Wheel Wednesday!

This week, the superbly simple but effective 18-inch items that featured on my Tickford T3 TS50. Back in 2002, 18-inch wheels were considered big, and for a Ford at the time, they were positively HUGE!









These wheels were fitted to the one-year-only T3 TS50, with less than 220 manufactured between November 2001 and September 2002. All T3 models (TE50, TS50, TL50) were fitted with a hand built stroked Windsor V8, taking capacity from 5.0 to 5.6 liters. Both a 5-speed Tremec manual and BTR 4-speed auto were offered, mine was an auto. All engines had the signature of the engine builder on the right-hand rocker cover, and all cars had a build number, mine was number 154 -

Build 154 T3 TS50 – T-Series Club of Australia







I bought the car from the original owner in January 2012 with only 47,000 km / 29,000 miles on the clock. This was also my first V8, and what a lovely noise it made too. Very few Falcon's have as much presence on the road as this Tickford T3 TS50. The original tag line for the car was "Own The Road"...................



I sold the car in late 2014 in anticipation of my current Falcon XR8, it hitting the road to be transported to its new owner, who contacts me from time to time to let me know how its going. When it arrived at the new owner, the battery died during the journey and ended up needing a jump start to get it off the truck..................all while holding up traffic outside the guys shop on the main street. I felt terrible about that, but sh.t happens.



It was pretty sketchy getting the thing on the truck, the ultra-low bumpers posed a bit of a problem, and that was with the factory ride height.



I do miss the exuberance of this car, the bright "Blueprint" paint, the shouty body kit and spoiler, the glorious noises it made. And it used fuel at a hilarious rate. I'm sure I'll regret selling this car one day, but I wanted to have one of the last Falcon's, so it was goodby to the "Ticker".
 
I bought a new [to me] set of 17” wheels & tires. I had originally ordered a set of 20” Vogues to put on my current 20” wheels, but I happened to see this set for sale on Offer Up and decided to cancel my order and buy these instead and gain an extra set of wheels & tires while also saving myself $1,000 dollars. [yes, that’s how expensive these tires are. Lol]

This is how they looked when I brought them home. They don’t look horribly bad in this pic, but they were dirty and in desperate need of a polishing.

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Onto the cleaning. Pretty nasty on the backsides, as expected.

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I used Meguiars D143 Non Acid Wheel & Tire Cleaner. This is after cleaning the backside.

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The front is now clean, but in major need of polishing to remove stains, oxidation and restore clarity & shine.

The tire has been quickly scrubbed and cleaned, but I’ve got a dedicated cleaner for the whitewalls on order, so I don’t consider the tires fully cleaned at this point.

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I polished the chrome with steel wool. It removed all the stains & oxidation. I’m very happy with the results.

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This is fully dried & complete. Tires will be dressed after mounting.

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Before < > After

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As a self-proclaimed wheel Czar, I proclaimed that to be in the top 5 wheels ever created in the automotive industry

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Funny how wide car tastes can very from person to person. 🧍 respect you as you are a wheel guy and you have good taste in cars but those don’t due it for me personally. Not top 5 anyway.

I like your Kona N’s better myself.

Those do a nice job of showing off those gigantic Brembo’s tho…


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I bought a new [to me] set of 17” wheels & tires. I had originally ordered a set of 20” Vogues to put on my current 20” wheels, but I happened to see this set for sale on Offer Up and decided to cancel my order and buy these instead and gain an extra set of wheels & tires while also saving myself $1,000 dollars. [yes, that’s how expensive these tires are. Lol]

This is how they looked when I brought them home. They don’t look horribly bad in this pic, but they were dirty and in desperate need of a polishing.

7677eeea2fe77ba3cfc4e95c4e17d3d6.jpg

05b74774416ff3729b50548688bbe741.jpg


Onto the cleaning. Pretty nasty on the backsides, as expected.

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df0f7b96a2915c96a8f4dcfdb665bed2.jpg


I used Meguiars D143 Non Acid Wheel & Tire Cleaner. This is after cleaning the backside.

be4febc00d1dc7402987536ab3f4c56d.jpg


The front is now clean, but in major need of polishing to remove stains, oxidation and restore clarity & shine.

The tire has been quickly scrubbed and cleaned, but I’ve got a dedicated cleaner for the whitewalls on order, so I don’t consider the tires fully cleaned at this point.

2eb6bb97425b9ca38fde1ed6dbe73479.jpg


I polished the chrome with steel wool. It removed all the stains & oxidation. I’m very happy with the results.

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79925f9c2311188123c244528262e4f7.jpg

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This is fully dried & complete. Tires will be dressed after mounting.

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bb7c42d6a8809dc952f760da88123b28.jpg


Before < > After

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Mustard and Mayonnaise!

Those are gonna look good!


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This week, the superbly simple but effective 18-inch items that featured on my Tickford T3 TS50. Back in 2002, 18-inch wheels were considered big, and for a Ford at the time, they were positively HUGE!









