XR front bar on ghia

ronwest · 11-01-2009, 07:03 PM

I've decided to keep my au and want to personalise it a bit more.

To that end I've bought an xr front bar, lights and bonnet.

I've loosely fitted the front bar and note that the Hi series bonnet fits with it, provided I do something about the xr grill.

One thing led to another and it *seems* that the ghia grill and surround will also fit with a little modification (eg bottom corners need rounding).

I can see that I'll have to fit a wire to the bonnet release catch in order to open the bonnet. (edit: scratch that comment... it looks as though it will still be ok with the bonnet popped)

So the question is, has anyone done this mod or can anyone see why it won't work?

A pic for clarity:-

InfernoSR · 11-01-2009, 07:21 PM

I think i remember seeing one once with a full chrome grille... not my flavour, but what you are suggesting would look alot smarter.

b2tf · 11-01-2009, 07:24 PM

Racecraft did something similar didnt he?

LUXO_8 · 11-01-2009, 08:19 PM

that would look quite good actually.... good luck with it.

bloggs24 · 11-01-2009, 10:23 PM

That would look awsome i wreckon, no offence to anyone, but i never liked the triangle headlights on the AU (love T-series headlight).

sikford · 12-01-2009, 08:50 AM

oooh, that would look great with the ghia grill, keep everyone posted on that, i did like the front that was on it tho. looks very clean.

ronwest · 12-01-2009, 07:15 PM

Cheers for encouragement guys. I think the grill will be easy enough to do.

sikford, I like the Brumby bar as well (most people do) so seeing as it only an hour or so to swap the bars and lights around I'll probably do that every few months to keep the car relatively fresh

Moving right along....

I don't have an XR here for reference and even though behind the front bar is similar, there are some differences. At the mo I'm concerned about the spacing.

Can someone confirm that this is how the lights sit (at the bottom) or does it need packing out?

b2tf · 12-01-2009, 07:21 PM

No that's correct.

bloggs24 · 12-01-2009, 07:50 PM

yeh there right, thats why XR's get alot of air from behind the headlight

InfernoSR · 12-01-2009, 11:03 PM

You want to turn your Mont into a XR, where i want to turn my Forte/XR into a Mont :P

ronwest · 13-01-2009, 02:42 PM

Cheers, b2 and b24 - it looked a little odd at first.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLUEPRINT

You want to turn your Mont into a XR, where i want to turn my Forte/XR into a Mont :P

For me the best compromise... Ghia inside, XR outside ;)

To continue....

Has anyone got a Fairmont grill surround (or complete grill) for sale?

I've phoned/emailed over 20 wreckers and no go. Heaven forbid I should have to give up my first born and buy from Ford, lol.

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11246315

ronwest · 14-01-2009, 01:58 PM

I'm in the process of adapting bits to suit the XR bar but can't see what attaches/screws in to the tabs pictured. No mention of it in Gregory's.

Are XR front guards different to other models or is there some sort of brace that screws onto those tabs?

Cheers...

**Mont5.0** · 14-01-2009, 02:04 PM

when i put my front bar on the mont, i wondered the same??
No extra bolts for mine. I did find it sat slightly low, so i spaced it up with a few washers under the top tabs (along the radiator support). You may not have this issue though as it was only present after fitting the low series bonnet. Adding the splash tray underneath ties it all in together nicely, it is pretty flimsy till the splash tray is added.

**Mont5.0** · 14-01-2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronwest

Cheers, b2 and b24 - it looked a little odd at first.

For me the best compromise... Ghia inside, XR outside ;)

To continue....

Has anyone got a Fairmont grill surround (or complete grill) for sale?

I've phoned/emailed over 20 wreckers and no go. Heaven forbid I should have to give up my first born and buy from Ford, lol.

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11246315

I have a chrome one sitting up in my roof.- dont know if its any good to you or not??

ronwest · 14-01-2009, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mont5.0

when i put my front bar on the mont, i wondered the same??
No extra bolts for mine. I did find it sat slightly low, so i spaced it up with a few washers under the top tabs (along the radiator support). You may not have this issue though as it was only present after fitting the low series bonnet. Adding the splash tray underneath ties it all in together nicely, it is pretty flimsy till the splash tray is added.

Yeah cheers, mate. The bar is fairly rigid so far. I just cut off small bits of that plastic crush panel until it fitted snugly.
If I need to, I can probably fabricate a brace incorporating a small turnbuckle to get the bar at the same height as the guard. I'll get it all tightened up for a good looksee this evening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mont5.0

I have a chrome one sitting up in my roof.- dont know if its any good to you or not??

Thanks but I'm all gung-ho to fit the Fairmont grill. If I screw that up I'll get back to you ;)

autickfordfairmont · 14-01-2009, 04:20 PM

http://www.awcinfo.com/techxr50.htm

This tutorial shows the install of an XR50 front bar & shows the two 8mm bolts and also shows a bracket off the front of the guard that they bolt into that a Fairmont guard doesnt have (as far as im aware).

