hi all,

well, where do i start....im building up a little run down XF ford.

I guess everyone has their own start of an obsession. mine started a few years ago, when i drove a VT commodore as a daily (dont judge me). i drove it back from sydney airport and when i closed the door, it literally fell apart. door trim, the locks broke, the roof lining fell down...all with the close of a door....

I went to a AU XR6 and it flew, it was just nice, except......it was an AU...not visually asthetic.

im 26 and have been with the same company since i was 15, so long service leave rolled around and i helped my old man build his house for two months. queue the 1998 ford falcon XH XR6 tickford longreach ute. he gave this to me for helping him build the house. its 2017, almost a 20Y.O car and only 179000km on the clock, immaculate....BUT......automatic.



ive had the XH for twelve months and im frothing at the bit to turn it into a Manual. unfortunetly, full time work and no regional mechanics willing to take on the job of a trans conversion, i thought the money and time was better spent on buying a manual X series, but i know i was not going to get one in great condition.

QUEUE the XF 1993 GL (with xr6 front) Ford ute.



now this car was out for $3700. a few messages, and three months later, i get the thing for $1000 bucks. 4.1 250 crossflow carb.

some back ground on myself: i have zero car knowledge. i know how everything works, i can tell you how everything on a car works and where it is, but to actually change something and the process behind that, im limited in, so this car was purchased not to be fast, not to be amazing, but for me to have a project...if i make a mistake, its not the end of the world...

so i guess after driving the car home, theres no HUGE issues so far, cosmetic mainly and the issues i have, i can fix myself. im going to be doing updates as the car comes along so i hope you enjoy watching the process the car makes. in the build the below CONS will what i'll have the updates on.

Pros:
nolothane bushes front end.
catback exhaust 2.5 lukey and extractors
interier is AU so cupholders (yay)
4.1 carb Reconditioned Engine 4 years ago. reciepts to match 5.7K spent...
235/45/17 tyres - sits nice.
lowered kings in front blocks in back.
amp + sub + 6" speakers behind seats installed - good sound system

now....the CONS - hold onto your hats...
fuel cap lock was broken - needs new
surface rust in usual places. bottom lips - torneu edges - bonnet
bonnet rust was pretty bad, needs a rust bath.
ball joint rooted
tie rods rooted
fan belt needs tightening
gear knob was loose
gear sock doesnt exist
high beam bulbs were blown
rocker cover gasket is leaking
rear main seal seeping - yay
seats are crap stock GL - super sh**
heater matrix rooted
rear door trim passenger side removed - cannot source another
only 1 ignition key - no hard lid key anymore
tyres down to steel in back

look forward to updating soon!!

Last edited by Tommyk123123 on Thu May 11, 2017 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hi everyone,

so im being a little cheeky. i wanted to do a forum on the progress of the XF but started before i signed up...SO - progress has been made already! so here are some photos right on when i purchased the thing.





This update is on RUST! the stuff that kills cars.

i've purchased a cheap angle grinder for 20 bucks, a wire blade attachement and a grinding blade for the rust - with some etch primer of course.

Last RDO i went rust hunting, and luckily, there was nothing major on the body. bottom seals. inside of the doors on the bottom, bottom of the trey etc. The owners before me installed side vents with indicators because they probably thought it looked sick.



only issue is.....they didn't seal or rust kill the edge of the metal so the rust ran through and discoloured the body filler. meaning i had to go to town on the edge of the guard and get the rust out.

the bonnet looked on, then when i went hunting i found A LOT of issues. Bubbles..... i just visually looked at the rust bubbles a bit too aggressively and they made a hole....

about twenty minutes later and ive ground most of the rust from the top. but bubbles are from below, so when i've pryed the support brace from the bonnet top, there was a world a dirty brown rust....I've rust converted it, sealed it with etch primer and wanted to just replace the whole thing - but cannot find a XF bonnet in good enough condition....

so i've gone from this stealth bonnet...




to this swiss cheese bonnet


not sure what will be the next update - but game plan for the bonnet is to remove it, seal the holes with electrical tape or another hole filler temporarily.... invert the bonnet and fill the cavity of the bonnet with a rust bath $55 from Autobarn. leave the rust to get eaten for a few days. go back to town on it with a grinder, hit it with a rust killer again, then etch prime it. fill the holes with body filler and get a few more years from it.

Thats it for now!

Last edited by Tommyk123123 on Thu May 11, 2017 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hi mate,love the X-series Falcons photos arnt working thou

Oops. Will. Fix shortly.

don't stress

okie dokie, theres been a fair bit of movement happening on the XF. unfortunatly haven't had time to get on here and update. now that i have the image hosting site working it should be a piece of cake.

the bloody bonnet...
found more rust in the thing. i took the bonnet off and inverted it and hung it from the cieling using wratchet straps.



luckily most of the rust was surface so the rust bath converted ALOT of the flakey crap the grinder couldnt reach under the support brace.



overall, im happy with the amount of rust that came out. so i think it'll get me a few more years and if i see a good quality xf bonnet pop up i'll buy it.

after i've taken most of the rust out, i've bogged the holes it created and sanded the filler back and feathered the edges



throw on some primer filler and let it dry and we have a smooth bonnet again!

XG bonnet should be the same as XF only difference is the grill (yours looks the same as XG)and theres alot more XG's than XF's.
Also noticed your front bumper hanging,those stupid clips are useless,I just bought an upgrade kit for the bumper mounts so they bolt on properly and are much easier to adjust and align.see pic

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