benjam

A few years ago I overfilled the oil by about the same amount after a change on a little Hyundai Excel that I had. A week later driving along floored it to get up a hill (as you have to do in an Excel ). Suddenly no power and then noticed HUGE plooms of white smoke coming out the back. Passed a couple of guys working on their car just as I stopped to the side and they were pissing themselves. hehe When I got out of the car, the road looked like a thick fog had rolled in! I shut it down for a bit then restarted and let it idle for a bit more and then drove slowly to my mates place where we just checked the oil level again and it was spot on full, no extra anymore. Never had any probs after that so I was lucky. I'm sure I could have wrecked something. Since then I check, recheck, double check levels etc when I change the oil! Ben

Very helpful thread! My original tip was hanging too low and a bit skewed as well, plus scraped heaps so I'd been thinking of replacing it. I just got 2.5" twin tips today and looks great I reckon. Ben

I think the Venom colour was carried over from the AU series, at least I've seen some in the same red. I think they changed to Vixen for the sake of changing, still looks good. Also I've seen a few base model BAs in Venom. Still doesn't matter much to me. I'm in the same boat at you Falchoon. Looks great! I definitely would not consider Menace, reminds me too much of that McDonalds character Grimace! Phantom was much better looking IMO. If only Ford would steal that cheery black colour from Expensive Daewoo they had not long ago. Ben

Here are some words I prepared earlier. "The O2 sensor is designed only to be sensitive to a small AFR range around the mid point of 14.7:1. It does not work in a linear way. So in a practical sense the <LED> meter will only show when the ECU is in closed loop mode or when there are either lean or rich mixtures. It will not indicate to any great degree how lean or rich the mixture is at any time." Check out this webpage I made after installing a AFR meter in one of my old cars. It was a kit bought from Jaycar. http://benjam.com/mycars/proafrmixmeter.htm Cheer. Ben

That sounds good, could make some interesting ones too like chrome or colour coded. Beats my idea of modifying a bottle cap.

Hi all, Noticed at the motor show last night for the BF it has these little black plastic caps covering the centre of two of the pulleys in the engine bay. Would these be new for the BF? I have a Mk1 and haven't seen them before in any engine pics posted by forum user before. Check out the pic with bodgey arrows. I wonder if it just hides the rust or actually protects the metal. Doesn't look air/water tight. I phoned my local Ford parts dept to see if I could get some and they hadn't heard of them yet. What do you guys think, waste of time or something useful? Ben

Rego covers the (extra) cost of personalised number plates too at least in NSW. And the heavier the vehicle then more cost of rego (something I found going from a 1200kg car to a 1700kg T! Check out http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/ for more info for NSW rego. Just had a look and they have new metalic coloured number plates. At the end of the day it's just another TAX. Don't know how true, but someone told me once the rego fee was created / increased to raise funds during WW2. I guess they forgot about removing it! Ben

Check posted pic. It looks black in the pic but is Blue Pearl as it the same as a Fairmont we have. Paint is all nice and glossy as well not matt finish. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If I came across that car when buying 2nd hand in the future, as an average punter my first question would be 'Why was it repainted?'. My 12/2002 T in Venom has matt finish in the engine bay etc and while not ideal I guess it saves FOMOCO some $$$, but a black/dark blue engine bay on a nice Shockwave blue colour is ridiculous!! I'd complain, demand it fixed/replaced. Or demand some $$$ back or off accessories AND a written statement from FOMOCO that this was the way it was when the car was manufactured. Had a prob with Airbag warning light in a Proton Satria GTi I used to own, in short it had a mechanical type trigger where the one described in the user manual was for the electronic type. Got Proton to issue a statement for the next owner as it was picked up in a NRMA inspection the buyer organised. Not quite the same but at least they did that much to reassure the next buyer. Good luck with it! Ben

Thanks for the comments, keep 'em coming. Insurance claim is out cause I opted for a $2k excess to get my premium down to $500/yr. The dealer I took it to have a paint & panel shop onsite so I'm reasonably sure the job will be good. If not then I'll keep taking it back until it is right. The quote lists everything they would remove and replace as well so hopefully no overspray on headlights etc. Believe me it seemed exxy to me too. But if it's a reasonable price then I'm happy paying for a good job though. Cheers! Ben

Hi all, Great forum here, I've found heaps of info in the past, even done one of the DIY projects with the window illumination. Need from friendly advice about letting my local dealer repair some stone chip damage on my T. Happened last weekend on the way to Dubbo, unfortuntely a truck through up a quarry load of stones just as I was passing on the highway. The front bar is peppered quite a lot and when I looked at the rest of the car in the sunlight today, I notice more chips on bonnet and front guards. Anyway touch up paint won't do it justice, so I'd like it repaired and I'll most probably invest in one of those car bras for next time. After seeing the car this morning, the local Ford dealer paint shop gave me a written quote of $940. This entails prime and paint the complete front end and all misc. work associated in doing that. On the face of it, sounds reasonable but I'd appreciate any experience/advice anyone else has. Thanks! Ben