Bad news

went down to get some dinner last night. and this d***head in you guessed it a COMMODORE. decided to pull out when there was already a hilux behind him.

leaves me blocking the carpark accsess way. i couldnt reverse because there was another car behind me, i couldnt turn out of the carpark. and the hilux couldnt get out because i was stuck across the accsess way. so everyones waiting for this IDIOT in a stupid looking PURPLEEEE VE SS to move back into his carpark so everyone can get passed. 2mins later and a few words exchanged he moves back in.

i move around still yelling.

go to move into a carspot and OH YES theres a HOLDEN vectra parked to far over so i take out its entire left hand side

but the fairmonts alright..just a broken indicator lense and a small paint scrape below that on the bumper..

i couldnt believe it because i creased every bumper on that vectra from back to front.

but the bad part is its going to cost me $650!!!!! dollars excess. there goes my plans for some mods for the next month or so.

heres a snap shot the day after it may not look that bad but i have never been this upset in my life

my almost perfect grandad spec fairmont is wounded.

i now have a fear of carparks for the rest of my life.


<a href="http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s151/alex_guarino3/?action=view¤t=indicatordamage.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s151/alex_guarino3/indicatordamage.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

ill have to go out to supercheap today and buy some white plastic paint.

the only down side is i know it wont match exactly. but i guess it sure as hell beats the big black grazes.

pics soon of the finished job.

the indicator lense will have to wait i think. i looked through the parts section of the quokka today and there wasnt much...it seems everyone likes to crash the fairmonts head on.

also my entire leather ghia interior was sitting in the quokka for $500 with trims.

ahh well thats the irorny i guess.

and a few TICKFORD motors for $400 bucks with boxs on some

thats not bad at all...
new indicator and minor repair to front bar and re-spray

Looks as though there is damage behind guard as well as you can see it no longer lines up

Pretty easy repair though, could of been lot worse

yeh i think the that left hand qrt panel may have been pushed back. as now the passenger door rubs against it everytime its opened and closed. producing an annoying grinding sound.

and the bumper has been pushed a tiny bit out of allignment.

went down to mallz and managed to pick up a 500ml spray pack of my exact paint match (dynamic white). and purchased a brand new left hand corner light cluster for $35..not bad considering repco quoted me $53 and it would have to be ordered

sadly i ran out of money so i didnt have enough for the plastic primer..otherwise it would be all good now.

but other than that. the new indicator went in a bit tricky...but thats expected with malaysian reproduced crap anyways. the holding pins were to long and the rubber seal was the incorrect size etc etc and the mounting prong didnt sit far enough back for it to me secured in with the screw. so just wacked up a little oversized mount to grasp the indicator instead. and replaced the pins and did some minor trimming of the seal.

<a href="http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s151/alex_guarino3/?action=view¤t=newindicator.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s151/alex_guarino3/newindicator.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

turns out didnt need the plastic primer at all.

that paint i purchased went on the bumpers beautifully and even nicer on the metal...i ended up touching up every imaginable scratch on the car in the end so she looks even better than before

<a href="http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s151/alex_guarino3/?action=view¤t=NEWINDICATORPLUSPAINT.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s151/alex_guarino3/NEWINDICATORPLUSPAINT.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Jeez, thats a pain, sorta know how you feel though, I had a fair similar experience, when I first got mine, except mine was rough to start with, and it' was just a small scuff on the other cars bumper.
Good to see your honest atleast.

The repair came up nice though, and yeah those indicators are a pain, I've gone through 3 on my car, 2 by me, and one by my mate.

yeh they were fairly tricky.

installed some iridium plugs, dropped the oil and did the filter and replaced that stock filter with an FRAM AIRHOG panel filter.

and cleaned out that airflow control sensor ontop of the throttlebody, following that tech document on the site. THAT made a huge difference, no more steering wheel vibrations when braking fast, or turning or engaging aircon.

so shes back to tip top shape once more and running absolutely amazingly.

just need to find the time to realign my drivers side elc window, then shes A1

didnt even go see the girlfriend because i was fixing her.....i think i may be inlove.

i just worked out that my wheel saved my passenger door. and the fact that the wheels are 225's and hug over the rims saved the rims so other than a grazed rubber tyre i saved my passenger door panel

grab a can of silicone spray while you are there and soak (absolutely soak) the window rubbers and wind the window up n down while re applying the spray.

after 10-15min of this the window will operate beautifully.

Huge suspension problems? EFs handle far better IMHO than ELs - Most ELs will want to understeer before they feel like kicking out. Fine if you cant drive, but I think its much better to have a lively back end than a doughy front.



???

Its actually called an Idle Speed Controller (ISC), and its got nothing to with steering wheel vibrations (???), unless it was because your car was stalling.. which would be fuked up if it was stalling when you were braking.

Also, learn to park.

its pretty self explantory? if its the idle speed control. then it controls the idle speed. so when the car is put under load? i.e power steering at full lock? and the idle speed control unit is dirty or clogged up? then it wont respond well giving the car a messy idle.

even says it in the tech document on here.

and i dont know mate i have never driven an older EF. but alright then. im just going on what the wheels write up said about the car.

why else would ford revise there suspension on the EL?? so they can liven up the backend even more? so you can rip some rad nuts in ya mums backyard? they ovbiously sought out to improve it for safety reasons, after all these cars are family cars and are not designed for what we intend to do with them (minus XR series)

[quote="philaddis"]That's a nice looking standard Fairmont there mate. Looks in good nick and sounds like a great deal for the price...

She is an EF tho......[/quote]



so that just the shell

nah apparently because its an EF II the rear end suspension assembly was revised. with new trailing arms etc?? but the front end remains the same

but honestly i couldnt tell you. im just going on what the guys said on the first page about it.