2007 Fpv Tornado Ute - Tinkering & Setup

[PTR_NITRO_FG]

^^ Yeah Phils taxi driver and doesn't like poke

He commented on my rears being a little out of the guards....with those rims his will be hella mexican

[PhilMeUp]

Yeah some jap bloke will take them worst case....I would say worth way more than the $500 anyways.

Dont want to burst your bubble but 18x9 +7 will poke (or be very flush at least). Not sure if you remember the front of my car....but I have 18x9 +29 ... so yours will have 22mm more poke than mine. I rekon just outside the gaurd....so not sure how he claims it hit Suspension? Cause the lower offset means rim is moving away from suspension lol

Rears will work on ute I think....but you may need to roll?

P.s. they look bloody mint from the pics....no rash? Maybe they have already been restored?

I figure that if I can get them here for around $500-550 delivered then they're worth a try.

If they don't fit then I'll get that back fairly easily.

I think that they'll look awesome on the Breeze ute, so it's gonna be rather disappointing if they don't fit.

There's some scratching on at least one of the spokes, but the photos aren't that great. I'll know for sure when they get here.

[arronm]

Thursday, 7th May, 2015

Regular readers will be familiar with my previous Tornado build thread. I bought a very untidy 2006 BF FPV Tornado at auction and went to work on cleaning it up.

http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/89684-2006-fpv-tornado-f6-ute-cleanup-resurrection/

Some history - the timeline:

July 2014: Bought a crash-damaged 2005 BA XR6 Turbo ute and got it licenced in September. Figured I’d try it out and resell it if I didn’t like it, but got hooked on the turbo 6 power and wanted more within weeks.

November 2014: Found a 2006 BF Tornado at auction. Saw it, obsessed about it for a week and bought it. Endless hours and huge amounts of effort went into getting it into the condition that I wanted.

April 2015: Endless amounts of fun with the Tornado, but saw a modified BFII at Pickles Auctions on the other side of the country. Watched the auction via internet but didn’t buy the car.

May 2015: Saw the BFII Tornado listed on Pickles again. The previous buyer didn’t have the money, so the car was listed for sale again. Just like the previous Tornado, I obsessed and bought it.

I’m always looking through different web sites to see what’s out there and saw another FPV Tornado on the Pickles Auctions web site a few weeks ago.

I thought about it, but I hadn’t finished the current one yet. I wasn’t really in a position to buy another car, but registered to bid via web site and watched the auction anyway. I figured if it went stupidly cheap then I’d grab it.

On the day it sold for $15,000. I didn’t bid, and that was that.

A few days later it was back on the Pickles site again. This time I thought about it some more and started looking into it.

This one has almost $9,000 of engine modifications and produces 353kW at the rear wheels.

There’s an aftermarket stereo console in there, although I don’t yet know if there is anything else added to it (ie amplifier and speakers).

Within a day of it being relisted I had decided that I wanted it. Oh dear. Here we go again.

I got the auctioneer to email the original full-size photos to me, and I kept staring at them several times each day. I went to performance workshops and got advice about the engine modifications.

The obvious conclusion was that this had to be the next step for me. I was hooked.

Software problems on the day were franticly sorted out and I bought the car.

Unlike my past two cars, this one won’t require a huge amount of immediate repairs before I can drive it.

This car had a bunch of modifications done in 2012:

- Plazmaman Pro Series 1000hp intercooler, inlet plenum, revised piping and custom under headlight cold air intake

- Plazmaman 4" stainless dump pipe

- High flow cat converter

- Plazmaman Billet surge tank with Bosch 044 fuel pump and wiring harness

- Bosch Xspurt 1000cc fuel injectors

- Custom dyno tune to suit new setup, tuned to 353kW at the rear wheels

So why a build thread? I’m going to get it maintained and ready for long-term use - I intend to have this one for a while. Actually, I said that about the last two cars, so I’ll see if I actually mean it this time.

Things that I’ll be doing - the usual initial maintenance and setup stuff:

- Replace engine oil & filter (Gulf Western 3000X and Mobil 1 filter).

- Replace diff oil - Penrite Pro Gear 80-140 (heavy duty synthetic).

- Coolant flush & new coolant tank.

- Wheel alignment.

- Replace indicator globes with new ones (the orange coating peels off).

- Flush windscreen washer tank.

- Clean the seat belts.

- Replace rear axle bearings.

- Replace the shackle bushes in the leaf springs.

- Flush the brake fluid.

- Replace the upper and lower radiator hoses.

- Replace the engine drive belt.

- Replace the fuel filter.

- Check/replace centre bearing.

- Clean the air filter (pod filter behind the front bumper).

- Flush power steering fluid.

- Flush transmission fluid.

Other things that I’ll be doing:

- Check/repair the spare wheel winch.

