Yeah, shipping costs is what put me off going for a Wade cam, plus i dont have a credit card to pay for it

At the moment im running a Tickford ecu out of a Fairmont ghia so its got slightly better mapping to suit the tickford profile cam it gets from factory. Adrian at Franklin Cams said that the cam ive got now is the most aggressive i can run on a standard ecu being an auto - i still reckon i could go for a bigger profile but my power off the line will probably be non-existant till it hits 3k

Shipping my original EF Monty cam to WADE only cost $50 with NZPOST. All up I had to pay Wade about $250 (inc shipping) if I remember correctly. So, if you play your cards right, it should be $300NZ by the time it is ready to put in your donk. If all else fails on the payment side of things, get a DEBIT CARD (another invention of mine actually --- I invented the Visa debit card in 1997 - Pity they didn't like the idea... Pity they implemented it themselves world wide a decade later... Typical... )

Hi mate, could you run me through how you replaced your keyhole light?

Also I'm not sure if you did yours but how do you change the light on the gear selector?

You've got the same blue/orange light combo as I do! + i've got some footwell Blue LED neon tubes.

actually $300 isn't to bad i was just worried about shipping, man i invented debit card in my head always thought it would be a good idea, never knew you already had tho lol...i got one its f**k handy...

with a bigger cam 3k would be a bit high lol. tho 4.11 ratio? its really hard to choose hi stall or manual. have you dynoed ya car yet?
i really should read though the whole 22pages might take me a few days tho lol

Jeez thats not too bad at all, i was thinking of getting a billet 977B done later on down the track, provided that they can find another company to make the billets for them seeing as there is a major lack of billets for the i6 engine nowadays.. As for those Debit cards, bloody great invention alright, i'll be getting one of those as soon as i can afford to put money on it . Must remember to call up Autobend tomorrow for you, forgot all about it mate. Got the morning off tomorrow so i'll make sure i give them a buzz.. Sweet


Hey mate,

The keyhole illumination light is a simple task, just need to remove the plastic panels covering the steering column, think theres 4 screws holding it together from underneath the column. Undo the screws and remove both panels (i did it this way)... Untwist the bulb holder where it enters the hole and replace the globe with whatever LED colour you want - might have to modify the bulb if its too tall. The bulb size is T-5. Then just fit everything back together, the 2 plastic panels are a bit of a pain to get back together right as everything needs to line up properly.

I havent done the gear selector light but to do the gear selector light, you need to remove the auto shifter handle, lever up the gear selector panel, remove the holder from the hole, replace the globe and put it back - i think the globe may be T-10 iirc


Lol mate, dont bother reading the whole 22 pages its mostly full of useless s**t anyways ..

With my Fairmont i still have a stock stall and standard 3.23 diff gears so its a bit of a dog off the line in my books. With the cam the way it is now, with no adjustable cam gear, i lack a bit of low down torque, has heaps of midrange but doesnt start to really move till 2500rpm. If i went for a bigger cam with the same stall and diff gears i reckon power would come on strong around 3k so it would be a complete dog then

If i do get a bigger cam though, i think id only go with maybe a 2500-2800rpm stall with 3.45 gears, just to slip it into the powerband a bit quicker and still have good economy around town and on the open road. If i could get 4.11's for a bargain though id give them a crack

Car still hasnt been dynoed yet, was hoping to get it done before the holidays but my lack of funds saw that idea fly out the window. Maybe early next year. Depending on how the AFR's stack up when it gets dynoed i may get a custom J3 chip done to get the most of out it for now

hey mate just read though your build, very impressed. love the blue LED dash look, might have to get me some of that haha. AND your rocker cover is MINT is that stuff right outta the can or what?

Haha thanks mate, appreciate the comments. The rocker cover was sprayed with a bit of Duplicolor Metalcast groundcoat and VHT Hi Temp Gloss Black, so yeah, pretty much straight out of the can. Didnt turn out too bad hey

While im here i may as well give the heads up on the latest mod to the ol' Mont. I finally got up off my a**, went down to Jaycar and bought everything i needed to make up an Adjustable Shiftkit.

Big thanks to 93_eb_fairmont for doing an excellent write-up with diagrams and everything. Had he not made that thread, i think i would still be shiftkit-less

Cost me a bit more than expected cause i basically went the whole hog with an LED light, bought all new wiring for it, heatshrink tubing and the lot not to mention the necessities like the resistors and switch as well as a few spares just incase. Probably wasnt the smartest move buying the small project box for everything because it is a very tight fit with the wiring and the resistors all packed in there, so hopefully it works

So heres what it looks like:


I will be mounting this under the dash somewhere on the lower left hand side of the steering wheel most likely so that its easy to reach and adjust when need be. Didnt like the look of putting it in the glovebox and having to open it everytime i wanted to adjust the shift.

