1998 Ford Falcon from New Zealand
666DAN
Wagonist
So this is my current project/daily driver. Both my shuttles are gone and I am Hondaless for the first time in 6 years.
This has been copy and pasted from my thread on another forum so will be somewhat obscure....
October 8 2013
Not sure what is going to come of this car in the long term but for now I like the old girl. She is nothing special just a run of the mill EL Futura, it belonged to a customer at work but when it failed a WOF he decided to move on from it and it was offered to us for scrap price. The boss bought it and I am working a couple extra hours here and there in exchange for it. So technically it isn't costing me any cash
First thing I did was take it to VTNZ for a fresh WOF check as the old one had expired. It failed as expected.
Typical rust in the sills but as far as these go its really pretty good, weld a few patches in and it will be sweet. Replace R/F indicator and a couple of park light bulbs and it will be wof'd
So once that is all sorted I will look at getting some low in my life and just use it as a daily and summer cruiser.
Wheels need to have low as fuck offset just to fit so unless some happen to fall into my lap it isn't really a priority yet.
October 9 2013
Got wheels balanced today as there was a bit of a shake at 100k, replaced a couple of bulbs and secured the drivers monsoon. Started on some of the rust too but no pics of that.
October 10
They are by no means a luxury/sports/exciting vehicle but it is comfy and quiet as fuck and I really enjoy driving it.
Took some before pics of the rust this arvo.
This is the rust to be plated in the sills
and the worst bit
This is the rust in engine bay cleaned up and ready to be hit with the welder
As you can see it has rust but it really isn't bad at all, I have seen 10X worse that we have repaired and had pass wof's so it doesn't worry me.
12 October
And after an afternoon of rust repairs we are now warranted
Repair pics
20 October
Yesterday was my Saturday off so I went to work
But instead of working on other peoples cars I spent the morning playing with the Falcon.
The Odometer and clock backlights haven't been working for quite some time so I decided to pull shit apart and replace the bulbs and in typical Aussie built cars style it was a pain in the arse compared to jap cars.
I also changed the diff oil as it was a little low and old as fuck and fuck me the diff doesn't have the slight whine it had before Who would have thought
During the week we were visited at work by the Pepsi Max Kick promo girls and well me being me got a photo taken with them....chick with dark hair so much camel toe
This has been copy and pasted from my thread on another forum so will be somewhat obscure....
October 8 2013
Not sure what is going to come of this car in the long term but for now I like the old girl. She is nothing special just a run of the mill EL Futura, it belonged to a customer at work but when it failed a WOF he decided to move on from it and it was offered to us for scrap price. The boss bought it and I am working a couple extra hours here and there in exchange for it. So technically it isn't costing me any cash
First thing I did was take it to VTNZ for a fresh WOF check as the old one had expired. It failed as expected.
Typical rust in the sills but as far as these go its really pretty good, weld a few patches in and it will be sweet. Replace R/F indicator and a couple of park light bulbs and it will be wof'd
So once that is all sorted I will look at getting some low in my life and just use it as a daily and summer cruiser.
Wheels need to have low as fuck offset just to fit so unless some happen to fall into my lap it isn't really a priority yet.
October 9 2013
Got wheels balanced today as there was a bit of a shake at 100k, replaced a couple of bulbs and secured the drivers monsoon. Started on some of the rust too but no pics of that.
October 10
They are by no means a luxury/sports/exciting vehicle but it is comfy and quiet as fuck and I really enjoy driving it.
Took some before pics of the rust this arvo.
This is the rust to be plated in the sills
and the worst bit
This is the rust in engine bay cleaned up and ready to be hit with the welder
As you can see it has rust but it really isn't bad at all, I have seen 10X worse that we have repaired and had pass wof's so it doesn't worry me.
12 October
And after an afternoon of rust repairs we are now warranted
Repair pics
20 October
Yesterday was my Saturday off so I went to work
But instead of working on other peoples cars I spent the morning playing with the Falcon.The Odometer and clock backlights haven't been working for quite some time so I decided to pull shit apart and replace the bulbs and in typical Aussie built cars style it was a pain in the arse compared to jap cars.
I also changed the diff oil as it was a little low and old as fuck and fuck me the diff doesn't have the slight whine it had before
Who would have thoughtDuring the week we were visited at work by the Pepsi Max Kick promo girls and well me being me got a photo taken with them....chick with dark hair so much camel toe
Comments
Removed catalytic converter in Nov '13 and carried out a trans service.
Went to Pick a part this morning and the whole idea was to get shuttle shit but nothing was suitable for what I needed. So attention turned to finding a passengers wing mirror for the coon as the glass on mine is MIA.
I found one mirror (out of like 7 ef/el coons) and just my luck the glass was broken
So I moved on to finding the uprated air intake snorkle which I found
I am too jew for that shit so I removed the lid and got what I wanted for $8
Before with the old setup
As it turns out the airbox lid mouths are different sizes and I did need the $8 one from PaP, of course I didn't check before I put it on the car!
I used the flexi middle piece on the old setup on the new intake and dug out an old pod filter I had in the garage. I also needed a joiner between the two so a neck from an old Honda airbox was sacrificed in the name of progress.
Once all was secured and check for operation etc I modified the original airbox lid to fit the flexi and no the pod is house in oem box
Finished product
12 Jan '14
Not much of an update but I changed my park lights to bright LED's courtesy of Nathan/BCHDAZ. Difference is fucken awesome. I also chucked a newer, better pod filter inside the airbox and it is better again.
Have priced extractors and I also priced an off the shelf rage exhaust system but am going to stick to my original plan of buying extractors and building the exhaust myself.
