I had an El backpackers special and an Xg ute I was battling to do what I wanted with them, an the El was a piece of s**t.
So, I got a decent tax return this year, and with another mini me on the way in March, I decided to get a decent car. Flogged off the ute and wagon and spotted an Ef Fairmont on Ebay for $2000 and after looking at an El Mont Ghia tickford that was falling apart going for $1800 I went straight down to see the Ef. This thing was in great condition. New Kumo's on really one of the best examples of stock mont rims...... with plate still attached behind. Body was nice with a tiny bit of rust, mainly just surface stuff in easy fix spots (I am picky on the body cond), but in good serviceable order. Clean windows with almost new windscreen. Interior very clean with me being picky about one very small stitch work coming apart on drivers seat corner and the drivers seatbelt buckle has a sharp edge on it from one of the guides missing.
Motor/box/diff all no leaks with a detailed engine bay and 173,000 being what the whole car has had to endure. Its punisher had been a one owner from new with full log book till 10,000 k ago. Was from Parramatta area for its entire life.
Starts her up and purr's smooth like I would expect from a low k one owner. Has Fairmont twin induction setup from the throttle, new booster and master..... had obviously really gone, or the d***head who replaced it poured brake fluid down the inside of the guard right under and that is rusting. No power steer leaks, belt nice and tight running smooth pulley rotation. Took it for a spin and gear changes are the smoothest I have felt in a Ford, with only a minor whine from the diff from take off thats hard to hear. The bloke with the EL I looked at told me to boot it and yeah it went hard, but this Ef Mont when dumped put a smile on my face with quick throttle response. Power window on drivers wont go up after a certain height and can only operate the rear drivers from the main unit: New regs and maybe switches. I was thinking that if I got a car with power windows I would drop new ones in to be certain. $2000 no good, so offered him $1800. No go so ended up getting it for $1850.
Left over from the 2k he had it advertised at as "one of the cleanest Fairmonts" went into a service, with the norm oil, air, fuel filter, spark and top ups. Also did the coolant and thermostat, ran some nulon, did the throttle body and internal of the air pipes with nulon cleaner, new Lukey 2.5" cat back sports and coolant level switch. Thanks to dirty fuel, dropped in a new Bosch coil pack, replaced all relays, changed the bcm to an excellent cond one ( thanks SWC) and found out the ecu in it is a Mont wagon one. Would be why the quick throttle response.
Threw the stock player out the door and installed a Sony MP3 high end unit out of the ute, Sony 2 ways 6" in the doors and 6.5" JBL's 3 ways out back. Threw $15 seat covers on to keep the kids from wrecking them and had the windows tinted darkest legal all round.
Future mods; black details on interior, dual amp set-up running 8" sub / new tweeters, Sparco light weight 17's, lower the b**ch, repair the body, new regs, 3 core radiator with heavy duty fans, detail the rocker cover, extractors/cat, throttle body full clean with au injectors, pads, steer pump and white/ black writing dials.


Original ad and picks via http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/150694834915 ... 1423.l2649

update pics to come. Been bad weather here and will wash the girl tomorow

nice tidy starting point dude, look fwd to seeing future updates!

Thanks man, its going to be a respectable family car mod. The missus will need the boot space, so am going to get tricky with sub placement and hence the 8" sub not 12". Mechanically, I plan to free up lost grunt and leave it at that. Does anyone know if you can get the air con underdriven and leave it at that. SWC had a good point with underdrives on the EF, on idle the water pump is doing less rotations with underdrives, and the motor needs all the cooling it can get. Am going to do some bonnet work, dont know what yet but I want more air in the bay. Lower lip body kit no wing. The 17's that are going on it need locknuts to fit as the nut hole is just the right size for a nut to go in, but not the wheel brace head. They are black and ULTRA light weight. Got them for $500 about 2 years ago from a bloke who had them on a saloon car for one show then stored them. Looked into getting one new for a spare and turns out you can only get them from Japan at a nice cost of $1000 per rim + import tax and freight.
Still no pics yet due to rain, but the tastefully modified family car project will end up changing to my quest for more power once the family car thing gets boring. Just thought with this car its a good start, I needed a family car and it had potential. Thinking about not modding extensively a car that the missus will drive more than me and the kids wont respect leather seats and whiplash on kids is not a good look. Thinking about spending more time powering up a petrol RC and heavily modding one of them, at least with a 1:10 scale car the kids cant be in it and I wont loose my license

