Hendrixhc's Long Term XE falcon Rebuild

[hendrixhc]

Ill kick of this section of the Forum with some info on my XE i have been rebuilding for the last 3 years.

I have a full build thread on Xfalcon and an Abbreviated thread on Ozfalcon if anyone wants to read the whole thing!

http://www.xfalcon.com/forums/index.php?...e-project/


http://www.ozfalcon.com.au/index.php?/to...e-project/

So the story goes i was looking for an XC GXL FAIRMONT and had organised to buy one for $7500 from a guy in qld but the fucker sold it on me for $8k at the 11th hour. So im sittin home with a wad of cash and the ball and chains blessing to buy a V8 so i had to strike while the iron was hot.

I jumped on car sales and spotted a factory T code GL for $6k and thought why not go for a look.

I booked tickets to Melbourne for me and the mrs and flew in drug dealer style with a pocket full of cash and the rest is history. I managed to pick her up for $3k and drove her straight home!

Now unknown to me but the GL 351 is quite rare and was generally only sold as Police pack so i have been told it is an ex interceptor. It had all the right bits and pieces so what the heck ill run with it.

So this was her when i got her home

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So the plans were to give it a quick clean up and just enjoy driving it. That all when to shit in a shoe box very quickly. I put 6000k on her in about 3 - 4 months cause i just loved the sound of that clevo.

Now one thing i always planned to do was get rid of the gas cause i just dont like it. So that was one thing that was high on the agenda. The second thing was to try and locate the original engine cause it had been swapped out with an F truck donk so the previous owner could rebuild mine for his truck ( if that makes sense).

I ring the guy up and he had just finished machining the block and buying all the slugs, regrinding crank, line boring and smoothing the valley ready for his truck. So some fast talking and some cash saw the block on its way to me.

The funny thing was he needed my engine for his truck so i had 3 days to get it out and off. thank god my 7 months pregnant wife was happy to help me yank it out the hole.

So engine was out and i was left with an unbuilt clevo and a filthy engine bay.



original block back.

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I then proceeded to pull the gas system out and was left with a couple of holes in the strut tower and a nice dent where the gas fitter had pounded the shit out of the tower to fit the convertor.

Enter the mig welder to fill the holes!

I thought while iam at it i might as well seem weld the bay and do a bit of cosmetollogy to the panels.

This is what i ended up with after bought 500hrs.

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From there on everything has not been about getting the job done quickly but polishing, smoothing and modifying. Some would say slightly obsessive with bling and shine!

So cut a long story short ill just chuck up a few photos of the bodywork so you can see what i mean.

Now dont be to critical cause i am a novice learning as i go!

Boot lid and bonnet ribs plated, filled and smoothed





All Panels had been bare metalled and reworked and resprayed.

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All suspension has been removed and rebuilt, refurbished or replaced and nolathane fitted to everything!

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Boot all fitted out battery and sound

[revhead]

i still hate you James,lol

[hendrixhc]

Dash refurbished and started reassembling.

[CaptainRob]

Mate, I envy your skills - looks great!

[hendrixhc]

Last but not least the donk!

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And this is where i am at the moment.

Exciting times ahead as this weekend the motor should be dropped back in the hole. I need the engine crane to get my new 4 poster hoist off a trailer so i can get under the car and do up brake lines, tailshaft loop and trans in.

Plans are to have this thing back on the road by christmas so ican get into the next project!

So if theres enuf interest here i keep throwing up some progress pics!

Enjoy

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i still hate you James,lol

Cmon Pete share the love!

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Mate, I envy your skills - looks great!

Thanks Rob! Its all been a big learning curve for me.

[revhead]

mines miles away from looking like yours,lol

[hendrixhc]

Youll get there Pete. By then i should be half way thru the Cortina ( or dead!)

[pan]

Please DO keep us updated.
Looks yummy!

[hendrixhc]

Will do Pan!

Bought some more parts for the engine tonight. 1 X Aeroflow billet gilmer drive, 1 x Aeroflow billet alloy timing pointer and 1x Set of ARP Flexplate bolts.

Pics tomorrow too bloody tired and grumpy tonight to take them.

[Zrex1200]

Have had an XD & 2 x XF way back when.
I remember the XE where the last of the V8 'Coons until they decided to revive them 3 models later in the EB XR8 (I think).

The dash you have there is @ least from an S-pak, the headlights & bonnet are from an ESP.
Looks like someone started playing with it before you.
Cops would probably have had the dash, but definetly not that front end.

Looking good .

Make sure you keep a supply of the fuggin door handles on hand, god they used to sh8t me .

[hendrixhc]

I believe all cop packs on the xe had the ghia front end. Or so i have been told!

[hendrixhc]

Here's some goodies i bought yesterday for the XE.

[ROD]

Well done keep the updates comming

[hendrixhc]

Productive day in the office!

Weather was bloody beautiful up in the hills today. Sunny and slightly cool. I had a builder coming round to quote on our renovations so while i was waiting i fitted up the billet breather caps to the rocker covers.





Looked down the driveway still no builder so i fitted up the crank and water pump pulleys.



Still no builder so on went the timing pointer as well.



Lastly i polished up the zinc plated grade 8 engine mount bolts and washers i bought and fitted the engine mounts. No real sure if i am happy with these new mounts. I had to "relieve" the mounting holes slightly to get them to fit properly and they dont look as strong as the originals. They will do for now though.

Finally the builder turned up and gave me a great price on the reno's so i can get the work done almost immediately.

After that i asked the Mrs if she had a spare couple of hours, which she did, and it was all go for operation engine back in the bay.

We started off by removing the bonnet and covering all the fenders and radiator support with sheets. ( Thanks to the kids spare sheet supply!)



Cleaned up the shed floor ready to slide the crane round the it struck me that i have to rotate the engine 180 degrees to put it in. That meant i had to drop the chain down a couple of links to give it some rotation. Note the kink in the chain for the predetermined twist.

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Unbolted her from the stand, all the time shitting myself that it would drop.



Then up she went. Dont mind the dopey looking prick doing the jacking.



Swung her in to place





Bit of a wriggle and a jiggle and she bolted in to place.

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So mission was successful, ewngine in hole, no scratches, no dents and no injuries!

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Now with the clevo lowering kit put in she's starting to sit a bit closer to the ground.

[jamdonut]

Man , what memories, Back in 1988 - 1993 I had an XE Fairmont ghia 351, white with gold web simmons deep dish wheels. Should of kept it, it was bought by a bloke who still has it now and has restored it to show room condition. no he wont sell it back to me.