PhilMeUp

Do they make them for Hyundais and Kias as well?

Grab and Earls kit from here: http://stores.ebay.com.au/fittings2u http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/181164620296 That one's also got the heat sleeve on the turbo end to prevent cooking the oil in the hose after you've stopped.

This. Not hard to do. Cut the old plastic ends off with Dremel (easy) or take pot shots with a drill and drill bit. When I did mine a few weeks ago I used some screws and small bolts. Photos of doing mine (I haven't written the text for the thread yet): http://s260.photobucket.com/user/PhilMeUpBaby/library/Falcon/FPV_Tornado/8_6_2015?sort=9&page=1 Cutting the plastic tips off: I used a couple of screws and washers: On one end I ended up going nuts with drilling extra holes and putting small bolts through:

If you're replacing the leaf springs then you might as well put new shackle bushes in while you're at it. The part number is XT5781A and it needs 8 of them (4 each side). Check eBay for pricing - do a search for the part number. Ford has used the same shackle bush in every wagon and ute Falcon since the 1968 XT, so they're rather common.

Check: - Centre bearing (tail shaft). The rubber around them breaks. - Engine mounts. - Transmission mount.

Digital camera and take photos as you take things apart. Occasionally this comes in handy at re-assembly time, when you suddenly realise that you can't remember what order things go back in.

Yeah, it will get re-tuned at some stage. A bunch of money though, and I don't have an Xcal for it (to save the tunes on). Yep, it will get new spark plugs ASAP. It was interesting how well the Dremel cleaned them up (compared to a bench grinder with a brush) but they've done about 36,000km. Time for new plugs - I'll see if I can get the same ones today. Nup, no Xcal. Would love to set it back to standard to see if that had any effect. Not having the Xcal is a big problem (I asked the auctioneer to check inside the car for it before I bought the car). I've got the phone number for the guy who owned the car when the modifications were done - I've give him a call today and see if by chance he's got the Xcal at home somewhere. I'm assuming that he would have passed it on to the next owner, whose details I don't have. I've been watching out for a decently priced secondhand Xcal since I bought the car. Mind you, my definition of "decently priced" is a tad low. Kicking myself now for not chasing harder after the unmarried Xcal 4 that was on Gumtree a while ago for $300. I'm guessing that the guy (girl?) who wrote the invoice was guessing on a couple of things, ie the Z9 oil filter (ie BA) instead of the Z516 that it should have been (BF). Right now I'm damn pleased that I ended up getting the car freighted to me here in Perth, instead of the very tempting option of flying to Dubbo and trying to drive it back! I drove two LPG wagons from Sydney to Perth last year without any hesitation, but I had a bit of a gut feeling that this one should be freighted... I'll go back out the front in a few minutes and check for diagnostic codes again. Seems odd that it drove so well for a few minutes last night, and then dropped back suddenly into limp-home mode. Until then, last night's test drive was... interesting. When it runs properly, this car has got a hell of a lot of get-up-and-go...

The coolant looks like orange juice. I’ll get the cooling system flushed later on, but I’ll probably drain the coolant and put some new stuff in as soon as possible. Much to my disappointment, the battery is a no-name generic one. It doesn’t even have the CCA and CC specifications on it. I recently bought a Ctek MXS25 battery charger, so put the battery on the recondition mode for the night. The problem with taking photos tonight was that I had to breath in each time I took a photo. If I breathed out within a few seconds of taking a photo then the photo would be obscured by a cloud of vapour (from my breath). Knock off time. I took the car for a drive and much to my delight it ran well. For about 10 minutes. Then it dropped back into limp-home mode. Bugger. I still haven’t figured out why the car keeps doing this, so that will be the next task. So much for buying a car that I could drive straight away, instead of spending hours working on it first...

