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Cliff's 5.0 EFi V8 XF:part 2 of 2
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Cars, Engine
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Forum Discussion. To ask Cliff a question click HERE! Engine - the heart of the matter:
So why stick with the XF when it came to building a hi-po streeter? Surely it would have been easier to trade the old girl in on a XD/E or EB with a V8 already fitted, right? "Well, I don't really know. I suppose I had grown to love my car, and the work I had put into it with the body etc, so I didn't really feel like giving it all up." For a small time Cliff even toyed with the idea of turboing the six - but in the end there was no choice really..."I have always wanted a V8, there is just no substitute! Love the sound, love the torque, love the POWER!!!" - It's ok Cliff, we understand, really!
Initially desiring a 351C, the baby Windsor also came with a much narrower Vee than the wider Cleveland - allowing Cliff to leave that heater neatly in place. Being an unleaded XF also presented it's own challenges - something the EB V8 easily overcome. Still, rather than tackle the installation himself (lack of time - "I'd still be doing it") Cliff had Speed Technology in Mitcham do most of the hard work. Starting by freshening up the motor up with new rings, bearings, seals etc they then moved on to the harder task of actually fitting the baby Windsor into an engine bay not designed for it. Surprisingly, engine mounts from an XE V8 bolted up with no great dramas. Next came the fiddley bits. A new 3 core radiator was built and fitted with adapting hoses sourced. The battery was moved to the boot and the windscreen washer bottle relocated to allow for the K&N air filter. "Surprisingly, the whole lot only took a measly 4 weeks, which included the fitment and tuning of the Wolf3D Engine Management System." Taking control of this particular part of the project, Cliff wired the whole lot himself allowing him to hide most of the spaghetti where the sun don't shine! Helping no end was Speed Technology's distributorship of the Wolf System ironing out any potential hiccups...and leaving Cliff extremely satisfied with the whole process. "Speed Technology are definitely not cheap - but after 4000kms of trouble free motoring (including circuit racing) I would recommend them to anyone. Sometimes you have to pay that little bit extra just to know the job's been done properly." Cliff decided to take care of the cold air intake, rewiring, covers and engine bay respray himself, commenting that the result was "not fantastic, but not too bad for $25 worth of paint and some hard work". Problems with the Air Conditioner Compressor hitting on the suspension tower saw it's removal (with no plans to re-instate due to the power losses associated with driving such an item) and the Alternator bracket changed to allow it to be used to tension the Accessory Drive Belt as the original belt tensioner was broken. Cliff says that from talking to others about their late model Ford V8's that this is a common problem and the most effective fix.
Cliff's initial plans had included using the restrictive factory headers but it soon became apparent that there was no way they were going to fit without major surgery! For a start, the passenger's side wanted to pass through the space occupied by the suspension tower, and the driver's side manifold simply refused to share space with the starter motor...so off to Performance Car Exhausts (Ringwood) went our Cliff, and when he returned there were beautiful new 2.25" headers (Jet Hot coated) in the space once occupied by the restrictive original equipment versions. While he was there he figured he might as well go the whole hog, so specified twin 2.5" High Flow Cats dumping into matching twin 2.5" Stainless steel pipes, mufflers and finally into one huge 3" resonator and pipe (all Stainless of course). With all that sorted (including the fuel problems described below), it was off to the dyno where it rattled off a genuine 175 rear wheel horse power - or as much as an AU series 1 XR8! Not too shabby for a EB V8 with essentially stock internals huh? Making it all look right are new polished rocker covers while the original black cover plate was polished for $60. "Future plans at the time of writing included looking into some head work real soon, hopefully to increase power by 80+ HP at the wheels, eventually Supercharging the beast to give that ultimate shove in the back!" - we haven't heard from Cliff in a while and wonder how his magnificent toy has been doing - so if you see him around, let him know we called... Fuel Supply: With the introduction of EFi came the need to provide a quality fuel supply, something that Cliff tackled with a unit out of an EFi XF 6 cylinder. If only it was that easy! On the dyno it was discovered that the fuel pump simply couldn't keep up with the V8's thirst for the good stuff and was letting the baby Windsor run out of fuel pressure above 2500RPM. An inline fuel pump was installed and everything was now A.O.K - working like a charm. There is no leaning out now!