Update: Due to the crap weather in the mountains and most of nsw the thread is stalling. Got the Alpine 8" sub yesterday. Nice for $5 with $15 postage. Looking at removing the front lights on the weekend and giving them a clean and ultra white globes. While its off I can repair the latest damage. The front bumper at the guard on the passenger side has come loose. I will drop another washer for added security. Only has to last till I get a kit. Dropped some goo on the base of the thermo housing tonight to get us through till my Wife drops our baby. When that happens I am having 3 weeks off, so thats when the cooling system make over starts. Will be trying to get a template measuring for the boot install using 3mm.
Does anyone know the best way to get the shape and measurements for a timber backing to sit between the arch plastics in the boot? I want to use the tree holes in the arch brace to run screws into 18mm timber right accross so I can mount my amps to it.

Update: looked at the rebuild on the cooling system and decided to replace coolant, gaskets on thermo housing and leave it at that. Heads got a small external leak ( droplet of coolant under thermo housing after 30 minutes of idle) I noticed. Dropped some goo on it to slow the flow down and its stopped for now. Should still be good for a couple of months + until I do the head. Got a pair of extractors off ebay today ( Lukey's) for $38! Will be dropping them on in the next 2 weeks with the au injectors, fuel system clean, new sender/pump and new o2 sensor.
Got a Ghia parcel shelf for $1 off ebay too, so the sub will look stock when put in. Will also be extending the holes so the 6.5" Jbl's sit flush

update.... hopefully with pics:
So the head gasket was getting worse, I dropped some Bars crap in it that was suppose to be ok after a coolant change..... it stopped the leak in its tracks but on 2 hot day trips of 25k the temp has gone to the m, also the oil pressure has been dropping down to the 1st notch. The oil is not milky and it has no miss, so I thought maybe the bars s**t had clogged the thermo, but thats fine. Tossing up weather to do the head myself, was thinking regrind cam and replacement exchange head. Had a discussion on here not too long ago about head gasket costs, I was told by one person its $1300... but all the quotes I have got locally have been $1800 to $2k and for that money I can do the head, regrind cam, au gasket, au injectors, 3 core radiator, fit the extractors,timing belt, bushes, rack and ends myself and still have spare cash off 2k. All I am worried about when doing the head is the timing, did a timing belt on a OHC 929 I had....... thought the cogs wont move so a lock aint worth it. Turns out I was wrong and that car was an endless pain in the a** timing wise. Worst comes to worst I will get the car to the point of head removal with timing attached and then have a mobile bloke come out ( If anyone wants some spare cash for exchanging the head and doing the timing belt at my place drop me a post), I think I could work it out but I am just worried.

Fitted the amps, flush mounted the JBL 6.5", installed the sub and ghia shelf, cleaned the head lights ( yellow crap), fixed the rattling side mirrors and gave her a clean this weekend. Turned out it was not the 30w rms Sonys in the front, nor the factory tweeters, nor the $5 Alpine sub I had to worry about.... it was the JBL's! Titanium driver 125w rms, you would think they could handle 85w rms right. Wrong fried the tweeter on one side with the stereo half way. Trying to get an exchange under warranty, will see how I go. Mounted the amps in a wooden box behind the back seat. Whne I made it I made it to support my weight ( about 80kg) so when the mrs throws s**t in the back the amps are safe. Can also still use the extra space if the back seats go down. Covered it in grey fur material with a Ford badge ( thanks to my old Xg) mounted on the front. Drilled 14mm holes through to keep the box from not setting alight. It canes. Cant believe a $25 Ryda sony 6" could handle double the max output and still sound so good. The factory tweeters also handle 60w rms with no drama's. The Alpine $5 8" sub has a max output of 100w rms, but it handles 170w with ease. All in all its a bummer about the Jbl's, but its still a nice sound... and f**k loud!
Painted the dash fascia sorround too. Did the face in "machine grey" and the sorround in chrome. The way the cluster sits the dark grey is not too reflective even after 2 coats of clear. The chrome sorround should reflect the coloured led's when I get them.
Got one pic up, the others are too big and I cant work out how to get them to upload... if anyone could tell me how its done I would be thankful