Wednesday, 23rd June, 2015 I’ve had a spare pair of front wheel bearing hubs sitting around for a while but they were left out in the rain for a few days. I’ve dropped them off at Aeroplate in Welshpool, where they’ll be bead blasted back to new condition. Although I’d love to just buy brand new hubs for both sides, I’m going to have to watch the budget in case I need to spend a bunch of money on engineering reports to get the car licenced in WA. The first day (yesterday) turned out to be a bit of a disaster. When I first drove the car it went well. Then, last night, it went into limp-home mode. The car crawled home, where I plugged in an ELM327 OBDII cable and ran FORScan to check for diagnostic trouble codes. Amongst others, there were these relevant codes: P2110 Description: Forced limited RPM (guard mode). This DTC indicates the engine is now operating in a FMEM (Guard mode) strategy. P2135 Description: Throttle position (TP) sensors disagree. Sensor: Damaged throttle body sensor. Electrical: Damaged or defective wiring between the throttle body and PCM. P0121 Description: TPS track A out of range (throttle not closed at idle) (TP1). Mechanical: Damaged sensor and or throttle body. Sensor; Damaged sensor or contaminated track. Electrical: Wiring/connectors damaged or loose between sensor & PCM. Other: Defective PCM. I’ve never had any trouble with a throttle position sensor (TPS) before so I was clueless about what to do. I removed it and had a look. After various internet searching and reading it seemed that the next step was to replace the TPS. Luckily, as the throttle body on this car has been relocated to the front of the engine bay, accessing the TPS was simple. After realising that there was no way of troubleshooting it I then went out to get a matching one off a car wreck. Both of them had the same code in the plastic in very small writing - VP4L7U-9E928-AA. I put the replacement TPS on and started the car. No change - the car idled rough and the ETC light was lit up on the dashboard. Time to have a look a look at the spark plugs. This was easy - there is no crossover piping running over the coil cover. Easy access. Some of the spark plugs had a lot of corrosion, indicating that in the past water had been getting past the coil cover and down into the spark plug holes. I’m assuming that a previous owner has been washing the engine bay regularly, but without knowing to keep water off the coil cover. I haven’t bought new spark plugs yet, so figured I might as well clean up the existing ones. Five of the spark plugs are NGK BKR7E, with one of them being a Nippon Denso. I have no idea why one of them is different. I’ll buy new spark plugs tomorrow - probably the same ones again. The rear spark plug had the most signs of previous moisture. The worst spark plug, before having a go with the Dremel. After using the Dremel with a small wire brush. A massive difference. The same spark plug, after I cleaned up the threads and outside of it. Luckily, I had bought a bunch of small wire brushes a while ago. I went through three of them cleaning the six spark plugs. The wire bristles kept flying off. Some were imbedded into my legs, some got stuck in my t-shirt and others went into my face. Eye protection was a necessity - I wore safety glasses. The six spark plugs, after cleaning. A bench grinder with a wire brush would do a similar job, but the Dremel and smaller brush got into the electrode ends much better. The coils also had signs of moisture. The cleaned spark plugs and coils. I put a few dabs of dielectric grease in the end of each coil and spread it around with a small flat-blade screwdriver. Time to put the spark plugs back in. Each spark plug hole has signs of previous moisture. I’ll clean this out another time. Everything back in place. Normally I would be doing this sort of job in the carport, but replacing the TPS and checking the spark plugs were both quick and easy jobs. It was a tad cold outside tonight - 7.7 degrees when this photo was taken.

