Ok guys i just bought a XC falcon, pick it up next wednesday
pretty excited as this is my 1st project car.
Its the 4.1L crossflow stright 6 motor as im on P plates so no V8s for me.. yet
1st things ill be doing is fixing the rust.. even tho there almost NO rust in her jsut minor surface rust, exhaust as its needs a full new exhaust system and then jsut a general tidy up/ tune up.
jsut wondering what else i could/should do? jsut after a little more power and wondering what other mods are commonly done?
keep in mind i am on P plate laws so all mods must abide by these laws.
car also has GXL interia and dash thats are in really good condition for the age.
thanks guys and ill be sure to keeps use updated on the build

paint, wheels and lowered.

As for engine mods, I dont think you are allowed any. Someone who knows more about this will verify....

yeah paint and lowering will be done after engine work
as for wheels it already has 13" alloys thats are quiet nice, jsut need a bit of a clean and polish, massive rear tires aswell not 100% sure but i thnik the rear tires were 265/50 so yeah pretty big, have a lil bit of dish aswell they will do for now
ive found a few Xc's with LSD's and bigger breaks might look into these but its not really needed as itll be more of a crusier
jsut really after ideas that i could do.
thanks

nice old ride

as for mods man theres heaps you can do as the xa/xc have built by heaps before you

your wheels are 14" 12 slotters there steel not alloy too


'

oh thanks for clearing that up mate

put a holley on it best way to get abit more power i got one and the adapter needed if keen

oh really?
thats be great
how much u chasing for it?

hey mate, get a 2 barrell cain manifold, 350 holley, extractors, upgrade cam to like stage 1 (or next up from standard), new timing chain/gear set, electronic ignition from an xf or something similar, new coil, disc brake lsd (probs just the 8 3/4 inch or whaterva it is), new bushes in suspension, xf radiator (gotta make some brackets up to fit it)....they're some pretty common mods that'll get ya started


oh and when ur fixing the rust take the front guards off and check the area on the other side of the kick panel bit, mine had absolutely no rust on the outside (not even surface) but underneath the guards on both sides there were some big holes, so yeah make sure u check there...

cheers for the ideas mate will look into them
and thats for the heads up about the rust.. the 1st thing im doing once i pick her up is having a good look for any rust so will make sure i have a goood look there..
cheers mate

instead off trying the 350 holley give a webber off a xe/xd a go you may be suprised on how it works (a bit cheaper and a tad more reliable then a holley)

if you want it go well id save the coin until your off your p's then go for a wild motor

yeah mate might look into that, not too fussed on power as i dont want it for racing or anything just want it as a w.e cruiser so that could be a good option.
And thats the plan wait til im off my Ps then stright to a V8 just hope petrol prices get much higher ahha
thanks for all the ideas guys

just my 2 cents for a cool little xc cruiser while your on your p's


paint it cream acrylic or something smooth ( to keep it cheap) lower it around 2" to keep it legal get yourself a set off smoothy's or even widend el/ef pusuit wheels paint them a nice contrsting colour like red with cream or white with green

get a set off nice seat covers or mexican blankets

all up it will owe you around $1500 for a nice little cruiser that'l get you your coin back after all the effort

i built a xp sedan that i turned into a 2door that got in top 20 at the summernats my dad helped me build it as a first car it cost us 3k and i sold it for 12k


so kid good luck and think differently for the lowbuck impact

Yeah im still deciding on what colour to paint her... the cream acrylic sounds nice and will keep it looking original but ive always been a big fan of black óld school'cars, ive been meaning to have a play around on photoshop but need to get it off my old PC...
oh wow congrats on getting into the top 20 thats amazing and good to see you made your $$ back on the XP..
i plan on doing the XC up bit by bit, in my spare time so i plan on going all out (to a extent)
cheers for the ideas tho

heres a pic of mine if ya want 2 c wat it can look like black......but if i could do it ova i'd go gunmetal grey

wow mate thats nice, oh gunmetal grey would took tuff aswell.
also wanan find a grill with the double headlights and a bonnet with the flutes in it like yours, found a few bonnets on ebay but cant find a dual headlight grill anywere lol but all in time i spose.. ive taken more pics ill upload them when i get a chance
also what rims are they?

cheers mate, yeh the twin headlight grills are pretty hard to come by, but i was lucky enough 4 it 2 be on the car already....i've seen a few but they all need massive repair work, but are still pulling a couple hundred, so i'd hate 2 see how much a decent comdition 1 is pulling, haha...

