Welcome New aufalcon.com Members - Say Hello Here

[auIILTD]

Welcome 00lane and Peregrinus. Great advice Vincenzo.

Would be great to see some pics of your cars guys.

Cheers
Stu

[Peregrinus]

Thanks Stu and G'day.
im not sure how to attach images but here goes:

[Vincenzo]

Only took me a couple of months to get it right. One thing to keep in mind. You will only be able to upload a few photos from your computer before you won't be allowed to put up any more. So, if you haven't already get yourself a photo site ( I use photo bucket) and you can attach till your heart's content.


Cheers Vincenzo

[kiwiinaus]

as the name says. been in brissy 25 years now. 50 y old adult apprentice auto electrician (never to old to learn new tricks). had many falcons and a zc fairlane over the years and now thrash the crap out of a ranger work ute. work here and in PNG mining.

[auIILTD]

Welcome kiwiinaus. So, do you actually have an AU? This is the new AUfalcon.com members welcome thread.

I hope that you do have an AU. If you don't you are missing out - big time.

Cheers
Stu

[kata94]

Hi there new to the ford forums I have a 1998 series 1 manual au vct xr6 it has a 2 &1/2" lukey stainless steel exhuast, 6oook hid headlights, lowered on ssl springs and shortened shickers all round, 17" tickford rims, exedy heavy duty clutch and thats about it

[auIILTD]

Originally Posted by kata94

Hi there new to the ford forums I have a 1998 series 1 manual au vct xr6 it has a 2 &1/2" lukey stainless steel exhuast, 6oook hid headlights, lowered on ssl springs and shortened shickers all round, 17" tickford rims, exedy heavy duty clutch and thats about it

Welcome kata94.

Sounds like a great car you have picked up. Is the car new to you?

Cheers
Stu

[Esteven8]

Here's mine, I've had her for just over a month now.
'98 Fairmont Ghia in Alaskan Frost, 4.0L VCT, IRS, full leather and the normal Ghia goodies. She'll tick over 230,000 km's this week and has been really well looked after.
I've wanted one since they first came out.. I guess 15 years is enough of a wait.

Coming from my old '95 EF wagon to this is like chalk and cheese, I loved the old wagon... but just WOW!! Soooo much nicer to drive.

I haven't done a great deal to her so far, just swapped the BA intake pipe I had on the EF over and fitted a S2 Fairmont chrome boot spear.
Future plans?..... at this point I'm thinking a set of FG XR rims would really set her off as well as a drop in ride height. Upgrade the series 1 brakes for S2/3 or BA ones. A set of extractors and exhaust, wire in an AUX input for my Ipod http://www.fordmods.com/documents.php?d=75 (the lack of this being the only downer about the whole car)... and that's about it.

[auIILTD]

Very tidy. Nice pickup and welcome.

I am sure you will enjoy it. They are great cars.

Cheers
Stu

[KidRod4]

G'day Fellow AU People, Im Rod, 44 from Echuca Vic. I joined a while back but am new to using this type of media so please forgive me if i write in the wrong place. Just realised that I should say hello and introduce myself. I have read a few articles that helped me out a lot with my AU Ute, so thank you for that. I bought my AU XLS 5.0lt manual ute about 4 years ago and have enjoyed modifying and customising it. I am currently giving it another make over as such and have struck a few problems, that said, I will try to find the right place in this forum to ask some questions. Ive been a Ford man all my life, didn't have much choice really lol, growing up with an older brother and a Dad that were pure Blue bloods, always cheering for Moffat and Dickie. Between us we have enjoyed owning, driving and customising many Fords, from an XP coupe (my first car), XT's, XY's, XA's, XB's, XC's, XD's, XF's, EA's, EF's as well as a few F100's. I still have my Effie, an 06 Territory (the family car) and my bute AU ute that I just love. Anyhow I guess that will do for an into, I look forward to chatting to other passionate people, (if I can learn how to navigate this forum, Lol)

[auIILTD]

Welcome Rod. Thank you for taking the time to introduce yourself. Pure blue bloods are always welcome of course - especially those with an AU.

