August Newsletter

Blueovalnews
Riverina Ford Owners Club Newsletter
AUGUST 2011
The colder weather is here for a little longer but that doesn't mean you should leave your
car in the shed. Take advantage of the good days when we get them and go for a drive!
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ROM THE COMMITTEE:
Thanks to all members who continue to support the club by attending events
and offering input to the committee. Your support and opinion is valued and
welcomed and it helps steer the club in the direction our members want it to go.
Without your input we can't make the decisions to keep our members involved
and happy.
The committee would also like to extend a special invitation to families to come
along and see what it is all about. We don't want the club to be a 'boys club' where the family gets left behind -
we want the club to be a family friendly environment and offer something to the entire family - not just the
blokes with the cars!
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OUND THE TRAPS:
Welcome to our new club member Ben Klaus. Ben is the latest member
to boost the ranks of AU XR ute owners among the club with his Series 2
XR8 Ute in 'Fire Truck Red' often seen around town. Not your average XR8
though with a very nice exhaust note and some pricey Billet alloys
underneath each corner, we look forward to seeing a bit more of it at club
events.
All members are welcome to bring friends along to club events, especially
those who might be interested in joining the club. If you have friends that
would like to attend a run, even if they don't own a Ford, they are welcome
to come as long as they abide by the rules as set by the club.
Paul O'Leary has decided that having 'just' 310kw of FPV's ponies
underneath the right foot is not quite enough for him and the word around the traps is that a flash tune may be
in order. For under $2k outlay and about 3 minutes work uploading the tune to the car it's hard to see a
downside although the rest of the club have already put forward a motion to make sure Paul stays at the rear of
the pack on any club runs as we will all struggle to keep up with him should he be at the front.
Anybody needing some performance parts from the USA should probably speak to Austin as lately he he
placed a few orders for parts and seems to be finding good deals. While most of the parts are for other people
there are still fairly significant savings to be had when buying from overseas given that a lot of our vehicles
(especially anything with a 5L V8) originally get their powerplants from over that way. Keep in mind that anything
over $1k will attract GST on entry to the country but even so if you are careful with your orders it can save a
bundle in the long run provided you don't mind a bit of a wait given the postage time.
Anybody chasing some parts for their FG XR6 Turbo, particularly the front end, might want to go and speak to
the local Highway Patrol as their prized unmarked Purple Turbo is now a bit worse for wear after being driven
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July 2011

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into the rear end of another car while on duty a few weeks back. Not a good sight to see but you have to wonder
how they mucked it up given the car is bright purple and has lots of pretty flashing lights.
Speaking of trouble with the law, our club President Chris avoided a sticky situation while in Tumut recently.
Austin was up there for work and parked in the main street to get some lunch when Chris came down the street
in the opposite direction and pulled up alongside for a chat. Most other drivers simply drove round him as you
normally do, however one dark grey Ford Ranger (which was going the opposite direction) pulled up and the
driver decided to give Chris a bit of a serve for double parking. Words were said and Chris drove off but Austin
came across said Ranger driver at the Tumut McDonalds. Turns out he was actually a detective in an undercover
car. Note to all club members - when in Tumut don't double park and don't associate with bearded men driving
Isuzu D-Max utes.
The club Facebook page is receiving a lot of attention from new users and this is encouraging. We are trying to
keep the page up to date with the latest news regarding the club and events being held both now and in the
future. If you have anything you would like to have added to the page please email it to any of the committee so
it can be added.
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LUB EVENTS:
Our last event was the July run which was held the weekend after the annual Wagga Swap Meet. Given the
colder mornings the decision was made to meet at Gloria Jeans on Sunday morning and do a quick squirt out to
the Quinty Bakehouse. Thanks to all who attended.
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PCOMING DATES AND EVENTS:
The next club run will be a run back up through the mountains to Tumut and
beyond. Some of the members may remember we have done this trip in the past
and it is always a fun day with the mountain roads being a good change of pace
from our local routes. The day is generally a trek up to Tumut and from there we
ask members where they would like to go after that with the Blowering Dam wall
being a popular destination. We also have a few potential members in Tumut and
the surrounding area who may want to join us for the day.
Depart from Gloria Jeans on Edward Street at 9am on Sunday 28th August.
There are still a few members who are keen to do a trip down to the Bandiana
Army Museum which is located about 10 minutes drive out of Wodonga. The
museum has a stack of army memorabilia ranging from vehicles through to weapons and uniforms including
some dating right back to World War I. If we do organise a run down that way though it will need to be held on
a Saturday as the museum does not open on Sundays. At this stage the run would be held sometime in Spring, if
you have a particular date preference please let the committee know.
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YOUR IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS:
Club Christmas Party - suggestions on dates and venues for the Club Christmas Party are
welcome and can be given to any of the committee. In previous years it has been a
reasonably easy night held at a member's house where the club provides a BBQ and
drinks for members but we are open to any suggestions that anybody might have. The
sooner we get in and plan it the better it will be.
Joint Club Run - We have a number of clubs around the region that also hold regular club runs for the members,
in Wagga we have the Riverina Monaros as well as the PT Cruiser, Mini and Rod and Custom Clubs. Opinions are
sought from our members as to which clubs you would like to approach about organising a joint event. Similarly
if you know of another club that may be worth having a chat to please let the committee know.
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July 2011