- Heat-proof o-rings on coil cover bolts.

- Fit a Parrot MKi9200 phone kit.

- Remove the hard lid & hinging - I’ll be keeping the back open but using a soft tonneau cover if required. I’ll keep the hard lid for future possible use.

- Fit turbo oil filter return kit (ie Earl’s kit). The same one that I didn’t get around to fitting to the previous two cars. One of these days...

- Replace the front 4 piston Brembo and rear PBR brakes with Brembo 6 piston front and 4 piston rear calipers.

- Fit a PWR heat exchanger.

I’m guessing that it’s going to be at least a few weeks before the car makes the trip from Dubbo to Perth. Good, I’m going to need to work non-stop to pay for what I’m going to get up to!

Photos:

FPV dont use Z9 filters

[Ralph Wiggum]

Thursday, 7th May, 2015

Regular readers will be familiar with my previous Tornado build thread. I bought a very untidy 2006 BF FPV Tornado at auction and went to work on cleaning it up.

http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/89684-2006-fpv-tornado-f6-ute-cleanup-resurrection/

Some history - the timeline:

July 2014: Bought a crash-damaged 2005 BA XR6 Turbo ute and got it licenced in September. Figured I’d try it out and resell it if I didn’t like it, but got hooked on the turbo 6 power and wanted more within weeks.

November 2014: Found a 2006 BF Tornado at auction. Saw it, obsessed about it for a week and bought it. Endless hours and huge amounts of effort went into getting it into the condition that I wanted.

April 2015: Endless amounts of fun with the Tornado, but saw a modified BFII at Pickles Auctions on the other side of the country. Watched the auction via internet but didn’t buy the car.

May 2015: Saw the BFII Tornado listed on Pickles again. The previous buyer didn’t have the money, so the car was listed for sale again. Just like the previous Tornado, I obsessed and bought it.

I’m always looking through different web sites to see what’s out there and saw another FPV Tornado on the Pickles Auctions web site a few weeks ago.

I thought about it, but I hadn’t finished the current one yet. I wasn’t really in a position to buy another car, but registered to bid via web site and watched the auction anyway. I figured if it went stupidly cheap then I’d grab it.

On the day it sold for $15,000. I didn’t bid, and that was that.

A few days later it was back on the Pickles site again. This time I thought about it some more and started looking into it.

This one has almost $9,000 of engine modifications and produces 353kW at the rear wheels.

There’s an aftermarket stereo console in there, although I don’t yet know if there is anything else added to it (ie amplifier and speakers).

Within a day of it being relisted I had decided that I wanted it. Oh dear. Here we go again.

I got the auctioneer to email the original full-size photos to me, and I kept staring at them several times each day. I went to performance workshops and got advice about the engine modifications.

The obvious conclusion was that this had to be the next step for me. I was hooked.

Software problems on the day were franticly sorted out and I bought the car.

Unlike my past two cars, this one won’t require a huge amount of immediate repairs before I can drive it.

This car had a bunch of modifications done in 2012:

- Plazmaman Pro Series 1000hp intercooler, inlet plenum, revised piping and custom under headlight cold air intake

- Plazmaman 4" stainless dump pipe

- High flow cat converter

- Plazmaman Billet surge tank with Bosch 044 fuel pump and wiring harness

- Bosch Xspurt 1000cc fuel injectors

- Custom dyno tune to suit new setup, tuned to 353kW at the rear wheels

So why a build thread? I’m going to get it maintained and ready for long-term use - I intend to have this one for a while. Actually, I said that about the last two cars, so I’ll see if I actually mean it this time.

Things that I’ll be doing - the usual initial maintenance and setup stuff:

- Replace engine oil & filter (Gulf Western 3000X and Mobil 1 filter).

- Replace diff oil - Penrite Pro Gear 80-140 (heavy duty synthetic).

- Coolant flush & new coolant tank.

- Wheel alignment.

- Replace indicator globes with new ones (the orange coating peels off).

- Flush windscreen washer tank.

- Clean the seat belts.

- Replace rear axle bearings.

- Replace the shackle bushes in the leaf springs.

- Flush the brake fluid.

- Replace the upper and lower radiator hoses.

- Replace the engine drive belt.

- Replace the fuel filter.

- Check/replace centre bearing.

- Clean the air filter (pod filter behind the front bumper).

- Flush power steering fluid.

- Flush transmission fluid.

Other things that I’ll be doing:

- Check/repair the spare wheel winch.

- Heat-proof o-rings on coil cover bolts.

- Fit a Parrot MKi9200 phone kit.

- Remove the hard lid & hinging - I’ll be keeping the back open but using a soft tonneau cover if required. I’ll keep the hard lid for future possible use.

- Fit turbo oil filter return kit (ie Earl’s kit). The same one that I didn’t get around to fitting to the previous two cars. One of these days...