Until you get used to the layout of the Forums, anything to do with your AU, you can always post in the AU Section: http://www.fordforums.com.au/forumdisplay.php?f=241. I am a moderator of that area and a proud owner of 2 AUs, my project and my daily. If you are not sure about anything, please do not hesitate to send me a PM (Private Message) to ask.

Again welcome.

Cheers
Stu

[bighendo81]

G'day all, new to the forum although not new to falcons, hoping to pick up some advice along the way.

I have an XH ute, used to have a BA sedan, and am currently trying to breathe life back into my old man's old AUII Futura wagon with a new(er) engine. It's nothing special but ill never get rid of it, so I may as well get it going if I can!

Cheers,
Matt

[Phils XR8]

This is my latest toy. A TS50 S1 with Ford Racing SVO heads, Powerdyne Supercharger. In safe tune at the moment running 320rwhp. But great fun car to drive. Now I have three of the Series 1 TS50, XR8 and XR6 Tickfords, only one missing and that's a TE50. Start saving I guess!!

[mannyxr6]

Hi everyone. Names Manny, I'm new to this forum. Had a few falcons, but now I have an au3 xr6 manual vct with premium brake package. Car was a one owner and well looked after. Had a manual xh2 ute before it. Always loved fords since I was a kid. Bought up with escorts, Capri and cortinas as I lived overseas. I'm looking forward to learning new things about my pride and joy from this forum.

Cheers,

Manny

[Vincenzo]

Originally Posted by mannyxr6

I'm looking forward to learning new things about my pride and joy from this forum.

Manny, don't be afraid to ask questions, the only dumb question is the one you don't ask. Trust me when I say I have asked a few dumb ones. The AUvians are a friendly lot with a lot of expertise on hand.


Cheers Vincenzo

[dave2264]

Hi there, I am Dave. I live on the cebtral coast NSW. I looooove fords and have an EL, an Ef and an AU. Just found this site and looking foward to making contacts and learning more, Cheers

[Vincenzo]

Hi Dave and welcome mate.

Make sure you go to the specific sections dealing with the "E's" and for the AU. lots of info to read and plenty of friendly people to help out with any queries you may have. the only dumb question is the one you don't ask.

Cheers and good luck - Vincenzo

[auIILTD]

Well said Vincenzo. Welcome Dave.

Cheers
Stu

[borough]

Hi All,

I've always liked Falcons and purchased my first in 2011, a brand new FG XR6 Limited Edition. While the FG is great, it is dual fuel with a tank behind the back seats so it is difficult when I pick things up from Bunnings. I thought about a trailer, then I thought about the amount of km I drive a week (600-800) I decided to get a ute to give the FG a break.

To cut a long story short I bought a AUII ute, column shift with 243,000km. Originally I wanted to get an XH, however the AU with column shift and hand winding windows has enough retro feel for me.

Here are a couple of photos from the day I picked it up





Since taking those photos I have done the following:

• Seat Covers on the driver and passenger seats
• Dash mat
• Liberated the middle seat belt latch from under the passenger seat
• Replaced the central locking remote
• Service and Auto Trans service

Below is my utes first load of sleepers for the garden:




Overall I'm pretty impressed by how it drives. It is very similar to the FG with less power and refinement.

My plans for it are:

• Remove the steering wheel audio controls as they don't work and the seek button is missing
• Replace the LG stereo with one that is bluetooth enabled
• Replace the antenna (current one has rusted)
• Get a cover for the internal cab light
• Get a black insert for the front bumper as the one on the drivers side is missing.
• Replace the clock as the current one is missing the the first 1, ie 11:00 shows as 1:00
• Tidy up of the paint

In the long term I want to get it resprayed and fix the dent on the tub.

