Hello all!

I don't really know where to start, but I have a question for all of you in the know.

I have recently purchased for a relatively cheap price a 1992 EB XR8 with a 5 speed manual and a factory sunroof. At some stage someone has retrimed the seats with stitching that matches the body colour and have embroiled 'XR8' into each seat.

The car presents beautifully, the body is in fantastic condition.

The problem begins when starting the engine. It does not idle properly and fluctuates in RPM a lot. There is a squeaking sound coming from the thrust race bearin, and there is an obvious exhaust leak.

The problems continue when taken for a drive, where I notice that when letting the motor rev through the range a huge vibration appears in the steering which I have diagnosed with destroyed engine mounts as the motor is hitting the steering column. The engine mounts are so far destroyed that the motor has dislodged itself and is sitting on an angle in the engine bay.

When I first test drove this vehicle it drove well and did not really notice all the issues.

The rear control arm bushes are destroyed and the mechanic has told me this is due to being treated quite harshly, specifically caused by burnouts.

At this stage I had accepted all these problems and began to purchase new parts to repair and restore the vehicle to a mechanically A1 state. I bought new engine mounts, a new high pressure hose for the power steering pump, new tie rod and rack end, new control arm bushes, and a new 3" performance exhaust.

At this stage I have all the parts sitting in the passenger footwell. I have just today changed the oil and oil filter with too quality oil and a K&N oil filter.

All these problems are before I have even mentioned the interior which is possibly even more of an unknown for me as I am mechanically savy but know nothing about the interior.

I began to prod and take certain trim items off as I was trying to find the source if a few rattles and also diagnose the head unit as it did not function at all.

I am going to cut this short and state that EVERY trim item has been messed with and there is not even a single matching screw. The trim piece that surrounds the head unit and contains the ash tray is one of the only items that is in good condition. However the dash where it screws into is broken and cracked. There are screw holes in the door trims where someone has had tweeters and under the dash mat is cracked. The center console is held in by 3 screws that have been stripped and it sits loose and rattly. The roof lining has sagged and has holes in it and there are wires hanging into the driver footwell that I have no idea what they are for.

At the very least I am happy that the motor is extremely strong and the sunroof works without fault.

What I am really asking is 'is this car worth it?'

What are my options to restore the interior? Assuming it is going to need a new dash including all the trim that screws into the dash, and all new door trims, new roof lining and probably carpet.

Once I have installed all the new mechanical parts this car will be mechanically A1 and will drive perfect. But like I said earlier, the interior is an unknown area for me.

Does anyone know anyone in the nsw area that does interior restorations? And will it cost me an arm and a leg so to speak.

I do not want to give up on this car but I don't want to end up hanging to spend into the tens of thousands to return it to its previous glory.

really though. trip to the wreckers for all your screws, dash pad if you care enough, if not put a dash mat on it. Get a set of wreckers control arms, put the new bushes in them, swap them over. rear control arm bushes are common, especially being manual, as are engine mounts.

If you have a wreckers near you, you should be able to source all the interior plastics cheaply and swap them into your car.

Just saw 89.SVO beat me to it. What he said.

It's a 20 year old Falcon. It's gonna have rattles lol.

Thanks guys for the prompt responses, I do understand that it is an old car and its gonna have rattles, however more concerning is the condition of the interior as most of the trim pieces are cracked and broken.

I do want it to be a nice car so I want the interior to be at least 'nice'. Rather than driving the car and questioning which screw just fell in front of the cluster. (True story).

Thanks guys for the prompt responses, I do understand that it is an old car and its gonna have rattles, however more concerning is the condition of the interior as most of the trim pieces are cracked and broken.

I do want it to be a nice car so I want the interior to be at least 'nice'. Rather than driving the car and questioning which screw just fell in front of the cluster. (True story).

Buy an NC Fairlane or similar for a bag of peanuts and fit all the interior from that into it.

+1

i bought a EB sedan cheap just so i could get parts such as complete & undamaged dash etc
with another bought for the manual gearbox & undamaged dash ... manual worked out cheaper as most wreckers sell the box for approx $500 & i payed just a bit more for a complete and running car


so out there somewhere .... ... there could be the "parts" car ya need

+1 from me too. $500 would get you a decent Ea-ED maybe even with rego lol. You'll kick yourself after you do a few trips to the wrecks and grab all the parts you need, then sit back after a while and work out how much the wreckers have charged you compared to getting a parts car. As long as you have some room to park the parts car for a little while Id go for one. Maybe spend a few weekends at most pulling out parts you need and may need then sell the shell for scrap.

Thanks guys! So I guess you guys are telling me that this car is worth buying a parts car to donate itself?

Are all the dash and door trims the same throughout the falcon range??

dunno about the rest - i'm saying IF you intend to keep the car your cheapest bet would be to find yaself a "parts" car far all those 'little things'

as to the dash/door trims being the same .... answer would be no .... and yes! ??

the dash/door trims/plastic trim pieces are basicaly the same for the EA/B/D .. however the long wheelbase sedans have some of their own trim pieces [as do the wagoons] & depending on the year/base model/high class model you will get differant fabrics etc

It keeps posting twice :/

Last edited by orloxsis on Sat Aug 10, 2013 11:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If you buy an ea/eb/ed fairmont sedan you will have kind of top of the range interior for your body shape. The Na/Nc fairlanes, ltd's and wagons had a few differences. A wagon dash will go in a sedan, but some door trims wont and the back seat ( from memory). My advise would be look around for another scap xr6 or 8 if you can find one cheap or a fairmont/ghia. You can get a decent ea/eb/ed fairmont ghia 6 dirt cheap now days, having one with an 8 in it would mean you could get spares from the engine too but if its just mainly the interior your after Id say retrofit a fairmont ghia.

Whilst browsing the FS area, I noticed an ED FALCON for sale that had an EL GHIA door trims fitted, is this an easy thing to do? If so, what else EF/L is easy to fit as the later E series seem to be more abundant.

Is the EB green by any chance?

Yes it is.