Hi, excellent job on the Lane. I really like the look of the motor. I have just bought a similar one (NCII Ghia) from a little old lady who only ever drove it to bowls once a fortnight hahaha. Only 95000 kms. It is the plan for my 15 year old son JJ to do it up in time for his high school formal, but pigs have been known to fly in far off lands, or so they say...
How does replacing the air intake improve performance? What unit did you use? Does the chip need to be reprogrammed? Have you replaced the clunky old radiator fan?
Our next step is to replace the rear shocks, which sadly are shagged. Unfortunately the original SLS is no longer supplied by Ford (or Monroe as I understand it) so will have to put standard shocks, springs etc. Then a new exhaust with 2.5" pipes. Michael from Highlands Pit Lane said it was not worth putting extractors on it because the original manifold is quite efficient. What do you think? He also wants a lot of dough to replace the intake and chip.
I might go for a slightly warmer cam. I believe it's quite cheap and easy to fit. Any ideas?
The driver's door needs a new seal and the vinyl fitting for the rear vision mirror controls is warped. Do you think by heating it up I might be able to reshape it, or maybe we should get one from a wrecker..?
This will be a fun project. The last time I tried anything like this was with a 1960 Chevvie, when I was a kid. Took a long time but eventually became a screamer. Although I was a big GM & Chrysler fan I find I actually like the Lane more and more as I drive it around!

G'day mate! Yes i have done a heap of work to my Fairlane the past 2 years i've owned it! In reagrds to your questions, i will be happy to advise you, see what you rekon.

I kept the original Intake manifold and computers. Don't really want to go anywhere near aftermarket stuff unless i ABSOLUTELY have too!! I think that there might be too many problems, as i am VERY picky, when it comes to slight noises, knocks & lack of performance!!! In regards to the fan, i have kept it in there. you can get thermo fans, from the later model Fairlanes, but as i mentioned before, i want to keep the car as stock as possible.

With my rear suspension, the SLS is still operational. I purchased a BRAND NEW air pump off ebay for $250. In ebay, just type "NC FAIRLANE" in the search engine & you can find a fair few items for sale and @ a reasonable price too! With my SLS, i had to modify the suspension system, because the "control box" above the rear stabiliser bar always plays up, pumps the car up when the ignition is off and does all sorts of wierd stuff!!! So i cut the air pump wires and wired them to a switch inside the car on the dash! so that i can control it manually.

Overall, i rebuilt the motor from scratch! new pistons, reco crank, etc. But i used an EL TIckford head + camshaft. the original motors these Lanes came with (4.0L MPEFI) were 148kw. The good thing is, is that the block & pistions are made for the Tickford head too, so all you need to do is Get your hands on a genuine tickford head (from wreckers or ebay), get it serviced with new valves, springs, etc. and whack it on! fits perfectly with no mods needed. Just keep in mind that it has to be from the same year model, (eg. EB, EF, EL) models. And the computer stays the same! Specs say that the tickford head produces 168kw. More that the V8's did in the NC fairlane models!

I hope this has been of some help. Please let me know how you go (photos) as i am quite keen.
Cheers mate.
Happy building/restoring

im going to clear up a thing or 2 here. as you all know i spend ALOT of time on these models...

the thermos can come from EF or EL any model I6 or V8, the AU and BA ones are smaller in size and dont fit the e-series radiators.

the SLS shocks can be reconditioned. i think i might even have a pair laying about still. but i found the ride was better with stockies. you will also have to upgrade your springs in the rear as the SLS units are designed to run with the soft spring.

aka engine blacks and pistons - yes you are correct here, ford didnt change the bottom ends in the 4.0 range until the AU. the 3.9 i believe got a different stroke but dont quote me on that

the tickford head will run on any SOHC bottom end from EA3.9-AU4.0 there is no need for new valves and springs tho as it would end up much much cheaper to buy a ported head with strong springs fitted which would out perform a tickford head. i know this as i destroyed my tickford head by bending 8 valves and it was cheaper to buy a ported head then have the valves replaced.

i dont understand what you mean by has to be the same year model? also ECU's can be swapped. if you want to keep your stock intake manifold you can either buy a ED Tickford (XR6) ECU or a J3 chip with a pre-programmed tickford tune. - and if your going to do all the tickford gear you might aswell find a 300kpa fuel pressure reg and a tickford cam. the J3 will most likely be a cheaper option over the ED XR6 ECU which i have seen listed for up to $700.

if your going the BBM (Broad Band Manifold) you can run a EL ECU and with a bit of wiring you can have a fully working BBM and thermo fan control.

now please note with the J3 chip you will need to run an EL ECU as it doesnt support the older ECU's. to there are some specific EA-ED chips out there. they will also need t have the smartlock disabled if your car doesnt have smartlock. if you run the EL ECU without a J3 chip you will need a smartlock bypass. however if your car does have smartlock you can just plug it in, allow the car to re-learn and you should be good to go.

Thanks guys. I have today installed Monroe HD shocks, springs and bumps stops to replace the SLS. Why didn't I think of getting the old ones reconditioned? I should have spoken to Repco... Doh. Quite an expensive exercise. But it is much better, handling-wise. Unfortunately it C**k the back of the car up a bit and shows up the weakness in the front shocks, which prior to the work seemed okay. More dough down the track. The pump was working well, but is now superfluous, so I might remove it altogether.

The next step will be to replace the front speakers, which JJ has blown out by running them flat out on full bass. That's The Teenage Way. Then some subwoofer action. Then gauges, sports steering wheel and shifter. He's mostly keen on what it looks like and what it sounds like, rather than how fast it goes, although he does think that dropping a HUGE V8 into it would be da bomb. I have to remind him that it will not suit the P plate regs...
The step after that will be the exhaust, then I will think about the intake and chip. Given that the plain pod is illegal, I will run a pipe up to the intake from in front of the radiator to get good pressure and replace the snorkel with a bigger one. I wonder if there is a K&N filter unit to suit the NCII. Thanks for the tip on the head, huggiebear. I was thinking about a Wade cam, now I have to think some more..

Then the body needs some work. It's Cardinal Red. JJ wants it either a new colour entirely or else similar shade with a metallic look. Maybe a deeper shade of red, leaning to purplish metallic, with deep tinted windows. Dat's da bomb too.

19" wheels will be the max, but they can wait till next year at around $800 a piece. Check out the pics.

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i want those wheels for my fairlane lol.

they certainly do make K&N panel filters for EA-ED (inclusive of fairlane and LTD)

It had been a while
had the panels fixed and I am now flushing the radiator tomorrow while finishing my dash
here are some pictures I took about a month or two go now.

Looking good mate! Ive got to upload some new fotos of my lane too. Its been a while since ive updated the fotos! Btw, the dash lights are looking awesome. How did u get the red light allumination? If u dont mind me asking. Cheers mate.

jump on ebay and look up T10 LED's they plug straight into the factory holders. mind you be careful as i had blue LED's and you couldnt see anything in the day time..

ahh ok thanks mate. How many did you use to complete the whole instrument cluster? Or do they come in packets?

Car is lookin' good but you forgot to censor no. plate in one pic!

you can buy them singly or in bulk lots on ebay. just the globes