[fordfalconed]

Hello to all the lads on these here Ford Forums,

I'm an old FORD owner but new to these type of forums, recently bought a very basic standard Falcon with 230k on the clock, AU Series3 Sedan with a nice Venome red color, sorry got no pixs yet but hope to soon.

Before this beauty I had an Falcon ED that only has 218k on the clock with a butt ugly burgundy peeling color lol.

Keep up the good work and I hope to reach my ten post limit so I can actually see the how to do links as I didn't realise this requirement.

Cheers all

[Uncle_Ken]

Welcome fordfalconed to the AU family
UK

[fordfalconed]

Thanks for the warm Ford welcome, Uncle_Ken !

[DEATH_INC]

Hi,
I just got an Au1 Tickford ute to replace my old 4wd that got unroadworthy'd (doh!), um, red, a little rough around the edges, Chucked some 18X9's on it and a 3" exhaust, otherwise stock....for now.
Should I mention I'm a Kiwi..or keep that to Myself...

[Vincenzo]

Originally Posted by DEATH_INC

Should I mention I'm a Kiwi..or keep that to Myself...

Definitely keep it to yourself, there are a lot of people with sheep jokes hang in' around.

[/URL]

Guess correctly what this is and you should be ok and by the way welcome (kia ora)

Cheers Vincenzo

[Uncle_Ken]

Originally Posted by DEATH_INC

Hi,
I just got an Au1 Tickford ute to replace my old 4wd that got unroadworthy'd (doh!), um, red, a little rough around the edges, Chucked some 18X9's on it and a 3" exhaust, otherwise stock....for now.
Should I mention I'm a Kiwi..or keep that to Myself...

image

No you can say it, some of my best enemies (opps sorry) friends are Kiwi.
UK

[biased99]

OK, not really a new member but anyway...

A few years back, I purchased an early-90s EB Fairmont Ghia with 5lt/auto combo. Nice, solid car which we owned for a while before moving on to something else...I joined up here initially to get some info about that car, and have only been back sporadically since (hence the handful of posts in some 9 years).

More recently, we owned an XH 1 tonne GLi ute. Again, a solid piece of kit, with the obligatory Ford "No Cost Option" rust additions. However, a 1 tonne suspended ute, with 8 ply light truck tyres and an open-centre diff makes for a less-than-inspiriring handling experience, especially in the wet. It got to the stage where the Mrs said "I'm not driving that thing" if it was even remotely damp out. Fortunately we have a late-model VE Commodore she's happy to drive in all conditions.

Still, I did want a viable 2nd car, which had some practicality in terms of load carriage and towing. Being mid-40s, with a possible change of life direction beckoning in the next few years, I also wanted to own a decent V8 manual car, most likely for the last time...

...Then, a nice ute came up on ebay. The owner (Matt - MrEL on these forums -) had done most of the hard work to the ute, grafting a Fairlane front on to it, and installing Fairlane dash (with Climate Control etc). As for the rest of the car, it's an eclectic mix of base Falcon XLS, Fairlane, and XR8 (instruments and seats are XR-based).

All-in-all, a good car. Like anything, though, there are things you look at and think "I'd have done that differently". (To be fair to Matt, these would most likely have been done at some stage, but competing projects and priorities got in the way).

A few things we either didn't like, or were forced to change are as follows:
1) Gear shift/clutch. *Very* heavy clutch action and notchy gear shift (owing to installed short shifter). Clutch action didn't bother me (as I have driven road ranger-equipped heavy vehicles in a past life), but it did bother the Mrs. The other worry there was that with my continual mashing of clutch into the firewall, I'd exacerbate the firewall weakness issues these things are known for. As for the shift itself, it often felt we were "fishing" for gears when shifting, which meant more concentration was required than strictly should be necessary. The Mrs, again, said "I'm not driving that 'till it's fixed..."

Hmmm.

What we ultimately did was to fit a high clamping force/low effort clutch, and replace the short shifter with a stock Facon one. Car is an absolute delight to drive now, with no more effort required than, say, a small FWD car.

