rp975

Very amazing car, would like to see pics of finished.

Hi Ian, I have some photos of the brakes on an old computer, as soon as I can work out how to get them out I will post them up here. The rear XF caliper brackets were modified with a die grinder and some new holes were drilled, Tonycharger on HybridZ showed me how to do this. And from memory a spacer was made from alloy plate as well to get the correct alignment of the caliper over the disc rotor. It was not a very hard job to do. With the front calipers I bought a kit from Hoppers Stoppers that had the custom 5 stud hubs, rotors, calipers and steel adapter brackets. I will see about getting the photos. Cheers Rob

looks great, can't wait to see it painted...

Where did you get these from and where can I find out more about them? Cheers Rob

I will be using the auto transmission, I am not sure if it is a constant variable one or not, I will have to wait to find out. I have been working on this for years and it maybe a couple more before it is on the road. What have you done with your swap? Cheers Rob

Here the shroud has been polished and the fans fitted.

Here I am making a male part-die so that I can press an aluminium fan shroud from 5005 Alloy, 2mm thick. I have made this from 7 ply, the size is to allow for the 2mm at the top and at the bottom of the finned section of the radiator, the sides I have made the same width as the finned section so that the shroud will come around the side of the radiator where it can be mounted by small alloy brackets and the use of nutserts in the shroud, while tapping a thead into the sides of the radiator without going into the waterways. Then I made a template of the two fans and their mounting points and screwed them to the first piece. Here are the side brackets made from 6mm thick alloy. I have some rubber that has a U shape that is a press fit which acts like a gasket and stops any rattles, with this on it was a press fit which was really nice. Here you can see the nutserts in the shroud and at the sides of the radiator are the slide in brackets so that the radiator can be removed quickly.

Back on its wheels for the first time as 5 stud about to go for a holiday down to Newcastle Mufflers for the new manifolds and system.

Here are the front brakes, late model AU3 Ford front vented-slotted rotors and alloy calipers mounted onto custom front 5 stud hubs from Hoppers Stoppers in Aust.

Here are the handbrake mechanisms from both sides.

The axles shortened and new spacers fitted. The handbrake lever mechanism fitted. The spacers that I made. And from other side.

Here you can see the rear calipers and rotors fitted, also shortened CV axles, I made a mistake and had them made to short, so I had to make spacers which you can see also.

Here you can see the R200 VLSD fitted with the nismo rear sump-pan. I have made a new brace for the rear that allows clearance.

I have modified alloy XF Falcon rear brackets and calipers and I am using XD Falcon rear vented rotors

Here is the custom tailshaft, it has a slider section because the trans didn't have one, it also has larger uni's. Here my engineer didn't like the idea of just re-drilling the rear hubs to 5 stud, so he wanted a girdle made that would sit behind and have longer studs go through both. The countersunk cap screws hold the girdle on as well as the wheel studs. The center has a sleeve made so that it just fits a Ford XD rear vented Rotor and the wheel studs also seat into the rotor. This shows the back of the girdle, the splines on the studs are a press fit through both the girdle and rear hub. New bearings fitted as well of course.

Thanks Richard, it now has custom exhaust manifolds and entire system, I have just finished mounting the radiator and making an alloy fan shroud which I will have pics for in a few posts as I am moving this thread from Classic Z over to here. This photo shows the two plenums height although the new one doesn't have the flange on the bottom yet. Here the old plenum has been removed from the flange and the new plenum and flange sitting on the motor, there will be twin pipes welded onto the front that lead to the twin throttle body.

Here we have the bonnet (hood) closed to look at clearance, I crawled in through the front of the car to measure. The plenum is removed and I have a thin steel plate sitting where the plenum would sit. Here is my setup for pressing the new plenum, it has a hardwood frame. The top frame is just mdf and is there to control the alloy as it is pressed, it is srewed down not tight but leaving a small gap. We don't want to clamp the metal here just control the flow. In this pic the part has already been pressed, so on the top you can see a thicker steel plate that supports the hardwood male part of the die, it evens out the pressure on the wood and stops splitting. Here is the female part of the die, made of hardwood glued and screwed together. It is carved to the shape that we want allowing for the outside shape. The inside edge has a radius to allow the metal to flow into the space. It is also greased for better flow. Here we have the male part of the die, it is carved to the size and shape that we want allowing for the thickness of the metal, in this case 3mm. It is also greased. The metal in this case 5005 Aluninium, it is annealed before we start to press and also annealed part way through, so you press a little then take it apart and see how it is going and anneal before reassembly and more pressing. Here is the pressed part, we used a 2mm thick sheet as a test but the 3mm final part worked much better, this one is 3mm. Here the part is trimmed and shown next to the original plenum. We have to trim the mounting flange off the plenum to be then welded onto the new plenum.

Thanks DZ, I'm glad that you like it. Here are some more pics. showing position of trans in tunnel, rubber coupler will be replaced with uni. trans x-member made. trans mount showing easy access to all bolts and spacers can be used if needed between original rubber mount and body of trans. support plate for inside. now welded and bolted up.

you can see how far back I was able to get the engine, plenum is removed, I will make a new plenum that faces the front. in this photo you can see the gap between the x-member abd the front of the motor.

newly fabricated motor mounts. close up before top of mounts are welded and front part is not opened up. finished mount. old plenum.

one of the first attempts to get the motor and trans in, as you can see at this stage it didn't look like it was going to go in. beginning of new removable crossmember mounting partially fabricated. now with top plate welded on and start of x-member and a rear suspension bush that will become the rubber mount. drivers side top plate modified to clear steering shaft. showing removable x-member, steering, and L6 motor mounts removed from front x-member. showing the beginning of the mounts on the new x-member. working out position for the mount on x-member in relation to engine mount above it.

here is original exhaust manifold with turbo removed, not fitting. here is intake which had to be removed in order to move motor back far enough for the front of motor to sit behind the original x-member. showing motor mount not clearing steering shaft properly. (right hand drive)

Here are some of the pics of the motor before it went in, showing the original manifolds which were not used. Dual throttle body and plenum intake Showing clearance under sump where new x-member and exhaust joiner will go. showing rear water pipe removed for first trial fit. I have lots more photos to upload as I started this project about four years ago and have had this info on another site, I have decided to set it up over here now.

just wondering why it says "you may not post attachments"? does it need to be checked by a moderator? Cheers Rob