Was just there on Friday picking up a work van but I have no idea who there are haha! I'll find out tomorrow. You mentioned a ford drag day? meremere? I'm keen to give it go.

Hey Jason,thanks for the info. I'll run through your site shortly but the prices look a lot better than I've seen so far. What I can tell you is I was told my Idel is a bit low and the low end fueling is out. I don't know which way but I would guess lean. It can be a bit inconsistent at low speed. sometime awesome when I plant it other times totally poos.

Yeah man, Ford drag day is on this Saturday, 30th November at Meremere
http://www.framautolitedragway.co.nz/ev ... Event.html

Details:
Race Entry Scrutineering from 8.30am – 10.00am
Drivers Briefing - 10.15am
DYO Practice x 4 - 10.30am
DYO Racing - 11.30am onwards
After Lunch - Grudge Racing

Race driver entry is $50, as far as I can remember, spectators are free (this was the case last year, not sure about this year as nothing has been mentioned)

Should have a fair few Fords out there, couple of Holden guys come down for some friendly rivalry

I knew you were going to say Saturday, I'm working till about 1-2 o'clock. And yeah Carl from E&H spoke with him today for the first time. He recons if I have the chip the software and hardware to tune it he will help me out. for a fee of course. My work mate Williams uncle owns the place or something like that. Does look like it will cost about the same as Torque all up. But I guess I will have more input and they can't suddenly decide not to support the product anymore!.

You got lucky with the polished overflow too, I'm looking at about $500 by the time I get it here. my factory one is looking better every day.

I'm taking Friday off to go visit retro auto interiors. looking at getting my centre console lid recovered and embroidered with Fairmont same style as on the rear of the car in either blue or a brown to match the wood grain. Also looking to sound proof the boot, re do bonnet and fire wall lining. Will be interesting to see what numbers they come back with.

Had a drag day on Saturday hosted by the Ford Muscle Car Club of Tauranga. I got a few things done beforehand to see if I could better my times. This seemed to pay off fairly well, haha.

First thing was a change back to my EL Fairmont grill for a slightly different look. Got a little tired of the front end looking the same old same, so the chromed EF one is back in the garage until I get bored of the EL one  

Ended up touching up a few areas of my tune on Thursday night, playing around and experimenting with shiftpoints. I tried to go for a nice medium between the ECON and POWER mode shiftpoints to start with. Also played with line pressure/shift firmness as I was pretty limited with the electronic shiftkit. It shifted fairly hard with the shiftkit turned up full, but felt it could easily be a lot sharper, so increased WOT shift firmness in the tune by about 20%. This combined with the electronic shiftkit turned up full is brilliant, spins the wheels shifting into 2nd and chirps on the 2nd to 3rd shift . Never used to chirp at all previously.

Also bumped timing up a fraction more in the low - midrange revs at full load to try get a bit more go once it gets off the line and try get the trap speed up a little bit more too. Seemed to take it fine with no pinging so that was a win.

Swapped out my Bilstein rear shocks for some much softer Pedders short-stroke GSR's to help with weight transfer to rear as I've taken out the entire boot install to relieve excess weight.

Anyways, hit the road yesterday morning down to Meremere with big intentions of getting closer to a 15 flat or possibly break into the 14's given good circumstances. Was getting a bit boring getting 15's every f**k time.
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The day was a bit up and down in terms of weather (lightly spitting with rain, then the sun would come out strong, following with some really strong wind towards the end of the day, so the track was a bit slippery at the best of times for most of the drivers today.

Didn't get as many wins as I would have liked in the first 4 runs, 3 out 4 runs were all 15.2's at 93mph which was pretty consistent. Managed to beat a stock S2 or S3 AU XR8 220 which I thought was odd. Other than that, I kept up with a BA XR6T till just over half track. Then got my a** handed to me by a F6X Territory and a modded HSV Monaro GTS once it caught traction at half track, lol.