2) Lowered suspension. The car originally sat on lowered struts (King SLs) and reset factory leaves with load helpers. Had a very nice stance, and was done in such a way that the best compromise of looks, ride, and load-carrying ability was achieved. Unfortunately it also failed road worthy, as no lowering is allowed in the ACT. So the lowering stuff had to come out, and standard right height stuff went in. I'm unlikely to change it back, as I'm worried about insurers dodging liability in the event of an accident citing "vehicle un-roadworthy". (People will argue that they need to prove the lowered suspension directly contributed to the accident, but the reality is they have more moeny to fight these things than do I, so better to just live with it).

3) Rims. Ute came with a set of beautiful Starcorp Fusions in 18x8 (front) and 18x9 (rear). Again, unfortunately, staggered widths are illegal in the ACT. I tried (I have a VERY understanding mechanic - even he couldn't get those passed for RW :( Ended up selling those, and getting a set of quite nice 18x8s all-round with 235/40 tyres, which means they differ only very marginally from OEM rolling diameter.

Some other thing in the pipeline are as follows:

Given that the "theme" of the car is one of "general confusion" (i.e is it a load carrier Falcon ute, or a luxo-barge Fairlane?), I wanted to carry the theme through as far as is possible. The ute came with just the OEM driver's airbag (with some "splitters" mounted in the space behind the passenger's side blanking plate). I procured an airbag from ebay in the appropriate colour, and mounted it in the appropriate space. Naturally, it's also wired to the (thoughtfully supplied) factory wiring. To carry that a bit more logically forward, I also procured the OEM dash-side warning sticker, and two OEM Fairlane visors, so that both seating positions now carry the appropriate airbag warnings.

Whilst in the donor Fairlane, I also procured the two front seats - which was why I was there in the 1st place -, which not only (IMHO) fit the theme better, but are also in better nick than the XR seats they are replacing. As a bonus, the driver's seat is 6-way electrically adjustable. I also scored some odds and ends, including plastic trim pieces (to cover the leading edge of seats rails etc), the back vent piece for the centre console with footwell light (still to be wired in), and the small "Ghia" door card bolt cover trim pieces. I also scored the two front "Ghia" floor mats, as I believe they convey the Fairlane theme a bit better than the included "XR" floor mats....

A few other odds and ends to be tidied up are:

Fuel sender to be cleaned up/replaced, as the fuel gauge (and hence trip comp. "range-to-empty") are all over the place.
LCDs in climate control are missing. (Common issue with these, I believe), so that will be pulled and sent off for repair).

I'll also replace the speedo transducer in the gearbox, so the speedo will read accurately, even with the 3.9 ratio diff installed in the ute.

So, a very solid base (thanks Matt!), from which to add one or two finishing touches. I'm reasonably confident that by the time we sell it, we'll leave it in even better condition than when we bought it (and that's saying something).

Sorry for the long post...

Michael

[ozzmac]

Hi I really am a newie just bought a Fairmont au11 of daughter absolutely love it and now I am going to set it up to tow my 1.160kg caravan 18ft single axle looking at oil cooler elect brakes air bags etc any ideas appreciated

[Dauphin]

Hi Michael, thanks for the detailed intro. I didn't know that lowering and different width wheels is outlawed in the ACT. Sounds like the car will indeed be in better condition than when you procured it.

Ozzmac, welcome. Would a camber/castor kit to have more suspension adjustment be of use for the long distance driving you may do?

[au01]

Hey there guys.

Im Jarrod and im from Nz and have owned my au2 for 5 months now. It is the nicest car ive owned to date. I like my fords - started off with a Tdi 1997 escort wagon, and recently rebuilt an sold a mk5 cortina.

I have a Heritage/allblacks series 2001 au2 which sports a nice Allblacks badge on the sides !

Cheers!

[auIILTD]

Welcome Jarrod.

Not sure of the Allblacks logo on the sides, but hey, would you expect from this side of the ditch? Got a pic of it?

Cheers
Stu