Behind the driver’s seat is a Pioneer subwoofer. I checked the bag with the jack and handle, but there’s no wheel winch winder there. I’ll have another look under the seats in daylight but will probably have to order one. The part number is EHC1A360A. The driver’s seat belt doesn’t retract at all. This is easy to fix - I’ll remove the seat belt and blast water through it with my pressure washer to clean out the belt. I’ll also clean out the plastic guide at the top that the belt feeds through - this is where the Falcon seat belts jam up. Once I get it all cleaned up it will retract properly, but will need the occasional dose of silicon spray to keep it that way. There’s a Pioneer GM-D7500M amplifier. It’s a bit of a mess back there. I’ll want to get that cabling tidied up later on. As well as the ratting sound from the idle pulley, there was also some noise from the steering pump (which is next to the idle pulley). It also had almost no power steering fluid in it, so that’s something else to sort out as soon as possible. I’m going to put some new fluid in, let it flow through the lines, drain it with a syringe and then put new fluid in again. I was keen to start doing some work on the car on the first night, but it was five degrees outside. I’ve spent plenty of nights working late at night in the carport at temperatures even less than that, but I chose to wimp out tonight and spend some time planning what I’m going to do with the car over the next few weeks. First observations from driving it this afternoon: - It noisy. All sorts of whooshing sounds from the engine bay. My previous Tornado is much smoother and quieter in comparison, but this car has other noises as well that I’ll be sorting out. - There is no time to enjoy the acceleration that 353rwkw gives. Apply the pedal and it’s doing 80 almost straight away. It’s an anti-climax - you have to back off the pedal almost as soon as you’ve applied it. At least with the previous standard Tornado I got to sit back and enjoy the acceleration for a few seconds. With this one the acceleration is over almost straight away. This car would be fantastic in country areas, but in any city with modern speed cameras everywhere it’s going to require a lot more self-awareness and discipline that I was expecting. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it... - Some minor brake shudder at front (ie disc rotor run-out). No problem, I’ve got Brembo 6-piston calipers and brand new DBA4000 disc rotors that will be going on. - Noisy front bearing hub, likely driver’s side. This is the noisiest Falcon bearing hub that I’ve come across. Driving this car is like sitting next to an airline jet engine. How the hell did the previous owner not get this fixed? - Speedo stopped working. Very weird - I was indulging in some hard acceleration when something went wrong. The transmission jumped out of gear, went back into gear when the revs dropped and then the speedo stopped working. When I later restarted the car the speedo was working again. The transmission is going to need to be serviced or flushed as soon as possible. - Idle pulley very noisy. Another one that I can’t understand. Fair enough, I’ve got a fairly comprehensive knowledge of Falcons these days which meant that I identified the noise and source of it as soon as I opened the bonnet. But the previous owner should have also noticed that at least something wasn’t right. Then again, as with my previous Tornado, this one was a bank repossession so the previous owner wasn’t quite the expert with life decisions (or car maintenance). Things that I’ll be doing immediately: Engine oil & filter Diff oil (Penrite Pro Gear 80-140) Replace noisy front wheel bearing hub Replace indicator globes (the front ones aren’t very orange) Flush windscreen washer tank Clean seat belts Check spare wheel winch Heat-proof o-rings on coil cover bolts (stops water getting past when washing engine bay) Remove hard lid Fit new wiper blades Flush power steering fluid Once I’ve got the basics done (and the car in usable condition), I’ll move on to: Coolant flush & new tank Wheel alignment (and check of front suspension bushes and ball joints) Rear axle bearings Shackle bushes Put grease on wheel studs Flush brake fluid Replace spark plugs Replace radiator hoses Replace drive belt Replace fuel filter - Motorcraft AFG55AA or aftermarket? Check/replace centre bearing Clean air filter (pod filter behind front bumper) Fit Brembo 6-piston front and 4-piston rear calipers Fit Parrot MKi9200 phone kit Fix turbo boost gauge Flush transmission fluid Fit Earl’s turbo oil return kit (I’ve had a new one sitting here for months) Fit Bilstein shock absorbers (I’ve got some secondhand ones here) The handbrake needs adjusting. If it gives me any grief then I’ll replace the rear handbrake cable and fit new handbrake shoes. Brakes - the brakes on this car will end up being: - Six piston front Brembo calipers - Four piston rear Brembo calipers - Hawk Performance ceramic pads front and rear - Braided lines - DBA4000 front discs - PBR Super Dot 4 brake fluid (ie the same as what I’ve got on my taxi, except for the two-piece DBA5000 front discs on the taxi)

