Looking good . loving the detailed info.

Will you be keeping the obd2 plug for future diagnosis and tuning?

if you were close you could grab one from me plus AU bellhousings canna be that rare . . . . . . .... picked up one not long ago for i think $50

Cheers mate,

I will indeed be keeping the obd2 plug, it will be situated at the fuse panel for easy access as I plan to do a bit of tinkering around with VCM suite in the future as well as diagnostics.

Maybe once everything is said and done, the next project might be to supercharge the barra... We'll see.

$50? Think it's time to leave the overpriced ACT!

yeah ..... but i went slightly country lol

Mech Mods update 2 - K-frame, Heater pipe and engine mounts acquired



Good news, picked up a K-frame from the wreckers for around $70 ( Not bad considering the condition ) Now with the K-frame, that box tube at the front of said K-frame needs to be moved forward, so that the sump of the Barra will fit in behind it. Plan is to cut off the existing bar, trying to neatly remove the bracing also, and weld on a new piece of box tube that sits further forward ( Being the same thickness ) with new triangular bracing on either side. The two front bushes are also going to be replaced, they're no good.

The EL heater pipe i picked up can vary in pricing, one place wanted $95 for a second hand pipe and another wanted $50. The plan for the El heater pipe, is to chop off the water pump half, as the BA water pump side will stay in place. The El heater pipe will run from the Barra thermostat, to around the back of the head and will be chopped before it bends towards the water pump. The BA pipe will connect to the El pipe with standard rubber hose. Credit to BenJ for the idea.

The factory E series engine mounts will bolt straight onto the Barra, and then onto the K frame, however the Barra is too tall and will hit the bonnet. So the EA Engine mounting plates will need to be modified. 10mm below the existing mounting holes, will be drilled out to lower the engine by 10mm ( This is done, so that the standard E series bonnet will close properly )

The Electronic throttle pedal bracket will be a trial and error process, i'll also be using a 12 ton press to do the bending for said bracket.

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Use heavier gauge tube for the cross bracing.

When I did Benj's, I used heavier gauge bar (should have used solid ).

One of the weak points of the EA-ED K Frame is that bar. Allows more flex which is why they upgraded the Kframe for the EF/EL.

Check Benj thread for the changes.

Last edited by SWC on Fri Oct 10, 2014 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Will do, cheers.

Hi m8 - looking good, by moving the bar on the k-frame up-does that mean the sump doesn't have to be modified?

Hi m8 - looking good, by moving the bar on the k-frame up-does that mean the sump doesn't have to be modified?

Correct moving that bar will clear the sump. However when I did my Barra EB Ghia in 09 I didnt modify the K-Frame at all just used a grinder to flatten the ribs on the front of the sump and it cleared.

Indeed, the great thing about the K frame mod is, you can then fit any EF - BA i6 falcon motor without having to modify said engine.



Did you have the Barra lowered at all? If so, how much clearance between K-frame / Sump did you end up with.

Throttle pedal bracket update 1 - Rough design finished / Credit to Benj for the design

The BA Throttle pedal is now mounted up to the E series Throttle pedal bracket, as of this moment there's no bracing / hardening.

When designing a bracket for the Throttle pedal bracket, i found it much easier once both pedals were taped together to prevent headache. The bracket design was just a simple, rough but strong design. Steel used for the bracket is around 3.5mm thick, 65mm wide and 240mm long ( Won't bend any time soon )

Starting off with a rough cut piece of metal i then marked and drilled the two BA throttle pedal bolt holes, went out to the H press ( If you don't have a H press or bender of sorts, proceed to take barbaric actions against said bracket, best done with a hammer and strong vice. ) Using an old shifter to lay the steel against, i proceeded to bend the metal, constantly checking to see if it needs to be bent more.

Once i was happy with the bend angles, it was time to start marking the holes for the EA throttle pedal bracket ( This was a pain, take your time ) I used the existing hole that housed the pedal rod, that will prevent the EA bracket from bending. Multiple nuts / large spacer will be used later on to prevent bracket from bending inwards.

The bolts seem to have made their own threads in the steel, that's a bonus. The bracket edges need to be smoothed out, and some braces made up to prevent any twisting ( Although it takes a good 30kg of force to twist the bracket ) Also need some washers to space out the BA throttle pedal from the bracket, as the pedal shaft has 1mm of clearance to the bracket.

I'm no master fabricator, but this will do.

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Last edited by GrannyFalcon82 on Sun Oct 12, 2014 10:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Throttle pedal bracket update 2 - It fits!