the rims are 18x8 speedys

yeah theres none on ebay atm but maybe ill get lucky and one will come up eventually,itll probs cost em an arm and a leg but ohwell.
yeah dont mind the look of them, goes well being black on black but with the silver lip to break it up a bit.
im assuming yours is V8? and what engine work have you done to yours? or did u keep it all original?
EDIT-
thought id chuck some pics up-







Havnt done much yet as you can see, front end had been taken off and im in the middle of sanding it and polishing all the crome.
Still havnt found any bad rust, found a lilttle bit in one door but nothing to major. Also fixed the locks as one door couldnt lock. but its getting there slowly ahha

yeah getting there slowly

naa mines a 6 aswell, still on p's..=[......but its got a fair bit of stuff done to it, its pretty much built for a turbo setup for around 12psi(but without the turbo, got the manifolds and everything)....its got dished pistons, 302 rods, rebuilt (bearings, rings etc), shaved head, new head studs, 4 barrel 450 holley (gonna go elec injection for turbo), electronic ignition, msd twin spark thingo, new valves, double valve springs, and a stage 3 hydraulic cam with solid lifters..and sum other simple things that i can't remember, haha...

and btw, the way u pulled the bumper and grill off in the hard way.....ur supposed 2 pull the lights off in the grill as a whole.....and those mounts that u pulled the bumper off of, are supposed 2 come off with the bumper...its just four bolts (that are way easier to get to) and it just slides off....it woulda been a bastard to undo it that way, haha, im just saying, u dont hav to do it my way, its just easier imo....

oh true, yeah i hate these P plate laws, but oh well only 2 years to go til i get my opens ahah.
so once youre off youre P's im guessing ur chucking a turbo in?
yeah as you can see from the pics i still have alot of work to do but its a project car so itll get done over time, im planing on doing some simlar mods to you, but mine wont be set up for a turbo, but atm im just trying to get her running good as is and fixing rust, 2moro im dropping all the oil out and flushing the radiator as i have no idea how long its been since its been done. And might also finsh taking the carpet out so i can check for rust and clean it all up.
and also were do you get all your parts from? Ive noticed rarespares.com have a fair bit and ebay but jsut wondering where else i should look?

oh true nah actually wasnt to hard to get the bumper off the way i did, had some trouble with the rear bumper tho, some off the bolts were on so tight that they snapped when i tried to undo them and theres 2 others i cant get to coz the tow bar is in the way, so now i mihgt have to take the tow bar off 1st to get it off and then weld some bolts back onto the bumper.

twin head lights front are a challenge so is a decent flutted bonnet

tell me about, but hopfully one will pop up eventually, not to fussed atm aas have alot of other stuff to do but hopfully ill eventually fine them somewhere ahha.

holly carb.headers.electronic dizzy.mild cam.14 inch steelies with centrecaps and whitwalls and jam it at the back.

pretty much got it in one mate, almost exactly what i want, but still not sure weather to go the holly or a webber like some1 suggested before, but yeah thining of doing twin exhaust system from extracters back, been looking at 'crow' cams, have herd some good feedback about them, shaved head', havnt looked into elec dizzy's yet, can any recommened any? brands etc, there the first few mods ill be doing then ill get paint done and interia then might go back and do some more engine work for some extra grunt.
Still deciding on rims, they will be the last thing as the ones i have now will do til i get everything else done.

ahh stay away from pro comp dizzy's, heard they are shit, and was working on a 57, brand new distributor was fucked, had to buy another one. just from experience dont go with em.

im pretty sure xe-xf falcons had weber cars.dont know if it would fit your manifold but im sure you could by an adaptor plate.maybe you could get an elec dizzy out of a xe-xf aswell.dont know if they fit.as for rims centrecaps and whitewalls are timeless.or a fresh set of silver painted 12 slotters looks nice.i have also heard good things about crow cams.same with crane cams

oh thanks for ther heads up mate, any you would reccomened?

oh and also jsut looked on the holley website and they reccomened a 390 CFM Four Barrel Street Carburetor
Part #: 0-8007.. would any1 recommened any other carbs?
i used there online carb selector so dont know how accurate it is ahha but i also emailed them so should here back from the in the next few days.

yeah ive been told they fit but i dunno.. im kinda leaning towards a holley, im upgrading the manifold anyway, looking at the ''AussieSpeed'' 4 barrel manifold seems pretty good and resonably priced, im still in the researching stage atm while ill get her cleaned up and just running good, then ill be doing the engine mods.
so far im thinking-