Tuesday, 23rd June, 2015 I woke to see an SMS from Prixcar to say that the Tornado was available for pickup from their Perth depo. I got the KTM out, put some tie-downs in a backpack and headed off pick up the Tornado. Being a ute, I could just put the KTM in the back and then drive home again. Of course, it wasn’t until I got there until I realised that wasn’t going to happen - this ute has a hardlid. I don’t like hardlids. The KTM was left there and picked up with my other Tornado later on. The first time I saw the car: Once I got home it was time to start looking around the car. I started by giving the engine bay a basic clean with CT18. Later on I’ll polish the plenum and replace the coolant tank (when I get the cooling system flushed). The engine was already warm, and I left it running for a while after rinsing it to ensure that it would dry out properly. I was a bit paranoid about this one, so didn’t spent much time rinsing water through it. The bearing in the idle pulley is very worn and is making a bunch of noise. I’ll be replacing the idle pulley soon - it’s an easy job. BA Falcons used to have a diagram decal underneath the bonnet with a diagram of the drive belt routing. Ford stopped doing this for the BF. These days I order one of these decals and put one in place on each Falcon that I own. The part number is BAF9C485A. It’s a lot easier putting the belt back in the right place when there’s a diagram right in front of you. I’ll never understand why Ford stopping putting these decals on at the factory. I recently bought a Ryobi RPW3200 pressure washer to replace my previous RPW2400. The new one has a tank in the front for soap, so I’ve filled it with Armor All Wash & Wax. The pressure washer then sprays it at a low pressure. After a lap of the car with a soft-bristle broom it was time to rinse it off with water. The oil looks cleaner in the photo than it actually isn (it’s actually quite dark). I’ll be doing an oil change tomorrow. The front bumpers on FPVs look great but are extremely low. I’ll get this painted later, but it’s not a high priority at this stage - as with my previous Tornado, my initial focus will be on maintenance and mechanical repairs. I definitely don’t like how the pod filter is sitting so low behind the front bumper - it’s way too easy for water to get to it in wet conditions. I already had a new belt route decal for the bonnet. The back of the ute is tidy. The hardlid will be coming off as soon as possible and stored. I’ll be keeping a conventional tonneau cover folded up in the back of the ute for occasional use. I poked the camera under the back of the car and was pleased to see a suitable spare wheel already there. I’ll be checking out the spare wheel winch later and getting it re-cabled if required. This car is hard to photograph - digital cameras have trouble capturing the Breeze green colour (the Pickles photos weren’t accurate either). My other Tornado (Shockwave blue) photographed well in this supermarket carpark one night last week but my attempts to get some good night photos of this one weren’t anywhere near as successful. This car looks so much better than what any of these photos are showing. As is usual with 4-piston Brembo calipers, the clear lacquer has burned off and the calipers look partly pink. This has only partly happened on the passenger side but has happened more on the driver’s side. I’ll probably end up rebuilding these calipers (including getting them powder coated) and selling them. I like that it’s got a towbar already in place. I don’t have an immediate need for it, but I want a towbar already in place in case I ever need one. It also ensures that the ute can’t be reversed into any walls. The brake fluid needs flushing, and this will be happening sooner rather than later. There’s an aftermarket Pioneer DEH-8350SD. However, this means that the steering wheel controls don’t work. It’s possible that I’ll be removing this and running the audio through the car’s ICC. The same as my previous Tornado - the oil pressure gauge works fine but the turbo gauge doesn’t.

How much did it all cost? Meanwhile, Tornado version 2.0 arrived today.

Pregnant again? Affirmative. Congratulations!

The handbrake shoes are roughly half worn. In the future, whenever I've got the rear discs off I'll also remove the handbrake shoes and see how much gap there is between them and the insides of the disc rotors. I bought new handbrake shoes the day after replacing the cable ($43 for Bendix BS3217 shoes from Covs in Welshpool). AMCAP (Ford distributor) only had one of the dust boots in stock, so I'll order a pair and replace the dust boots and handbrake shoes later. That car is up to 495,000km now. There's also the possibility that there's a bit of stretch in the front handbrake cable. I'm still getting lots of excessive whining noises... really irritating whining sounds. However, I've traced those whining sounds to the day driver, who keeps whinging every day that the seat covers need cleaning. Stuff him, I spent two nights last week sorting out the handbrake and cleaning the centre console/replacing the gear lever light (including his coffee mess) - http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/89018-photo-essay-centre-console-disassembly/#entry1549396

