Damn fine looking lane, wish mine was V8

Thanks. Looks alot minter in the photos, as all cars do.

KWIKXR, had a play with yours yet to try and figure out what its doing?

I grabbed a fuel pump this morning, easy and cheap so a good starting point. It runs a bit rough for a few seconds on a cold start, did it with the old motor too. I reckon that may be the pump.

I'm bored of the wheels and not sure what to do. Have the BA wheels still, and a set of DF LTD ones. What do you reckon? You have good taste There are some Concordes that I may be able to wrangle off a mate too.

I've had a little muck around with a few things i.e. vac hoses, coolant temp sensor etc but to no avail. Next thing I'm trying is another std thermostat, I think I'm running a colder one at the moment so we'll see if that works or not lol.

Funny you mentioned that you're bored with your wheels. I'm starting to get over the Concorde's on mine, plan was to respray them that champagne colour, I tried it with the spare and it didn't go with the chrome too well at all so that's out of the equation - might go with a dark gunmetal colour or fork out to get them sprayed in Shadow Chrome for something different... I'm thinking some 18/19's with a nice dish would look mint on the NF. Even a set of Dark Argents would suit it perfectly I reckon, I'm a bit bias though as I have a major soft spot for those on e-series, even though they sort of are becoming the new FTR's it seems

I have a small update on the Lane. After the disappointing result at dyno day, I went on the hunt for the problem. The dyno operator (Mike?) suggested that it maybe a weak fuel pump. I went and bought one and installed it, as I had suspected it to be a little tired. I also found that the resonator in the intake tube was hanging out, so it was sucking in air after the MAF, which would also contribute to it running lean.

It seems that I was sucessful in finding the problem. It now uses lots of fuel, blows black smoke and feels like its gained lots of go. Made 128 before, has to be 150/160 easy now, the difference is amazing. Also gained lots of response.

I'm still running the E-Series MAF which is 55mm I think. I have a 75mm on the way, so that should help correct the mixture and I'm hoping for more gains from that again. After that is done, a J3 is going in from TI Performance.

The only problem now is that the trans feels a little grumpy from the extra go, and I seem to have picked up a VS Commodore style tailshaft/diff vibration under full throttle.

I also cracked the s**t with the massive swirl marks all over the body. The paint had no depth, and in the sun looked f**k terrible. I cleaned it all up using my drill with a polishing pad, and an array of Meguiars products. The difference is amazing, I'm wishing I did it earlier. I can't wait to snap some shots in the sun.

Lastly, I tried on the LTD wheels I've been trying to offload. I like, thoughts? These pics are pre wash and polish. Usually sits lower in the rear, has no fuel in it.




Also got a pic of it in its new home with the XR6. Finally got my double garage Note the height compared to the XR6 at stock height.

I wanted to show off how it looks after I detailed it. Huge difference, before I was considering getting it re-sprayed. Now it wont be

Still waiting on my MAF too unfortunately....

Faaaark, that looks awesome dude!! I reckon it looks best on the AJR's, it's still nice on the LTD wheels, but it doesn't have as tough of a stance if you catch my drift lol..

Love how heritage green looks after a good detail. The way the sun brings out all the little specs and makes it appear blue-green is awesome!!

Its a nice colour, but so much work!

I'm happy with the AJR's, will probably stay for a while now. I'm happy with the way its looking, just want more power.

What do you do/use on yours to keep it looking good?

Any more progress on the Fairmont?

The more I look at the NF, the more I long for a Lane/LTD... lowered LWB Ford's FTW

I usually use Meguiars products too. A couple of weeks ago I used ColorX and Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax on my dad's EF XR6 and it brings out the depth of the red real well, gives the paint a nice smooth glossy finish too. I'm yet to try it on the Fairmont as I want to claybar the entire car and use some ScratchX before using ColorX to try and eliminate some of the scuffs in the clearcoat, but that will be a job for the holidays.