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Getting the car ready for pink slip........ 3 out of 4 window regs working, the l/h rear cable is snapped but thats were my new born sits so Im not too worried ( hope its not a pink slip requirement). I have a spare dash fascia panel that I got from a bloke in Blackheath and I am mucking around with paint. The bloke was supposedly a painter but the job was that bad its taken alot to prep it. Just mucking around at the moment and have sprayed the fascia chrome with the sorround for the centre vents in machine grey, ash tray cover ( series 1 fairmont) black and stereo fascia chrome. Did the ash tray black to suite the stereo, if it comes up ok I will do the auto sorround chrome with the gear stick piece maybe machine grey....... if it doesnt look good I will drop it on ebay for 99c start. Thought with the reflection of the chrome I might find out how to have the instrument lights wired up to come on constantly.
Seeing the Bars s**t has regulated the leak and the oil pressure is fine now with an oil change, I might do the extractors, au injectors, fuel pump/sender and get some parts for the head change (3 core radiator, hoses, heater tap/core etc) out of the baby bonus and leave the head till July when the tax comes. If all goes well I noticed there is a mob in Sydney who do a reco stage 2 head with regrind cam for $1200 + exchange. If I feel comfortable changing the head myself might go that way and do the timing chain while I am at it. Was also thinking of going tinted tail lights and painting the window and side mirror sorrounds ( were originally black) black with chrome flakes in it. Still wondering what to do with the grill.....

This paint job is really pissing me off, I am a qualified painter and decorator..... but I would much rather paint a 3 storey place pink than deal with this export paint stuff. Its too thin. Getting a smick a** job going though, but because the paint goes on so thin and runny its taking some time. Doing the spare dash fascia chrome with series 1 ef fairmont ash tray saturn black, the gli dash top switch cover saturn black, cover for were the clock normally is chrome with saturn black Falcon logo, around the smart lock button saturn black and around the stock heater cluster saturn black. Lots of prep, also painting a model 53 ford 2 door while I am at it. Found out if you do a 1 coat over the chrome with the saturn black, the chrome flakes show through the black and give it depth. All this will end up on ebay as I think its to flashy for what I have in mind, but I have to finish it now after all the hard prep work.
Whats going to happen in my car is the power window panel/ cup holders painted machinery grey, climate control face machinery grey, clock face too. I am also going to do the auto panel, but I want to have a good look at it and maybe break up the colour somehow. The vent sorround under the clock/climate control is already done in machinery grey and it looks great. Very subtle. The roof light sorround will be the same colour, then also the centre rear belt guide. I will also do the rear console vent and both front side vent sorrounds. After that I will think about if it needs more or when I finally get the grey leather with chrome button auto handle and park brake, as well as the leather steering wheel I will assess it again.
Got pinky on Tuesday, hope it passes as rego is due on thursday. Thanks to the mrs for calling after 1 million requests. Its a tight squeeze and the bloke who was going to do it got done for dodgy slips. The car is fine though, but now I have to take it to another place that might be picky, well the mrs is..... So I hope the mechanic dont think he has a cash cow on his hands cos of the chick thing. Will need new rubbers by next rego and a new r/h power steering boot. The p/s boots taped up and secure and I have heard the cars front end squeek 5 times in almost 12 months.Should pass, got the cleanly cut 6.5" holes in the shelf to worry about too but the jobs SUPER clean so he would have to be a prick to knock it.