Did a little bit more work to the bracket, first thing to do was clean up those razor blade edges... A small bit of bracing was tac welded into place. The bracket took around 70 ft lbs to twist, which is on a different axis in which the pedal will be used. I was a little concerned that the bracket may bend under heavy foot circumstances, so i gave the pedal a beating with my happy foot and when taken out, visual inspection concluded no noticeable bend.

It is difficult to install the pedal due to the E series loom being in the way, but after maneuvering the pedal body around said loom, the bracket seemed to fall into place after a bit of muscle. Models with ABS : You will have to re locate / remove the computer that sits above the pedal, for the BA pedal body to fit.

As for the pedal position itself, it sits a tad high and needs to be spaced 10mm away from the brake pedal. Other than that, I'm quite happy that it fits and after the bracket is painted, it will appear factory looking. The BA pedal feels more comfortable than the EA pedal if i'm honest, the BA pedal resistance is something i'll have to get used to though...

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Heater pipe update 1 - Credit to BenJ for the idea

One of the many things that cannot be kept with the Barra donk once it's thrown in, is the heater pipe. Ford has re located the two heater core connections on the BA to the opposite side of the engine bay compared to the E - A series. You cannot use the EA - ED Heater pipe due to the early series using a LOG manifold, these runners come out of the head and hang down. You can however, use an EF / EL heater pipe, not too sure about the AU, i believe they run the same setup. The EL heater pipe will require bracket modification along with the pipe being cut before it bends around the head towards the water pump. The BA Pipe that comes out of the waterpump can stay, however the small bypass pipe sticks out next to the main pipe, and the pipe will need to be chopped back just a bit, to get rid of said bypass pipe.

Here's a bit of visual info on how the BA pipe setup is ran, compared to the modded E series pipe. ( If issues are found with uploaded images, i'll supply a link. )


As we can see, the BA pipe comes out of the thermostat, slopes down and starts to bend towards the block.


As it bends towards the block it continues to hug the block all the way around


Once the pipe makes a 90 degree bend, it then slopes upwards and sits above the water temp sensor


The BA Pipe then attaches to a rubber hose which runs to the firewall. Same thing with the lower pipe that runs from the waterpump, both are separate heater core hoses. However you'll notice the bypass pipe that runs beside it, quite clearly they both connect to one another by a smaller hose ( You can see the left over milkshake in the upper bypass pipe )


Moving onto the modded EL pipe..

Like the BA pipe, the EL pipe will connect straight up to the thermostat, the pipe bends down and runs along the side of the BBM manifold, instead of bending towards and hugging the block.


Unlike the BA Pipe, the EL Pipe ends about halfway down the length of the block, the larger hose then connects up to the heater core inlet on the firewall. Make sure the heater tap is kept ( The brass looking item that connects to the hose ) The smaller hose is indeed the bypass hose, that bypass hose runs from the thermostat side of the pipe, to the rear head side of the pipe.


Here's another shot of that bypass hose, it's looped around the main heater core hose due to massive kink attraction.


The EL pipe that sits of the back of the head is a separate piece, the length of pipe that runs to the waterpump has been chopped off of the EL pipe. As we can see here, the pipe is rotated forward slightly so that said pipe can sit above the water temp sender, and tuck under the head. That small piece of flat bar was made up to space the pipe up from the bellhousing, this will need to be done. To the left in this picture, is a 10mm bolt that also connects up to an existing bracket on the EL pipe, that bracket needs to be bent around a little to match up to the bolt hole on the manifold, but this ensures the pipe is secure. This rear pipe also connects to the heater core outlet, to the left of the picture, the pipe angles down and bends down once again. That's where the hose attaches onto and runs to said heater core outlet.


Once the EL pipe has ended on the right side of the head, it will need to be attached to the BA waterpump pipe, the easiest solution here is to simple connect both pipes via some heater hosing ( I Made sure to smooth out the rough edges with a file after grinding to avoid cutting the hoses. )


Shot of the bracket that holds the thermostat side pipe, onto the AC compressor mounting point. This bracket was simple to make, just the bend required alot of constant checking.


Closer photo of the bend required, i'm unsure if the bracket is going to interfere with the AC piping, i'll have to take a look at the BA once i get some time. If the BA AC piping ends up colliding with the bracket, i'll update with a new design.


I've yet to install the E series temp senders, currently thinking about an issue which involves the ECU needing a PIP signal so that the ecu can function as per normal operation of the accessories. I Figure why not simulate a 100hz PIP signal at 12 volts to trick the computer into thinking it's running at 2000rpm... ( I believe? im no tech expert ) Tomorrow i'll measure what the EA PIP signal is putting out.

Also if anyone could please point me towards the Tacho Interface Module, that'd be great.