Dont know how the brakcet attached to the guard but it would help support the bar especially up and around the lights.

Might have to check with someone with an XR50 bar or an XR8 that has had the bar off to see. Or try the wreckers to see how it attaches.

Hope that helps.

Col.

ronwest · 14-01-2009, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by autickfordfairmont

http://www.awcinfo.com/techxr50.htm

Hope that helps.

Col.

Thanks Col, that's a great help.

"4. Remove the two 8mm bolts and the 13mm nut on either side that attaches the bar to the front guard."

Won't be too difficult to make up a brace to support the bar at those points.

bloggs24 · 14-01-2009, 07:49 PM

Those 2 mounting points were pains in the *** to uninstall/install, ya gotta put your hand right in through the fender and somehow put the nut on the bolt with 1 hand, lol.

**Mont5.0** · 15-01-2009, 12:12 AM

mines fine after spacing up as i posted above.

ronwest · 15-01-2009, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mont5.0

mines fine after spacing up as i posted above.

I've cut out the xr grill which means that the two centre mounts are gone. It's a bit all over the place at the mo.

Good news is that I've filed down the Fairmont grill surround and it fits nicely - well, it will when I get everything braced and sitting where it should.

I'll probably make up a couple of aluminium supports to replace the missing plastic mounts so that should make it a bit more rigid.

I'll decide then whether to make up the inner guard braces but I did note this evening that there is facility for attaching those braces to the guard. Looks like it'll only require a bit of angle with a couple of slots to match up with those holes on the bar.

**Mont5.0** · 15-01-2009, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronwest

On another Note, see how you can see under the light and through to the bar below, Mine has like a Black "cup like" plastic under the light- which fills the gap from light to bar. (hard to explain so i took a pic).It encases both Headlights and tapers from nothing up top, To around 20-30mm below. You seem to Be missing this?

ronwest · 15-01-2009, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mont5.0

On another Note, see how you can see under the light and through to the bar below

That is the plastic light surround.
This bar has had a few paint jobs; dark green, lime, purple and finally, white.

The white you see under the light is overspray.

That's todays job - hit the bar up with a pressure cleaner and get rid of as much of the old paint as possible :(

superroo · 15-01-2009, 01:13 PM

The exterior of the front guards are the same for all au models. The XR's though had 2 nutserts in each quater. The standard quarter has the holes for the nutserts, but no insert.
That's what those extra brackets bolt up to. It just pulls the bar onto the quarters better.

Cheers

sikford · 15-01-2009, 01:14 PM

looks like your not wasting any time on it

ronwest · 15-01-2009, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superroo

The XR's though had 2 nutserts in each quater.

Thanks mate. It's a long time since I've heard the word "nutsert".

You won't believe it but 1n 1978 I bought a nutsert kit for $56 (still got the price on it). Comprises of various sized nuserts and the adaptors to suit.

I was thinking of nutserts anyway but hadn't gone too far into it.

If you've seen the brace, is it just a bit of angle with holes at the appropriate places, or is it some elaborate shape?

ronwest · 15-01-2009, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sikford

looks like your not wasting any time on it

I've got a bit of time up my sleeve but the main thing is that the car is immobile.

Mind you, I did pop up to Bunnings with no front bar/lights, lol.

sikford · 15-01-2009, 02:40 PM

haha good effort,lol. must admit this is making me want to something about my front bar now.lol

superroo · 15-01-2009, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronwest

If you've seen the brace, is it just a bit of angle with holes at the appropriate places, or is it some elaborate shape?

Haven't seen the bracket, but i wouldn't think it would be anything other than than a bit of angle iron or similar.
Have only seen/got a xr bar and a xr quater around here, waiting to be used.

Cheers

ronwest · 20-01-2009, 11:36 PM

XR bar is spray puttied/primed ready for topcoat tomorrow. Had to get a small dent out of it with a hairdryer - worked surprisingly well.

Most of the time, about 8 hours spent stripping the old paint... of a job!

Made the brackets up... bit of a tight squeeze up in there but all good.

The Fairmont grill has been trimmed close but I'll finalise that when the bar is bolted up for the final time - everyone who has seen it likes the combination.

The wiring won't take long. The brief look I had indicates that the wiring for the different lights is the same colour coding so I'll leave both sets of connectors intact - or maybe the harness will reach anyway... if the connectors are the same?

The main reason for this update is to see if someone can upload a pic or maybe just confirm that there is a gap between the bonnet and the bar at the circled location. I'm guessing that it's a 6mm - 8mm? gap on mine. Looks a bit odd but I just put it down to the fact I'm using the hi series bonnet.
In this pic it looks as though there is a gap there as well?

edit: apologies to the owner of the fine example pictured for defacing his vehicle. It is in a good cause

HLC · 20-01-2009, 11:50 PM

in my experiences of looking at XR's there is a 6-8mm gap there or thereabouts.