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A Bunnings Sausage Sizzle is on the club radar as a potential fundraiser. Anybody who has been to Bunnings on a
weekend knows how popular these can be and the club will be looking into getting on the list of organisations
who are able to do the sausage sizzle. Profits from doing it can range anywhere up to $2k which is more money
the club can use to hold more events for our members in the future. Could anybody who is interested in
attending and helping out with this please speak to the committee so we have an idea of numbers - it would be
appreciated if you can lend a hand, even just for an hour or two. We will also speak to Bunnings about having a
club car display there too.
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ALCON FACTS:
Falcon facts is going to be a regular part of our newsletter in which we wil take a look at a particular model
and some information relating to it. If you have any useful information that could help with this please let
Austin know via email - agregor@scientificpest.com.au
Ford Tickford Experience - AU Series III 'T Series'
In the last issue we looked at the 1997 EL GT. Between 1997 and 2002 Ford and Tickford's V8 offerings were
a little `lacklustre' in the performance area, although things started to get moving along with the AU XR
series. April 2001 saw the 220kw V8 engine offered into AU series II and III but the real powerhouse was
stil yet to come.
At the 2001 Sydney Motor Show, Tickford launched the AU
Series III T series. Ford and Tickford had created a sub-brand
known as FTE (or Ford Tickford Experience) which was designed
to be a bit like BMW's `M' series and offer buyers a special model
range that was a bit more than your average XR. T1 and T2
offered a choice of 3 models - TE50 (based on the Fairmont
model), TS50 (based on Fairmont Ghia) and TL50 (based on the
Fairlane). These models al offered a combination of power and
luxury - being based on Fairmonts and Ghias they al had
climate control, leather seats and premium sound etc as options
and al packed Tickford developed engines - T1 and T2 being
220kw and the T2 featured SVO al oy heads brought in from the
USA for use on the T series. Each model had a different name
designed to represent the emotion behind the vehicle, TE stood for 'Tickford Energy', TS was 'Tickford
Synergy' and TL was 'Tickford Luxury'. On top of the local y developed model, FTE also offered the Mustang
Cobra which was a US version imported and the complianced and converted to RHD by Tickford.
T3 deviated from the previous model lineup a little with the TE50
now being based on an XR (so no climate control) but stil
offering leather seats, TS50 was stil based on the Fairmont Ghia
and thus had climate control and the TL was stil a hotted up
Fairlane but the newest model was the Pursuit 250, which was an
XR8 ute with a few minor tweaks - the most important one being
the T3 engine.
For T3 the engine was a standard Windsor V8 which had seen
service in al AU models and even EB and EL before that. Tickford
took the `handbuilt' V8's they had been making for the AU XR's,
stripped them down and stroked them out to 5.6 litres as opposed to
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July 2011