1st- extractors back exhaust (with twin pipes)
2nd- AussieSpeed 4 barrel manifold
3rd- Holley carb (not sure what one yet)
4th- ''Crow'' cam. Cant remember the model number but sould give a nice lumpy idle and still economical as its a street car. might be 14770 or 14771
5th- Ford 250 street terra roller rockers (and rocker cover spacer)
then just shaved head, and better inlet valves, valve springs, reteainers ect.
should give me some decent power, thats all i plan on doing for now, then ill be doing paint and interior, then wheels.
keep in mind all this will be over the next 6 months or more, so it will be an ongoing project

MSD are a good brand to go with, have never let any of my friends down, and yeah 350 - 400 cfm holley would do fine mate,
crane cams go way back and they were one of the first people to build cams and have been in the business longer than most.
id go with them anyday

GL mate

cheers mate yeah i think i might go with the 390 CFM holley, after all it is what holley themselves recommended,
oh ok mate ill be sure to look into crane cams, thanks for the advice.
As i said im still in the reseaching stage atm so any advice / recommendations would be great

just read around, go on forums, go through it all, then you will see what's good and whats not.
thats how im learning at the moment, im only 14 and already pulling cars apart, while goin to school and all.
have a look at more xc's innd what trick idea's they have done and incorporate them into yours

Good Luck Mate

CAM

yeh carby for a mild setup shouldn't b more than 400cfm.....i tried a 650 once...it failed so hard at low revs, but when it got 2 around 6grand on the tacho it was insane!!
try heetseeker cams too, its wat mines got, they're not a very known company, but they're pretty good imo...

for body parts call around the local wreckers and ask if they have any whole xc's or maybe xb's for the font doors, bonnet, and glass, my local wreckers had 6, crushed 4 of them, but i got 2 the last 2 before they crushed them, haha it was a close one...
for the suspension parts, ford kept the same suspension on the front (almost the same n e way) all the way to the xf, so finding suspension parts shouldn't be a problem...
for engine parts, everything but the manifolds are interchangeable up to the xf, (cause of the alloy head upgrade)....so everything to do with the block will interchange (like cam, timing gears, waterpump, dizzy etc), and also the valves, valve springs, and rockers will interchange...

but if ur gonna keep it n/a, stick an alloy head on her, it'll bold straight on, and it provides better cooling, and abit more power, but its not as reliable if u wanna thrash it about, cause they crack and warp easier...from personal experience in an xd, haha..

Thanks for the info mate, yeah i dont plan on going over a 400cfm, as i said before holley recommened a 390cfm so might go with that. ill be sure to look into the heatseeker cams aswell. oh wow i didnt realise how many parts will interchange from the newer falcons thanks for that will make it alot easier looking for parts ahha.
yeah ill be keeping it N/A as thats all i can drive due to P plate laws, so ill be sure to look into the allow head, and i dont plan on thrashing her, she'll be for crusing so dont think cracking or warping will be a problem ahah.
thanks again for the info mate

Wow. This is going to be awesome. This was a much better buy than what you got offered.

Have to agree with the post earlier - spread the word - PROCOMP stuff is shit. Do not use it! If you want to do head gaskets before you start the car, don't want spark from your dizzy, your engine doesn't require compression, or even cooling, use their products. They are sometimes branded as FELPRO too, which is so illegal it isn't funny. Trust me, the ACCC will be getting a lot of emails from a group very soon, who have banded together to have them kicked in the arse over their ridiculous products and after sales service ['Your reco'ed heads must be warped' 'You must be mis-using our product' - actual responses given to complaints]. Stay away from them and use good, known quality stuff.

Also for paint Mazda Gunmetal Grey [common on Mazda 3's] with silver for the lower section looks awesome. Seen it once before on an XB and it was amazing. Once you're off your P's throw a 302 Windsor in it with an exhaust and you'll be set.

yeah will defz be staying away from procomp read some stuff bout them on other forums and dotn think ill ever be using there products.
yeah sounds like a good idea reporting them to the ACCC anf thats just pathetic the kind of responces they have given ppl :S
im not to sure on colour yet, i was almost certain on black then some1 else suggested gun metal grey now im nto so sure ahah still a while until ill be painting her tho so plenty of time to make up my mind ahha
will be longer if this rain keeps up :S was out there this morning sanding back around the rust then all of a sudden its pissing down rain hopfully itll be gone 2moro as ifs my day off

hey mate xc,s look fat done up..
my next car to restore will probly be a xb coupe..

i think my old man has a couple of twin grill lights that he got for his 8 second xa gtho.

ill ask him what he has but im telling ya anything like that for old falcons are worth that much its not funny..

