looks the good man, gonna get those fog lights also (wire them up to high beam only though).

Fordfairmont - damn you man! Haha, the chop with the white walls is fap worthy, looks freakin' awesome! Thanks for that bro

Definitely something I'll be considering when I have the money, think there's a couple of places nearby that are able to do that



Oze-ford - thanks mate!

Hey bro. When did this thing go all black? I've been missing my Fordmods fix as of late.

I suppose you've painted it black and now have no money for an LSD again. Or maybe you have an LSD already now too?

Ah hell... Know any real cheap panel and paint shops?

Will swap you a 3.23:1 sedan LSD, hub to hub for a 1/3 wagon paint job. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =467145800

Hey fiend, how's it going brother!

Haha, it's not all black just yet, only the wheels for the time being. Windows will follow suit soon hopefully

Mate, I've been low on money since forever LOL. Barely managing to stay even after sending the bank account into overdraft with the recent purchase of the wheels and tyres etc . Everything I want always pops up at the wrong fkn time! Another cheap LSD you've got up for grabs and here I am again with no money to spare . Oh well, we'll see how long it lasts on TM before someone snaps it up, if you still have it when I finally have the money to spare, you'll be hearing from me.

Is there any such thing as cheap panel and paint job? Lol, I'm in desperate need of a respray on a few panels, but for the price, I'd be better off saving up for a full respray so the entire car looks good. Got so many scratches, shopping trolley dents, stonechips and now bits of peeling clearcoat on the rear bumper that I'd love to have fixed

I'm in the same boat, no money to get this engine out to fix a few things up and also wish had money to get a full paint respray, atm needs a wash so dirty while slowly gathering things , so slow battery died the other night.

Well nothing much has changed lately.. Although my rear brake pads did give out a few warning signals on Friday after work, and then started making some odd grinding and squealing noise on Saturday on the way home from work..

Had a bit of a 'lol' when I pulled them out. Luckily the old man had a few spare sets of Motorcraft pads which he brought over when we moved from Aussie a good 10+ years ago. Thank god he brought over a massive storage box full of various Ford parts


Our Auckland All Ford Day was cancelled 2 weeks out from the big day, which was today. So instead, a couple of us guys and gals from the New Zealand Ford Forum got together for a mini meet/ford show of our own, and then headed out for a cruise. Was an awesome day!

Nice cars there. Have had black wheels for a while and, like sideburns, they're wearing thin. Might just spin them and resurface the outside faces of the spokes, then cover with wheel clear. Back to the old style. Stuff knows.

Looking good though matey. Still have that LSD by the way...

Sure was mate! Definitely was good to see some more E-series getting around too, however they didn't help the cause of me wanting a V8 when both of them were Windsor's and sat either side of the Fairmont

Haha, mate, if I had the money, your LSD would be mine already. So many freakin' things keep popping up that I need to buy so money gets wasted on that . I guess no LSD keeps me out of trouble for the most part, even though the 255/45 Maxgrade tyres on the back are about as good as having a locked diff in the wet - wet weather grip is so s**t with them that it spins both wheels 95% of the time

While I'm here I may as well update with the latest..

Managed to get some spare time during Saturday morning to play around with the J3 chip. Works perfectly again! I guess the problem was all to do with the seating on the port, so very happy that it's sorted

Last week I sent my cam done by Auckland Cams back for a swap for a milder grind. This profile has a tad more lift, but less duration and on a wider lobe separation, therefore a lot less valve overlap.

Profile: Auckland Cams #840
Lobe lift: In .254"/Ex .254" (so .508" at the valve with the 2:1 rocker ratio)
Duration @ .050": In. 216deg/Ex 217deg
LSA: 114deg




This look is getting all too familiar


Swapped that in on Saturday morning and it definitely is milder, but still isn't too happy when it comes to idling, much like the previous one, coughing/spluttering/dumping heaps of fuel. At least this time, vacuum seems a little higher at around 16-17in-hg when you hold it steady at around 1000-1100rpm, but even then, it still 'hunts' and missfires every now and then due to the plugs fouling up. Seems to rev out mint over 2000rpm like that last cam, so I'm picking it's definitely around idle that needs attention.

Was thinking of pulling it back out, putting the old Franklin Cam's grind back in (which always seems to be a fail-safe after a cam swap lol) and leaving it for another time, but then I thought stop being a b**ch about it and deal with it haha. So I'm currently leaving it as is, will have a play with it during the week, possibly get hold of a programmer for the J3 chip so I can pull a little more fuel out of the map around idle and go from there. Really CBF swapping the cam out again, having to un-do and re-tighten those fkn rocker gear bolts is getting old, fast

A bit of good news is I bought a new headunit. Not exactly new, pretty old model now, was 2nd hand, but in pretty mint condition with heaps of tuning features which is exactly what I need.

