Fellas, you need to remember that the wagon is a DAILY driver, family hack, shopping bag hauler, and dog mobile, as well as being a cool custom cruiser.

I do not see any point in dropping many hundreds of dollars on performance tires that will NEVER be used to even half of their potential.

As with all things in my build, budget plays a primary role in all decisions, and I am entirely happy to spend $130 per tire that more than likely performs within 10% of the big dollar tires, and also looks great as well.

Cheers
BenJ

looking good, you stripped the rims back?
I've gotta say I like the black.

I bought a couple of new Falkens for the XR8 the other day and only paid $20 a tyre more then the chinese junk ones. I know I got them at a good price but it actually surprised me how close in pricing they are.

I have federal tyres on the mighty boy, and find them to be good value for money tyres.

Cheers

ToranaGuy

That was an old photo dude, from before he painted the rims, was just trialling the skirts.


Wagon is lookin' good BenJ, looking forward to seeing how this kit turns out!

Who's SVO is the one beside you in Bathurst cruise pics? Looks insane!

Yes that black SVO is very much insane.....................he is a member here. Im not going to name names and say what is done to it as it is not my place.

BODY KIT

The weather here in Sydney has been all over the place, and trying to get any sort of bodywork or paint done in between rain storms and work, has been frustrating.

But I have persevered, and finally got the body kit to a finish I was happy to put a bit of Jet Black paint on. I really wanted to get the whole kit on the wagon, so I could see how all the bits went together. In my mind I could envision the final look, and was pretty sure the various parts would balance nicely when on the car.

Here a few quick pics. I have since added the chrome strips, and will get some more pics in better light, and after I wash it. LOL






I also found that the front bar made the engine run a lot hotter, as the thermo fans had to cut in even while driving. I surmised that the air entering the bar was just escaping under the radiator. I added a piece made from an old EB internal boot cover to force the air into the radiator and fixed the problem.

BA Wagon Sideskirts

For those interested in fitting BA Wagon sidekirts to their E Series Wagon, here is a couple of pics that show how shortened the front of the skirts.

The BA Wagon skirts are around 15 - 20mm too long and protrude into the front wheel arch area. I marked where I wanted the front to be and then cut off the front of the skirt. I then slid the 'cap' inside the skirt and glued it into place. A bit of sanding, bog, more sanding and then paint later I was done.






Cheers
BenJ

Looking good as always BenJ, lots of blood sweat and tears have gone into this car!

BODY KIT PICS

I finally got a chance to wash the Wagon this morning and took some pics this afternoon.







Considering the kit is a combination of various parts, I am pleased with the way it all balances when on the car. I am also happy with the subtlety of the kit and feel that the overall theme of the wagon has been enhanced.

Let me know what you all think.


General Maintenance

Today I put in a new lower thermostat housing gasket as the engine had developed a small leak, and was using a little bit of water. All fixed now.

I also removed the spacer plate under the ICS. As I have not been using the ICS, the gases from the rocker cover were not being drawn out of the engine as they should be, causing a dirty build up. I put the standard EL hose from the rocker cover to under the throttle body back in.


New Parts

I was at my local parts provider this morning and was lucky enough to find a new BA in the yard. I acquired the PCM to body loom from this car, as my existing loom being from a taxi, was missing a pinout or two.

While poking around the engine bay I noticed there was a Hydraulic Clutch Fluid Reservoir, and realised that this car was a manual. The engine and box were already removed, but I continued to investigate.

To my surprise, this was still in the car.


Now, the subject of how to mount the clutch pedal in the car has been covered very well by a couple of enterprising modders previously.

The BA Manual boxes use a hydraulic setup inside the bell housing and use the thrust bearing to disengage the clutch plate.

What I would like to consider is using the BA master cylinder with a traditional slave cylinder mounted externally acting on the T5 Clutch Fork where the clutch cable usually connects to.

Does the BA master cylinder have the capacity/throw/volume to properly work with this sort of slave cylinder?

And are there any recommendations on what factory slave cylinder would be usable in this configuration?

Thoughts and suggestions are most welcome.

Cheers
BenJ

Good work so far man.

Body kit looks sweet, and nice pick up with the clutch pedal.

A bloke once told me "with a little engineering, anything is possible."

get some specs on the BA slave and see what you can find to match.

kit looks awesome, well done

Body kit has come up pretty nice..

I dont think you will have anywhere near enough travel to disengage the clutch in a typical cable configuration. Get LP to do the clutch and measure how much it moves. The master cyl' would have to be 3/4" bore, and slave 1/2" and plenty long to achieve what you want. Mal wood hydraulic throw-out bearing would be your best option for use with the BA clutch pedal.....

Cheers

Daz

Nice work on the updates in regards to the body kit, and I love your thinking in regards to the hydraulic clutch conversion, but I think a new master cylinder might need to be fit to the peddle to achieve what your looking for.

What about something from a Hilux, in regards to a master cyl?

Cheers

ToranaGuy

If you run the BA T5 bell housing, I am guessing it bolts straight to the E series T5 and would the hydraulic thrust bearing bolt straight up inside of it and work?

Cheers,
Tim

Ok updated from Page 87





Looks good Ben. More factory, less modded look. Plus the added pleasure of drive-ability while still looking good.




Fantastic. Really freshens up the look of the interior and blends in with the paintwork.





I like it. The rims, headlights, front indicators all blend in great. The dish really does stand out



Bloody hell, This is getting interesting.






Nice progress Ben, very intuitive with your use of brackets to adapt older components to the front dress.



Love the what you have done here mate.

Airbags, BA turbo setup, BA Seats, Everything is looking great Ben. Good to see the body kit on the car, it looks great

Look forward to see your progress from here.

Cheers

Josh