Hey there peoples, by now most of you may have read my previous thread on the EF/EL front on a EA-ED (if you havent heres the link http://www.fordmods.com/exterior-modifications-f15/eb-with-a-el-front-is-going-ahead-ba-dash-and-engine-as-well-t75261.html .) Iv decided to start a new thread on the build up of my EB, as there is alot of ground to be covered with all the mods iam about to do. Not only will i be explaining what process iv done and show some photos to give you guys a better idea, but i also want to explain how cheap and ezy alot of these modifications and projects can be.

Before i get into things this thread is open to anyone opinions (newbies or oldies of this site), as iam still curently building my car i appreciate any questions or comments or opinions you may have. Over the next month alot will be going on such as, paint job, DOHC BA XR6 engine being fitted along with a T5, BA dash and door trims, also installation of BA seats (hopefully with factory functions working) and stacks more. For people out there wanting to do a project car i have some advice for you, make sure you have a garage or shed where you can comfertably work on your car and store parts, do as much yourself this way you will save BIG bucks when it comes to getting a mechanic or electrician to wire things up, DO YOUR RESEARCH find out as much as you can but if you carnt find the answers just be brave and give it ago.

Lets start with the car, i picked up a EB GLi for a very neat $300, it was pretty straight and only had very light surface rust here and there. The car didnt move and all that was needed was a new coil and a battery (mind you a scored a full tank of fuel with it to, kept the mower happy ) The interior was far from salvaging, stained and dirty. But giving the fact i was only after a straight body i was happy.








So depending what your project is you can usually pick up a good box car for dirt cheap and as for EF/L's, they too can be picked up for under $1000 if you do some researching.

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I am very keen to see how this one works out, sounds like it will be great once finished.

Now to begin with people who are wanting to do a EF/L front on a EB and for those who have EF/L's and wanna know how much it cost to add a XR front then keep reading on.
I scored a 2nd rad support for $400, yeah i paid a bit but i also scored the EL xr lights, front wirring harness, bonnet catch, rad support rubber stoppers and a fairly damaged EL xr front. Depending you prefer the more aggresive looking EL XR front over the EF one they can both be purchased over ebay, be prepared to bid hard if you want one and expect to pay any where from $200-$800 depending on condition. HOWEVER, if you want to save a few bob i found a few people who sell the top part of the XR's on ebay from $50-$200. Grab one if you can, and with a old EF-EL falcon bar you can measure and cut straight across above the number plate. Then with time and care cut out the slots where the indicators on the top part (xr piece) slides into. Then clean and sand the inside up where you can apply a strong glue, 3M make some great pannel glues such as pannel bond and Marien sealent. (try and keep away from stickaflex with this type of job). Now back to things, youll need a pair of XR indicators, take my advice if you can pick up a pair for under $150 GRAB THEM!!! i ended up paying $220 so do some hunting around. As for bonnets ef-l xr ones can vary in prices depending on damage and condition, any where from $80-$400 depending if they come with fluets, as for me i prefer the standard falcon bonnet as iam not to much of a fan of the fluets.

$400 EL fron including lights:


This is a XH XR front and will fit and line up fine with the sedan models, this one i picked up for free with some very slight minor damage.


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You have obviously researched and planned........this will ensure success, and not a half-a*** effort you see so often.

Good on you, and watching with interest.

Daz

Good to see you are moving this over to the garage, Ill be subscribing to this one.