Am also starting to work on a re-badge of the old girl. Have some chrome FAIRMONT split lettering to go along underneath the moulds on the rear doors. Am also toying with the idea of a BF Fairmont boot badge to go on the beaver panel to replace the italic Fairmont one on there now. Will see though as i may just fit an EL type Fairmont badge instead if i can find one at Pick a Part tomorrow..

Hmm also might add, i found a genuine EA SVO bootlid spoiler down at Pick a Part the other day, gladly took that home with me for $18

i was gonna do it all in the box like that but didnt know where the f**k to put it lol...so i mounted the switch and adjuster in the console, just wondering how you gonna see the light with it under the dash?

Just on the note about the Rage 2.5 systems. I waked one in my car last year. most cost effective and simply mod yet. Bolted striaght in. only cost 350 new aswell. Trade price. was stoked as. theres nothing like that Growl of a new Cat being broken in

s**t i worded that one wrong lol, what i meant to say was mount it on the lower part of the dash, just to the left hand side of the steering wheel theres a nice place to mount the box right there. Shouldnt look too out of place being black and all plus it will be real easy to access.

Lol seems i had the opposite problem, i was gonna just have the switch and adjuster sitting somewhere just mounted through one of the panels on the dash console or something, but then couldnt think of a good way to mount it to especially with all the excess wiring for the LED, which i just found out i dont need

Anyways, im fitting it tomorrow so i'll get some pics up of the mounting position - fingers crossed all goes well and i dont blow anything up


Damn straight man, the Rage system is a good one, probably wasnt the most cost effective mod for me seeing as i got mine for near on $500 lol, but they do make an awesome growl on a healthy 6.

Also might add while i still remember, today i received my el-cheapo split lettering for the FAIRMONT badging down the rear doors. Did a trial fit and it was an absolute fail

Well actually it wasnt all that bad, but the lettering was about 5mm too tall and the style was too thick for my liking. So that idea has now been demolished for now, might trial it with the BA/F Fairmont badge im getting for the beaver panel and see if they would look any better - i must say though, i think it looks better with the smooth look. Also finally got myself a decent long shaft die grinder so i can continue porting my 91AA head, just need the right fitting for the hose and i'll be set to go..

Okay, finally got the Mont shiftkitted

A few snaps:
The mess i made trying to route the shiftkit wiring to the ecu..

Shiftkit wiring wired into the ecu loom..

Mounting posi..




All in all, not a bad little mod, makes the car feel a bit different. Havent really taken it for much of a run so havent found where i like the shift firmness at best. Boy does it kick into the next gear now when it turned up though . Best thing about it, is when you give the car a bit more gas, it kicks down into the right gear instantly which is what ive always wanted. Usually from 4th when i give it some gas to pick up speed, it would go back to 3rd for a second and then back to 2nd . Now with the kit on, its just straight from 4th to 2nd when i plant it at 100k's, no hesitation.

Did a bit of an oopsie though with the LED wiring somehow, when the shiftkit is switched off the LED lights up. When i flick the switch on to activate the shiftkit, the light goes off so i must of soldered the led wires to the wrong pin on the switch. f**k genius . Either way, i dont give it a s**t, it works well, plus the LED i have is green and doesnt quite look right with all my blue lighting at night..

Good Job Kwik and you have a bloody beautiful interior there matey, hats off to you.

Thanks mate

Yeah the interior doesnt look too bad hey. It is in need of a real good clean though, has a bit of grease on the passenger seat after my regular Pick a Part trips and dust everywhere all over the dash from not being cleaned in over a month, not to mention i now i have plastic shavings, bits of electrical tape and cut off insulating from the wires all over the place

yea your interier looks nice as...what are the dials? they look good.
thats the only prob with doing the shiftkit the mess ya make lol...i usually have mine on 1/4...had it on full but felt like something was gonna break (like maybe my neck lol).
you payed $500 for the rage? when was that? ive seen them for $400 on trademe

Thanks mate, the dials are just out of an EL, so they are light grey, but i used my EF needles which are white instead of the EL ones which are orange so it looks pretty good, breaks up all the black on the dash quite well. Yeah i paid close to $500 for the Rage system over a year ago now, the exhaust was $480ish or something but then they charged me extra for the gasket and exhaust clamp, bloody pricks

At the time, i never even thought about trade me, but now that they pop up every now and then, i'll be getting one off there for the next e-series car i own i think..

Lol about the shiftkit, yeah setting it at half way gives the next gear a bit of a jolt, enough to snap your neck back. Even then, it still feels a bit too harsh so i'll have to keep an eye out on the uni's - dont want one of them letting go while im driving around. Do you leave your's on constantly but at a low setting? Or just flick it on and off every so often?