Project car

Kable72 · 12-12-2012, 12:26 PM

Hey guys,

Sometime in the new year I'm thinking of getting a project car. An XR8 or at least a V8 falcon that must be in manual. Any ideas of what would be a good project? I'm thinking of EA-AU or something like that.

XP6 · 12-12-2012, 01:26 PM

I reckon any model from EA too AU

Seriously, later the model the better overall... if you can live with the look of an AU front end go for it, they are a very good car.

Kable72 · 12-12-2012, 02:51 PM

I like the look of the AU XRs alot. One thing though, they don't seem to be much of a "project" if that makes sense.

Powdered Toast Man · 12-12-2012, 03:03 PM

EB or ED XR8. Thats what I want to have anyway. I did have an EB Fairmont Ghia with a factory 5.0L manual I bought as a project but I sold it since I wasnt doing anything with it. Sort of regret it now but I know I still wont have done anything with it if I still had it.

Kable72 · 12-12-2012, 03:16 PM

Where is a good place to start looking for projects? I had a bit of a look on carsales but I didn't see anything there that looked like it needed any effort. Mainly new tires and a bit here and there. They all looked pretty tidy. Not so much a weekend cruiser.

XBROO · 12-12-2012, 03:23 PM

Look for an X-series if you really want to work on something. Some older E-series might need a bit of work. All depends on how much and what you're prepared to do.

Kable72 · 12-12-2012, 03:28 PM

At the bare minimum, I'm looking for something that runs and doesn't have TOO much body damage. Not shy of a bit of work but I don't wanna get an incomplete car or something that doesn't even run.

OffRoadFalcon · 12-12-2012, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kable72

Where is a good place to start looking for projects? I had a bit of a look on carsales but I didn't see anything there that looked like it needed any effort. Mainly new tires and a bit here and there. They all looked pretty tidy. Not so much a weekend cruiser.

I've been looking at cheap cars lately, getting a feel for what I can get with the money I have for a first car, if the AUII wagon isnt yet available to me. Carsales has very little, but I've found Gumtree is pretty good.
Might wanna check it out??

Chris

302 XC · 12-12-2012, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kable72

Hey guys,

Sometime in the new year I'm thinking of getting a project car. An XR8 or at least a V8 falcon that must be in manual. Any ideas of what would be a good project? I'm thinking of EA-AU or something like that.

Why the 8, why not look at the sixes ???
The factory sixes ,stock or even XR6 arent nothin shabby and many have handed it to the 8s
As for a general project,well that depends on your budget
Im looking at putting an ED 4L in an XD ute ,budget of a few grand tops,just not sure if i really want to do it,when my AU ute will still embarass it

xisled · 12-12-2012, 06:04 PM

Ebay is a good place.

I am looking for a project at the moment, found one. But I am going back to basic and getting a shell.

Pis-ton broke · 12-12-2012, 06:25 PM

what are your ideas for the car and wot sort of coin are we talkin about?

davenl5l · 12-12-2012, 11:21 PM

eb falcon s xr8 manual fully optioned...oh yeah!

Kable72 · 13-12-2012, 09:41 AM

Just looking at getting an older car that needs a bit of TLC. Nothing major just a bit of a dress up and a little bit of mechanical work needed. First project so I wanna start small here. Probably end up spending a bit on it, just depends on what needs to be done.

RedHotGT · 13-12-2012, 02:21 PM

I've stumbled onto an EB XR6 Manual thats going cheap - and was thinking about grabbing it for a short term (that might end up a long term) project car!

I've owned one in the past - and it was a great fun car (especially in my late teens!)

Franco Cozzo · 13-12-2012, 06:01 PM

The 302 wheezers in these things are crap, too expensive to do anything decent with and they're slow anyway. One of my workmates converted his EL Fairmont Ghia from a slightly worked 6 to a standard 5L and he says its slower.

I've got an EL Fairmont Ghia 6 I've been slowly working on, was originally just going for a highway cruiser.

Now I've got Pacemaker 4499s, high flow 2.5" metal core cat, 2.5" mandrel bent pex exhaust.

I've got a CMS Stage 3 ported/polished head, with bigger exhaust valves, stiffer valve springs, new lifters and a CMS stage 2a cam on its way hopefully end of this week.

Then comes the J3 and dyno tune.

Cheese3 · 13-12-2012, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

The 302 wheezers in these things are crap, too expensive to do anything decent with and they're slow anyway. One of my workmates converted his EL Fairmont Ghia from a slightly worked 6 to a standard 5L and he says its slower.

I've got an EL Fairmont Ghia 6 I've been slowly working on, was originally just going for a highway cruiser.

Now I've got Pacemaker 4499s, high flow 2.5" metal core cat, 2.5" mandrel bent pex exhaust.

I've got a CMS Stage 3 ported/polished head, with bigger exhaust valves, stiffer valve springs, new lifters and a CMS stage 2a cam on its way hopefully end of this week.

Then comes the J3 and dyno tune.

My TL50 might be slow but boi it sounds good ! It's all about the sound . . .

davenl5l · 14-12-2012, 10:33 AM

series 1 xr8 was not slow(had one only sold it to buy a buell) series 2 onwards was except ed sprint

RedHotGT · 14-12-2012, 11:01 AM

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/d...5&sort=default

I just can't believe how cheap they've gotten.
$1,200.00 for this (negotiable) i'm sure you could make something fun out of it!

robbyj · 14-12-2012, 03:29 PM

what sort of $$ are you going to spend on the car?

Kable72 · 14-12-2012, 03:35 PM

I don't really have a limit. If I want to do something to the car I would save some money and spend it on the car. Time is the only real restraint as to how fast the car will progress.

Bossxr8 · 14-12-2012, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

The 302 wheezers in these things are crap, too expensive to do anything decent with and they're slow anyway. One of my workmates converted his EL Fairmont Ghia from a slightly worked 6 to a standard 5L and he says its slower.

I've got an EL Fairmont Ghia 6 I've been slowly working on, was originally just going for a highway cruiser.

Now I've got Pacemaker 4499s, high flow 2.5" metal core cat, 2.5" mandrel bent pex exhaust.

I've got a CMS Stage 3 ported/polished head, with bigger exhaust valves, stiffer valve springs, new lifters and a CMS stage 2a cam on its way hopefully end of this week.

Then comes the J3 and dyno tune.

In NA form once you've put some work into a V8 it will absolutely destroy a 6 with the same mods. And there's a million parts you can buy for a Windsor, bugger all for a 6, so it has so much more potential.

In stock form i'll agree that the 6's were a little quicker, but that should be no suprise as the reality is the V8 only made about 150kw and not the 165 they claimed, Ford in the US downgraded the 5.0 not long after we got it from 220 hp to 200 to better reflect what it was actually making (different power rating standard), but Ford never bothered revising the figures here, as V8 sales would have dropped dramatically if people knew it had less power than the 6.