Full Monty

I cant see how, the fulcrum bush still has some give, and the strengthened diff cover is simply to prevent it cracking the cover plate where the rear diff bush bolt attaches. Mal said there is a number of production cars racing up at bathurst this weekend, you cant get much more brutal testing than that...lol. he said he hasnt had one breakage yet. it went in today, all good so far, car feels good, nice and solid and has rectified most of the clunking...Just a single small clunk if you give it a bootful then lift off, as the auto changes up a gear off throttle. The diff feels more connected if that makes sense, like less slop in the rear end - more solid. so far very happy, one less thing to worry about.

Thanks to Mal for the prompt delivery of the strengthened Diff backing plate, arrived this morning. Goes in tomorrow, will let you all know how it works out.

Thanks to Mal Wood for his excellent advice, spending a good 15-20 minutes with me on the phone, I have decided yo install one of his beefed up Diff backing plates along with the fulcrum bush on Friday. one area of the drivetrain to never worry about again. As Mal put it, its good security to do it whilst its all out, as the Polyurethane bush is stiffer, that load has to be transferred somewhere....Next weakest link in the chain is the cover plate. to have it all pulled out again to install the plate down the track would be $400-$500 in labour. The whole point for me going the fulcrum bush is so that the IRS cradle doesnt have to be pulled out again (hopefully). will let you all know the result, im hoping for less clunks and rattles from the rear end.

ok, Car is booked in for friday, after receiving the Super Pro polyurethane bush from fulcrum today. I got a few quotes for Labour - parts supplied. Strapp Ford, couldnt give me an exact price, but said around $550 - 600 Lantern Motors (Ex ford mechanic, has done hundreds of BA - BF diff bushes, quoted $350. Guess which one I went for. I purchased a new diff bolt, my concern now is the new harder polyurethane bush will put more strain on the already fragile diff backing plate. I have phoned Mal Wood for his advice, whether it should be done whilst the rear end is apart, awaiting a call back from him. I will try to remember to take photos of both the Fulcrum and standard Ford bush side by side

Royal Purple 10w40 full synthetic. same price as mobil 1.

I like it, at least something to distinguish the Xr6T and Xr8 from the other models. wheels look good, and dark accents tie in nicely with the sideskirts and bumper treatments. http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring/news_...n-xr-update.htm

I did the John Bowe performance driving course last weekend at sandown, fantastic day and highly recommended to all forum members. You'll gain a much better understanding of correct driving techniques, braking, cornering, correct use of vision entering the corner, through to apex and exit.. has changed my attitudes to driving, and have gotten to know my car even better. Highly recommended. Gav

Looks great! who did the paint work, and can you give me a rough Idea on costs for the full respray? great stuff

Took a couple of pics this morning, car is dirty though (damn rain at sandown)...Will take some clean ones and post sometime soon.

crazy thing is, that the standard XR bonnet - minus bulge, is $400 from ford. wow, massive difference in price for a bit of a bulge, keeps all the tranny's under control...rofl

Racebrakes price is $3200, fitted drive away. Considering the group buy price supplied only was $2600, this is pretty good. I was lucky to be able to obtain everything (barely used) for a much cheaper price (under half price of the group buy), and I paid them to fit, flush fluid / new braided lines and pads. Even the caliper brackets fitted my car, as they were of an AU XR8, saved me considerable cash, as the brackets alone cost between 250 - 300 each. All done in approx 2 hrs. I have been advised not to waste money on rear brakes on a BA, as in hard stop applications, the ABS cuts line pressure to the rears to avoid swapping ends, max I would do is a pad swap and braided lines for the rear, perhaps swap rotors to DBA 4000 if they were worn out. If your in Melb, contact Howard at racebrakes very knowledgeable down to earth guy will tell you the honest truth

Had my brakes overhaled by Race Brakes in Flemington on Friday. AP Racing CP5200 4 pot calipers, DBA 2 peice rotors, goodridge stainless braided lines, with motul 600 fluid and RB24 street / sport pads. (I have a spare set of 3000 enduro track pads, but these are too harsh for every day use. The transformation it has made to my car is remarkable, the car hauls down from 110kph so fast, and effortlessly. so much safer than the spongey standard BA brakes. best money I have spent on a car... If your in Melbourne, speak to Howard Reynolds at race brakes..Top Guys, and great service.

Zaino Bros, Z9 Cleaner followed by Zaino Z10 Leather in a bottle, conditions and nourishes leather with oils, and most importantly makes the car smell like new leather again. im a detailing freak, spend way too much time and money on car detailing, but the results are always worth it. go to Autopia.org for detailing info.