Progress on the Fairmont is very slow at the moment, will update my thread sometime with the what I've been up to, which isn't far off nothing lol. My plans of getting the car re-dyno'd and J3'd are pretty much put off until next year now that I've blown more money on other, unnecessary s**t

Good to hear that you've sorted that problem with it leaning out. It'll haul a** once you get a J3 and a proper sized MAF on that thing man

Hopefully! As it is its the quickest car I've driven. Which is sad

Yours should come up amazing if you go to those lengths. A red car would certainly be good practice.'

All I used was Meguiars Ultimate Compound on the worst panels, followed by Meguiars Swirl Remover cutting compound on the whole car. Wax used was Meguiars spray wax, nice product.

I still haven't done the front bar though

I certainly miss the white Fairmont for the ease of cleaning and detailing.

Do you have any Idea if I can spray the wax onto the polished wheel lips? I want to make them easier to clean, but I'm not sure if its OK on bare alloy.

I've been waiting for you to get yours sorted, I want to see what it pulls

If you had the time and inclination you could spray clear on the rim to make them easy to clean!

Good to hear that spray wax works well, I might grab one of those next time I'm out. These darker paint colours sure are a b**ch to keep clean aren't they!

Mate, if I can get it somewhere closer to 140rwkw before I put the ported head on and get a J3 done I'll be pretty happy. After the head + tune are done, I'd like to be somewhere around the 150 mark hopefully. Until then, I'll just have to put up with a blistering 130~rwkw tank

Regarding the wax on the polished lips.. I honestly wouldn't have a clue. I know how annoying it is trying to keep a polished alloy finish clean though. I'd probably do what fairlane6970 has suggested and spray some sort of clearcoat on them, then you could easily just wax the clear without worrying about the polished finish underneath. Trouble is finding a clearcoat that won't dull/react with the polished finish

There are specific clear-coats for alloy, but I'm unsure if they still dull the finish. I may look into it and give them a freshen up.

I'm going to get one of those "power-cones" for the drill, to polish them right up.

KWIKXR I reckon you should be around 150 with it all done and tuned. Just from what I've seen others pull. Sounds realistic.

I want to put a cam and a few other bits in mine, but its alot of work on a 5.0

Haven't done much to the Lane of late, but I thought I'd throw this up.

-Finally organised a J3 to correct the AF Ratios with the new injectors. Avg Fuel Usage according to trip comp has dropped from around 15 to around 11/12, which is a big improvement. I'll have to work out the actual usage to see, but its definitely improved. Was a straight forward install, I have to thank Jason from TI Performance for the excellent service, and answering all my stupid questions.


-Fitted a 75mm (TE50 I'm told) MAF housing, to replace the original. Was the only restrictive piece left in the intake, so I figured it needed to be done. Can't say I noticed a difference though.

-Resprayed the grille. The black between the chrome fins had chipped badly, so I re-did it. Used exhaust paint as thats all I had. Caked the clear on top and its very glossy, so I'm happy. Was annoying masking all the fins though....

I took it for a spin down the freeway to ST Kilda and took a few shots. Poor quality as I used my iPhone, but I had a play in Photoshop.





Aside from that, I have just been racking up the kms and enjoying it. It goes really well and sounds nice, Its really enjoyable to drive around. I'm up for rear tyres already though

Someone's been having a bit of fun lol.. Looks awesome in the pic's mate, those black lines all around the carpark wouldn't be your handy work by any chance?

Spraying the black bits of the Lane grills are an absolute b**ch aren't they!! I did it with mine and it was a PITA trying to mask it all up. Good to see that you got the J3 done already too. Notice much of a difference in performance after the chip went in?

Haha those lines weren't me. With the new motor it will light up from a standstill, and skate down the road on the brake for as long as you want.

Its hard to tell if it has more go, I've been driving the XR6 around so the Fairlane feels fast now regardless.

Might be a while before I do anything else to it, the XR6 has started running hot so I'll have to muck around with that now.

The Grille took ages to mask, I was swearing and carrying on

Imagine how it would look with 19s.....