I've been wanting to start this particular thread for quite some time, so I hope you enjoy the progress of my build.

This is my current weapon of choice (and affordability!)



This car was bought by me in about April 2007. A late 1990 series II Falcon S, with T5 with MPFI. It was unmolested with about 270k's and was fairly clean and straight. The only downer was the clear coat coming off sections on the roof and top rear quarters. I had an 1989 EA Series I GL with 3spd and CFI before, and this thing was a vast improvement.

This is how she looked when I got it.

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Last edited by locknut on Sat Aug 01, 2009 10:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.

After racing r/c for a few years, you learn that you have to make a chassis handle before you make it go quick. So after some research and speaking with the good blokes at GSA Wholesale Suspension back up in Brisbane, I opted for King Super Low's matched with 60mm shortened BOGE shocks. At the time, I supplied the parts and got a fella at Bridgestone to fit them. This is how she sat..

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About 3 weeks after having this car, it dumped all it's water one evening when I was leaving one of the lookouts with my g/f. Pure steam as it were, was emitting from the exhaust, and she started to heat up. I managed to pull over on the side of the road, let it cool and then drove a bit more. It heated up again.. Then I had a mad idea of removing the overflow cap, so it could suck in cool air, and not recirculate the heat. It worked, I was able to limp the car home with a busted headgasket - the Falcon 6 is a tuff unit.

Over the next few days I got it towed to DMB Automotive in D!ckson. They checked the head, and it came back as a failure after pressure testing. So, I got them to source and fit a new head, and a few more days later I was up and running.

I figured I will do some experimenting with this car, trying to everything using quality gear, but as cheap as possible. I needed a base power figure, so went along to one of the BMW dyno nights with a mate of mine, and was able to get a power run on the dyno for $30 With the new head fitted, and NO other mods, it pulled 114rwkw. With the airbox removed she made a healthy 117rwkw.

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Last edited by locknut on Sun Aug 02, 2009 7:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I was now keen to do the exhaust. I wanted to make sure I got the full system in 1 hit to get a decent gain. Not interested in paying top dollar for the parts I searched for weeks and weeks, as I just wanted to get the bits for the right price. And then I got really lucky.. I called a wrecker (metal recycler) operating out of Kambah, and they put me onto a bloke who had several Ford wrecks in his yard. I called the guy, and asked for extractors to suit an E series, and he had a set. I asked if they were in good nic, no cracks? He said "no, the look really good, few surface spots of rust but that's just weathered." I asked what brand, he said "Looks like Pace.. Pacemaker?" I got the guys address, and zoomed out there.

When I got there, he asked what system I was going to marry them up to, and I replied I'll just get a off the shelf Lukey or Redback. He said come look at these.. He had 3 systems laid out in 6 sections in the backyard. I picked the best 2 parts, and off I went.



I got the Pacey's home, gave them a rub back with 800grit and a wire brush, and then hit them with some VHT hi temp. Came up a treat..

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Last edited by locknut on Sat Sep 26, 2009 6:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I got them fitted by Glenn at Roadway Exhaust in Belco. Good shop there. Turns out the tail pipe I selected (with muffler) was from a Fairlane, so it was longer and no kink in the end. The shop just modified this and fitted it. They fitted a hi-flo cat, and positioned it a little further down the line than normal. They said they've had good results with this. And it makes sense to me that if it's the first restriction, putting it further away from the engine would allow it breath just that tad better. I understand that a cat works with heat, but I think the results were spot on.

Another BMW dyno day was coming up, so I came along again, and got a run at the end because we were late. The car showed the results, just like it was from a textbook; ie: "with everything running optimal you should get XX kw extra". The EA gained 13kw from the 4499's, cat and 2.5" Lukey sys.

127rwkw, then 130rwkw without the airbox.

NB: I should also mention between getting the system and dyno time, I also fitted an XH Snorkel from FTG, and got a K&N panel of ebay. In my case, the difference with or without the airbox remained the same, 3rwkw. In a way, that suggests I gained next to nothing in the power dept. with these intake mods. I do however felt at the time that it gained a bit more mid range torque, and slightly more responsive.

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The front brakes always had a shudder, and after about a year, I decided it was time to fix this. Myself and a mate got some DBA slotted from Cam at Hightek brakes (sponsor here). Cam also supplied us with some Bendix CT's (Ceramic Tech), all at an excellent price.

Have done brakes numerous times before, so this was a p!$$ easy task.

The result as expected, was 400% better!!

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Mate Awsome write up . I think new front rotor is what i need.....you should see them hahaha

Yes,i agree,good write up,and good progress,keep us informed with future mods.

Thanks heaps fella's, there is a bit more to this docu, like yesterday and today was spent with me and a mate changing the head, and timing chain.. man what a job to do if you haven't before. All pretty straight forward, but still; so time consuming. It's still not finished - but I'm on the home stretch, and have pics to follow.

But back to the story in order of events..

Excellent Stuff mate ! my EB Has a slight shuddering problem maybe i should get myself some slotted rotors !

Coming along nicely.
Thought of adding a BBM?

It is good to get a concrete figure for how much power the airbox saps.... seen lots of speculation but until now that is all it has been.

wondering now if a Y piece with two pods mounted behind the front bar in the cold would give you the same figure as not having an airbox at all.

As you're all aware the EA front doors only support a 4" speaker, I so some time around November 2008 I opted to make use of the space in the lower section. Got some Clarion splits (not the best, not really happy with them actually) and some 12mm MDF, and some vinyl from Spotlight. Carved up a panel, cut some holes, and laid out the vinyl. I was happy with the presentation, but ideally I think it needs some dynamat to stop the torsion(?) / supports in the doors ratling.. anyway for the moment, they came out like this.







In December, I sourced some 3.45's off ebay for a good price, got them fitted by Jeff at DAMS - Differential and Mechanical Services in Phillip. He also fitted my supplied upper and lower rear trailing arms that were fitted with Pacemaker (yes Pacemaker) urethane bushes. They're pretty hard, red, look just like Nolathane.

He also replaced the 2 pinions in my LSD. Ideally, I'd prefer the 28spline setup, but money and time weren't available. This was a good mod, the rear sits nice, and she is a bit more punchy. Sits on about 2300rpm @ 100km/h, instead of 1800rpm. Doesn't really suck much more juice, I guess it's not labouring as much; not that these torquey 6's do anyway.

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I ordered the BA XR copies in E-Series offset off ebay. Fitted with Achilles Sport 235/45/17, they landed for about a grand. I'm really happy with them



More to follow, including my head and rocker issues which will bring us up to date with my ride... Thanks for reading

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Nice work mate . Always good to read about another Boxcar and the mods being done