I’m bored as hell so I thought I’d start one of these threads today.
This is my 1997 EL XR6.

I purchased it in December of 2005 as a completely stock factory 5 speed with about 150,000 klms. It was a spur of the moment buy and in hind sight I probably paid a little too much for it but you live you learn.

For the first year nothing much happened to the car besides the install of a head unit to replace the Factory tape deck, some new Pioneer Splits in the front, Kenwood 2 ways in the back, an alpine amp and a Cadence Bullet 12” subwoofer.

At the start of 2007 I had a Lukey 2.5” Cat back exhaust system fitted. It’s nice and chunky but doesn’t draw unwanted attention.

From mid 2007 the mods became more frequent. The first major one was the removal of the red (read: pink) side moulds and the replacement of the orange indicators with clear units.
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In hindsight I kind of wish I hadn’t had done it. The XR series is a really good looking model straight from the factory especially in white/red. I’m in the process of obtaining some new side moulds but let me tell you... their bloody expensive!


I’ve done other small random thing to the car mainly when I’m bored. One neat trick that I though I’d share is hiding the spoiler light/boot release wiring within the boot hinge. It’s a bit fiddley but I like most of my wiring neat and tidy. The only drawback is that If you ever have to change boot lids it’s going to be a pain in the a$$ to do.
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The biggest modification so far would have to be my Interior swap which included the addition of the rear power windows. It took about 3 days to convert the whole interior from XR ‘spec’ to Ghia ‘spec’. The whole Ghia Interior was purchased (excluding the dash) for $350 from a local smash repairer who was using the front end and motor of the wreck. It is in almost perfect condition. Some pics:
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The Finished Product.
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The power windows were done following the Tech Document on here. I had some of the loom so it was pretty straight forward to match the colours and connectors ect. The only thing I didn’t have was 4 power window loom. I cut away the 2 window loom and used small spade connectors shielded in heat shrink to connect the rear windows to the console switches. It’s a snug fit but all works really well with no problems so far.
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Well so far that’s about it. There’s plenty left to do to make this car what I want it to be. Future plans include New Wheels, Tickford Body kit, New Red body Moulds all round, Super low Suspension (sitting there waiting) and possibly some form of forced induction. Ill add to this thread as more gets done.

Cheers,
Woody (aka. mr_ratapus)
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Last edited by mr_ratapus on Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:52 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Car looks awsome but you should put the moulds back on IMO dump it on ELGT rims and ratman repeaters. Cabin looks great!

Love the car. Have you any plans for engine work?

Thanks. Ive been quoted by ford for new moulds in red and its really expensive.
Frong Gaurd: $25.70 ea side
Front Door: $73.25 ea side
Rear Door: $63.05 ea side

And thats just for the sides! I wanna do the front and back bars too as there starting to fade.



Nothing planned as yet. I would like to turbo or supercharge it but I doubt it will happen. Maybe if a cam comes up cheap i'd consider some engine work.

funny stuff getting rid of the moulds only then to turn around and ask fraud for the quotes... "KA-CHING!!!" $$$$$$


nice mod with the hidden wiring in the boot hinge!...

I know. Kicking myself for getting rid of them now.

seen this car in person and not joking about the interior, f**k it's mint.
You still planning on doing the passenger airbag?
haha and still not got those sprigs in hey.

you should get some moulds off a wreck and respray them red..do the same with the bar moulds.

Joel, whats crackin. I do wanna do the dual airbag dash, just gotta find one thats not ef, not cappa and in good nick. Its harder than i thought.


I thought about it but I'll be even more p****d off if it looks 'tacky'. Tax return comes back soon so I might invest in new ones.

Oh damn, not ef, gonna say i know of one at a cheap wreckers, but i think it was ef, how much you willing to spend?

depends really. Some people dont know what the passenger side airbag is worth so that brings the price down. Wouldnt wanna spend over $150 for dash, airbag and if i can get it climate too. Need someone with a EL Ghia Wreck.

tidy looking car mate.

out of curiosity, what did you do with the old xr seats?

Thanks everyone for the comments so far.



I actually sold them to a friend of ELGT's on here. I think he said he was putting them in an EB.

UPDATE:

I picked up my new boot lid today. I replaced it because the old one had spoiler holes and because of it leaking all the time it had started to rust.
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Also all the packing in between the frame and skin had started to crack and fall out leaving huge gaps that rattle when the sub is in action. The new boot also has the same problem, just not as bad.
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I got to work on it tonight and started to fill in all the gaps in the boot. I used 2 tubes of Gap filler but I think i might throw another one in there tomorrow, just to be on the safe side.
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Quick Update:

The poor old girl has been getting a bit of neglect latley so I thought I would treat her to a Dual airbag dash conversion. Ill NEVER do it again. IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE PAIN IN THE a**! After it was all done and back together I had somehow blown my BEM. After replacing that though it was all good.





All finished (except for the steering column cover)

Many thanks goes to Joel (OZBMX) for finding the dash for me and getting it at an awesome price too. The interior is done now I think. Ive accomplished pretty much everything I wanted to and its time to move on to the exterior of the car. Its going to need a little bit of work as its suffered a little neglect over the years. The red strips have started to fade and the paint is starting to hairline crack on the front bar but its all fixable.

Next mod planned: Tickford Skirts

Last edited by mr_ratapus on Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.