Cheers

Josh

Now comes the fun part in any project, THE ENGINE. Do your home work on what you want to do. When i first purchased the EB i wanted a fully worked 351 Clevo, you know with the twin carbies and massive filters hangging out the bonnet. After doing some extensive research it would become nearly impossible due to FRIGGIN emission controls, and even if i ran it on gas it still may not pass. So that idea was scrapped. Then i did some looking into those crate engines, the ones you see in Street Ford magazines. I found that it would be legal to have a 347 Windsor long motor, but when the price tag read $12 000 i knew it would never happen. As i wanted something different and out there i remembered a EL XR that had a BA engine in it (Jet XR i think), So after reading a few threads on here such as fordman351's i noticed that it could be done. I picked up a BA XR6 engine, t5 gear box, dash cluster, computer,floor pedalls, wiring harness, ICC Cd player, dash brace bar and damaged dash pad (for trial fitting) for ONLY $1500. Iv seen 6 cylinder BA engines go on a basic price of only $500. I think its great and cheap upgrade for the e series and the AU. With the strong BA bottom end your garanteed a strong motor with cheap performance parts to mod up. My opinoin would be to get a BA gearbox, how ever its been proven to use the older gear boxs with a BA-AU bellhousing, how ever iam not to sure about the wiring up process but theres a few forums on here that have covered that. Big thing youll need to know is you will have to custome up the K-frame and the bonnet. Also you can use some spaces in between your k-frame and chassy to help on bonnet clearenss.

Heres a quick snap of the power plant:


Now on to the K-frame, Ea-ed frames a slightly different to the F and L's. but both can be eaziely customized. IF YOU CARNT WELD FIND SOME ONE WHO CAN!!! Dont risk all this hard work with some doggy welds that wouldnt hold if you had a small bingal and youll have your local transport up your a**. If you dont know a welder, take it to a engineer, and to save even more money remove the frame from your car, supply the metal needed and tell them youll paint it yourself. I carnt see anyone being charged more then $150 if you do it this way.

Heres a shot of the stock frame on a EB with the front removed with a angel grinder, notice iv left the original welds on there to help hold the strength in it, also id be able to do a longer weld on the new piece of extension, youll see what i mean:


Heres what mean by being able to do a longer weld on the old cut, what i did was cut the frame adn took that piece to a local steel supplier, showed them the piece and they cut me off the same thickness, all you'll need is a 580mm length cut and for only $12.10 its a cheap mod.
After welding it, clean the weld up with a wire brush, skotchy down where you wanna paint, clean it with some prepsol or degesser, apply a aerisol etch primer, then wack 2-3 coats of matt black on and your laughing.



Heres a pic of the frame all painted and ready:


So just to recap on the cost of this project so far:
CAR $300
ENGINE,BOX,WIRRING,COMPUTERS $1500
EL RAD SUPPORT, LIGHTS $400
EL XR INDICATORS $220
XH XR FRONT BAR FREE (damaged)
K-FRAME MOD, PAINT FOR IT $30ish

And people who are interested in doing up there car, save some cash and stripp it your self. As for engine removal, you can hire out a engine crane but make sure you have at least one other person to help you. So to recap for under $2500 youve got yourself a mean streater on the way. I havent mensioned this yet but iam going to try and have this car hopefully ready for the road for under 10K, keep in mind iv still got the brakes to upgrade, suspension, tail shaft, diff, interior, rear bar and a few other little things that will pop up. It would be a great result if i can have this mod done cheaper then buying a BA XT would be tops.... but see how we go. Ill do some more write ups shortly, such as removal of windscreens, restoring the body, BA dash and door trims to make fit and a stack more. Thanks readers.

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Thanks readers. If theres something that i havent covered to well or you need me 2 slow down or post some more pics up just give us a yell. As iam not one of those guys that will tease you with pictures and not explain how i went about it. Cheers

Oh your a good man smithy.

By the way, welcome to the garage

Josh

O just remembered something i should have mentioned at the start, people who are wanting to do the EF/L rad support to the box car youll need to give the boot to the old clutch fan, since the F/L support sits slightly back further then the old one, youll have to convert it to twin thermo fans, this mod is dam cheap and ezy, iam sure theres a few forums on here actually about it... but any ways just something i should have mentioned earlier, my bad.

Oh your a good man smithy.

By the way, welcome to the garage

Josh[/quote]


Cheers Josh

I will be very interested to see how you go getting it to run.

