Well here it is. I thought I would have to look long and hard for a good ute at a reasonable price.
Some how the first one we looked at was it.





Its a 1992 XF 4.1 5 Speed. Single spinner. Air and power steer.
It was advertised for $2k and after a bit of haggling we got it for $1600. Its a few hundred more then I wanted to pay but to get one already with a manual and for the body to be as clean as it is , I really couldnt think for too long about it.
All the standard XD XE XF cancer traps were checked. Up in the scuttle , front pillars , sills , roof pans. Either it is factory clean or if it has been bogged up the worlds best bog magician has been hard at work. Not a ripple , a mark and all the factory stampings are there.
It had the factory issued faults of a broken passenger door handle and and stuffed door hinge pins in the drivers side. I fixed the door handle today. I need to get some pin and bush kits fit the hinges.
Before too long the fully retro 80's Hurricane mags have to go. My old man and missus reckon they look cool but I hate them with a passion. No idea on what wheels I want for it yet. The requirement for them is they have to look tough on it , preferably with a bit of dish. They have to be a size that you can still get tyres for easy. So all the good old 14x8 12 slots , dragways etc are out.
They also have to be fairly cheap.
Let me know if you have something you think might be suitable or if you know of something!

The front nudge bar is soon to be evicted!

I need to chase up a tonneau cover pretty quick. I have seen them on evilbay , but I need to find a centre support bar. Has anyone been to PNP lately and know if they have any utes down there? I really need the bar. I will try and chase this up tomorrow.
Windows will be tinted before too long and the door frames painted black.

Ultimate plans are to come up with a unit thats fun to drive , is good enough for a run down the cross on a Saturday night , can hold its own at a traffic light battle but I can use to pickup firewood , head to the tip , take the dogs for a drive etc. Basically an allrounder.

I sort of want a vehicle that is reminisent of the 80's tuff Falcons (thats where my passion started and has never really wained for the old X series) but also has moved with the times a bit.
I have a lot of thinking to do about the driveline and such. I have to weigh up the pros and cons between having a Clevo and a Wheezer. Either way it will require an engineers ticket so I just need to take my time , think it through and do whats going to give the best result.
So I think it will end up with a set of 16's at a minimum on it.
I have a few ideas floating around , but it wont be a quick project. I am skating on very thin ice at home at the moment with my cars. All the stuffing around , tooing and throughing , money and time wasted and s**t all over the place as of late has taken its toll. This car is a keeper no matter what we might find with it but things wont be happening over night.

The first couple of little mods happened today as I was cleaning up and working out what to keep and what to ditch. I will take some pics tomorrow of them once I have cleaned them up.

Last edited by EVL098 on Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:36 pm, edited 6 times in total.

looks good base to start off with.Is it a t5 or just single rail in it..i reckon you turbo the 4.1 that will wake it up

Its a T5 mate.
Dont you start on the turbo 4.1 as well.
My brother is already chopping into me about it. He is a firm believer that a turbo 4.1 is going to go bloody hard and be nice and docile to run around in.
He reckons I have rocks in my head for even thinking V8.
But what would he know? He drives a VS SS 5.0..........................

He might have a point but. Even with it screaming out for a good tune and totally bog stock it goes pretty well at the moment.

Tidy looking XF ute mate, Ash will like this one. Will that V8 you have go in this one?

Josh

Dunno Josh. Taking things slow at the moment and sorting heaps of stuff not even remotely connected out. Something with the motor will definately happen but what and when I cant answer.

Does anyone know if I can fit the LSD hemisphere from my old EB LSD into the XF centre? Im thinking about oulling both , fitting the XF crown wheel to the LSD and slipping it in?
Will it fit between the two centres? I reckon it will both being borgys but Id like someone to confirm my suspecions.

I've got a xf s pac 4spd lpg fair body on it and a mint low km xe wagon and have been thinking of doing somethink with the wagon like tubs and turbo..if you want a tacho dash xf dash let me know i've got a few and lpg set up out of another sedan i had too..

You should get it looking good in no time from what i seen you do with the mont..

phill

nie ute dude.looks like a beast

the xf diff is 25 spline,eb is 28 spline.I'd get a xg ute diff (3.27),tail shaft and fit the limo up in it

Cheers mate.
Is it a standard analogue tacho dash or the digital star wars one? If its analogue can you chuck up a pic of it when you get a chance? I cant remember what a XF analogue tacho dash looks like.DOH!
Will be very interested in the LPG setup in a little bit. Let us know what you have and what you want for it.