- Replace the front 4 piston Brembo and rear PBR brakes with Brembo 6 piston front and 4 piston rear calipers.

- Fit a PWR heat exchanger.

I’m guessing that it’s going to be at least a few weeks before the car makes the trip from Dubbo to Perth. Good, I’m going to need to work non-stop to pay for what I’m going to get up to!

Photos:

Double R Ron is correct. It's a Z516

[FiftyOne]

I've always wondered what the flow and filtration differences are between them

[PhilMeUp]

Tuesday, 23rd June, 2015

I woke to see an SMS from Prixcar to say that the Tornado was available for pickup from their Perth depo.

I got the KTM out, put some tie-downs in a backpack and headed off pick up the Tornado. Being a ute, I could just put the KTM in the back and then drive home again.

Of course, it wasn’t until I got there until I realised that wasn’t going to happen - this ute has a hardlid. I don’t like hardlids.

The KTM was left there and picked up with my other Tornado later on.

The first time I saw the car:

Once I got home it was time to start looking around the car.

I started by giving the engine bay a basic clean with CT18. Later on I’ll polish the plenum and replace the coolant tank (when I get the cooling system flushed).

The engine was already warm, and I left it running for a while after rinsing it to ensure that it would dry out properly. I was a bit paranoid about this one, so didn’t spent much time rinsing water through it.

The bearing in the idle pulley is very worn and is making a bunch of noise. I’ll be replacing the idle pulley soon - it’s an easy job.

BA Falcons used to have a diagram decal underneath the bonnet with a diagram of the drive belt routing. Ford stopped doing this for the BF. These days I order one of these decals and put one in place on each Falcon that I own. The part number is BAF9C485A. It’s a lot easier putting the belt back in the right place when there’s a diagram right in front of you. I’ll never understand why Ford stopping putting these decals on at the factory.

I recently bought a Ryobi RPW3200 pressure washer to replace my previous RPW2400. The new one has a tank in the front for soap, so I’ve filled it with Armor All Wash & Wax. The pressure washer then sprays it at a low pressure.

After a lap of the car with a soft-bristle broom it was time to rinse it off with water.

The oil looks cleaner in the photo than it actually isn (it’s actually quite dark). I’ll be doing an oil change tomorrow.

The front bumpers on FPVs look great but are extremely low. I’ll get this painted later, but it’s not a high priority at this stage - as with my previous Tornado, my initial focus will be on maintenance and mechanical repairs. I definitely don’t like how the pod filter is sitting so low behind the front bumper - it’s way too easy for water to get to it in wet conditions.

I already had a new belt route decal for the bonnet.

The back of the ute is tidy. The hardlid will be coming off as soon as possible and stored. I’ll be keeping a conventional tonneau cover folded up in the back of the ute for occasional use.

I poked the camera under the back of the car and was pleased to see a suitable spare wheel already there. I’ll be checking out the spare wheel winch later and getting it re-cabled if required.

This car is hard to photograph - digital cameras have trouble capturing the Breeze green colour (the Pickles photos weren’t accurate either). My other Tornado (Shockwave blue) photographed well in this supermarket carpark one night last week but my attempts to get some good night photos of this one weren’t anywhere near as successful. This car looks so much better than what any of these photos are showing.

As is usual with 4-piston Brembo calipers, the clear lacquer has burned off and the calipers look partly pink. This has only partly happened on the passenger side but has happened more on the driver’s side. I’ll probably end up rebuilding these calipers (including getting them powder coated) and selling them.

I like that it’s got a towbar already in place. I don’t have an immediate need for it, but I want a towbar already in place in case I ever need one. It also ensures that the ute can’t be reversed into any walls.

The brake fluid needs flushing, and this will be happening sooner rather than later.

There’s an aftermarket Pioneer DEH-8350SD. However, this means that the steering wheel controls don’t work. It’s possible that I’ll be removing this and running the audio through the car’s ICC.

The same as my previous Tornado - the oil pressure gauge works fine but the turbo gauge doesn’t.

[PhilMeUp]

Behind the driver’s seat is a Pioneer subwoofer. I checked the bag with the jack and handle, but there’s no wheel winch winder there. I’ll have another look under the seats in daylight but will probably have to order one. The part number is EHC1A360A.

The driver’s seat belt doesn’t retract at all. This is easy to fix - I’ll remove the seat belt and blast water through it with my pressure washer to clean out the belt. I’ll also clean out the plastic guide at the top that the belt feeds through - this is where the Falcon seat belts jam up. Once I get it all cleaned up it will retract properly, but will need the occasional dose of silicon spray to keep it that way.

There’s a Pioneer GM-D7500M amplifier.

It’s a bit of a mess back there. I’ll want to get that cabling tidied up later on.

