That guy from Nelson is who I got my XR8 EF wheel from and left hand clear repeater ($30). I think he has a couple of Fords out back he's stripping...

You need to keep the repeater there in some form. I am intending to put those s**t lights into the mirrors like the poser Euro cars have.... One day

Looking good quikbro... I put in some super white (blue) Halogens and the lights are better than standard EF crud. Ah well, putting smoke coloured lenses in front just would make brownie green.. Eurk.

Blue LED dash mod has begun

Before


After


Looks a lot better than before in my opinion although the blue lighting doesnt seem to shine evenly due to being directional and being so close to the inside of the cluster. But not bad for $18 worth of LED's and still have 3 left over to use behind the demister switch etc.

Have also started changing the interior lighting to white LED's i.e footwells and roof. Just have to change the map lights and rear courtesy lights over to white LED's then its all done.

Its all slowly starting to come along well

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looks good mate, did you buy replacement LEED cluster globes? or did you do it with resistors?

Josh

Thanks joshie. Yeah i just got replacements mate, i bought 10x T5-type LED plugin bulbs, already made up with the resistors to work in 12V circuits. You can get them off ebay pretty cheap. They are a fair bit longer than the original bulbs so you have to sand the clear plastic part of the LED to shorten them so they fit in the cluster without hitting anything and scuff them up a bit with sandpaper so they arent so directional.

Exactly the same as this one


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nice fairmont KWIKXR
i see that you have done a fair bit to your ride
i happen to have a stock EF Fairmont Giha.. and i was wondering what you would recomend me do/get/install to upgrade the performance of my car.
i dont want to spend much, only about $500 so i know that 500 can't do that much.

Thanks man, havent done much to it really overall just a lot of little things

First off what series EF do you have? If you have a Series 2 EF Fairmont Ghia, i believe it should have the tickford/XR6 head, and 3.45 LSD. If its a Series 1 your outta luck then and have basically the same as any other EF Fairmont. First thing i would do is extractors and mandrel bent exhaust with a few intake mods to get it breathing a bit better. I know it wont be under your budget of $500 but if dont mind using second hand parts its all good . Search ebay and the For Sale section on here, and from time to time you'll come across second hand extractors and cat-back exhausts. You'll also need a cat converter, if your stock one is still in good nick, get it modified to fit the flanges on the exhaust and extractors so it all bolts up. Then fit a bigger intake snorkel and high flow filter, not essential but it'll give you a bit better throttle repsonse.

Another option is diff gears, shorter diff gears wont give you more power, but will make better use of the power you currently have, by shortening the gears it allows it to rev out faster and get into the powerband quicker. But i would guess you would need more the $500 to get the gears and get them installed. I got quoted $550 just to get a set of 3.45 installed, the gears cost me $131 second hand

Check this sticky that Voxace has created and get your read on
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Its very helpful for those starting to mod their Fords.

Thanks mate...
is there any easy way to differentiate between a series 1 or 2 fairmont?
you mentioned that the series 2 has "tickford/XR6 head", is there any embosments or stickers or markers that idicate this?

A series 2 has Ghia badges on the front quarters and on the back panel under the LH taillight. It should have a red rocker cover and Chrome door handles. The Diff will have a tag on the filler bolt stating it is an lsd.

A series 1 has the old school Ghia shield badges on the front corners only, should have a grey rocker cover, and plastic door handles.

thanks SLO247....
so i have a EF 2 Fairmont Giha...
that shows how little i know...

Considering its an EF 2 Ghia, it should have a Tickford head. To make sure it is a Tickford head check to see that there is the letter "T" cast into the front of the head to indicate it is a Tickford head. Take the power steering pump/belt cover off and you'll see it there, take the cap off the power steering pump and undo the 10mm nut near the thermostat housing holding the cover on and pull it off. You should see the big "T" casting right in front of you. If not, its not a tickford head.

Why does'nt he just check the build date on his rego papers to see what year it is. That will sort it out.

Cheers

Josh

Its a series 2 i checked the paper work for the car...
so supposedly my car "produces" 164Kw...
would it be wise for me to bring it to a dyno and get them to remap the ECU?
my mate recomended me this as a cheap upgrade, about $200, but im uncertain wether they can remap the ECU, and if it will do anything...
he says the remap will be mainly the airfuel mixture. since all stock cars apparently run rich.

Sounds alright then. From factory, yes it would of supposedly had 164kw, but thats at the engine, not the wheels. As a rough guess i would say you'd have about 110-120kw at the wheels possibly as most stock Fairmonts Ghias would. Possibly a bit more if the engine and drivetrain are in tip top condition. Thats what most people find out when they dyno their cars and find its not making what it says it should.

As for remapping the ECU, i think you'll need a chip for that. The stock ECU mapping cannot be changed without at least using a plugin chip of some sort, UNICHIP, Chiptorque, J3 chip etc. $200 would probably barely cover the cost of getting it tuned, let alone buying the chip itself. If you want a chip though, id be looking at a J3 it'll be cheaper than others.

thanks mate..

You cant change the tune without a J3, unichip etc.

You wont see any benefits on a stock car. If so, Ford would have done it.

Don't believe what your mates say. Watching the fast & the furious doesn't make you an expert...

Want to see an improvement?

Get an exhaust, make sure the cat is fine and get good extractors. I reccomend a 2.25" catback, and pacemaker 4499's. People are getting good results. If you still want more, get a mild regrind cam and lower diff gears.

An s2 Ghia is a great base, just do your research and find out from experts. Don't take advice from shops, they usually either know f**k all or just want your cash. Some people on here know their s**t, just ask.

End Rant.

Back OT......I still love it KWIKXR!