BenJ

as am i,

Hey there again. Just something i should recap on the hole BA retro fit of the engine and interia. If you are keen on doing a project like this, i would buy a write off BA, preferably something thats been hit at the back or T boned. While i was trying to hunt down a good BA 6, i came acoss a BA XL ute that had light front damage and a twisted chassy. Everything that was needed was there (minus back seat and trims of course) however i didnt make the purchase due to the fact it was located in NSW, BUT it went for a cheap $1800.... so i mean if you are keen dont be scared to go out and buy a good write off, I kinda wish i did. As for me iv been buying bit by bit at a time, iv got the dash lined up for fright to, so it should be here in a week or so. Also iam going to have a crack at finding out to install the front BA door trims to the e-series doors.

You wanna save BIG BUCKS on a clean restor job on your pride and joy??? Then read on. Lets face it a paint job is going to set you back and a different colour will probably set you back even more, probably 5-8 G's (depending on paint and so on...) Not all of us here can afford there ride sand blasted or soda blasted so heres another options... Using acid to strip back, comonly know as paint stripper. Cheap as chups to. Go some where like super cheap and purchased a tin or 2 of paint stripper (your probably looking at no more then $50 a tin), then purchase a large bottel of rust converter bout $24 (rust converter is another type of acid which will eat away at rust). Now go to bunings and grab a cheap old paint scrapper and a brush $10, Youll need to go to a paint and pannel place and purchase RED SCOCHY probably set you back $30 or for 2m, youll need to borrow or hire a large 8-10 inch sander preferably electric one youll need to get a box of 80 grit and 40 grit sand paper thatll come to about $60, finally grab a good quality tin of bog or 2pac bog and a bog applicater (no more then $60 there o and a few meters of 80 grit and 120 grit sand paper as long as a large sanding block- another $60).

OK, so simply strip your car down and remove as much as you can to save it from getting damaged, also use bags or containers with appropriate labels to look after your bolts, screws and pieces. Store your seats and interia parts some where safe and away from the weather. If i was you and you wanted a rust free job, do yourself a favour and remove the windscreenc, ezy to do. Go to BCF or a fishing place and purchase some a roll of thick trace line about $4, grab a mate to help you and with a stanly knife make a careful small insetion in the glue O and remove all your windscreen moulds and windcreen wiper pannel. Once the hole is made threw the stickaflex grab 2 screw drivers and tie one end of the line off to a screw driver, give yourself about 30-40cm line and tie the screw driver off to the other, now for the fun part, one person gets in the car while the other on the out side, start sawing the wire threw the glue. BE PATIENT as it took me about an hour to do each windcreen, and do expect the line to snap every 40-70 cms due to the wear of the wire and the heat it builds up. Once your screens are out clean them up with a stanly knife and then hit it with a wire brush until you remove all the glue (also this exercise is a great way if you wanna save $$$ on a new windscreen). Now then hopefully by now you have the glass removed from the doors and the door moulds, dont worry to much about the 1/4 glass in the back door, as they are very rare to build rust up. Preferable do ONE pannel at a time, if your stripping the paint with the gaurds and doors on the car apply a a strip of masking tape along the boarders or sides of each pannel, this will prevent any paint stripper getting behind the door and in places you dont want. Apply the paint stripper on the car and sprding it evenly over the pannel with a paint brush. Dont do this in a confines space!!! wear cleaning gloves and a dust mask as this stuff will tingal if it gets on you and i mean TINGAL. youll notice the paint to bubbel and peal away in about 3-5 mins, also if you car has been painted several times you will have to keep paint stripping it till you reach metal. once its evenly pealed use your paint scrapper to remove. I forgot to mention youll need some prepsol or thinners $25 a tin, something to clean the surface off, then use your electric sander and clean it off preferable 40 grit, once clean and shiny use gloves and apply rust converter on the bare pannel and use a small piece of your red scotchy to rub it in and do its thing. After that clean the pannels down again and use your 80 grit sander to clean it up. As for small dents apply the appropriate amount of bog and sand back (or you can leave this to the beaters to do when time comes to paint), Now that the car is done you can either apply a coat of etch prime about $10 a can so grab 2 or 3 and apply a light dust coat on and keep it covered for when it gets primed and painted. If you have a bit of cash, go to a quality pannel shop, ask for a booking on your car to come in and get sprayer and mention you have stripped the car and cleaned the outside down to metal, paint strip the car down and have the car a rolling shell, then tow it in or get a trailer. Hopefully this has brought your paint job down from 5-8 G's to a more cheaper 3-5G's (depending on paint) Once again if you know a painter get them to prime the car up when down, and block it down yourseld then take it in, youd probably save a GRAND at the min right there. So to recap for a ezt $400 or so you can do this ezt task at home that will save you big, also youll be able to remove your windcreen for an hour or 2's work, and if you have a cracked front one, just buy a tube of urathan (spelling) and urathane primer- thats about $50 or so, and apply a light coat of primer with the brush that they provide you along the area you are going to glue, then apply a EVEN neat bead of glue around the frame, and with 2 people careful place the new windscreen on and dont forget to slap it in and put your windcreen moulds back in. As for my car heres a few photos of the pannels stripped and primed, so i hope this helps some one.