Body Kit and Power Everything:
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Forum Discussion. "Because I was so young, I couldn't really do much until I was 21 and off my Ps due to insurance. So as soon as I turned the magic number, on went the wheels and the lowering was accomplished." About 2 weeks later the body kit was completed. This process included fitting the body kit and taking it off again to have it remoulded as part of the bumpers rather than tacked on over the top. Originally bought out of the Trading Post, Cliff was never happy with it's fitment so decided to start all over again "The only problem with most Falcon Kits is that they 'adapt' onto your existing bumpers, they don't replace them. Most Holden's kits completely replace the bumpers and I think they look heaps better." Sounds fair enough to us! Cliff started by fitting the front and rear spoilers to the existing bumpers, took them off the car as a whole piece and then puttied the existing bumper flush to the new spoiler.
As subtle a change it may be, Cliff still gets plenty of questions from passer-by's having never seen a kit quite like this one. Still, things didn't go exactly to plan - with a small amount of adjustment needed to the bumper mounting brackets to get the new bumpers to fit correctly. By comparison, the side skirts were a breeze going on with a liberal coating of Sikaflex making sure they won't be flying off anywhere this side of 300km/h (only kidding!). Electric mirrors and windows were next on the list, each with their own tale - including going through a total of ten power windows before finding a set that would last for more than four weeks at a time! "I can take out the power window and replace it in about twenty minutes now. - That's including taking off and putting back on the door trim!" As you could imagine, Cliff feels like he has "had the interior out about one hundred times"! Practice makes perfect... Differential: With all that power and supercharging firmly in the works, Cliff knew that getting the power to the ground was always going to be a problem. To that end he decided there was only one solution that allowed a permanent fix - with Ford's 9-inch diff providing a natural substitute for the slightly plastic original rear axil. Coming out of the Trading Post for a measly 600 bucks already fitted with a Limited Slip centre, Cliff quickly set about adding a set of XF axils. As the new rear axil already had disc brakes fitted, it allowed Cliff to more effectively match the original set up found on the front although he rebuilt the callipers as a matter of safety. Next on the list was a set of billet 31 spline axils with one of the weaker XF items going AWOL a short time after fitment. With the extra low first gear ratio of the six speed gearbox, Cliff was also able to fit a 2.75:1 gearset to the 9" diff allowing him to increase his theoretical top speed (theoretical at the moment as Cliff has not found the perfect piece of private road to test this out on). This is one component of the build we know Cliff completed himself, as the bruised fingers and swearing attest...("&*%@ #*!!$& Damn these things are heavy!!!") Related Pages on www.trueblueford.com : TBF
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Train Forum Discussion.
Gearbox: Another unique feature of this amazing XF is it's six speed gearbox. Yep - you read that right - count 'em if you can. Being on Cliff's wish list for a very long time meant that he didn't flinch when this baby appeared in the Trading Post for a measly $4,000 - forming part of an unfinished project when the seller balked at the transmission tunnel mods needed to fit this little number. But "little" this gearbox is not - weighing in at a hefty 75kg - and hopefully strong enough to cope with the loads this XF will eventually put on it (Cliff is aiming for 600 hp with the supercharger).
The Gearbox is of the Richmond variety rated at 750 hp and featuring straight cut gears with a 1:1 fifth gear ratio - meaning the 3.7:1 diff ratio that Cliff had fitted to the 9" to gain the most benefit from the original T5 was way too low - hence the move to the taller 2.75:1 diff ratio. Cliff says the appearance is very similar to a Doug Nash five speeder but with the extra gear tacked on. Other bonuses included a Hurst linkage kit, which being intended for a Left Hand Drive vehicle necessitated the transmission tunnel mods. A 20mm spacer was made to fit between the bell housing and the engine to take account of the longer input shaft compared to the original T5, and a custom clutch was required to be made up - so Cliff avoids slipping the clutch at all costs! A TH 400 yolk was used to mate the output shaft to the driveshaft (is this a world first - using a GM part to improve a Ford?). Amazingly, all this had the shifter lining up with the hole in the floor exactly, with only a new custom gear stick had to be made (angled towards the driver rather than the passenger) to make it all fit. Finishing the job off was a special one-off custom fabricated cross member to hold it all up and Cliff was finally able to kick back and sample his handy work. And while Cliff says it is not quite as smooth shifting as the T5, he is extremely happy with the installation knowing it will allow him to finalise his engine plans without worrying about the gearbox. Other benefits include the close ratio nature of this box allowing more effective gear choice when the going gets tough. Related Pages on www.trueblueford.com : TBF
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Forum Discussion.