Got to get some current pic's up.... she is actually looking good with the tint and a good clean. She sounds nice with the Lukey cat back, but when the extractors go on I might have a bit more balls to match the sound. How the f**k do I load pic's on here!!!!? Keeps saying I am above 500 f**k a**hole and cant upload. If someone can tell me I will drop some pics on here

Got onto photobucket, cheers mate. Have no pics of the interior at the moment and the photo's I have were done on the mobile, I just bought a digital camera, but its got no sdhc card and holds stuff all without one.

Front on. Looking at doing some kind of air induction through the grill. Work in progress
http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg6 ... DC0009.jpg

Lukey cat back getting oval tip soon, love the sticker. It says "F**k off. Nobody cares about your stupid family". I placed it in the same spot as those d**k head my family stickers. Gets a laugh
http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg6 ... DC0011.jpg

Rides high here due to gradient of were its parked
http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg6 ... DC0012.jpg

Amp box in the boot made to make sure nothing can get to the amps. Holds my weight ( 80kg) and the material allows descrete 14mm holes to go innoticed. Thanks to the xg for the emblem
http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg6 ... to0066.jpg

Closer to the way it sits
http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg6 ... to0068.jpg

No pictures of the engine bay either as its as stock as the day it came out of the factory. Will upload after I have started the engine mods

The amp box was the best way to mount the 2 amps safely while reducing weight and allowing access through the back seat. Thought of under the front seats or via factory spot, but the Weconic has a top mount thermo fan and I dont trust them flush on carpet. The sides are 19mm pine, so is the front. The base is 16mm pine, it has a 19x90mm brace for the 9mm top to securely sit on. Gap between front and 19mm base is about 90mm, so you would have to be spot on to hit the weak spot. The fabric was chosen for its imperfection covering capabilities, so if it does get knocked around it shouldn't show.... put it this way when I took the picture I had to remove a Jeep 4 wheel pram, rain jackets and shopping bags.
The plan was with the car running smoothly I was going to do the induction/fuel mods and put this kit on it
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 0452308566
They say it can be done in Fairmont form and was going to have the mesh black to suit the 17" Sparco's.....
Now the heads in need of attention that ones out the door. Will be doing the injectors,o2 sensor, extractors, fuel sender/pump, snail shell reco with the baby bonus and the head with my tax in july. Maybe next year I might do the kit as in the next 12 months I plan on drilled/slotted rotors, bushes/rubbers, sitting on lows, I have to do the p/steer pump, heater box, rack boot and what ever else comes up ( as s**t always does).

cheers mate! Check out the Kia van in the background.... piece of s**t Pregio that falls apart if you dont drive it for a day...... Wheels are in excellent condition with brand new Khumo's... so not too fussed as the Sparco's need back tyre replacements, a 17" spare and 20 lock nuts. That will come soon, baby bonus is a joke! Supporting 3 kids with next to no support and working 60+ hours a week for $530 and paying 290 rent makes the car budget slim right now. Still, got the extractors for $37! Its also a family car, if I wanted to race I would buy a race car. I just want a tough cruiser that the mrs aint going to loose when it starts spooling. I want to unleash a bit of the inner beast of the Ef i6 by just making the basics better i.e air, fuel, exhaust.Then make the inside and outside a little dolled up.
I didnt worry about removing the plates as my German Shepard cross Rotty and the 80kg Bull Mastiff watch the girl for me alright, anyway Fordmods blokes are good blokes. Helped me out on this f**k Ford many times. Cheers lads

Is a regind cam in an ef i6 worth it? Not too into Tickford cams as they will bump the idle fuel consumption up and with the Mrs dropping the kids to school every day.... I thought maybe a stock cam reground might give the punch I need without too much added fuel consumption?

I agree with uniacidz.

The Tickford cam is the smallest upgrade you could put in, and really does do the best for low to mid range punch.

I have a Wade 1673 cam and below 2400rpm it is doughy on petrol, and once the cam kicks in it pulls hard.

This can be an issue on the open road in 5th gear going up hills, as the cruising rpm is below the cam range.

I am lucky however as when using LPG the bottom end is much stronger than when on petrol. I do sometimes wonder if going back to a Tickford cam would be better overall from a daily driver perspective.

Cheers
BenJ