Heres a shoot of the doors and boot lid after being stripped, rust converter and sanded up:


Heres the roof that i did just last weekend, also clean the gutters up with a wire brush and also the top of the windscreens are a major common spot for rust:


Also the EL gaurd and other panels in the back ground, if you have some spar cash use a primer called DP40, it goes on first then a normal Primer goes on top, the DP40 helps keep moisture out which is the leading cause of rust.... just an idea for people who want to restor and keep the ride 4 a long time:


And a final shot of the car half primed witht he EL XR front on, this was taken when i was trial fitting beofre it got welded. Enjoy:


Hope this little demo helps some one out with a cheap restoro or some one who is doing a windcreen swap. Ill be sure to do as much updates and write ups as i can over the next few weeks.

O and a few people are interested in seeing it run, once the paint job is down the engine will be put in propto. Iam really keen to get it turned over. Iam hoping the paint job should be taken care off with in 3 weeks maybe 4 tops, so ill keep you guys informed, and if i run into any hurdels ill document them and let you know if its as ezy as i thaught it would be.....

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Man this looks like its going to be a very interesting build, i have read every word and this will help me out heaps when it comes time to finally do my car, also very curious to see how hard and how much it will all be to put the BA engine etc in.

Cheers
Josh

OK BA DASH INSTALL TIME !!!!

Ok its time i cover a little bit of ground on this one, i have a damaged dash here which has been great for trial fitting and i also have the dash brase bar (where the wiring harness runs along) any way i havent yet bolted it to the car but i have had it sitting nicely. So ill let you on a what iv done, (iam waiting for the good xr one to arrive and then ill start bolting it on, and ill explain what i did then)

So any way remove your old dash in your e-seres, iam not going to get into how to remove it as there are plenty of forums on here that have well and truely covered that. now remove your climate box and give yourself plently of room to work with.
So heres a photo of the BA dash Brace bar with the Ba wiring harness attached, this is just to give you an idea of what was originally removed and to allow room to work in, grab a mate to help hold the brace in place and to see whats going on:


Now referring to the first pic i have removed that bar which comes out of the bracing right in the middel, the following picture will show you, iv cut that off because it was on a wild angel and iam still deciding weather its necessary to bend it to shape and weld it on or weather its not needed, ill let you know on the finall install, however at this present point of time its gotta go.


heres a close up of how things line up with the A pillars, surprisingly not bad at all, you wil find that youll need to nick off a lug of metal on each side which sticks out and hits the pillar, also with a pair of good plliars or vice grips youll need to simply bend a few small pieces of metal (where the bolt holes go threw) bend them until they sit nice and fluss with the pillar.


Now going by the next 2 photos youll see a before and after shot, the first pic shows you the standard brace, the 2nd shows what angel i cut the end of the brace off, just use a good angel grinder, the reason youll have to do this is so it can sit nice and fluss up where the A pillar meats the fire wall area.... be patient and also use a disc sander to clean off a few milmeters if you want to perfect it:
BEFORE:


AND AFTER:


Ill have to start a new reply to finish this topic off as i have more photos to post up, cheers

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