Brakes: With all this extra power, and Cliff's tendency to really get out and use it (wouldn't you?) the original front discs came in for a flogging and it wasn't long before they were shimmying and shaking their way towards needing a good machining. Now as Cliff had no plans of slowing down real soon he figured now was a good time to bite the bullet exchanging the old items for a set of cross drilled and slotted rotors. While instantly solving the brake warping problem, they still didn't give enough 'bite' so Cliff quickly added a set of Bendix Ultimate pads inside the standard callipers - and instantly achieved the effect he was after. "These pads are unbelievable, best pads I have ever had. They are fantastic under continuous hard braking - I can't say enough of them." The piece d'resistance came in the form of brake ducts now seen poking their head through just beside the big spotties at the front, which according to Cliff are "well worth it, haven't run out of brakes since."
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Handling: Now it's no good having a car that can only go quickly in a straight line and as Cliff had already decided to give the thing a go out on the track good handling was imperative. Starting with Pedders springs and Munroe GT gas shock absorbers, Cliff added a 24mm sway bar to keep things on the level. After all that, Cliff lists the biggest benefit to date as being larger rims - enough to give all a decent shake up at a recent XR Club of Victoria "High Performance" Driving Day. In fact, the only cars faster than Cliff were two AU series 2 XR8's - and one of those was supercharged! Not content with second best, stickier tyres and shortened tuneable Bilstien shockers along with an even bigger sway bar are on the way - as soon as Cliff rounds up the money (don't we all understand that one!). Related Pages on www.trueblueford.com : TBF
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Forum Discussion.
Wheels & Tyres: Finishing off the look are those sensational looking polished 16" x 8" ROH Reflex wheels fitted with Kelly Charger 225/50/16 hoops. "Only got them (tyres) because I was buying the rims and really didn't want to lash out another $2000 on tyres right then and there." A last minute check by the rego dept almost saw Cliff's efforts falter but a quick reference to the factory Fairmont specs realised a factory width of 7" - meaning at 1" oversize, Cliff's wheels were well within allowable limits! But that was after he had to spend time making sure they cleared the guards at the front - finishing with a little finger's gap between the tyres and the new body kit at full lock. Related Pages on www.trueblueford.com : TBF
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Forum Discussion.
Lighting: Fitted with 130 watt halogen globes, the new spoiler mounted spot lights are for much more than good looks - turning "the night into day" according to Cliff. So much so that he has been "told by people that they thought there was a truck coming up behind them." The smaller lamps though are of limited benefit - pointing out to the side of the road but working well in foggy conditions. Tinting the tail lights for the first time Cliff realised that he could hardly see the brake lights so tried a lighter tint. Still not enough, Cliff then went to halogen globes for the answer - and achieved his aim. That is until the brake light switch burnt out! One relay later and all was working again much brighter than the original tail lights ever were... Related Pages on www.trueblueford.com : TBF
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Rego & Those Plates: Luckily, Steve at Speed Technology had the appropriate contacts for obtaining the Engineers Certificate so that was pretty smooth sailing. In fact it was so smooth the guys at VicRoads only needed to look under the bonnet for a few short minutes and Cliff was on his way! After all this, there was only one way to celebrate the finish of a project like this. "The car looked sweet, so I knew I needed some personalised plates for it. So, having a few people say how schmik it looked, I decided that would have to be the plate for the car. Upon ringing up Vic Roads, I found out that SCHMIK was gone, so was SCHMIC, SHMIK, SHMICK, SHMIC, so I tried SHHMIK. I actually made it up on the spot." Sounds great to us! Thanks go to Cliff for allowing us to share his story, and learn a few interesting tales along the way! You can be sure you will be seeing more of this fantastic XF in the coming months, as Cliff scrapes up the cash for Phase 2 of his build - we can hardly wait! Thanks: Cliff would like to thank the following businesses for their help in converting his XF into the beast she is today :
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tech, Body Forum Discussion. To go back to PART 1, CLICK HERE...
CLICK HERE to go BACK to part one
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