A few pic's from today..




Nothing much in the way of an update, just trying to get a few other non-Fairmont things sorted first lol.

But as far as the planned mods are going... Still haven't bought new brakes yet, although I'm just waiting on a few reply's for prices and availability etc. Not sure I want to be spending $460 odd on a pair of Znoelli slotted rotors and pads right now, so I'm looking at slightly cheaper alternatives which will still work just as well.

Bought a new set of valve guides for the head so they will be getting fitted soon-ish. Need to have them put in before I can finish shaping valve guide bosses. Since the bosses are getting ground down a fair bit I don't want to risk them cracking or breaking when the valve guides are pressed in so I want to play it safe and leave a little bit more 'meat' in that area beforehand and then finish them off once the guides are in.

Still deciding on valve springs, but I may have struck a bit of luck now. This is where s**t gets technical, lol. Looks as though the Crower springs may be getting used after all. Realised that the spring pressure of the Crower items would have been a little bit too heavy for the 351w at std installed height (1.77") unless the spring seat was machined down to compensate so I may buy a proper set of springs and retainers to suit the 351w and the selected cam when we get to building that motor.

Took the Crower springs into my local cyl head machinist and he tested the springs to find that they are about 30lb heavier than the stock e-series springs. Also gave him the std e-series steel spring seat to get his opinion on whether or not the Crower springs sat on the seat within tolerance as they seemed to be ever so slightly larger in internal diameter than stock springs - he gave me the okay on that so I was even more keen to put these springs to use.

I did a bit more research and apparently I need to be using 3/8" retainers instead of 11/32" retainers if using multigroove collets as they have a larger OD compared to single groove collets. Will be heading down to the speed shop this weekend to pick up a set of 3/8" retainers to suit the Crower springs and test to make sure they suit the multigroove collets like they should. f**k, if all else fails, I'll just buy some Crow XR springs and be done with it

those Znoelli rotors and brakes, same ones off trademe? i was looking at getting some for the EA, you reckon they're allg?

Yep, same ones mate. I'm guessing they would be pretty good. The rotors I was looking at buying originally were there usual 'S6' slotted only rotors (not the 'DDS' slotted and dimpled ones on Trade Me). Fiend on here uses them from memory and had nothing but good things to say about them which is why I was so keen to give them a go. All the import guys up here use the Znoelli rotors for track use as well and say they s**t all over DBA's as far as durability goes. Apparently the SP500 pads are pretty decent too.

I'm always just dubious buying things off trademe, but hey if you and fiend have good thins to say about them then well yeah you guys and me are about the only 6 or so guys from nz i know on here.
Not bad for 400 a pair either eh?

Yeah, $400 seems to be the going rate over here for a decent pair of slotted rotors, unfortunately. Seems ridiculous when you jump on Ebay Australia and see how cheap you can pick up slotted rotors for on there

I did a bit of shopping around and got a few quotes (keeping in mind that these prices are for EF/EL ABS slotted rotors, seems EA-ED rotors are slightly cheaper)

DBA slotted rotors are about $200 each from BNT retail. If you have an account with them you could possibly get them down to around $140 each I'd say. Those Znoelli DDS rotors are well over $500 a pair retail from Repco and the S6 version is around $450 retail, had my mate show me the prices in the system when I popped in and I almost fell over. He gave me his price which was about the same as what Znoelli are selling them for directly so it's easier to just buy through them.

I also need to get some quotes from Racebrakes NZ on DBA rotors and still waiting to hear back from Segedins Auto Parts who seem to stock Protex slotted rotors. From what I've read, the Protex rotors seem to be okay so I'm considering a pair of their DR132 slotted rotors, buy some good pads and see how they go.

Haha, yeah there's a couple of us Kiwi's in here

Would the shipping from Aus be too expensive to get some sent over?

I won a front pair of new RDA slotted ones for the EL for about $140 on Ebay last week. Surely it would still be cheaper?

It really sucks to hear how you guys are getting ripped with prices.

I'm picking the shipping would be an absolute killer just because of the sheer weight. From memory it cost about $25 to have a pair of EF/EL indicators shipped over from Aussie, so I'd hate to know how much it would be for a pair of rotors. Still, it probably would be cheaper to buy and get them sent over after all

The price of brakes, shocks, springs over here really piss me off when compared to Aussie prices. e.g. the typical price for a set of lowering springs from the likes of Kings and Dobinsons is like $400

yea postage is $200+ so hardly worth it lol

Holy s**t!

Do you guys notice a difference on all of your parts and lubricants? Is oil for example more expensive?

Parts in general are more expensive over here, definitely. Just have to know the right places to go to when looking for parts and also know the right people so you get good prices/discounts, hahaha. Oil would probably be a little more expensive over here I'm guessing too.

I buy 5L Valvoline Engine Armour 15w40 oil for my EF and that's usually $45 or so from memory on special. I remember not so long ago you could get special 6L bottles of the same stuff for $40 but the prices for stuff just keep on rising

Genuine Ford parts are pretty ridiculously priced in NZ. Over in Aussie, they are pretty reasonably priced IMO. Try $330+ (plus GST on top) for an AU head gasket by itself or $800+ for a VRS kit to suit a 4.0 e-series

Well, that is the VERY First time I have heard that

At those prices I could make a killing sending stuff to you to sell.
That is such s**t that they need to make that sort of money on parts that come from OZ. I have looked after so many members on here for those gaskets and I can assure you that they were less that a third of your price.

278 dollars for a speedo sensor! re: those head gaskets, where's this ridiculous mark up coming from?

Exactly! I used to get a bit of a laugh giving them a call for random parts just to see how overpriced stuff is. A few more examples of this:

Back when I was starting out with the headwork, I looked around for oversized exhaust valves. One cyl. head specialist told me to contact Ford as thought they might still stock the 41mm tickford valves to suit the pre EL hybrid/AU heads. I called them up and was quoted $130....each! Ex Australia as well and he couldn't even confirm whether or not they were still available, but that was the price in the system. But jeez, that's $780 odd for 6x exhaust valves. For that sort of price you could buy a set or 2 of stainless custom made valves to suit and still have money in your pocket.

Back when I pretty much knew nothing about e-series upgrades, I rang Ford to get prices on a BA intake pipe assembly and a BA XR6T snorkel and they were $240 (ex Australia) and $130 respectively. I ended up buying a near new BA intake pipe from a Ford wrecker for like $40 and a brand new XR6T snorkel from FTG Auto over in Victoria for $85nz to my door.

Now I don't even bother as their pricing is just bloody stupid. Typically I would like to buy genuine parts as in most cases they are just better quality. I usually get my uncle over in Brizzy to get us any Ford parts we need now and post it over or bring it with him whenever he fly's over to NZ for his holidays. He's actually on his way over in 2 or so weeks so I have to make sure to make up a quick list of stuff for him to grab for me


Now this sounds like a plan, George! Might have to sort something out with ya next year when I start slowing down on the mod's.


That's Ford NZ for ya

hahahhaa! gold