I brought this car as I have a 4WD and wanted something faster. (I will be upgrading the 4WD to a Turbo Diesel V8 next year )
It is an 1997 Ford Fairmont Ghia. EL Ghia's six cylinders come standard with all XR6 performance options, including: I6HO engine with more powerful cam and larger exhaust ports, ECU with chip for cam and more aggresive shift patterns for the automatic, fuel regulator is 300kpa instead of the 270kpa standard, high performance diff (takes different oil to a normal diff) with a LSD and 3.45:1 gears and lowered suspension. So being a factory performance car, with all the Ghia options, including: climate control, power windows and six stacker cd player with DSP, I thought it would be an excelent base for a moddified daily with the intention of some track days. Below is my mods, I hope you like my car as much as I do .

General

1997 EL Fairmont Ghia
Colour: Exterior is (A6) Mocha Foam with matching interior colour of Cappachino Leather.
Factory Standard Features: Climate Control, Dual Airbags, ABS, Tickford (Head, Fuel Reg, ECU, 3.45LSD), Power Everything.
Stereo: Factory Premium 250W with AM/FM/6 Disc Changer and Rear Amp. Kicker 12" Sub and Amp
Aftermarket Accesories: Towbar, Tinted Windows. ALARM System

Whats Left to Do

Rebuild AU Block
Further Work My EL Tickford Head (More Than What is Listed Below)
BA XR8 18" Rims with 235 Front Tyres and 265 Rear Tyres
ECU Re-Tune (See Below For Link)
Replace Auto and Get a 3000RPM Stally

What has been done

Engine

Head - Std Tickford - JMM DEV5 - Ported, Shaved, Larger valves, Heavy Duty Valve Springs, 9.8:1 Compression Ratio
Cam - Billet, Custom Grind (NO Shims) (No more DEV5 Cam )
Cam - Surecam: 0.554 Valve lift intake/exhaust; 220@ 50 Duration; 111.5 Lobe separation
Exhaust - Pacemakers with High Flow Cat, Mandel Bent Pipes (2.5") and Custom Muffler
Block - EL - Buying an AU engine and getting block rebuilt and sump modified
ECU - Standard EL Ghia with XR6 Tune and Shift Patterns - Piggyback ECU to be fitted (http://www.fordmods.com/forums/viewtopi ... 77&start=0)
Sound File: >>>>>>> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=6CArQJL3rp8

Driveline

Automatic - Standard Fitment: BTR 93LE
--- Electronic Shift Kit
--- Large Auto Cooler Fitted
--- 3000 Stally (to be fitted Dec 08)
--- New Auto (to be fitted Dec 08)
--- Hi Stall/Anti Limp Home Module (to be fitted Dec 08)
--- Dipstick/Thermo switch/Shift Kit/Temp Gauge (to be fitted Dec 08)
Differental - Standard Fitment: 28 Spline XR6 LSD
--- 4.11 LSD
--- Speedo Corrector - Jaycar - Fitted so that Dash/Trip Computer has correct speed and Auto has correct shifts

Brakes

Standard Discs allround with Bendix pads and factory ABS
To do: Traction Control (To be retro fitted from AU) , Slotted Discs, Twin Piston Calipers

Suspension

Standard Ghia (1" lower than stock) with new Boge shocks and Nolothane Bushes
To do: Lower it more, better swaybars

Wheels

Standard Ghia 7 spokes (x5) and Steel wheels (x4)
To do: Set of nice 18" wheels with 235/265 tyres

Trackside

RWKW: ???@????rpm (Wouldn't mind 180+ )
RWTorque:???@????rpm
60 Foot Time: 2.344 @ Willowbank on 17/09/08 (See below for time slip)
Quarter Mile Time: 15.494 @ Willowbank on 17/09/08 (Problems - Auto/ECU)