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the standard 5 litre displacement. They also added a number of T3 specific parts including a special y
designed crank, camshaft and inlet manifold, but kept the standard GT40P heads - same as what you would
find on a 220kw XR8.
All the work resulted in a 342 cubic inch V8 that produced 250kw of power and 500 newton metres of
torque. The engine was put into al T3 models including the Pursuit 250, and al T3 models were individual y
numbered with a special build plate being placed in the engine bay identifying the vehicle as a T3 with a
build number. Pursuit 250 utes though did not get the build number and were built in unlimited numbers -
Tickford planned to only build around 200 but demand was high so they continued on to eventual y build
just under 300. Some say the 250 was only developed to use up the leftover 5.6 motors that had already
been built but both David Flint (who was the director of Tickford at the time) and Geoff Polites (Ford CEO at
the time) both insisted that the 250 was always intended to be a `proper' part of the T3 lineup. It didn't
however get the special front end like the other T3 models, rather it had a bodykit that added on to the
standard XR8 ute bodykit and this was probably due to the fact that the Pursuit 250 was around 8 months
behind schedule and had to be rushed to be ready for sale on time with the rest of the series.
T3's were offered with a range of options such as coloured leather interiors (black, `Wild Blue' or Red),
Premium sound, MOMO steering wheels and gear shifters, factory fitted Koni shock absorbers and a choice
of 2 transmissions - a Tremec TR3650 5 speed manual (different to the standard Borg Warner T5Z found in
XR's, the Tremec had to be used because of the higher torque of the T3 engine) or a BTR M97LE 4 speed
auto with `ESS' (Electronic Sequential Shift) function, which offered the ability to shift gears using buttons
built into the steering wheel. T3 was also the first Ford model to offer Brembo brakes as an option which
have since been carried on to be standard in most FPV models over the years.
Given the relatively low build number and the
percentage that have been written off over the years the
Pursuit 250 is a rare vehicle but the T3 series did
produce one other vehicle that is even rarer - there
were only ever 3 T3 TL50's built, 2 were plated as AUII
models (they were built as prototypes and one was a
journalist test car) and there is only one that carries the
model designation 18257 on the compliance plate -
making it the only `real' T3 TL50. That particular car is
black in colour and is currently for sale for the sum of
just $100,000.
T3 engines are quite a popular upgrade among XR8 owners as the engine itself is a very powerful unit with
the added bonus of factory reliability. Compared to aftermarket stroker kits which quite often end up being
very expensive by the time you add labour to put it al together, the T3 engine is a very cheap way of getting
some serious power under the bonnet of your AU (or any other Windsor powered model for that matter).
Good examples often go for about $7500 or so but being quite a rare vehicle they are snapped up very
quickly, and you also require a gearbox capable of handling the extra power and torque.
A good condition T3 is now worth anywhere from $30-40,000 with the Pursuit 250's general y being a little
cheaper. The rarest model is the above mentioned TL50 but equal y difficult to find is a T3 TS50 fitted with
manual transmission and a sunroof which would likely cost you the better part of $40k.
I dare say most of us would not say no to a T3 of some sort even if the AU styling is perhaps not your taste.
There is a red Pursuit 250 in Wagga and also a T3 TE50 in Narooma Blue that makes the odd appearance,
hopeful y one day we might see them in the club.
Next issue we'll have a look at the EB GT.
Blue Oval News - Riverina Ford Owner's Club Newsletter
July 2011

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ONTACT THE CLUB:
Committee:
President
Chris Hale
reception@palmairwagga.com (no attachments)
Vice President
Matt Barlow
m_barlow999@hotmail.com
Secretary
John Colbertaldo
spud1955@hotmail.com
Media/Newsletter
Austin Gregor
agregor@scientificpest.com.au
For all newsletter ideas and input contact Austin - 0412 634 240 or agregor@scientificpest.com.au
PHOTOS!

Could anybody who takes photos at club events please email
them to Austin for use in the newsletter. Can be any format and size and it doesnt matter what they are
of (but please no nudie photos unless everybody agrees they are worth it).
My email is agregor@scientificpest.com.au
Thanks!
Blue Oval News - Riverina Ford Owner's Club Newsletter
July 2011

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