Well that sucks some serious nuts. I didnt even think of the earlier diffs being 25 spline. Now you mention it I remember.
I might have to pull the axles on the weekend and compare them to the EB axles length wise and bearing wise. See if it will go together that way.
I can also look then and see if the EB rear disc setup is going to go even close to fitting.
If all that draws a blank and the housing are roughly the same length looks like Ill be getting the grinder and welder out and putting a set of leaf spring perches onto the EB diff.

IIRC the XF Tacho clusters have the tacho in the same style as the speedo, with the bar that slides up.

How long till this ones up for sale?

In short answer to that question a bloody long time unless the missus needs to get a kidney transplant or something. Difference between this one and the last pile of s**t is that this one is actually worth keeping and doing things too.

Looks good mate, nice find and well done on getting a manual for that money. How much rent is on it? Ute regos are a pain, bloody grand no matter what you do. You got to be happy with white as well, always look clean. And a grey interior, much better than the earlier brown models. Very tidy, well done!

Thanks Ash. Yeah Im happy with it.
It has 3 months rent on it. Rego on a ute is a bloody ripoff aint it. I remember years ago the green slips used to be half the price on a ute then for a sedan. So much for that goodness.
More freight would have been nice but to get a latish model XF manual with 12 months on it in the same condition I reckon it would of cost me a fair bit more then the $750 9 months rego is worth.

Nothing wrong with 3 months. But your right, a vehicle having 12 months rent is such a selling point. When do you put LPG on, you can look forward to that $2000 coming your way as well, cover the cost of the lot. Got to love a free car in that aspect!

Thanks for reminding me. I have to ring the LPG rebate people up and find out what month this year Im eligable to claim again!
I shall do that now!

12th of October. Thats works well and is fitting in with my plans nicely

Plenty of time to put in what ever bigger cubed engine you choose.

Well I was hoping to have a pic of it this afternoon with a nice new Tonneau cover on it but at this stage the shop has not got back to me to let me know it has come in. Damn!
I had to get a new support bar as mine did not have one. You can only really get these from Fraud.
XD-XH one was $67.
FG one was $42.
The FG one actually fitted. It is a little tight and needs a bit of a whack to get it in place but it locks in nice and tight and has a square profile so it might keep the Tonneau nice and flat.

It is booked in on my next day off in a couple of weeks to have the windows tinted. 20% all round , so Ill have to extract my finger and get the window frames rubbed back and painted up.
Started to give it a bit of a polish today in between rain spurts and its coming up a treat. It really needed a good polish. Will work more on that in the afternoons.

Here is a couple of changes I made to the interior yesterday. In my quest to remove all signs of E series crap fom my yard I had a big clean up. Well I still had the NA Fairlane seats that came in the Cobalt Monty sitting here. I thought I would look and see how far off the runners were from fitting the ute before I decided what to do with them.
The runners were exactly the same and they bolted straight in. Bonus!
I thought I would then see how far off the old ED Fairmont console was from fitting in. It bolted straight in as well.
So I come out with a set of comfy seats and a console with a good size storage bin and an armrest. I still need to make up a panel to fill in where the old power window buttons were and it has been too wet and miserable today to shampoo it but after a quick wipeover here is what the interior came out like.



Should look a bit nicer once its cleaned up. I also did the same as BenJ did. I actually stole the idea from him.LOL
Before the old back seat went in the wreck to scrap I sliced all the matching pattened material off it for the arm rest inserts. I will be getting another set of XF door cards , trying my hand at making some speaker pods and trying to get some grey velour off the trimmer down the road to match the seats. Then I will cover the inserts in the matching material and it all should look pretty swish.
That will happen after I have fitted power windows and such once I track a set down.

I also found the set of wheels I want today. Cant think of the name of them but they are 17x8 and the package will be 235/45 17 fronts and 245/40 17 rear. They will look great on it but I just need to convince the minister that I need to spend another $1400 on a car this month. It might be a keen thought................................

Looking good there buddy.

Good thinking to cut out the material. When done, it should tie the whole interior together nicely.

As for the missing trim piece where the power windows would go, I have a factory blank that goes there. They are quite rare as they were only available on EA Monts without Pwr Windows.

I will be happy to part with it for $30.

Let me know if you would like it.

BenJ