I'm looking at getting an ef- el xr6 or 8,even a futura but it must be manual.

I promised myself to never go down that road again after spending 3 times what my old eb wagon was worth on the damn clutch, pedal box's, fire wall repairs, cables and clevis/bush kits!!

But I need to have another 5 speed.

Are there anyone who knows of a proper place to do a firewall strengthening and pedal box brace that actually works- and just doesn't transfer the pressure to another component?

Does anyone know of any good later e series manual cars for sale? My attempts in finding one have been ratty cars that are not looked after. Budget is $6,000 or so maybe thats the prob!!

do AU's have the same issues with their cable setup?

good luck finding an xr8 manual for 6k

there are a few rats around, productive comment though- building a thread base are we???

Mate i have a custom made clutch by NPC (Nicks Performance Clutches) that i ran i my car for a year and a half. It cost $350 that was New pressure plate, 1500psi, New organic clutch plate, new bearing and my flywheel machined and the whole assemberly ballenced. The pedal pressure is softer with this clutch than with a standard ford clutch, but it behaves much like a cussion button clutch. GRABS HARD. I have never had a single issue with the fire wall or pedal box, i reccon the fire wall problems that some people have is related to excessive pedal pressure from a really badly designed clutch, or the fact that most people don't set the hold point on the pedal up properly. It should be set about 20 - 30mm off the floor. Give NPC a call and ask to talk to Douge he will anwser any questions for you. I no longer need that set up either, have to upgrade it so i might throw the whole lot up for sale soon.

Yes AUs use the same cable setup for the clutch.
With the fire wall I used 2 plates of 2.5mm stainless steel bolted on as the fire wall was cracked when I bought my ute.

u can buy my el futura i just fixed the fire wall but i gotta fix the pedal box and put a new clutch in it... its got 135000 kms next service due 140000