Still had plenty of fun but.. 
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This was the end of practicing for me, so parked up for a while, then got first in line for DYO eliminations. Got lined up against a mint 1967 Mustang with a 15.6 dial in. I dialed in a 15.2 which I thought I probably wouldn't go faster than. Pulled a decent burnout to get the tyres grippy and felt like I got off the line quite well this time round and ended up putting a little margin on the Mustang. Probably could have lifted at the top end to make sure I didn't break out, but was pretty keen to see if this was going to be a new PB. Ended up breaking out by a lot and running a 14.95 @ 94.7mph. Finally into the 14's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=app68CMi ... Ub6NzZDK4w

So with DYO over, lined up for a bit of grudge racing. Had a run with a stock BA XR8 and just managed to beat him. Time was also a 14.95 @94.5mph

Final run was another grudge run with probably my favourite car of the day, "L0 T0Y" KE30 Corolla with a pretty heavily worked and turbo'd 4AGE. Was running mid 13's on 15lb's boost and street tyres, but was pretty much spinning 1st, 2nd and 3rd up to half track in every run I watched. Has run a 10.9 on slicks and 26lb in the past .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEK8Gz1E ... Ub6NzZDK4w

So all in all, a great day!!
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So now to stop kidding myself and go turbo!

Awesome man!! nice burn outs, I haven't been able to pull off any good ones since I fitted the 19"s.

I'm gutted I couldn't go, would have loved to get a benchmark time to know where the car is pace wise.

I thought you had converted to a manual but talking about shift points Etc. I'm taking it you're still running the auto? I didn't read anything good about the shift kits so I didn't go there. What are your thoughts on them and what kit are you running? Any point in a kit if you can change settings with your J3?

I just noticed you have clear side indicators. I have a pair on there way from Aus at the mo.

I see Turbo kits from $1200 AU I'm thinking about it will wait and see.

Car looks sweet and slammed!! You went hard out to get into the 14's buddy. I'm way to lazy to swap shock etc.

I haven't read all the way through but I'm guessing you have similar mods to mine? so I'm guessing I would be somewhere in the 15's I hope.

Cheers Kayne . The burnouts weren't too bad, gotta have the right rubber to get good smoke, Achilles ATR's take a fair bit of baking to actually smoke good I've found . They are a nice hard tyre though so they are wearing pretty well considering how much punishment they've taken after multiple drag days..

Nah, no manual in this. Still running the factory auto, and will continue to. I'm not too fond of the T5 box to be completely honest, so many people have told me to convert it to T5, and they just don't get it when I say "no thanks" . But I'll take a T56 or TKO600 any day over the BTR

I have a DIY built electronic shiftkit (diagrams should be somewhere on here, just need to search for it). They are good, but if I could do it again, I'd just control shift firmness using the J3 and not worry about an external controller that you have to wire up to the ECU.

With the electronic shiftkit, I was pretty limited with firmness when turned up full and shifting at full throttle. It would shift hard and fast from 1st into 2nd (hard enough to kick the back end out sideways in the wet), and 2nd into 3rd (although slightly softer), but 3rd into 4th felt very tame and still felt like it had a little bit too much time between the shift compared to the earlier gears. With the T.I Performance J3 you can adjust the shift firmness at different throttle positions, so I increased the firmness of the shifts at full throttle to sharpen them up even more combined with the shiftkit, and left everything else as per factory allowing me to adjust the firmness with the electronic shiftkit on the fly when needed. Now under full throttle, I get a bit of wheel spin shifting from 1st into 2nd, and a nice chirp from 2nd into 3rd. 3rd into 4th shift is much sharper as well so it's pretty good. Previously when I just had the shiftkit turned up to full, I would hardly get a chirp from the tyres from 1st into 2nd in the dry

Hahaha, I've been trying to get into the 14's for a while now, got sick of running constant 15's every drag event and wanted to go quicker to get away from a couple of mates in a BA XR6 and a V6 Mondeo that are running in the high 15's margin. Have slowly worked down into the high 14's up from 16.2 so it's definitely progressing, lol.

Plan from a while back was to get this into the 14's in NA form, then look at boost and aim for 12's eventually. A mate of mine down in Rotorua with a turbo'd EF Fairmont has offered to make up a steampipe turbo manifold and possibly a plenum for me for a good price, so I couldn't really turn down the opportunity to do what I wanted to do once before. Just means I have to go shopping again to buy all the other bits and pieces needed to do it all properly, most of which I bought a couple years ago and sold to another mate who then turbo'd his EB Fairmont

Sound like you're getting good at the tuning. Even after all the mods if I floor it anywhere in the throttle range she just over revs without putting the power down. I find just before the floor gives me the best pick up. Sound like the J3 could cure what ales her!

