^^^^^^^ Only someone who's never converted their E series falcon to aftermarkets can say this.
As always - Whatever floats your boat . . . . .

Well, another day, another update.

Bugger me, today was hot!!!! Up around the 37 degree mark.

Still Snap was on a mission to finish the job, and that he did. Thanks mate once again for all you hard work and expertise.

So now, my 1991 EB Fairmont Ghia now has keyless entry, and the central locking locks and unlocks with a nice quiet 'thunk' instead of sounding like Kermit the Frog being strangled by Miss Piggy. This includes the tailgate, which in the early cars was operated by a separate switch.

The other mod completed today by Snap was the Ghia Door light independent activate function. By modding the Door Ajar sensors and using a relay, the door lights only light up if that door is opened.

Once this work was completed, I was able to install the EL door trims, and experiment with a little lighting mod.

Pics of the lighting mod.

With Flash


Without Flash


With a large amoung of Black and Grey happening on the Wagon, I wanted a small amont of colour, so I am adding Red highlights to work with the Steering Wheel and Gear Knob.

The mods I completed today included, adding all the extra pins to the ECU plug, wiring up the Smartlock Bypass Module and installing the EL Ghia ECU. This allowed me to finish testing the NF Cluster wiring adapter loom. I am very happy to say, that Loom No.2 is also a success.

Here it is positioned in the EB Dash.





We went for a drive, to collect dinner, and everything functioned as expected. The EL Ghia Tickford ECU improved the performance in both LPG and Petrol modes, so am happy with that.

Will let you know what we get up to tomorrow.

Cheers
BenJ

Bring on the dash lol

looking good mate keep up the good work, i cant wait to see what you get up to today

Once again, coming along bloody nicely there Ben, great job. Can't wait to see it in the flesh again now all the upgrades have been done.

Well done too to Snap, you are a master at the electrical stuff!

Cheers
RD

Update Report!

Today included a trip to Pick N Payless to pick up a few odds and ends. I needed to get a rear handbrake cable from an EL Wagon, but while there I also managed to find two EL swaybar links with Nolathane bushes. The EF/EL swaybar links are much thicker than the EB ones.

One of my long term plans is to convert the rear brakes to EF/EL. This will allow the floor mounted handbrake to operate correctly. To facilitate this, Snap is welding the handbrake brackets from an EL to the EB diff housing. I have all the bits I need, except for EF/EL rear brake rotors, so if anyone in Sydney wants to donate a pair, please don't hold back.

So while Snap was busy under the car welding I decided to have a bash at home panel beating.

So with the careful use of my size 10 foot, a 4 pound hammer and a block of wood I attacked the bent black bonnet. I really didn't like the red bonnet on the black car.

This is the result.

Before


After


Before


After


Before


After


I think a slightly bent black bonnet, blends in much better than a mostley straight red bonnet.

Plans for tomorrow are to complete the Dash swap.

Cheers
BenJ

The black bonnet looks a lot better now, at least you saved money on the export paint lol.

Will be looking forward to seeing how you go with the dash swap tomorrow

Josh

Nice work all round.

The Cluster lights look to be a very nice white. Does it have white LED's in it?

Cheers Josh. Have started pulling the dash out now.








Actually, yes it does - for the moment.


BenJ

Nice progress Ben, man those doors trims look beautiful in the black car.

:):)

holy crapola, not bad for a boot/sledge hammer panel beating job.

i know if i had tried to do it i would have ended up with ripples all up through the whole thing and made it worse than before

FINISHED!!!!!!

Well the EL interior anyway.

Even though this is my second conversion, and I have a pretty good idea what I was doing, it still took two full days from whoa to go.

As I was pulling the dash out, I noticed a burnt wire in the loom. So before I could start the conversion, I spent the better part of 3 hours, tracing it through the loom, unravelling, removing the wire, and running a replacement.

Then I could start the modding.

The EB1 Fairmont Ghia dash loom is a nicer fit to the EL dash than the EB11 Fairmont loom. It is less bulky in the main stem, which allowed me to tuck it away better in the EL dash.

For the most part the work went well.

The radio plug was spliced in rather dodgely, so I cut it off and resoldered it on.

Every button except the remote fuel flap button, had to be cut off and replaced with the EL equivalent, and then wires for illumination and dimming had to be added for most.

A couple of the Climate Control wires had to be changed about, and several pins added to the ECU Plug.

I also swapped in the EB11 Central Control Modual, so I could have the dimming lights feature, which is absent in the EB1.

While I was inside, studiously working away, Snap was finishing welding on the EL handbrake brackets to the diff housing, and then, as we decided to remove the Transmission Control Module, he built and ran a loom from the TCM Plugs accross to near the ECU plug. I will add the relevant pins over the next week and hook them up to the new loom.

The dash was actually ready to go back in late on Saturday night. Before it could go in however, a few things needed to be removed.

So after I struggled out of bed on Sunday morning, I removed the old EB handbrake assembly, the EB1 Cruise Modual and the EB1 centre dash bracket from the floor. This bracket is completely different to the EB11 and EL brackets, and wasn't able to be used. Snap and I modified the EB dash side pillar brackets to work with the EL dash side mounts. This provides plenty of support for the dash assembly. I also ran my loom for the BBM Switch and the Knock Sensor wires. Oh, and I had to custom fit a rocker switch to turn the LPG system on. It sits under the Fuel Flap release.

The fit up itself went quite well. By 6 PM the car was running. We drove up the road for some well deserved food. When we got back I noticed the instrument lights were not working. We decided to check it out in the morning. Oh, the other mishap was that I forgot to plug in the Blend Door Motor plug. So, we all know what that means DOH!!!! In a few days, OK.

Well, enough of the chit chat. PICS!!!





















I am very happy with the looks and more importantly, the extra functionality the last weeks work has added to the Wagon. I have a few extra bits and pieces to add to it over the next little while, but the modding will certainly slow down a bit.

Thanks for taking an interest.

Cheers
BenJ

Need i say Ben, you never cease to impress. It look stunning in the black car.

Andrew.

Mate,

You dont f**k about do ya??? Swap an interior, re-do dash elec's, what next......turbo....lol...

I'll check it out on friday, if that's ok.

f**k NICE!!!

Cheers

DA22LE

Now that is a unique wagon ben!

Bet it feels nice just to sit in it now.

Time to crack a few cold ones, sit back and look at your work!

Josh

I was just having another look at your dash pics ben.

Do you plan to change the switches for the windscreen wipers and indicators (i think you sydney boys call it repeaters) not that it realy matters, just thort i would ask lol

Josh