Ive postponed the job with ford until the fulcrum bush is back in stock in 1 - 2 weeks time. Speaking with the service manager, this is all too common even on the BF's. Even the newer revised bush is prone to wearing out on the BA's. Interestingly the part number seems to be the same on the rear main bush, so ford must have done a running revision on the part and kept the same part no. I'd much rather wait 2 weeks and do it properly, than have to do it again in 2 years time.

Thanks mate, I just rang wholesale susp, they were very helpful. They are currently out of stock also (as fulcrum are having a hard time keeping up with demand on this part. he is going to try and hunt one down for me and give me a call back. thanks again. I have had 2 separate quotes in the 350 - 400 region to do the job, if ford try and ream me like I think they will I at least have some backup on what it should cost.

Hi Ian You wouldnt happen to know of any stores up your way with one in stock would you? as My local places didnt stock it, and Fulcrum are out of stock, waiting to do another production run. If I can get it by the end of the week, I can get it done with the fulcrum one, otherwise I'll have to chance it with the ford one, as im booked in to do it with my service on friday.

That kinda makes sense to me envy, its designed to have a little bit of flex to take shock from the driveline and prevent it being transmitted to the subframe and then chassis. problem is that being so compliant, it has tons of slop leading to it chewing out prematurely.. I sure hope the revised one can last more than the original. Gav

Cheers, it seems I will be going the Ford revised bush, as fulcrum are out of stock of the neoprean bush...could be weeks or months before they remanufacture them. is it worth replacing the bolt with a high tensile bolt, and using some loctite?

Thanks xr06T.. getting it done friday...ontop of the rediculous $526 quoted for a normal 90k service, which when I enquired what was involved, the answer was, air filter, fuel filter, oil change and torquing up inlet and exhaust bolts...No trans flush / filter, no diff fluid change... I'll be shopping around I think.

Thanks, your a legend!...I just rang a fulcrum stockist here in melb and they didnt know of that part, now I can ring back armed with some info!... did the diff bush from fulcrum come as a set of 3 to do the rear main and the front 2 bushes? and did it make any noticable difference to the drivelink clunks?...I.e was the worn bush the problem.

Hi guys, Ive got the dreaded diff clunk, progressively getting worse over the past month. Mainly if going from reverse to 1st, or taking off briskly. The previous owner had the diff replaced in the last 6 months, but it seems ford overlooked the cracked and perished diff bush when swapping the diffs over, now it all has to come out again! to be replaced!!! anyone who has had this job done, can you give me an estimate of what it cost you? I know its a pretty big job, as the whole rear assembly must be removed to get to it. I am going to look into the aftermarked Fulcrum Neoprean bushes as I dont want to be doing this again in another 50,000ks. Anyone who has fitted this, do you recall the part number and price? Is it a job any competent mechanic could do, or is it best be done with ford? Cheers guys.

Thanks guys...great info. Firstly, can you get a bonnet supplied painted from ford? I thought they only supplied them with primer? secondly, I wasnt really keen on a fibreglass bonnet, which would have to be painted to match the car, as I am then facing the same dilema as to whether get the whole front blended to match, or go black. I was more after the raw carbon / clear coated look...I reckon it looks trick, but wouldnt want all the attention from the fuzz, even if I had it engineered approved. I was reading in fast fours (ricer mag) an article where they posed the question regarding Carbon bonnets to their engineer consultant. His reply was along the lines of, it must not compromise the structural ingegrity of the front crash structures of the car, and must be secured with flush mounted bonnet pins to prevent it dislodging in a frontal impact due to its much greater stiffness (more likely to break the mounts and fly rearward, than the standard bonnet bending.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. The thing is I had my heart set on the AWC carbon boss bonnet, I reckon this would look tops on my car, but after reading all about ADR compliance, and Vic roads / Police problems, I'm a bit hesitant about getting the carbon bonnet. Does anyone know the rules regarding them? if you get an engineers report are you ok? To be honest Im a little worried about the implications of the bonnet being so rigid in a frontal collisions, as the steel bonnet buckles, I'd imagine the AWC would either snap, or push rearward through the screen (ouch) I wonder if they have been crash tested? I'd suppose not, giving the costs involved. To pass ADR wouldn't it have to be engineered to fold or break at a certain point, in the case of a collision, the underside struts of the AWC bonnet looks to be a replica of the Ford original.. But being made of a rigid material like carbon, I would think it would need entirely different framework, with an engineered weak point. what would an engineers report cost for something like this? Anyone with some info on the legalities involved, please advise.

heres without the stripes, and also with the grille section still in silver

Ok so where kinda 50/50 right now... The car is lightning strike silver, has dark tinted windows, in case the pic isnt that clear. so stripes along edges or full black bonnet, matte or gloss black?