I tried to minimise adjustment at the front of the cable. I wanted to keep the option of doing dodgy/lazy handbrake adjustments in the future. But I couldn't get the cables to pull tight at the wheels until the front adjustment was all used up. I kept going back and forth - tighten nut a bit, go check cable tightness at wheels, climb back under car and tighten nut again, check cables again, etc. Is there another way of getting the cables tight enough at the wheels, and still retaining more adjustment room at the front nut?

Good point... didn't find any money at all. Usually there's at least a couple of $2 in around where the seats bolt to the floor.

Suspension control arm bushes? What model is it, BA/BF or FG?

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... There might have been a taxi driver who was going a tad fast down Beaufort Street, Inglewood, late last night. Another taxi wanted to get a bit competitive, but he was turfed aside easily enough. Seconds later, there were red and blue lights in the distance, about 300 metres behind. Our driver was hoping like mad that the cop car would pull over the other taxi. Nup. Cop car overtook the other taxi and was heading for our guy. sh*t. Got to a traffic light intersection. Green lights. Time to break line-of-sight by making a quick left turn. Immediate left again into a small carpark. With an alleyway, connecting backstreets (ie parallel to Beaufort St). Screw the speed bumps. Slam through. Left at the end. Left again. Back on to Beaufort St. Just done a quick little lap of the block. Stopped at the intersection (red light this time). Watching cop car drive up and down road, turning around, roof lights still on, looking for our guy. Who is sitting at the red lights, looking at the cop car. f*cking brilliant bit of driving. Still giggling like an idiot.

With everything back in place, I could put the wheels back on. Although everything appeared the same on the wheel hubs, I found that with the new cable the handbrake was on full after pulling the handbrake lever up only a handful of clicks. I’m going to order new dust boots and put new handbrake shoes in when the boots arrive.

Once I removed the clips the cables slid out of the brackets. I then removed the cables from the rear brackets. The new cables slid easily into place. The white plastic clips compressed and slid through the holes in the brackets. Very simple and easy to do. With removing the old cable, I could have also used pliers to compress the white clips and slide the cables out with the clips in place. The new cable in place. I then put the new cable back in the various brackets. This car is a 2008 BFIII station wagon. The original diff wore out a while ago so I replaced it with one from an AU ute. AU wagon/ute diffs are the same on the outside as BA and BF wagon/ute diffs, except for one of the handbrake cable mounts. I took a BF diff and the AU diff to an exhaust place and got them to cut the AU bracket off and weld it back in place where it needs to be for a BF (ie copy how it was on the BF diff). As an added bonus, this diff is an LSD. AU wagon and ute diffs have much better internal components then the BA and BF diffs (including a four pinion centre instead of the BA/BF two pinion centre). I paid $160 for the diff and $25 to get the handbrake bracket relocated. Another photo showing the mounting brackets on the passenger side and the diff breather hose. Before putting the handbrake components back in I wanted to clean them up with some kerosene. However, don’t put the handbrake shoes in the kero - it’s petroleum based and will lubricate the handbrake shoes (ie reducing friction). Once everything was clean I put grease in the right spots, including on the adjuster screw threads to help make it easier to rotate the adjusters later. Once I had reassembled the handbrake components it was time to get back under the car and tighten the nut that connects the front and rear cables. Once again I used a long impact socket and cordless drill for as much of this as possible. I kept alternating between tightening this nut with a ratchet spanner and checking whether the slack was taken up on the cable at each wheel hub. I ended up tightening the nut up as far as it would go. I then pushed the handbrake shoes on and rotated them back into place. Then I pushed the shoes forward a bit so that the spring clip was holding them against the backing plate. I also went over the handbrake shoes with the drill and wire brush to roughen them up to get better friction. Before sliding the handbrake shoes forward, I reached in with a flat blade screwdriver to ensure that the spring clips were bent back as far as possible. As mentioned, I kept tightening the nut and then climbing back out to check the cables. Until I tightened the front nut up as far as it would go, both cables were loose. Then it was time to rotate the adjuster on each handbrake. This involves reaching in with a flat-blade screwdriver and levering it against the disc rotor to rotate the adjuster. For reasons that I can never figure out, manufacturers of disc rotors tend to put the holes in the wrong place. This makes it fiddly to get a screwdriver in on the required angle to rotate the adjuster. As these handbrake shoes were fairly worn, they had to be adjusted out a fair bit before putting the disc rotors back on. As this was about where they were adjusted to with the old handbrake cable, I was getting skeptical that the new cable was going to make a difference. When adjusting the handbrake, I pulled the lever to see how more adjusting was required on each side. I knew to keep rotating the adjusters until there was no moment in the lever. During reassembly I made sure that each handbrake spring clip was bent toward the plate so that they would hold the handbrake shoes in place. Once the handbrake was adjusted on each side it was time to put the callipers back on. I used my Radum Disc Brake Pad Spreader to push the pads apart so that they would easily fit over the disc rotor. This pad spreader didn’t cost much and is extremely useful. Radum: http://www.radum.com.au Stock Number: RDM-BM94-4062 Current Price: $27.00 (including GST) Link: http://radum.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=8685