I get the same rubbish about the Auto. I have always had autos and I think I always will. Or I would have to hire someone to change gears?? I find the more power I have the slower and cruiser I go most of the time. Weird a!!

But I do like blowing away Holdens and Jappers I can find... whenever my boss (misses) isn't in the car.

So... I've had enough of NA s**t. Almost put the Fairmont on nitrous a couple weeks ago, until I found out it was going to cost near on $300 to fill a 10lb bottle . Ended up putting the money into the only option I should have considered.

Should be turbo'd in a couple of months time. Just need manifold and injectors and it'll be all good to start working on it.

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Parts collection so far:

Jap Race Supplies T70 style turbo, T4 flange (.7 front, .84 rear, unsure of wheel sizes but they look decent)
600x300 cooler
Turbosmart Comp Gate 40 - 7psi spring
Greddy BOV
Walbro 255lph pump
T.I Performance 4 tune selector switch for the J3
Fresh set of Bosch ignition leads with heat proof boot socks
Custom built 2800rpm-3000rpm stall converter

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Have got a mate working on a nice bottom mount log style manifold for me currently, can't wait to see how that turns out! Other than that, a set of 42lb or 60lb injectors, whip up the cooler piping and get exhaust sorted and that's about it. Hoping for some much better times down the quarter and good midrange torque, should be interesting

FINALLY!

This is going to be even more awesome.

It's been a while... all i can say is WOW!

Fantastic dude!!!

nice mate be good to see it go turbo, where are you getting mani made/from? found any where in nz yet? im also keen on one

Cheers guys, yeah should be a bit of fun!


I'm getting the manifold made through a mate down in Rotorua, not sure if you know of him, but he owns the white EF Fairmont Ghia, DIY turbo'd with a pretty big Holset HX35. Not many around lol

He's making them up on the side for a bit of cash (he's down a couple already and currently doing one for me and another for a 4.1 in an XF) so got him to do me a basic log manifold. he usually does the nice long runner style, but I wanted a low mount turbo instead of having it sit up high.

Think i might of seen it before, it got a pplate? check your inbox man

Been pretty flat out lately so haven't had a chance to update this thread, may as well do it while I'm here lol..

Basically, it's finally turbo'd as of 3 weeks ago . Couldn't be happier really, poured a good solid 6 days/nights into it (spending at least 16 hours of each day working on it, lol) and managed to turn it from NA to boosted, was so worth all the effort!

Anyways, a bit of a lead up to getting the Fairmont boosted and a rundown on the actual conversion..

Started off by pulling the turbo down to inspect the wheels, and whilst it was apart, spend a bit of time polishing the comp housing. Was pretty impressed with the wheel sizes, it's a shame the housing are a bit on the small side.

Compressor:
0.70 A/R compressor housing
4” inlet
2.5” oulet

69mm inducer
91mm exducer

57 trim

Turbine:
0.84 A/R T4 turbine housing
3” exhaust outlet

73mm inducer
63.5mm exducer

76 trim

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So from what I could gather, it was very similar in 'size' to the XR6T GT3540, but with a slightly bigger comp wheel and a smaller exhaust housing.

Went down the line to see my mate who was fabricating the turbo manifold for me. He has a turbo'd EF with a pretty decent sized Holset strapped to it making some decent power on low boost. Being that turbo'd e-series Fords aren't too common here in NZ, it's always been a car I've looked up to locally. Whilst down there, I dropped off my wastegate so he could get to work on getting the manifold down. Also bought the bonnet that used to be on his EF, main attraction being the BA/BF Boss bonnet bulge and the big gaping rear facing vent to help with all the added heat generated by the turbo. Still needs to be painted, but I'm working on it.
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Nice little heatshield to stop the turbo cooking the bonnet, haha. Will be cleaning up the underside and spraying it matte black.
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Started collecting parts like no tomorrow, 60lb Siemens Deka injectors, studs for the manifold, intercooler piping, oil feed and return line/hose and fittings etc
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Manifold was also coming along quite well at this time too!
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So ended up getting a week off work and started to piece it altogether.

