Hey guys, i think this is my first post in the x-series stuff, so be nice!

My brother has just found an XG pano for sale for $1000, and he is wondering whether we should grab it as a fun project car.

I was just wondering where the common rusty bits are in them so i can give it a thorough once over and anything else i should look at.


Plan is to drop in the running gear from a EB-EL v8, maybe a fairlane front and then drop it, shmick paint job and a tidy sound system. It'll also be a good "learn to paint, learn to weld" kinda project. Well, thats the plan anyway

btw, whats the model names for the XD-XF Fairlanes? I'm a bit foreign in these ranks
I think its XD - FD; XE - FE; XF - ??

Last edited by nicco on Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

oh yeah, and we are going to go and have a look at it on thursday, so yeah, like i said, any points to look out for is appreciated.

cheers,
nic

hmm thought i posted yesty, must've closed the window by accident done it couple ties lately.

Anyway when i was looking at a an xf pano, I found the door pillars were rusted out on it, pity as it would've been brilliant if it didn't have the rust.
basically along the front area around the windscreen etc.

also the obvious rust in the gutters where they join the roof and s**t.

theres a section on ford forums dedicated to panos and i think utes, where they talk about the problem with the rear door lock etc aswell something to check, maybe worth haveing a look in there, understandable though as it's god damn massive, so can be a bit overwhelming.

but f**k yeah go the pano, 1000 for an xg sounds like an awesome base, no more 4.1 to. (ducks)

Cheers OZBMX. yeah FFAU is too complex for me! i get lost in there

we went and had a look at the van today, and "its had all the rust cut out and is ready for paint" wasn't the best description

Bad Points:
Rust: Rear quarters behind the wheels
A bit of rust in front of the rear wheels
Rust poking through the B pillar
Unsure about the sills, they seemed to be good but just not too sure
Gutters rusty
Possibly around the windscreen

Good Points:
Plenum was perfect
Engine was strong
Gearbox strong
Good suspension
Spare steering box to replace the one thats a bit wooly in it
Good floor in tray
Cool mags

I took s**t of pictures and i'll put a few up here to see what you guys reckon. My personal opinion is that its too rusty to bother with, even if its driveline is good.

Not too bad for a grand..
getting it?

hmm, yeah bit of rust, but from the photos it only seems minor, looks like you could get away with just rust converting most of it, I'm quite concerned about the gutters for the fact it had a roof rack particularly, bad enough without one, any light coming through, hehe.
Admittedly I'm sure there better than the xl gutters, I'm leaving the rooflining up for a reason, hahaha


but f**k yeah definitely cool mags, love those mags.

hmm, guess depends how much work you want to put in and what you want out of it, it is god damn cheap admittedly, I think the rarity causes them to demand a premium over even a ute

by the way I don't believe they came with an 8 so there maybe some engineering issues there, but you'd have to check to be sure, not saying you can't get an engineer involved.
if you do go down the path of an 8 may i suggest an nc donor car.

personally if you decide it's suitable I'd give it a couple days or whatever you feel comfortable to, and maybe hit back with a lowish offer, unless it's like you were the 6th viewing that day, haha.
but i guess depends how good you are with haggling, and never forget the cost of retrieval, eg towing if need be, know the cost, before dealing.

edit
by the way it's zl - xf

bit of tape, some bog and some paint will fix the rust up. she'll be right

just kidding!

Fabz: Nah, we wont bother with this one. too far gone

Ozbmx: I forgot about the engineering side of it , i just found Pete (XR9ute)'s post on how he put a 5.0 into his XG and figured i could copy that. And yeah, get an E-series donor car was on the cards too.

If we had of taken it, i reckon the gutters would just be removed completely! makes for a nice smooth look anyway. There was actually no headlining in it which made it easier to check for rust, but the actual roof and around the joins seemed pretty good.

and thanks on the failane thing.

ashcook: it was the sills in this thing that really scared me. but yeah, i will heed your advice and leave this one alone.

I hadnt though of the auctions actually, i might start scouring them when i get back to townsville. I have no particular affinity with vans, or even fords as far as projects are concerned, so the options are pretty open


Thanks for all the help anyway guys. Hopefully in the new year i will be able to jump back in here with some sort of project.