The handbrake on my taxi (2008 BFIII station wagon) has been frustrating me for a while. I adjust it regularly, but within two weeks each time the handbrake lever would go up to the maximum with minimal or no braking effectiveness. I decided to replace the rear handbrake cable to see if that would make a difference. I started by jacking up the back of the car at the diff. Once axle stands were in place I then put the jack under one of the leaf springs. This is what is underneath the car. There is one cable from the handbrake lever inside the car. This cable connects to a pair of cables, one of each goes to each rear wheel hub. When the handbrake lever is pulled upward the whole lot gets pulled forward. A closer up photo showing how the cables connect. I then removed the rear wheels, discs and brake calipers. Each caliper was then hung out of the way with a pot plant hook. Part of preventing brake shudder on Falcons is keeping the metal surfaces clear of corrosion. I use a cordless drill and wire brush to do this. Rust on these metal surfaces can contribute to the discs being off alignment, which then leads to brake shudder. The same applies to the discs and wheel bearing hubs on the front. The Falcon handbrake is an old-fashioned drum brake, which works inside each disc rotor. The handbrake cable pulls the lever, which results in the handbrake shoes being pushed apart. There is a clip on the backing plate that holds the handbrake shoes against it. This means pushing the handbrake shoes backward until they are out of the clip and then rotating them forward to remove them. This is the clip spring that holds the handbrake shoes against the backing plate. When this clip is bent outward the handbrake shoes move on an angle and cause squeaking sounds. These are the parts that the lever pushes apart, which then push outward the handbrake shoes. This is the lever that gets pulled by the handbrake cable. Once the lever has been removed the cable can be disconnected. On the driver’s side, the cable is held in place by one bracket on the axle tube. On the inside of each backing plate there is a rubber boot that the lever goes through (BAF2404A). These were both well perished on my car. I tried to order new ones before doing this job but there was only one in WA and I wanted a pair (ie one for each side). I’ll replace those boots another time. The hub centre, with the handbrake parts removed. On the passenger side, the handbrake cable is held in place by two brackets. The original diff breather hose always breaks off, so I’ve previously replaced mine with some 6.3mm (ie 1/4”) fuel hose. This is much sturdier and doesn’t break off. The rear ends of the handbrake cables were then disconnected. I had the new cable in place. Part numbers: BA & BF Sedan Handbrake Cable: BA2A604A BA & BF Wagon Handbrake Cable: BA2A604D I used some aerosol brake cleaner to clean the gunk off the front cable so that I could hold it in place while I undid the nut. I used some lock pliers on the front cable and then a 10mm ratchet spanner to undo the nut. This was getting tedious, so I swapped to a cordless drill and long impact socket once the nut was loosened far enough for the socket to reach it. The rear cable is held in place by white plastic clips. I sprayed aerosol brake cleaner to clean the gunk off them so that I could remove them.