Picked up the manifold and bolted it up to a spare head. Sadly, we had a bit of a hiccup with the wastegate flange position, the idea we came up with just wasn't going to work, so spent a hour or so thinking of a way to make it work.
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Decided to cut the pipe down into 3 sections and re-route the pipe to mount the wastegate facing the rear. Turned out perfect haha. Got the dump pipe and screamer pipe welded up and trial fitted it up to make sure clearances were all mint. Success!
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Painted up the manifold with some hi heat ceramic based paint and heated the crap out of it with the heatgun on high for about half and hour to try get it to cure. Was going to put it in as is, but don't really want rust setting in too quickly as most of it was bare. Was expecting all this paint to flake off after the first drive, but it's been on for the past 3 weeks without a sign of lifting so far

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Anyways, time to start working in the engine bay! Pulled the intake manifold out and took the time to fit up the t-piece for the turbo oil feed. Event though NPT fittings should seal fine without it, I applied a little bit of oil resistant thread tape to make absolute sure it won't leak and tightened it all up. Might have to get another oil feed line made up at some stage as it's way longer than it needs to be, but it'll work for now.
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Quick engine bay shot with the turbo dummy fitted. Still needed to rotate the core to get the oil feed/return straight up and down and rotate the comp housing to get the cooler piping to work.
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And a pic of the munted guard where the battery tray used to live, f**k its horrible alright lol. Was quite rusty under there so sanded it all back and gave it a quick coat to stop it rusting. Needs some beating back to shape, but will get that done eventually when all the holes get welded up when the bay gets resprayed in the future.
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Manifold bolted on with turbo dummied up and oil lines done. -4AN oil feed, 3/4" oil drain to sump.
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Cooler brackets being worked out and 3" cold side piping hooked up
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Hotside piping in progress
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What a b**ch this was with the turbo being low mounted, the piping had to sweep up with a 135 degree bend into a small straight section, then into a 45 degree bend and into a cut down 90 degree pipe so I could get it through a hole I cut out into a flat section near where the battery tray used to live. Piping is 2.5" till it gets through the guard, then 3" to the cooler inlet.

Dump pipe V1 (also 1.75" screamer pipe)
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This turned out to be a fail sadly. One section was on a slight angle, but enough to throw either the v-band flange, or the 2 bolt flange out of position depending on which one you bolted up first, lol. Didn't really matter as it sat way too low to the ground so needed to be revised anyway.

Screamer pipe fitted up mint though hehe, will put a small downward angle on this at a later stage to aim more towards the ground
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Dump pipe V2
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Ended up putting getting a mate to weld in a small flexi joint to fix this angle issue. Worked mint, but sat about 40mm off the ground so needed to be revised yet again. Dump pipe V3 consisted of cutting a good 2" off the end of the 90 degree bend dump off the turbo, effectively making it shorter and allowing the bottom section to be bolted up and sit higher. Now sits about 80mm off the ground without any exhaust hanger holding it up. Will make a bracket to fit up with the factory hanger near the gearbox to bring it up to legal height

Dump pipe is all in 3" piping, then reduces down to a 2.5" 2 bolt flange to bolt up to the current exhaust system (just to get me running, will go full 3" when the bank is happy again)

After the cooler piping was all hooked up, it was time to put the front bar back on. Looks quite cool haha
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Finished product
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Still needs a bit of work on the tune, but it's getting there. Haven't had much of a chance to road tune it, so have been driving it off-boost to and from work trying desperately not to sink the pedal haha.

Jason @ TI Performance has supplied me with a base tune to get me started, so I've been fine tuning that to get it running mint. Idles around 13 - 13.5:1 AFR at idle when warm, still has the odd rich misfire/stumble which I'm told is quite common with the 60lb Deka's, hoping I can tune it out though. Cruises pretty good at 14.5 -15.5:1 AFR, but still very rich in the low 10:1 AFR's on boost, need to make some changes to the fuel stabilized table and then play around with the VE table to get fueling leaned out back to mid 11:1 on boost.

As it stands, running ~23 degrees off boost, ~15 on boost. Currently running a stable 8psi and it goes pretty damn hard when it comes on boost, the screamer going off when the gate opens is f**k insane, so is the 'dose' that comes after getting off the throttle I've been told haha.