niall_aus

Hi guys. Im Niall, originally from London, lived in Ireland for 10 years and now Brisbane Australia.

This car started out as a 91 Sierra estate 2.0l Ghia which we bought in Limerick, was a good straight car, very original and even had service history.

My old man specifically wanted a wagon so it didnt end up looking like a cossie wannabe.

the wheels and all the running gear was to be donated from the last project, a 74 range rover classic which was now too rotten to save.



this is what the sierra look like when we got it(pic as an example)


The 350 v8 was rebuilt, higher compression and more head work, then fitted to the car with a fully manualised turbo 400 auto, 5 stud conversion using Granada hubs etc.

The body was treated to flared arches, side skirts, modified front bumper, roof rack delete and tailgate smoothing.

This was all done back in about 2002





After having to sell the car in sad times here in Australia i have been able to buy it back after 7 years of it being out of our family.

heres some pics the day i got it

niall_aus

It has been running like shit and pressurising the cooling system so i suspected a head gasket failure. pulled the heads off it and sent them away, also got a rebuild kit for the Carb





Im trying to modernise the overall look and feel of the car as much as i can, I know its very 90s but there is only so much i can do.

painted the valve covers and aircleaner wrinkle black and inlet aluminum silver, looks better i think




Thats about as far as i have got, waiting for the heads to come back from the machine shop, then ill get the engine back together and see if the cooling system is ok, then start working through the list !

NobbyClark

That's looking good mate!!

Jay,

iTrader: (4)

Thats awesome when its running needs some vids

mk1turboestate

iTrader: (2)

The car was built in the 90's I would leave it looking like that, it looks nice and it's a bit of history

niall_aus

thanks lads, videos will come fore sure. the noise might blow up the mic in my phone though haha

frodehode

Hello

What springs and shock absorbers do you have in the front ?

sridgett

Very cool car mate. A nice sleeper. Bet it surprise's a few people at the lights?

niall_aus

when it was first put together and sitting really low the springs and shocks were a bastardised mix of reset stock springs and shocks from a wrecker.

Its sitting a bit higher now and seems to have resonable suspension travel but as yet they are unknown.

I use Gaz shocks when ever i can so im sure i can get fronts and possibly have to go custom for the rear.

As for sleeper, it does suprise alot of people but at the moment its far to loud with a twin 3 inch and cheap mufflers. Going to upgrade those and hopefully its quiet enough without haveing to downsize the exhaust

niall_aus

small update. all the glass was covered in silver overspray and polishing compound so i clayed that off today and stripped the carb down for rebuild



after




also snapped a shot of the front, i feel like it needs something to break it up a bit? maybe as simple as a ford badge for the grille

mk22door

Amber indicator lenses and a Ford badge would look great.


Nice and individual that mate

niall_aus

thanks, i hadnt thought about amber indicators yet. will try a set i think.

slammedorion

Ambers, individual I'm sure the rest of the sheep will be along soon...


Looks different anyway... Bet it sounds well...

sridgett

Prob one of the coolest cars on this forum

mk22door

I was saying that his Sierra is nice and individual, what with arches like that, those wheels and a thumping great engine... Oh & the fact it's an Estate.

If he want's to try breaking the front end up the yeah, Ford badge and a change of indicator lense.

Sheep?

There's only two 'off the shelf' choices isn't there? Clear & amber.

Or spray the clear ones black, or any other colour for that matter.

Given the fact he's in Australia I doubt amber indicators will make him look like a sheep at all.

NobbyClark

I'd agree with you on that Sam!

Its great to see something different!!!

niall_aus

I got what you meant , ford badge is on the way because thats easy. Amber indicators will be ebay uk i think.

niall_aus

need to make up a cover for the ratchet shifter, it was one of those jobs that was put to the bottom of the list when the car was first built

I had thought about getting a leather boot trimmed up but i was concerned about the material jamming up on the mechanism, that the last thing you need when flat shifting with no rev limiter

so i set about making a sheet metal cover. you have to imagine it all smoothed out and shot in grey,

then ill use like a brush or felt seal around the shifter to stop stuff falling in

started with paper


then some sheet steel


ill trim and tack that piece tomoro, ran out of daylight today

RS 5tu

iTrader: (2)

What a cool car, bet it sounds awesome too!

jc2000e

very nice niall. look forward to seeing your progress.

sridgett

Great minds think alike mate

rallycross

Very unusual car!
What does fully manualised auto mean?
Good luck getting it all up and together nice to see something different like this.

niall_aus

so, it is an auto box, no clutch pedal, but there is no "drive" mode. you have to select 1st gear and then shift up to 2nd and 3rd, if you dont it would just rev out and not change gear, also as you slow down to a stop in 3rd, for example you have to manually change back to first where in a normal auto it would do it for you

the benefit is you have full control over the gears, you can open the throttle in top gear at a low speed and it wont kick down, also the box runs at full pressure the whole time so you never get slip or wear on teh clutch plates.

combined with a ratchet shifter its pretty cool, soon as its on the road ill get a video while driving so u guys can see

niall_aus

the ford badge makes a big difference i reckon

NobbyClark

It really does!!