Update: I noticed last weekend that the globe had blown again, 20 months and 174,000km later. I decided to put an LED in there instead and clean the centre console again. Once I removed the cup holder and gear lever surround I saw the same coffee grunge mess as last time. This is from the day driver (I don’t drink coffee). The centre console out of the car. Coffee mess everywhere. Instead of putting in a globe that will probably only last another 174,000km, I decided to try an LED from Jaycar. Details: T5 Wedge Replacement LED Globe (White) http://www.jaycar.com.au/p/ZD0380 Cat No: ZD0380 Price: $1.95 The LED is brighter than the previous globe. Hopefully it will last longer. I sprayed water over the centre console with the garden hose and let the water soak in to the mess while I cleaned the other plastics inside the house. After about 15 minutes the mess on the centre console hosed off easily - no brushes or physical contact was required. As much as I wanted to use my petrol-powered blower to dry the console at 2am, I went with the much quieter method of using a towel to dry the console before putting back in the car. Putting everything back into place. When I was putting the centre console back in I was initially sitting to the left side of it, but wasn’t able to see that I’d actually put the console over the handbrake lever. Everything back in place. Plus new floor mats. Last time this job took me a bit over three hours (taking photos also drags it out a lot). This time I had it done in one hour and 20 minutes, and didn’t freak out anywhere near as much about the interior of my car being in pieces everywhere. Much better.

More of a rather angry "what the f*ck am I doing this sh*t for???" than a simple "OMG, what have I done!" I spent a couple of months getting the car sorted out in the carport, from when I bought it at auction. Got the cooling system flushed straight away. Gonna get this car real tidy. And then the radiator leaked the next day. Meant that after all that work, I couldn't drive the new toy. Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very sh*tty for 24 hours. Got the bastard back together. Ready for the test drive. And then I remembered something about not reconnecting a couple of cables. Swearing. Substantial amounts of swearing. I was a tad miffed. Screw this. Going to bed. Will sort the &^$%#@ thing out tomorrow. Well beyond a tad miffed now. Finally got it done. The next night. Again. Just like a woman. When you think that you've done the work and got it maintained, it throws you a curve ball. Yeah, probably the same intercooler. Part numbers or something. Probably some sort of sadistic, "Sucked in, arsehole" comment in Egyptian hieroglyphics.

When I had to replace the radiator in my Tornado a few months ago I went Google searching for photos and instructions. I ended up on the Hybrid Power web site, which had some very useful PDFs. My photos: http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/89684-2006-fpv-tornado-f6-ute-cleanup-resurrection/page-2#entry1523648 During re-assembly, I stuffed up and forgot to reconnect two wires to a sensor near the intercooler. Don't forget that. http://www.hybrid-power.com/#!installation/c1qn1 Direct links to PDFs: http://www2.hybrid-power.com/installation/installation/XR6%20BF%20GT2440%20Pro.pdf http://www2.hybrid-power.com/installation/installation/BABFGT2.pdf http://www2.hybrid-power.com/installation/installation/FGXR6.pdf http://www2.hybrid-power.com/installation/installation/XR6-IK-X01-SH.pdf The splash tray underneath = 7mm sockets. Cordless drill makes this quick and easy. The bumper is easy to remove. Pain-in-the-arse plastic scrivets on the top, a few other bolts and then the screws in the wheel arches. Don't forget to reconnect the fog lights when putting it back together. If you don't already have a 10mm ratchet spanner then get one. eg http://www.bunnings.com.au/kincrome-10mm-single-way-gear-spanner-_p6110157

This. Be different. I've got a Breeze green Tornado ute coming to Perth from Dubbo at the moment. Also bought a set of Gold Advan AVS Model 7 wheels from someone in Queensland. I'm hoping that it looks more like Aussie green and gold rather than mardi gras. Should look good.