I am also looking at XR6/8 shocks and springs as the springs are lower and the shocks are valved differently so will offer gains and second hand shouldn't cost too much
14 Jan
Tickford XR springs and shocks, extractors and an XR steering wheel all for about what I was going to pay for springs
Pretty stoked with the deal, not sure when they will make it on to the car but it probably won't be this week unfortunately
19 Jan '14
Thursday evening the Falcon got an oil change and a general "service" in preparation for the drive to Castlepoint.
Saturday morning we packed the boot with 2 adults and 3 kids junk including pillows, blankets etc and headed off on our way. The fuel gauge was sitting on 1/4 tank so off to the local BP we went. Filled it ($100 later) with 95 and went about our roadtrip, stopped in Masterton for breakfast and the kids had a quick play in the playground.
Followed the signs directing us to Castlepoint and had a fun 60 odd km drive out into the country on some cool roads (it was noted that the shuttle would have loved the roads). The Falcon although a bit floaty dealt to the corners in a very civilised manner and it was actually really enjoyable from a drivers point of view but it has definitely put an emphasis on getting the Tickford suspension in.
Got to Tina's Grandmothers place in good time the travelled down to the beach to do the infamous walk to the lighthouse. It was windy as fuck so the waves were pretty spectacular and cell phone pics really didn't do it justice
We then proceeded to the local pub/hotel where we were staying and enjoyed cheap beer and bourbon.
Woke up this morning and the weather was shit so we packed up the car and drove home.
340km on half a tank of fuel was pretty impressive for a dirty old 4.0l Falcon. The best bit is I thoroughly enjoyed driving it!!!
20 Jan
Monday off work and I kinda got frustrated so needed to relax, I relaxed by doing what I do for a job! Go fucken figure.
Chucked the XR steering wheel on and got the front tickford suspension in too. The drop is as much as low springs would have done so I am pleased with the result!! Will do the rears sometime this week.
Some pics
couple more pics of ride height
1 Feb '14
Fitted my extractors
Also fitted new ignition leads
2 Feb
So after a day of driving I would highly recommend extractors to anyone with a 6cyl Falcon, the difference in throttle response and power delivery is friggin amazing.
Token Pic cos lets face it that is the reason people look at build threads.
2 Mar '14
Got bored this arvo and changed the intake pipe and where/how the pod filter is mounted.
5 Mar
Removed rear muffler and replace with a straight tail pipe and added an exhaust tip
9 Mar
Installed lower springs and painted rocker cover purple
Pictures don't really show the height very well or the purple for that matter.
13 April
Put some new plate on the car, bit of a piss take SVOETA implying that my car eats SVO Falcons etc
So during the week Mr Nailbomb did the mission to Jaycar for me, he got a 5.6ohm resistor, an 18ohm resistor and a on/on switch.
I collected these from him and made up a DIY shiftkit I saw on an aussie Ford forum. Basically it changes the signal the trans gets and alters trans fluid pressure to suit resulting in fast gear changes in an auto
Wired it all in today and tried it out on the way to and from hardpark and omfg best $15 mod ever. Changes up hard and fast keeping the revs nice and high and it also chops down a whole lot quicker too.
There was a warning saying that it should be turned off in the wet so after I dropped the kids at home I went for a drive in the wet and yep she is a handful when it steps sideways changing up into second!
Outcome:
Whaka yeah
23 April '14
Entering the NZ Performance Car Hardpark meet in Wellington
I have been actively looking for wheels to suit my car and my personality. Mate had these 20's sitting around so I tried them on
Having a couple issues with the fronts, they are +35 offset and with a 35mm spacer (25mm and some washers) I have guard rub which will probably mean rolling guards and possibly raising the height. The other issue is the inner shoulder rubbing on the top ball joint but if I dropped size to 235/30 rather than the 245/35 that are on there now I reckon I will get the clearance I need.
Usually I wouldn't go to the trouble of making something like this work but I really really like the 20s and they are a really sharp price and look fantastic on the coon!
So after reading some legalities regarding wheels spacers in NZ I decided to not go with the 20's as they would never be legal here
I was looking at going with a 14" wheels like these, 12 slots
But I came across some 15" Crager super spokes on Trademe and won the auction. Grand total $34, my current tyres fit and they were so cheap!
I also have all 4 centre caps but only one 3 prong spinner like this
Was hoping to find some at a local swapmeet last weekend but alas didn't even find one.
I have always hated the All Blacks logo on the front guards, those that know me know I hate rugby so I finally found a worthy sticker to cover them (I friggin love swapmeets)
Mooneyes!
Also put centre caps on too.
How come the rust is so bad? They salt the roads in NZ?
As Haydz said, no salt on the roads here. The reason though is they are built in Australia for Australia which is a drought stricken nation that doesn't get the amount of rain we get in New Zealand. Water sits in horrible places and just eats the steal.
Have seen MY2000+ Falcons with more rust than an 80's Honda!!!!
On another note a good mate of mine Luke that runs Bwarp forum rang me today to do a photo shoot with the Falcon for the blog
*Cameltoe was fucken epic!
I really like it to be honest, just a cool cruiser with a bit of power to open up when needed.
The old owner came into work yesterday and commented on how much he liked it and how clean and tidy it is looking
http://bwarp.net.nz/?p=443
Painted the centres of the wheels black and changed the centre caps
I also changed the auto shifter knob, I originally had this on my EF shuttle but kept it when I sold the shuttle
The Rustbucket Wagovan as seen on Speedhunters http://www.speedhunters.com/2012/10/rust-bucket-wagovan/ is IMO perfect, the little touches really make it.
Anyway I am in love with the skateboard wheels for window winders but since my Shuttle was electric windows it never happened but now since my Falcon has manual windows in the rear I commandeered my daughters skateboard and pinched the wheels
Some longer bolts and they will be all done!