As well as the ratting sound from the idle pulley, there was also some noise from the steering pump (which is next to the idle pulley). It also had almost no power steering fluid in it, so that’s something else to sort out as soon as possible. I’m going to put some new fluid in, let it flow through the lines, drain it with a syringe and then put new fluid in again.

I was keen to start doing some work on the car on the first night, but it was five degrees outside. I’ve spent plenty of nights working late at night in the carport at temperatures even less than that, but I chose to wimp out tonight and spend some time planning what I’m going to do with the car over the next few weeks.

First observations from driving it this afternoon:

- It noisy. All sorts of whooshing sounds from the engine bay. My previous Tornado is much smoother and quieter in comparison, but this car has other noises as well that I’ll be sorting out.

- There is no time to enjoy the acceleration that 353rwkw gives. Apply the pedal and it’s doing 80 almost straight away. It’s an anti-climax - you have to back off the pedal almost as soon as you’ve applied it. At least with the previous standard Tornado I got to sit back and enjoy the acceleration for a few seconds. With this one the acceleration is over almost straight away. This car would be fantastic in country areas, but in any city with modern speed cameras everywhere it’s going to require a lot more self-awareness and discipline that I was expecting. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it...

- Some minor brake shudder at front (ie disc rotor run-out). No problem, I’ve got Brembo 6-piston calipers and brand new DBA4000 disc rotors that will be going on.

- Noisy front bearing hub, likely driver’s side. This is the noisiest Falcon bearing hub that I’ve come across. Driving this car is like sitting next to an airline jet engine. How the hell did the previous owner not get this fixed?

- Speedo stopped working. Very weird - I was indulging in some hard acceleration when something went wrong. The transmission jumped out of gear, went back into gear when the revs dropped and then the speedo stopped working. When I later restarted the car the speedo was working again. The transmission is going to need to be serviced or flushed as soon as possible.

- Idle pulley very noisy. Another one that I can’t understand. Fair enough, I’ve got a fairly comprehensive knowledge of Falcons these days which meant that I identified the noise and source of it as soon as I opened the bonnet. But the previous owner should have also noticed that at least something wasn’t right. Then again, as with my previous Tornado, this one was a bank repossession so the previous owner wasn’t quite the expert with life decisions (or car maintenance).

Things that I’ll be doing immediately:

Engine oil & filter

Diff oil (Penrite Pro Gear 80-140)

Replace noisy front wheel bearing hub

Replace indicator globes (the front ones aren’t very orange)

Flush windscreen washer tank

Clean seat belts

Check spare wheel winch

Heat-proof o-rings on coil cover bolts (stops water getting past when washing engine bay)

Remove hard lid

Fit new wiper blades

Flush power steering fluid

Once I’ve got the basics done (and the car in usable condition), I’ll move on to:

Coolant flush & new tank

Wheel alignment (and check of front suspension bushes and ball joints)

Rear axle bearings

Shackle bushes

Put grease on wheel studs

Flush brake fluid

Replace spark plugs

Replace radiator hoses

Replace drive belt

Replace fuel filter - Motorcraft AFG55AA or aftermarket?

Check/replace centre bearing

Clean air filter (pod filter behind front bumper)

Fit Brembo 6-piston front and 4-piston rear calipers

Fit Parrot MKi9200 phone kit

Fix turbo boost gauge

Flush transmission fluid

Fit Earl’s turbo oil return kit (I’ve had a new one sitting here for months)

Fit Bilstein shock absorbers (I’ve got some secondhand ones here)

The handbrake needs adjusting. If it gives me any grief then I’ll replace the rear handbrake cable and fit new handbrake shoes.

Brakes - the brakes on this car will end up being:

- Six piston front Brembo calipers

- Four piston rear Brembo calipers

- Hawk Performance ceramic pads front and rear

- Braided lines

- DBA4000 front discs

- PBR Super Dot 4 brake fluid

(ie the same as what I’ve got on my taxi, except for the two-piece DBA5000 front discs on the taxi)

[k31th]

looks like a decent value purchase

With the removal of the head unit - you'll have issues running that amp and sub without the head unit

You're right, though, with the power. You push it and you're almost certainly speeding. With great power comes great responsibility (responsibility to be ever vigilant of possible repercussions )

[Ralph Wiggum]

There’s an aftermarket Pioneer DEH-8350SD. However, this means that the steering wheel controls don’t work. It’s possible that I’ll be removing this and running the audio through the car’s ICC.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OEM-STEERING-WHEEL-CONTROL-INPUT-INTERFACE-universal-adaptor-AXXESS-METRA-ASWC1-/261247386716

[k31th]

You've confirmed that that piece of hardware works with a Falcon? Their website doesn't list the Falcon :( (no surprises, really, being an american product) - I'll be sure to get one if it does work