As cool as!

sridgett

So so cool, it reminds me a bit of the mad max car lol

niall_aus

Got the heads back from the machine shop, they look great, ended up needing a complete overhaul. I picked up a gasket set and treated it to new bolts for heads, inlet manifold and headers.

I spent a couple of hours today just getting the heads on, tapping out the holes, cleaning and then torquing down the heads. There are 17 head bolts per bank which need to have the heads and washers oiled but the threads sealed. so you do that, then torque them all down which is a 3 stage process,

Then repeat it all on the other bank !

Wont take much to get it running now so there should be another update tomoro and a video soon.

Also sold my old datsun pickup project so the sierra now has a place in the garage

sridgett

That just looks the bollokes that thing.

R4N SS

iTrader: (6)

well cool car mate

niall_aus

https://youtu.be/Lqx05vLnDxs

https://youtu.be/VuOwhlm2VyQ

up and running now with new mufflers,high rise intake etc. sounds great. very happy with this engine


hopefully on the road next week

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

I like this car alot.

niall_aus

more of the same

mk22door

Love it!

niall_aus

turn in up and enjoy.

niall_aus

We are all legal !!! taxed and tested.

went for a spin today, roads were damp so couldnt unleash the full performance but it was awesome.

gonna drop the front ride height this weekend, get a proper wheel alignment done and put some miles on it. maybe fit a bigger carb if i get time

HmmDK

Its pretty sweet to get the story behind this beast and then seing it getting pickup up again for some more love!

ive spotted varius pics of this arround the interwebs and always wondered about it and its origins xD

grats on the test, thats always an axiting time !

niall_aus

thanks for the comment mate. It is a very unique car thats for sure and i have come across quite a few forum threads where other people have posted pics of this car.

--------------------------

I have been driving it around a bit but 3 things have really been bugging me, the 3.9 rear end , combined with fairly small tyres and no overdrive means at 60mph the big V8 is turning 3500rpm. its so loud, temps start creeping up and its just not enjoayble.

So im going to fit a 3.69LSD from a 300zx they are a 9inch crownwheel with very strong inner cv joints. I know its not going to make a huge difference on cruise RPM but i dont want to take the edge off acceleration too much, the car was built to go fast.

the second thing is the front suspension and steering, the steering rack has been moved during the conversion, forward and down, the tie rods are at a totally different angle to the lower control arm so it bump steers really bad.
You cant set a consitent wheel alignment because its constantly toeing in and out when the suspension compresses and decompresses.

My plan is to change the tie rod ends to rose joints and space them down the same distance the rack has been moved, hopefully the arms wil be at the same angle then

The 3rd thing is complete lack of traction, open it up at low speed and its just a smoke show, i used to love that sort of thing when i was 18, but these days i hate driving cars without traction.

so on the rear im going to go to a pair of either Mickey T drag radials


or a pair of nitto semi slicks

IainRS1700T

Love this mate.
If you're still on the Ford diff, it's on a matter of 'when' not 'if'!!!
I had a 3.14 which was ideal on the 351w, but it's only a lowly diesel diff, and probably wouldn't have last long, but the ratio was good for general stuff.
On a 3.54 from a Jag now, which takes some work getting in, but 10.5" CWP should be enough (I hope)!

niall_aus

Thanks for the reply, how is the acceleration with the 3.54? I work on alot of jaguars so i could get my hands on a jag diff fairly easy, probbaly would cost me about 1000 dollars though for a decent ratio, LSD and rebuilding the side carriers.

The 300zx diff i have is free, spares from another car. thats the only real reason im going with it, they are known for their strength though. 700hp easy.

IainRS1700T

The Jag diff is the powr-lok variation from XJS etc. I think there were a few different ratios. Certainly strong enough but I went for custom made drive shafts. The diff was cheap but the drive shafts definitely weren't!
If you know you can make the Nissan diff fit, go for it especially as they're free to you! With V8 torque the drive shafts are definitely worth looking into though.
I think with the torque you have you should be ok with a ratio like that? I don't know what your gearbox ratios are like, but with mine (Tremec TKO) it seems pretty good to me. Then again 400ft/lb at 2000rpm would get most wheels turning...
Cheers
Iain