I have Bonnet or can aquire one in Sydney to suit Fairmont/Lane but you will need to aquire the XB bonnet centre. XA no good as they don't have any hump at all. Another option is to use TC 6cyl Cortina bonnet. Happy to qive you a quote on the work as long as you are happy to pay the freight.

i have actually spent the last hour going over what could look good on the NC bonnet. as its soo long and flat nothing will suit it really..

i assume your talking about a TC cortina? they have the box type hump if it is? i might muck around with a few ideas

out of interest if the 2 bonnets were suplied, how much would a bonnet graft like bens cost?

Alot depends on what you want grafted and condition of Bonnet/ Graft and how much work is involve in clean up and jst how far do you want the bonnet finished.

i have an xc bonnet with humps and no vents if you wanna swap me for one with vents, lols

lol there is one up here with no vents for 25 bucks.. a bit of rust on the frame work, but i wouldnt use it anyways

Hey Benj

Were you down driving the car down near West Point blacktown round 3-4pm today?

I swear i saw ya car, looks and sits well.

Actually, yes.

I was dropping off the better half. TAXI duties are a large part of the Wagons duties LOL

Cheers
BenJ

Haha

Looks good. I was basically a car length back and my chauffeur was driving me around. hehe

Wouldnt have recognised mine anyway, rims are off, stock wheels back on due to camber issue on front (inner side of tyres gone bald and to be repaired later on) and also due to the fact my stockies have 80% tread and going on a driving holiday within next couple days.

Anyways, looked like ya washed it. maybe ya beat the rain.

One day i will turn up at liverpool meets. Wont be til April 8th at least (some idiot lost his licence for 3 months)

Cheers

Last week I went down to visit SWC and check out the progress on the AU door handles.

SWC had found an isse with the door, where it appears there was a depression in the skin on the door I gave him to work with, and then when combined with the heat from welding had sucked in the area around the handle. We sussed it out and then with some carefully applied force with a small crowbar, convinced the depression to feel a bit better about it self and come out a bit and join the rest of the door. Some fibreglass bog filler has been applied to the area around the handle and it needs some bog now to finalise the levels.

This is how it looks at the moment with the handle bolted in.





Looking very promising at this early stage.

Then looking down through the top of the window opening I noticed how far the door handle was protruding into the door cavity, and when I compared to the window runners I could see we were going to have some real issues.

I took the door home to apply some BenJ creative thinking and to engineer a solution.

This photo shows the glass in place with the AU door handle shell minus the handle mechanism.



As you can see the glass is going to hit the back of the shell. Hmmmm.

This photo shows the assembled AU handle and look how far the lever protrodes past the back of the shell. The red line in this photo represents where the glass would be when wound down.



This creates a bit of an issue I think.

I analysed the physical movement required for the door latch to release when the handle is lifted. The actual lateral travel was approx 4-5mm before the release catch allowed the latch to open.

The arc created by the factory position of the actuator rod from the handle to the latch was more like 15-20mm and there was a lot of freeplay prior to the release catch becoming engaged by the actuator rod.

So I grabbed my dremel and drill and set to hacking . . . . . urrr, ahhhh applying carefully measured and calculated cuts to the AU handle.

What I ended up with was this.

Before


After


And the other side and the raised ridges on the back also got the treatment.

Before


After


The finished modified handle and actuator rod.



I also shortened the AU actuator rod.

To test the function I used a marine cable clamp to connect the AU and EB actuator rods, and by setting the release latch to partially open, there is sufficient travel to allow the door catch to open.

The actuator rods will be welded together before final assembly.

The drivers door handle will get the same mods, but luckily as the rear door handles are under the quartervent windows, clearance is not an issue.

****************************************************************
Other news is that the Wagon passed it's yearly Pink Slip inspection and registration has been paid, so that is one headache out of the way.

I have also received a new Power Steering Pressure switch. I will install that along with a new Pump when I purchase it soon.

I have also started prep work on the BA Bumper Bar.



Hope you are all well.

Cheers
BenJ

lookin' good there BenJ

i was about to suggest something about the handle but then i scrolled down and seen you beat me to it lol.

looking damn good ben

looks like alot of trouble for not very much gain..... EF/EL handle would be an improvement and alot easier

with all the welding and bogging involded fitting the AU handle, i would be inclined to setup shaved door handles instead, now that would look smoooth

Thanks fellas. Quite happy with how this is coming together.



I already have EL External door handles on the wagon. I did consider shaved doors, but on the photoshops I put together it just didn't look right. In addition the practical aspect of having door poppers to open the door wasn't going to work for my wife. She would break her nails all the time, which would make her unhappy, and consequently, ME unhappy. Not Good!!!!

There really is as much welding and bogging with this mod as there is with shaving the handles.

The end result will look factory and trick, while still maintaining full functionality, and average Joe will think they were made this way.

Cheers
BenJ

its all the minor detail that i love about this car...

They are coming along brilliantly BenJ. Bit hard to see at the moment how flush they are sitting against the door skin but once they are all black, it should be very obvious.

Well done!

Looks like you have made good progress with your AU door handle mod Ben

I know its a matter of personal choice as always, but I am incline agree with FordFairmont.

They do clearly look smoother and hardly stick out. But I am thinking to look at the car after it is done it may not be a very noticeable mod, especially being a black car and the amount of effort going into the mod.

Argh....... I will wait till the door is finished before I cast final judgment Sorry mate, Keep up the good work.

Josh

I think you guys are missing the point.

I LIKE the fact that this sort of mod is easily overlooked. It is like the EL/NL interior. Unless you know E Series falcons, you wouldn't know that it is different from the way it came out from the factory.

Subtle mods are just as good as stand out mods, and my car has both.

Shaved door handles have their place, and I have pics of an ED Sedan that has has it done. However, the catch is you still have to find a way to open the door mechanically. The traditional way is to use small poppers sticking out the top of the door. Unless you can blend this in really well with the weather strip on the tops of the doors, and make it practical for anybody to use, then it is not a complete solution.

Remember that the Wagon is a daily driver, and there are three other people that use the other three doors all the time. There is no way my Wife or Daughter would put up with the small poppers needed to open the doors.

Cheers
BenJ

indeed benj there are so many mods that seem factory the average dude wouldn't pick them - it's stealth mods 101!

Yes I did overlook that point buddy



I think shaved door handles are wank IMHO and would much prefer to see you continue with your work on the AU door handles

I think you have a done a great job with this mod so far Ben. Even if I dont like something you have done, you know I am a fan of your work and always watch with interest.

How boring would your thread be if there was only positive comments to read all the time

Cheers

So this is the current car!

Like what you have done with the interior lighting, very similar to mine with the door cards/handles.