Driveablity

For those that are interested on how these mods affect an EL, read on...
Highway Speeds torque convertor locked in 4th, light throttle :: 80km/hr 1950rpm; 90km/hr 2125rpm; 100km/hr 2300rpm
Gear Changes (4.11s & Speed Corrector) Up 1st to 2nd 65km/hr; 2nd to 3rd 112km/hr
Gear Changes (4.11s & Speed Corrector) Down 2nd to 1st 50km/hr, whether foot or manual shift
Gear Changes (Stock) Up 1st to 2nd 80km/hr; 2nd to 3rd 135km/hr
Gear Changes (Stock) Down 2nd to 1st 60km/hr via foot; 2nd to 1st 70km/hr via manual selection
Top speed @ ECU cut off (4.11s & Speed Corrector) 158km/hr (Willowbank)
Top speed @ ECU cut off (Stock) 210km/hr (Burnout Comp)

Speedo Corrector - Jaycar - Fitted so that Dash/Trip Computer has correct speed and Auto has correct shifts

Fuel Economy

About 18 to 20 Ltrs/100Km (Average - Depends on Driving Style)
10's are common on the HWY and 27-30 with Sprited Driving
Yes, a Tune and Piggyback ECU is on its way (http://www.fordmods.com/forums/viewtopi ... 77&start=0)

Anything/Everything Else

Oil Changes every 5,000km (a must!)
I love the factory premium stereo!
205/65R15 are not grippy enough!
The exhaust note! OMG IMHO

Videos

Service Dash EL Ghia {DESCRIPTION}
Engine Idle {DESCRIPTION}
Auto Back to 1st {DESCRIPTION}
Shift Kit (jumps from about 60kmhr to 75km.hr) {DESCRIPTION}
0 to 100km/hr (Econ mode auto) (shifts at about 5,200 rpm) {DESCRIPTION}
0 to 100km/hr (Norm mode auto) (shifts at about 5,500 rpm) {DESCRIPTION}
0 to 100km/hr (Manual shift in Econ mode auto) (shifted at about 5,700 rpm) [url]url[/url]

Pictures

Last edited by FairmontXR6 on Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:45 pm, edited 37 times in total.

piccies no workie sounds nice though

lol what cam is in that thing?
exactly same mods as me, but sounds like an old grumpy prick!

Sounds like straight through pipes. Doesnt sound lumpy, just loud.

But yeah, interested in specs of the cam

howd u get the ford thing on the dash?

FordFairmont

As it says in the 1st post, the exhaust is a 2.5" with a cat and muffler.

Doofus/FordFairmont

Yea the cam is a wild one, as for the specs, I'll have to dig them up

SgtBourne

Thanks mate

dave0

Its Fords service dash, has lots of different screens - Just turn the key to ACC and hold the odo button in for 10secs, release, press, release, press, release, press and hold till the seat belt light goes out and presto Ford's service dash

you can hear every crackle in the exhaust, ive only ever heard that in straight through pipes.

i mean, my car only has one muffler, and that is straight through.....and its loud but sound is filtered nothing like yours. When you say its got a "custom muffler" do you mean a hotdog, or a hollow tin or somethin?

Your car will not sound like mine unless you have the exact same head with the same mods as mine and you'll also need the same cam and the same exhaust system. This will be hard to achieve as the cam was built to my instruction (i.e. a once off) and the muffler was modified for better flow.

Note: This car is my pride and joy and I have spent a lot of time/money/research to get it this way, so I don't appreciate the fact that you keep trying to tell me that it has straight through pipes, it doesn't.

FairmontXR6

HAHAHA Touchy touchy!!

Mate, seriously, he was only offering an opinion.... I think you might need to take a chill pill.

If you like the way your car sounds, that's great. I'm not entirely sure that means everyone else has to tho!

hows that go on a cold start?

um yeah, well i didnt mean to offend you....... your car is very nice, and sounds good too...

i was just trying to get my head around how your car sounds like a Dragster even with a full exhaust thats all.

thanks mate i got the service dash up now pretty cool

and she sounds great would love mine to sound like that

Mitch_

Yea, "she's" a bit fussy on a cold start

FordFairmont

Wasn't worry that you didn't like it, just I thought that u thought that I was lying about the exhaust, thats all

dave0

Yea I like the service dash as well, makes me keep an eye on the gauges

More specs updated, I think thats everything lol

Update:
Installed a Jaycar Speedo Corrector.
Replaced front drivers interior door handle.
Added pics (even thou from my phone), finally!!!