Pioneer DEH-P8650MP


Basic rundown, all the usual Pioneer s**t but with some nice features:
3x 6.5v preouts (F/R/Sub)
13 band graphic EQ
Time Alignment
2-way crossover (HPF/LPF)
3-way digital network
OEL display etc
Mic for Auto EQ and TA

I did buy another headunit (Pioneer DEH-P8450MP) a few months ago which is basically the same headunit I just bought (but from the Pioneer range from the previous year) on the condition that it didn't come with a wiring loom. Got it cheap and thought it'd be easy to find a loom for it since I had a couple spare Pioneer looms - turns out this unit used something completely different to the ones you can usually buy off Trade Me/Ebay etc so I decided not to bother with it.

Anyways, the new headunit went in on Saturday morning before the cam swap. Fits in perfectly, just need to find or make a faceplate surround to fill in the gap. Noticed a massive difference in SQ which was a bit strange as I wasn't expecting much. I guess the better sound processing and 6.5v preouts made a world of difference. Much cleaner sound, and having time alignment and a 13 band EQ makes setting up the sound stage so awesome

Slowly getting over my SQ-focussed car audio setup as well. Sounds good, but after listening to some proper SQ setup's, especially 3-way active front stages, it just doesn't compare. With the music I listen to daily, SQ isn't exactly of high importance. Besides, I can't really get full benefit out of my front stage with how it is at the moment without doing something custom. The DLS UP6 midbass' aren't playing as well as they could in stock locations, would definitely benefit from some small-ish sealed pods in the map pocket area.

Bought some entry level Digital Design's gear so might as well chuck that in and save the SQ stuff for another day

DD CS6.5 comp's, and DD CXS6.5 coaxials

i got sick of no grip in the wet, so got some toyo t1r's 245/45. heaps of grip, but pricey

not having much luck with auckland cams are you? i might just go wade, when i find a el/au spare cam

Haha not so much bad luck, more like impractical cam selection on my behalf lol.

The first cam that was done was designed to make power up to 6500rpm which is well out of the range I would rev it to. This one makes power to 6000rpm, but comes on a little earlier. Being done on a wider lobe separation should give it a wider powerband and make a bit more tolerable especially with an auto trans.

I could have gone for a much more milder profile with way less duration, but I'm chasing a proper lumpy idle lol. I still want something aggressive, and something that'll work with how the engine is setup currently. Would be a waste to only use a mild profile after having spent so much time and money on the headwork, valve springs etc. Main problem is tuning though, really needs to have a custom tune done to suit this specific cam. I believe the issue at the moment is just around idle so if I can make some changes in that area I may be able to get it running a little better until I can get a proper tune done.

Worst comes to worst, I'll take it out and try out that other Franklin cam's profile I have in the garage. I really need to get me another daily driver so I can start modding the Fairmont a bit more extensively and not worry about needing it to get me to work everyday

Modding a daily = FTL!

Hey, Kwikxr. Good work on the 'mont.

Just a suggestion on the idle issue and fixing it with a J3 programmer. Bought a book by Greg Banish on tuning ECUs, and he's got a trick he uses to tame the idle of a hot cam. He has the spark advance slope downwards across the idle rpm - ie, the advance just above idle should be at least a few degrees LESS than the advance just below idle. It intentionally gives away a little torque just above idle, but creates a naturally stable idle. If revs stumble downwards, spark is advanced, more torque is produced, and revs come back up - and if revs drift up, torque drops a little, bringing revs back down. As spark reacts much faster than AFR, it tends to keep revs in a tighter range - it doesn't rely on the ISC so much for idle control. May be worth a try if you get your hands on a J3 programmer.

or better yet, throw away those kiwi cams, and by a Wade cam.

then get galapogos to burn a proven tune file to suit the said wade cam

Looks sensational mate ! Still so nice and clean ! I reckon a body kit on this baby and it will come up a treat

The good old Wade 1673 does a job without being overly anything tricky to run... Just a PITA that putting in two sets of shims seems to have meant the old oil pump isn't keeping up at high rpm. Must run a thinner oil.


Those sort of tyres are just dangerous. Federal, Kingstar... The lot of them. Real nice in dry, but as soon as someone so much as spits in your direction you end up doing 360's down the street as the a** end looses traction.


Modifying daily means buying a scooter.


There goes that J3 programmer. Send it down when not in use....



How many shims have you put into the sump with all these cam swaps? Come on, must have been one at least.

Although, I've only ever lost one. And it was the first time I did one. And that shat itself (mostly friends fault) anyway so had to re-do the next day with a spare 13th shim....



Bugger - I missed page 75 of this build where people were happy to race up hills and the like. I loose. I really like the Rimutakas too. Anytime LowKey.