Intro

[troppo]

Prolly shoulda done this for my first post but I was in a hurry after I registered and...well the citric acid colour debate was too much to resist, since my new ride is citric acid ;)
Anyway, I've owned a few fords in the past, couple of XC's, an EB, an ED and at one stage, a mk 2 cortina, but this is the newest car I've ever owned. Gotta say I'm extremely pleased with it so far
It's a BA XR6 sedan, auto (wife's choice), N/A, build june 04, colour already established, had 7.2k clicks on it when I picked it up a month ago. I'm keen to get it going a bit quicker now, which led me to this site. Very nice site btw, I've found the info here to be quite helpful indeed. I'd like to get it dyno'd and chuck it down the 1/4 a few times stock before I do anything to it but with wet season almost upon us, I can't see myself getting out to the drags till next dry season (april..ish). Still, gives me some time to save and get stuff sent here.
I do have a couple of small questions though if anyone can help out.
1. Being an 06/04 build, it's a mkI isn't it? I always assumed it was from the day I test drove it, due to the fact it's distinctly lacking a mkII badge, yet the paperwork from the ford dealer calls it a mkII, then the same thing happened with the insurance co. I've never listed it as a mkII on any paperwork, just gave em the build date and vin. The owners manual also does not say mkII which I assume it would for the mkII's.
2. The brakes are fine so far. Did they change the brakes towards the end of 03 or should I expect the dreaded brake shudder when I rack up a few more kays?
3. Anyone know of any clubs/reputable performance workshops in Darwin? I've only found one place so far that even has a dyno. He also happens to stock the capa flasher but said he only just recieved the software for live tuning and hasn't looked at it all yet. Not sure I wanna be the giunea pig ;)

[bprint xr8]

troppo welcome to the forums. Glad to hear that you are enjoying your BA. There will be plenty of people here willing to give you some tips.

In response to your questions.

(1) 06/04 is about at the changeover point. MK II owners manual definitely says MK II on the cover (just got mine out of the car to check).

(2)I think the brakes did get a revision but the shudder doesnt seem to be a problem in any of the BA's ive been in. Guess it is luck of the draw.

(3) Cant help you with a good workshop in Darwin as I am a bit far away (country victoria).

I hope you enjoy the forums. Its a great place to be.

[argonEL]

We have a '03 BA XR6 in Lightning Strike over here (olds' car) and it is an absolute pleasure to drive.

You will be more than happy with it, although dont let it change the way that you drive :P.

Welcome to the forums, the more the merrier.

[Quicklier]

Welcome mate, nice choice in vehicle.
The manual should be stamped MkII if its a true 2nd edition BA.

[Blue Oval Mopar Man]

Hi troppo , Nice to meet ya , Im in darwin . as there is only 2 towns in the NT which one are you at and I would try not to get sucked into any of the performance tryhards up here (Late model stuff anyway). You could try "Pecky's fuels " in Parap rd Parap if you want to dyno your car . He is a good mechanic and will research a proplem if he isnt able to sort something . Not just hope it goes away like a lot of mechanics. If you want serious performance , I can also recommend BPT Motorsports ( ^ sponsor at top of page ) and although they are in Perth , They are good at what they do , and good freinds of mine ! Great to see you here and no doubt we will run into each other when the drag season gets going again ! Have fun with the nutters in here ! They are a great bunch . Bunch of what I am not sure yet , but they sure can be entertaining ! :

[troppo]

Thanks for the welcome
Thanks also for confirming it is indeed a mkI, as I suspected.

Mopar man,
Yeah I'm also in Darwin, and in town too so Pecky's is only 3 minutes away. I'd forgotten about him so ta. I've gotta agree, I've heard nothing but good things about his outfit (think my brother might have recomended him to me once), but for some reason I had him pegged as only doing older style cars. Handy to know he does late-model stuff too and has a dyno. I got it dyno'd at the other place (Hi-tech tuning) out at Pinelands the other day coz I wanted to check out his workshop and set-up. My overall impression was...meh. In the past I've mostly gotten Phil Kerr to do my car stuff. I know Phil and he's been around a while so I trust him to fix it properly or give it to someone who can if his boys can't do it there.
As for teh bunch, yeah they seem like fun. Been helpful too, some good info here.
It's likely you will see me at the drags next dry, I'm working on draggin the other lads from work out too.
For the record, dyno was 122.6rwkw....then I realised the a/c was on, we ran it up again for 125.2. Respectable, I think, for an auto that's so far only had the 3000k courtesy inspection.

[b2tf]

Good to have you on board.

Simple way to tell - if your car has a MkII badge on the bootlid it is a MkII. If no badge, no MkII but being very close to changeover point it may have inherited some little tweaks that were put into production a little early.

[Blue Oval Mopar Man]

Yeah I know Phil and he is a good man ,and a good workshop ! Pecky is a freind of mine and he will work on anything ! Look forward to running into you around the place , No doubt youll se me ,I drive a yellow early model Hilux 2wd with redneck numberplates : ! I have several other cars but are all of the road at the moment !