Hey Josh, believe it or not when I replaced the cross member on the gear box this morning, it must have tilted the front of the engine down a little, I can now shut the bonnet with the bracing just resting on the engine (and I mean just). So itll be eazier just to remove the bracing so the engine has a little room to breath and move. Ill get some photos up when I get around to it. Cheers mate.

wow. awesome build bro. cannot wait to see it all done!! how does the rear look with the boot lid sprayed?

just a few pics from when i did the install of my ba box.And dash fit in my new shell.





And one of the BA front end.

Thanks mate, Yeah ill get some photos of the back up tomorrow, along with the rest of the dash install. Cheers

Na I believe it mate. Just by looking at the 2 cross members, you can see the difference. Good progress with your dash mate, take your time you will get it right.

Excellent write-ups smithy, will come in very handy for others who wish to attempt similar jobs so they know what they are getting themselves into

Good to hear the bonnet is almost sussed out, at least you know what is required now. Looking forward to more progress on the build, been an awesome read so far

Well Smithy just got my butt kicked by the missus because of you. Thought i might read the entire post from start to finish for once. Shes been telling to do this do that etc. Just could not stop reading this. You are to be congratulated on an outstanding thread best I have ever read if there were awards for threads you would be getting my vote! Your attention to detail will ensure this project will be mind blowing when completed. I'm all motivated to do something to the old NF now watching the Twin cam installation very intently. Better get up and do something before i get skinned.

Cheers

Steve

^^^ I know what you mean. This thread has played a part in me and the missus breaking up and me moving into a garden shed.

I've seen what people with good welding skills can do now --- BA front ends on box cars with IRS etc etc etc and all I can say is --- AWESOME.

Awesome that you have the ability.
Awesome that you have the locations and facilities.
Awesome that you have the motivation.

PARCELL SHELF MADNESS, fitting a 12 inch sub....

This exercise may appeal to people who want a sub and box in there car but dont want to loose boot space or have troubles getting the spare wheel out or relocating fuel tank ect ect... In my case I want as much boot space as possible due to relocation of fuel tank and battery BUT I wanted a sub in my car. After doing many measurements and guess work I knew it wouldnt all fit so I decided to relocate my sub box up to the parcell shelf. If you have a 12 inch sub and want to do this simple exercise you may find youll have to also custom up the parcell shelf break light (but i am not going to worry about that for a bit)

Any ways with an appropriate box (nothing to big) trial fit it up against the bottom of the parcell shelf, you may need a mate to help you out especially if you have the back glass in... My sub box measures approx 14 1/2 inch width and 17 inch length, and it JUST fits width ways. Youll need a large set of vice grips and lock it in place to the shelf like so:



Iv then drilled two 10mm holes from where the break light sits threw the box, Iam planning on adding plates or even thread in the box so I can unbolt it anytime and remove it. As shown:


Bolts in to hold the box up for now:



Begin hacksawing the hole out to meet your sub size. If you have the back glass in try and get comfy in your boot and begin sawing:



Now a quick trial fit of the sub, the sub is now resting up on the high spots of the parcell shelf, Iam going to cut the hole out a bit further outwards and have the sub sit flush to the box. Then Ill put a EL parcell shelf cover over the lot and hopefully it should look all neat:




Heres a shot of the boot, so you can see the space it creates and a look at what to expect. Youll need to buy some sound deadener from super cheap and spary the hole parcell shelf to prevent any vibrations. Also youll need to bolt the box at the front which I havent done yet. I wouldnt recommend this style of set up for some one who is planning on having a massive sound off smashing sub, but for more the average joe who doesnt mind a little bit of base:




Heres a back shot of the car the sam, just dragged it out in the sun for you to get a bit of detail on her, its fairly dusty but you get the idea:


Also Iv added some clear indicators on the front gaurds:


And on further note iv got 2 BA front leather XR seat covers that will be replacing the yellow xr ones. And iv ordered some Fairlane/Fairmont fog lights and will fit them when they arrive in the mail, and lastly Ill finish of the dash next week as I got a little slack to do it today. So like usuall stacks more to come. Thanks for the comments and Iam sorry if i dont get to all them but they are really appreciated. It sounds like youll have to put yourself in to gear there fezlane, nahh jokes go wack a twin cam in to the old NF do some searching on ebay and the trading post. Every now and then i check to see how much they go for, at the moment Iv seen a complete xr6 turbo engine (including turbo & manifold) I think starting bid was between 1-1.5K, sounds like a bargain, low k's to. Thanks again fiend for the wicked comments. Cheers guys

LOOKS AMAZING BRO!
How much time has gone into this thing? A hell of a lot i'm sure..
And the result is spectacular....
Keep up the good work.

great work smithy, joined to see all of your pics after a page or two of reading. I'll be checking back here pretty regularly i think! I'm a tad closer to attempting to put a ba engine/gearbox? in my xg now, cant wait to see how it all comes together. Cheers. Ewen

Hi Smithy

Watching with great interest still. I would love to do the twin cam conversion BUT have a look at my age. Electronics just do my head in. This is the first car i have really mucked around with since I was in my early 20s. Give me cams carbys valve regrinds etc and i can do it with my eyes closed. Electronics though just send me into a blind rage with bits of wiring etc flying around the shed still trying to grasp the compexities of doing some heas work on the NF gotta get a mod chip just to do this. So with the quality of your post I will be watching with great interest and I hope you don't mind someone copying what you do. I plan to do most myself as its just something to spend some time on. My daughter originally bought it for herself but found it to feral hence "fezlane" so i bought her a crappy excel and we swapped. Slowly being doing it up since. Dropped a set of ultralows in it yesterday driving to work this morning threw a big rock up and put a massive hole in the auto sump ah well something to do tomorrow. Eagerly awaiting new posts.

Steve

epic thread man

great stuff , cant wait for more

This is an amazing build Smithy to say the least!

I fitted a Plexis Purple full XR6 interior to my BA & I'm going to fit the original BA seats in the ED so very interested to see the way you fitted that inside rear leg of the seat & if it all worked out!
Do you have pics of that?