearbox and driveshaft out of the EF.



So with a bit of careful manouvering of a car jack, stands and ramps.



The tailshaft was unbolted and lowered.



then the front was jacked up, the tailshaft pulled out of the box and the oil left to drain out. tilted the front of the gearbox up with the jack to drain more oil out before moving it.





shifter off. exhaust off that gearbox mount. and then the careful lowering of the box of gears







gearbox out! I like the grass & weeds. Very organic clutch material




i gave the front corner a quick wipe with a wet rag and dried it off and the paint isnt half bad



and i was surprised when i popped this out. EF Police spec ECU. I havbe NFI how the bloke (apparently) drove it with a manual. Does anyone have any ideas?





ohwells, thats all for now. Still need flywheel, clutch, clutch cable, sandwich plate, spigot bearing, figure out ECU/electronics (man ECU/J3/resistors?), re-inforce firewall et al before converting.

comments welcomed guys

Cheers,
Brad

I love the EL, good tasteful mods you have one too. I just bought an EL Ghia 5.0 and I'm taking some inspiration from yours, just simple effective improvements. Looks mint.

I'd love the suspension from the wreck the ac comp for parts, and exhaust if its aftermarket too, but you are a bit far away! Looks like there is lots of good bits on it anyway, I'm sure you will do quite well out of it. Its fun wrecking cars hey!

I'm sure it would have driven fine with an auto ecu. Probably would have idled funny and apparently the 5.0 ecu needs to see some signs from the TCM or it will cut timing to protect the auto? I remember reading it somewhere, unsure if thats true.

Hey mate sweet el looks great love the suspension...
i wish you were in vic id be all over the ef ya wrecking its the right colour and all as the xr8 im playing with good luck!!!
keep it up!!

checking out my wiring i've found a few strange things, a few cable connectors that arent connected to anything... very odd. I'll have to ask around the ECU/electronics sections. i have NFI what they're for. Damned car, l;ooks good but underneath its a concoction of past owners ideas

SLO247 wrote:I love the EL, good tasteful mods you have one too. I just bought an EL Ghia 5.0 and I'm taking some inspiration from yours, just simple effective improvements. Looks mint.

I'd love the suspension from the wreck the ac comp for parts, and exhaust if its aftermarket too, but you are a bit far away! Looks like there is lots of good bits on it anyway, I'm sure you will do quite well out of it. Its fun wrecking cars hey!

I'm sure it would have driven fine with an auto ecu. Probably would have idled funny and apparently the 5.0 ecu needs to see some signs from the TCM or it will cut timing to protect the auto? I remember reading it somewhere, unsure if thats true.

Thanks SLO247, i hope it can help people making some decisions. I'm slow but i do the mods i want. have you got a thread on your Ghia?

i'd love to get rid of the EF, its worrying me a bit as i'll need to move it soon and i'd rather it be sold than finding a new storage spot!



Hey ronza! cheers. If i was in Vic i'd gladly sell the EF. It's a PITA atm where its stored, too many complaining family members (its not even stored in sight or any of their properties, go figure!).

thought i'd throw a pic up of the EL towing the EF



nothing exciting has happened. i was away in QLD for a bit and it started first crank. made me happy. managed to travel down the south coast fullly loaded and all sorts of crap and it survived. love the wheezer!

nothing much has happened.

i thought i'd chuck some pics of stuff thats happened in the past while. My brother and mate have BOTH decided to move on from e-series at the same time, so the XR8 is alone.

finally fixed the front end up, new brakes, wheel bearings, car handles and drives nicely

my brother wanted to swap wheels so we did. he got my FTRs and i got a set of 18's. so had them on for a few weeks, not bad.










it looks heaps high, even though its technically only 10mm higher, not sure whether to lower it or not as it scrapes already :/






Car decided it didnt want its harmonic balancer on anymore, so it died, getting that fixed atm. Mechanic found the timing cover leaking so removed it (and it came off in one peice, amazing effort), then found the timing chain had around 15mm slack. New timing chain, cover, balancer, pulleys and belt are going on now.

Twin gt55 dart block 363 stroker or gtfo.

superhuS! wrote:Twin gt55 dart block 363 stroker or gtfo.

Fine, i'm out

braad wrote:

superhuS! wrote:Twin gt55 dart block 363 stroker or gtfo.

Fine, i'm out

Pussy.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, hus thats funny shit.

Brad looks good mate. Do love the new wheels on it. Bet you can't wait to have it all going again, keep up the great work. Its one tidy 8 you have.

Cheers Scott

superhuS! wrote:

braad wrote:

superhuS! wrote:Twin gt55 dart block 363 stroker or gtfo.

Fine, i'm out

Pussy.

you do it

sikwags_218 wrote:ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, hus thats funny shit.

Brad looks good mate. Do love the new wheels on it. Bet you can't wait to have it all going again, keep up the great work. Its one tidy 8 you have.

Cheers Scott

Thanks scott. The wheels are going back on my brothers EL XR6 (he's selling up, traitor) so my FTRs will be back on it. It is nice but the missus is sick of me spending money on it. I almost got rid of it for a fully optioned EL Ghia the other day. :/
i really need the manual to go in so i can feel the love of it
actually, just driving it without a vibration from the front end would be great!

Looking good brad , didn't get to see any of the pics of the cruise until now. My car was nice and shiney , don't mind the typhoon rims I had either.
Needs a wash bad lol

Heard Marty sold his xr6 and bng is selling his . Any cruises for the future. ?

ef_falcon_95 wrote:Looking good brad , didn't get to see any of the pics of the cruise until now. My car was nice and shiney , don't mind the typhoon rims I had either.
Needs a wash bad lol

Heard Marty sold his xr6 and bng is selling his . Any cruises for the future. ?

Hey Corey! Yeah mate yours looks nice I think I may have more photos of that cruise too. I liked the typhoon rims, I wouldn't mind a set myself. Any new stuff with your XR6? Got the ticky kit on yet?

Yeah Marty's EF has gone! On carsales Tuesday and sold Friday. Unbelievably quick. Bryce has his up on carsales atm too and has had a bit of interest, it's a great car for the price! I'm driving it this week whilst mines repaired, it's great having a sunroof, giving the bird's never been so easy

As for cruises I'd say there'll be others but not e-series. Bryce wants a skyline and Marty is working on his house. It's bloody hard to organise, it's like herding cats

Two nice e-series gone :'(

It's a shame they were sold , hopefully they go to a good home , we need more e series in Sydney / Wollongong .
No ticky kit yet , weather has been terrible for spraying , ticky kit has been pushed back on the to do list. Rebuilding the diff and replacing all bushes in rear . Then putting in new carpet .

Why does Bryce want a skyline ?