1982 Ford Fairmont

Vehicle Overview

Hi all I am Lindsay Creighton and I come from Queensland Australia. this is my 1982 Ford falcon Fairmont Ghia ESP (European Sports Pack). Mind you I don't know what's European about it??? I purchased this car as an unregistered car in 1997 to use as a daily driver. this car is one of 180 cars of this type to leave the ford factory with a Cleveland 351 cu in engine. this model car was the last of the v8 fords in Australia from 1982 to 1993.specs of this car from Factory are as follows: - Cleveland 351 V8 Known at the time as a 5.8 litre v8 here in Australia. - Single rail 4 speed Manual gearbox. - $@@? Warner LSD diff 2.73:1 ratio. - Fairmont Ghia option which included 4 wheel power disc brakes, central locking, Premium Pioneer Audio, power windows, electric boot release, two tone paint and other side strips, 15inch x 7 inch snowflake wheels with gold centre, larger headlights incorporating a spotlight, LTD steering wheel, Recaro front bucket seats and rest of car trimmed with different upholstery, 80 lt fuel tank, full instrumentation (speedo, Tacho, Fuelgauge, Oil Pressure gauge, voltage gauge, temp gauge and odometer). Full centre console with window controls and vents to the rear of car for air con. I Purchased this car for $8300 in 1997 and estimated value today is somewhere between $45,000 upwards to $80,000. The key is Numbers Matching with 351 in good condition. Recently an example of this in same colour as my car sold at auction for Au $350,000, but that car had 60 kilometers on the odometer (no I didn't enter that incorrectly). the moon roof was purchased as an option which in Australia was dealer fitted. when I purchased the car it had the guard flares fitted, tinted windows and in neglected condition. my intent was to buy something that I liked and that I could bring back from the dead. I know 2 previous owners and both see me regularly and ask when I will sell it back to them as they regret selling it to me. My answer is generally - In Your Dreams.I probably use more coarse wording than that. Also car had been modified to have 302 Cleveland v8, C6 Auto trans, and 9 inch diff. Aircon did not work, sound did not work, paint was rough, engine bay was a disaster but I believed I could fix these issues. ESP Starting life with Me First up Roadworhty certificate - yep had to replace 4 tyres, all front end ball joints, front and rear arm bushes, hole in the firewall where slave cylinder should have been, no charcoal canister on firewall (emissions), no inhibitor switch on auto trans, reverse lights not working, spot lights not working, power rear view mirrors not working, oil leaks throughout engine bay, 600 Holley carb(vac secondaries, wheels looked crappy due to spiders in clear coat on wheels. Completed work for roadworthy and registered for use daily driver to work and other duties as I saw fit. 2003 changed jobs allowing me to start work on esp as new job provided company car for my use. Works completed - Original colour repaint - Exterior and engine bay. - Engine was removed and stored while another engine was sourced (351 Clevo) and checked for problems and required work. bottom end was great and had good compression, heads were overhauled and hardened valve seats installed, new cam for cruising and lifters installed, new oil and water pump installed and engine painted black as per factory colour. - With engine out, wiring harness tidied and all installations in engine bay were refitted correctly as some discrepancies were apparent.. - All back together car was used sparingly but whenever I wanted to up until 2012. 2012 Moved from original residence to Airlie Beach Qld where the ESP was registered under club rego which means I am not able to use it as a daily driver but still able to use it as I wish. I decided on some mods and other fix ups as listed: - MSD 6AL ignition was installed. - MSD Atomic TBI installed and eventually with Return line, Fuel pressure Reg and in tank fuel pump. (That was after I learnt how to speak American). - MSD dizzy installed together with setting timing control in operation. (this was challenging but it worked outaftehr I ditched ford's tune spec and thought outside the box) - twin thermo fans from 2006 BA Falcon were installed (cost $20) also digital controller installed. Its funny how the knowledgeable knocked the use of thermos but when you test them against the steel bladed variety and see flow through radiator of 240L/Min versus 120 l/min you've gotta say - What do those numb nuts know????? Then I suppose I got bored again and decided to tidy up original wheels - remove 5 wheels from car. - strip old paint and clear from wheels. - wet and dry alloy wheels to perfection (compared to how they were). - paint wheel centres and caps with original gold colour. - polish alloy parts of wheels with purple. - replace wheels on car. looks awesome. Dash and aircon fix - remove dash from car. - inspections all the horrors and dictates finding replacement prior to refitting, - recondition airbox swap wiring harness (dash) - replace 38 year old carpet and underlay. - seat rails broken - replace with new ones. - reupholster bucket seats - new material remanufactured and expensive. - replace dash and sort out vent vacuum likes in cab. - sort out engine bay vacuum lines. - install mustang air con hose grommet in engine firewall. a bit of mucking around but looks a shipload better. - install Retrosound audio system - Awesome. 2021 - rethread cleave oilman drain hole to 9/16 in. - add circuit box to engine bay to remove unsightly wires hanging off battery terminals - strut bar bushes replaced. - new c6 oil pan fitted (thicker unit less prone to mishaping) Right now she is still on chassis stands waiting on some parts which I expect this week so should be back in use next week but needs to go in for rear wheel bearings as they are starting to sing a nasty song. This will allow me back on the road and happy again Lindsay