FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Thought it was about time I posted a pic of my girl FEFE.
She is running a 3.8 Ecotec, 4 wheel discs and a Pat Gardiner front end.
Still has a long way to go on the body.

(http://i.imgur.com/PEY7b.jpg)

nice car keep up the great work .any pics of the engine bay thanx lindsay 58

Looks Great, at least you driving yours. :'(

Haven't seen those rims before... What are they?

G'day Lindsay,

under the bonnet

(http://i.imgur.com/W7R2N.jpg)

cheers Phil

G'day fevan,

the wheels are from Show Wheels in the US. Style is JB Covered.
I had them made up to suit the Commodore offset and are 17 x 7's.

cheers Phil

Nice looking ute.
Love the mods.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards
Alex

Nice little set up!! You are the first out of a group of us that have the Pat Gardiner front end on the road. So you are going to get a couple of questions.

How did you go with the turning circle? Is it what you expected? Does the rack hit the stop limits before the caliper hits the arm when aligned or did you need to change something there... mine is so close that I am not sure how its going to work out.

Did you put the new sway bar set up on it? If not does it need one?

I am going to run 17x7 on the front also, did you have an clearance issues with the guards?

Does the power steer give you much feel?

Sorry to bombard you, I have had the Pat Gardiner rack for some time, and have been wondering all of these things all along.

Cheers
JB

Even those without the Pat G front end but are using the same motor like
What radiator are you using?
What under dash air con are you using?
Where did you get your diff shortened?

Good work too mate.

HI JB

initial problem with the with the ball joint impacting with the back of the commodore rotors. Had them machined out and this fixed it up. Turning circle is excellent. Yes it does have the new sway bar set up so not sure what it would have been like without it. No problems with clearance using the 17 x 7's at all. Power steering gives a very light feel which initially takes some getting used to, particulary at speed, but once you are used to it it isn't an issue.

cheers Phil

G'day Nes

thanks for your comments. Radiator is ex VS Commodore. I don't have aircon just a heater demister unit that links into the dash vents for the demister requirements, it sits directly in behind the speaker grille on the dash.  Got the shortened diff from Pat Gardner also ex VS Commodore.

cheers Phil

Thanks for your comments Alex

How did you go with engineering then? Who signed off and does he have good rates? The engineer closest to me is not returning phone calls at the moment and is very frustrating as I am in Newcastle and he is in Taree.
Did you need inertia seat belts? any interior photos for us all?
Cheers

Gday Nes,

yes needed inertia seat belts. Interior still very basic will take some interior photos on weekend.
Engineer may be a bit far away for you he is based in Grafton.

Here is the interior, as I said previously very basic.

(http://i.imgur.com/Yusvn.jpg)

I drive to Bris all the time from Newcastle and through Grafton so maybe not. Any other hidden mods I need to think about?
Already have the heater demister covered.
Cheers mate

and the interior photo just showed itself finally..... Its a bench seat!!! Exactly what I am doing. How did you rig this? I'll PM you my number mate if you can give me a call (or I can call you)
Cheers

hi Townee looking good . I was at Pats yesterday he showed me the build photos of the front end  and sub frame its awork of art
cheers Geoff

Thanks Geoff, the work they did on the front end is brilliant. They can now offer it to anyone else who is having trouble finding a decent sub frame.
cheers Phil

Here's a pic of the front end build by Pat Gardner.

(http://i.imgur.com/4hJ8R.jpg)

Hi Townee firstly nice looking ute mate, like the fact the interior is basic but clean and tidy looks good.

I notice that you are using a Pat Gardiner wiring loom in your engine bay I also bought one of these not long ago while I am not an electrician I have managed to be able to get most of it connected and it appears to be working however I'm wondering if you can help with the additional V6 wiring and FC bits what did you actually connect where. The plugs are pretty simple but there are some smaller wires etc that I'm not sure of.
Pats instructions are pretty basic I suppose he assumes that people have a little knowledge not like me  ;D.
Anyway hope you can assist.
Regards
Neil

Gday Neil, thanks for your comments. The work was done by Pats team so can't give you any real direction on this. I was going to say you could come and have a look at how it all goes together but just noticed from your profile that you're in WA. Am happy to take some photos of particular areas if you like and send them to you, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. I am sure if you gave Pat a ring he would be happy to give some advice over the phone. Anyway let me know if you want some detailed pics.

Cheers Phil

Hi phil;
I would appreciate some detailed pics mate the time difference sometimes makes it hard to talk to Pat
Regards
Neil

PM sent

Just had the interior updated, thanks to David and Linda at "The Little Trimmer" Castle Hill.

(http://i.imgur.com/6aVmMiG.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/mwyAk3x.jpg)

Time for a paint change

(http://i.imgur.com/kfiEXwx.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/vTpQ1uJ.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/430fJ9c.jpg)

Looks nice mate

That's a great colour blue. I don't remember the post with the interior but gee that looks great as well.

Regards

Wayne b

Thanks for the comments guys, I am really stoked with how she is all coming together.

yes, Does look god mate. Brett

Sorry, Should be does look good. brett

Ute looks great mate.
Would you mind taking some shots under the bonnet to see the final result of the inner guards?

Thanks

Craig D

Love the colour and wheel choice.
Regards
Alex

Hi Craig, will grab some photos on the weekend and put them on.
cheers Phil

Thanks Alex
re the wheels I tried to keep it in line with an older look.

 That does look very nice, love the way you have two toned using the original fe special styling.

cheers
Scott

Smart move using the FB end trims on the seat ends . The FE FC ones tend to break .Its a nice looking ute mate .