have you looked at going the canadian 300 ppl will dissagree but i find them to be alot better then the 250.

there is a guy in brisbane that does ford performance motors ill try to find his name and number he will tell you what you need and he is well priced..

as for when you get your blacks id super charge a 351 with a stronger crank cams pistons and valves.

the old mans was not super chagerged and ran hi 8s on the quater mile.. it was a beast to drive...

another thing is get a decent brake set up trust me those old fords dont stop well lol...

oh cheers mate, thatd be so good if he has one, he wouldnt happen to have a gt bonnet (the kind with the 2 floute in it)?
nah havnt looked into the 300 will have a look now..
and yeah if you could get that guys number thatd be awesome
and yes i know what u mean about the breaks no the best are they ahah

just a bit of an update-
Dropped all the old oil out and put new oil in,
also flushed the radiator out and put new coolant in..
sanded back around all the rust bubbles, bought it back to bare metal, so 2moro ill grind the rust away then put rust convertor/killer on then putty and prime it..
still need to bleed the brakes. And i also noticed that theres a power steering leak somewhere so will try to get that sorted 2moro aswell.. once i do the brakes and rust ill be getting an exhaust put on, then i can start the engine mods

nice nice mate, very keen on how this is going, keep us all updated with anything new, GL with it

i fu need an electric dizzy let me kno i got a few

yeah mate will do, no major progress yet, still getting all the small things done atm, as i said ive jsut got to bleed the brakes and fix the rust then ill be doing exhuast then the engine mods will come so should see some real progress over the next few weeks
although she is running alot smoother with new oil in her, (plugs and oil filter and leads look to new so havnt worried about them just yet)

as i said in my last post, im still getting all the 'small' things done atm, but once there all done ill be sure to look in to elect. dizzy and the holley you have

i no he has the original bonet off it which is what you want but i dont think he will let go of it he has guards and diffrent bit and peices

oh ok, well once you know let me know
chhers mate

Hey Champ,

Before getting ahead of yourself and getting wrapped up in being told get this and that for the engine etc. My suggestion would be to start with making sure the car is mechanically sound by checking the suspension and associated bushes etc. A lot of people neglect the most important part when modifying a car and that is the brakes, You mentioned getting bigger brakes, ATM that is not a concern as the current size is more than adequate for what you need.

However you could check to see what condition the calipers, master cylinder, booster and lines are in and replace/rebuild if required. Whilst this is going on you can check the local parts business like for instance the magazine 'Just Parts' or see what swap meets are coming up etc to find tha parts that you're missing.

It all takes time and this is further determined by $$$ so don't head long into buying stuff that is not required right now. Make sure the car is structurally & mechanically sound & can stop then worry about tickling the engine a bit later on because as you say you're on P's so the last thing you want is getting put off the road.

Good luck with it all

yeah mate i wasnt to clear but i wont be neglecting everything else, im gunan get new slottered disks and capapers for the front and new drums for the back etc.. wont jsut be doing engine mods and leaving the other 30 odd yr old parts on her.. as for the suspention i beleive it has been repleced as its still rather good and by the looks of the shocks they are fairly new.. but yeah i mostly jsut wanted help with engine mods thats why i didnt say much about the other things.. and yeah i wont be getting her registered until EVERYTHING is done..and im not in a hurry so everything will be done properly..
cheers

bit of a update-
went out today and started fixing the rust..
grinded it away, rust covertered it, primed, bogged... but lost sunlight (that happen when u do night shift and sleep til 2 hahah)
so will finish 2moro.. i did however find a bit more rust then i 1st expected.. i pulled the chrome trimming off from above the doors and the passenger side had some pretty nasty rust under it.. drivers side was fine tho.. but thats what u get from a 30 odd yr old car haha...
but yeah should have the rust all fixed 2moro hopefully
and if i get time ill start stripping the interior
and ill get some new pics

Another update-
almost got allt he rust finished just a bit more sanding and some priming to go... also go the interior stripped and started giving that a clean.. there was no rust in the floor pan thank god.. oh just a little surface rust but that all sanded away and was no holes
should have the rust finished on moday (next day off) then ill get tires and a exhaust...
heres some pics-










oh and btw the rust holes wont as bit as the parts that are bogged the pics are jsut a little misleading haha
but yes im getting there slowly haha

So let me get this right, Your just bogging over the rust lol ?

haha nooo way.. cut the rust out, rust converted it.. primed then bogged.. still needs more sanding and priming..
ahah what would be the point of stripping it back to bare metal jsut to bog back over the rust? itd just get worse and come back lol