summoner

Am considering starting a project soon and may be getting myself 2 unlicensed cars, 1 a 4speed XD and the other an auto XE for approx $250 in reasonable condition, and possibley running :)

Dont know what motors they have got in them at present.

Which 1 do you guys recommend i use as the base for the project if their both in same condition, what motor are they most likely running and how hard is it to swap a 351C into either 1?

Is a gearbox/pedal box/clutch etc swap from the XD to XE difficlut or can it be done by 2 people with few hours/days to kill?

Did 351C's come mated to a 4speed box or would i need to source a differant box from somewhere.

I'm going to try see what i can do on these cars on my own, will have a warehouse to keep both cars and assorted crap etc.

Any information would be great as i don't really know to much about Fords as such(i drive a vu ss ute ) but this project will give me something to do over time and might even eventually turn into something nice, aiming for a nice cruiser with a lovely 351C purrr.

ZH_302

First up , welcome to the boards mate, hope you enjoy `em

Use the XE for your base car I reckon, for a start it has a coil sprung rear end and XD only has ye olde world leaf springs

plus there is probably more minor upgrades on the XE , that I wouldn`t have a clue about
:oo1:

351c`s came with a 4speed manual or 3 speed auto I think

As you can see I`m probably not the best person to answer all your questions, but hope this helps in some way.

So can anyone else help out our new member here???? Mr Jucy maybe...

EA S

Welcome.

What hypo said. I'm not that familiar with XD-E but had XF for years. Apart from the coils on the XE, it also has the advantage that the boot can take a full size esky, which I don't think the XD could and still shut the lid.

Re the auto/manual swap, go to http://ford.i8.com/discuss.htm and go back through the topics until you find one (I think there might be two separate threads a bit of time apart) about auto to manual conversion by Bass Crazy. It's EA, but the general operation will be similar although the details are different. I think it took about four blokes about ?16 hours to swap the manual into an auto and vice versa. I've pulled gearbox off XF to do clutch and I think it's maybe half a day out and in, and dash out and replace pedal box on EA was about 6 hours but you could do it in half the time if you don't stuff around like I did. I don't think 2 blokes with general mechanical skills would have any trouble converting auto to manual in a weekend, maybe a lot less.

On dropping the manual box, remove the gearshift lever BEFORE dropping the box. I made the mistake of following the destructions in the workshop manual and after dropping the box part way and attempting to remove the lever as instructed I found that the bloody thing was an XD-E type which I couldn't budge or get at to remove. This was a huge help as I couldn't get the bastard back in at the clutch end or move it in any direction. So I forced it out with a pry bar and broke the fork. It was that or cut the bloody lever.

Watch the firewall on the XD-E-F as it's not strong enough for manual and will flex and eventually pull through if it's not reinforced. A plate on the firewall side can be held on by a few self tappers as the clutch cable adjuster holds it in place any way. Swap the clutch cable tube and plate that should be on the manual donor into the XE to get the right angle on the cable and a bit more reinforcement. Or do yourself a favour and convert it to hydraulic at the same time.

If the earlier dashes are anything like the E series, get the workshop manual as the order of work isn't the way you'd approach it naturally.

Others will know the other stuff.

summoner

thanks, after talkin around a bit will probably do up the XE and keep it auto, run a 351C mated to a tricked up C4 and 9" :D

although any additional info will be great

Mr Jucy

XEs are hard to find with 351s. They were only in the ESPs & highway cars. The ESPs still go for top dollar too. There has been a fair few conversions done over the years though but you want to check it was done properly if you get one of these.
If you have any other specific questions fire away
welcome to the forums too & go the XD/Es

PigDog

Sounds great summoner. One thing tho if the XE is only a 6cyl it will need to be a 1982 model if u want to drop in a 351 without having to get it engineered.... altho it would be pretty easy getting a certificate for an XE anyway.

Myself i'd love a fully worked 351 XE on its nuts painted bright monza red Mmmmm :DD

__________________
EF Fairmont 5.0

"Five litres of Ford's finest cast iron!"

xr6wgn

I personally would do the XD Two reasons come to mind:

1 You're talking about a 351/manual, the XD has cart springs on the back so when you decide to fit the 9" Diff (It is part of your plan isn't it??) it's going to be a lot easier to fit on cart springs than modify the diff housing to accept 4 links, coils and watts linkage.

2 The XD has a full grill and the XE's bonnet wraps over the grill area. XE 351's ran a lot warmer than the XD due to less air flowing through the radiator. Yeah I know you can fit bigger radiators etc but the more air that flows through the better.

If you start with a 6/manual you will have to change the pedal box as the clutch setups are different, 6 - Cable, V8 - Hydraulic, the clutch pedal mounts in a different posii. It's fairly easy to replace these - you only really need to remove the steering column. (Ive only heard of the flexing firewall on the XF's, I THINK the XD and XE were thicker in that area.

The real beuty of the XD is that it was the last of the cart rear ends and it can accept any previous models running gear with little trouble. The point about the esky is true - the depth of the boot is woefull for a large car

Plus I own a XD ESP and I reckon they look better than the XE.

Anyway whatever you decide you'll get the good info here

Cheers

Paul B
XR6WGN

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476 EF XR6 Wagons - 198 were Manual
Member Tickford / FPV Club - SA

EA S

I think the firewall is probably the same on XD-F and that the difference is that the XD-E had a spigot on the firewall hole, a little base with an angled tube coming off it that spread the load a bit. It was deleted on the XF. Putting one on my XF after the firewall pulled through cured the problem.

discokin6

Apart from owning 2 XEs (possible bias!) I think theyre superior to the XD in the respect of;
far greater rear suspension,
slightly nicer package (like window winders, boot depth etc)
not that many XE 351s on the street

sure it'd cost a bit more $$$ to convert a 9" rear end to suit a multilink suspension, but the watts link does a Really Good Job at keeping the axle straight when cornering. Another advantage in it is it also helps to stabilize the vehicle if it encounters a bump while in mid corner, since the 4 links act somewhat as a semi-indepentant suspension. Also, the ESP front end, IMO, looks sliightly better than XD, in that the lights are of a dual lamp design. If heat under the hood is an issue with little airflow, why not insulate the extractors? Or for the meaner look install a few bonnet vents