Been off doing other things of late & it looks like my EL, my first car, has finally given up the ghost Initially it was simply not starting on the odd occasion & running rough. Then it progressed to more persistent & deeper issues. The up keep & such was going to be too much plus the fact I'd been all through the car looking for these gremlins that just couldn't be found. So regretably I made the decision to trade the plates & I'll part the car out.

In more upbeat news! I've managed to get myself a nice BF Tornado, build 0077. I've also had the displeasure of driving a 87 mazda 323 which didn't have a functioning chick magnet either so the ute has been a welcome new addition. It's fully optioned from factory and mechanically its in top condition (after I had a few things fixed prior to comiting to the purchase) the only minor things are the paint is rough in places (but I've seen far worse) and the rims are gutter rashed kinda bad. I'd like to thank my former employer who made life a living hell, for running his company in to the ground so hard that it made my payout larger than I had expected.

Only mods to the car had been the suspension which was far far too low before the former owner had the car (which had probably smashed the trans mount) who then lifted it back to stock, reverse sensor & a set of automatic hard cover locks which are fantastic. It's also had the after market filter fitted to the turbo for reliability.

I'm a little torn on mods I'll do to it. Its a far more refined car than I expected, no noise or fuss about it. Very civilised & dare I say practical? Fuel economy is a little worse than I was hoping for so I'll probably have it retuned for 95 & I'll put in a bigger cooler & pipe work with a plenum. Fords setup was pretty adhoc and inefficient, thus people are finding far cooler temps & reductions in lag by putting in other systems. This with a tune can really improve the fuel economy. I've seen a post with a guy claiming a 30% improvement in open road fuel economy from an induction upgrade. I'll probably look in to some more power with the fuel system & actuator upgrades too. Dump pipe & a varax re muffler setup too.

The gearbox needs a full flush and filter as I believe the fluid is probably burnt from overheating and the filter a little blocked. Its a 6 speed auto, we are currently using these boxes in development vehicles at work and from all the research I've done, I have to say they are a seriously good box. I far prefer the auto as driving the mazda has me hating life. I plan to do some towing with it so I'm planning to look at a trans cooler upgrade too. Some people say the cooling from the standard radiator setup is sufficient but I'll still look in to options. I'll be seeing what I can do re reprogramming the shift patterns too as I believe that it doesn't pick gears as early as it could in the range for the best fuel efficiency. I don't push the ute hard, its going to be a daily and holding gears the way it does sometimes doesn't seem correct.

I'm going to be looking at a set of 18's for it when the time comes. Nothing against these rims, but the 18's will have cheaper rubber plus slightly more side wall will make it more comfortable. The biggest challenge I'm going to face is the ridiculous 6 piston brakes on it! They are huge. There are hardly any options on the market with the correct offset & barrel clearance to get around them. If I have to source a skinnier set for the front & a wider set at the back for traction I'll probably go with that as well.

First thing I'll be doing is a mod to the ICC. I've got a new iPhone 5s on order and I want to fully intergrate it for GPS, hands free, mp3 & what else. I don't think I'll be able to get it to accept touch screen from the display, but I plan some interesting features.

Anyway, thanks all for reading. If anyone wants an old mazda or falcon, or has any suggestions for what I'm planning please get in touch. But for now, eye candy!

nice mate. Looks so neat. I wouldn't see the need to do too much too it. Some special about a high series stock car (e.g. FPV, te50's, etc)

Damn, another EL bites the dust. At least there are more parts for every body else!

New car looks good . I'd say stick with stock rims, they look good on them, although deep dish rims on these also look the goods!

Rims are scratched as f* but it'll be a real challenge to replace them. Hardly anything fits. Your right Drew, there is something awesome about a well rolled out stock unit. I'll be looking to make all these mods without molesting the thing too much & it will all be reversible.

Phong you looking to get any new whitegoods soon? There'll be a little bit of EL in everyone. (Everyone come look at my parts for sale) Need to catch up some time soon mate, been too long

Nah got all I need mate ...for now anyway! It has been a while, been rather busy since the holidays and haven't been on FM much.

Can't access the link in your sig. it says i am unauthorized to view?

Is this the filter on the side of the block the filters the oil feed lines? Been considering this myself. Have you tried cleaning the boost solenoid yet? I've read they can get oily, and with a clean can help boost control a bit. Its down by the rhs of the battery. Haven't had time to try myself yet.

Not sure what the Tornado's got from stock, but it apears- at least on the xr's- that the first points to address is the injectors, dump and cat. The injectors are at 99/100% duty at 10psi, and the cat is struggling to clear waste with that sort of boost too. Also k's mean the BOV and wastegate can become a bit sloppy.

The f6's are the same re dump, cat, fuel & induction. Xr's need the valve springs done too. I think the next limit is the size of the turbo.
Na the oil & trans coolers are on the left side of the engine. The feed line is a steel pipe that runs along near the rocker cover meets the cyl head. The best replacement is a braded inline filter from earl's filters. It has a blue annodised body

Re the actuator, I did spray it. Subjectivally i would say the boost is a little doughier but more measured & controlled. If youre going to the trouble, i would just get a new one for like $65. While your in there, i would put a drop of oil in the boost controller too. Reason i would replace it is if it gets jammed or sticky cause of what you dump in it its going to cause you headaches

I believe there is probably a lot of gains for efficiency in the B series induction. The pipes are way too long, they snake over the engine, turbo & exhaust also the manifold is too elaborate. I think with a ported waste gate to drop the boost on the open road, a new intercooler loop (which can supposedly drop the intake temps by about 10c in some conditions) and a nizpro manifold top there are big gains to be had

Luckily I have a BFII turbo which got the typhoon motor internals. Hopefully I don't have to worry about springs for a while.

Yep the induction side of things is really inefficient. APR do a really nice replacement kit that irons a lot of issues out. Needs to be correctly sized to your cooler and boost levels as well; too big and no good, too small and no good.

When you think about it, the turbo six motors are really a bit of a budget skunk works job. There wasn't nearly as much development on them as other manufacturers put into their turbocharged engines. They were made to a budget, therefore going to be a lot of things worth changing.

That said it was actually the LPG motors that made the turbo's somwhat viable. That, and they only expected to sell 5,000 a year or something, which they filled every month