These wheels were fitted to the one-year-only T3 TS50, with less than 220 manufactured between November 2001 and September 2002. All T3 models (TE50, TS50, TL50) were fitted with a hand built stroked Windsor V8, taking capacity from 5.0 to 5.6 liters. Both a 5-speed Tremec manual and BTR 4-speed auto were offered, mine was an auto. All engines had the signature of the engine builder on the right-hand rocker cover, and all cars had a build number, mine was number 154 -

Build 154 T3 TS50 – T-Series Club of Australia







I bought the car from the original owner in January 2012 with only 47,000 km / 29,000 miles on the clock. This was also my first V8, and what a lovely noise it made too. Very few Falcon's have as much presence on the road as this Tickford T3 TS50. The original tag line for the car was "Own The Road"...................



I sold the car in late 2014 in anticipation of my current Falcon XR8, it hitting the road to be transported to its new owner, who contacts me from time to time to let me know how its going. When it arrived at the new owner, the battery died during the journey and ended up needing a jump start to get it off the truck..................all while holding up traffic outside the guys shop on the main street. I felt terrible about that, but sh.t happens.



It was pretty sketchy getting the thing on the truck, the ultra-low bumpers posed a bit of a problem, and that was with the factory ride height.



I do miss the exuberance of this car, the bright "Blueprint" paint, the shouty body kit and spoiler, the glorious noises it made. And it used fuel at a hilarious rate. I'm sure I'll regret selling this car one day, but I wanted to have one of the last Falcon's, so it was goodby to the "Ticker".

That's a beautiful ride right there. I wish they sold those in the states. Did these have the 4.6L with 4V heads?

Edit: Oooo, I see in your post they had 5.0 and 5.8L. 5.0L were pushrods here in the states until the 94 Mustang. Were they still using pushrod V8's in AU for this one?
 
That's a beautiful ride right there. I wish they sold those in the states. Did these have the 4.6L with 4V heads?

Edit: Oooo, I see in your post they had 5.0 and 5.8L. 5.0L were pushrods here in the states until the 94 Mustang. Were they still using pushrod V8's in AU for this one?

So, the OHV Windsor V8 continued in Falcon right up until September 2002, where it was then replaced the by the 5.4 Modular V8 in 3V SOHC and 4V DOHC configurations (more on that in a sec.)

Ford Australia actually stockpiled Windsor V8's to carry them through until the new BA Falcon arrived in September 2002. The Falcon was the last Ford to have a Windsor V8, and by that time, its was pretty much outclassed by Holden who had moved to the GEN-III small block in 5.7 liter capcity across all models.

The Windsor was offered in a number of power formats in its last years.

175 kW / 235 HP - this was the optional engine on Fairmont's and Fairlanes, Utes and even the base model sedan with the plastic hub caps!
185 kW / 248 HP- this was the early XR8 engine, but was also used on the LTD limousines.
200 kW / 268 HP - this powered early TE50's, and mid series XR8's.
220 kW / 295 HP - this powered the early and mid series TS50, mid series TE50 and mid to late series XR8. These were partially stripped and rebuilt using alloy heads or machined iron heads later on. They even port matched the head and intake manifold. These engines are the sweet spot, very mean sounding.

For the last T-Series models, the 5.0 Windsor was stripped down and rebuilt with a locally spec'd stroker kit, taking them out to 5.6 liters and 250 kW and 500 Nm (335 HP / 369 ft.lb). They had a lot of local hardware including the cams, intake manifold, exhaust, valve train, rods, crank..................they were pretty special engines. Because of the big cam, they would rock at idle like an old school muscle car, and sounded like one two.



Engine video from back in the day -


Some Windsor warble (skip to 1.45.............


This guy annoys me, but he is one of a few that makes videos on these cars (6min for the noise)...............


As mentioned, in 2002 Ford launched the heavily refreshed Falcon with a range of new engines, including the first appearance of the newer Modular V8's. Ours were a bit different to what was offered in the US. The base SOHC 5.4 V8 had the 3V alloy heads on the iron block, which was the from the F-series, but teamed with local intake and exhaust manifolds. That engine produced 220 kW / 295 HP. The 3V was optional in Fairmont, Fairlane, and the workhorse utes, standard on LTD. They were basically a tow engine, low revving and a deep sound to them.

For the performance models, Ford locally assembled their own version starting with the 5.4 iron block, teamed with the alloy DOHC 4V heads, a locally designed intake manifold with huge pod filter, exhaust manifolds, all hand built. These engines powered performance Falcon's from 2003 to 2010, offered in 260 kw (349 HP), 290kw (389 HP), 302 kw (405 HP) and 315 kw (422 HP) power levels. The problem with those engines was the soft low-end torque, mainly because the 4V heads had no variable valve timing like the 3V version did. And because of the ultra-long 105mm stroke, they were limited to 6000 rpm, and later 6500 rpm with the Ford GT crankshaft, meaning they had a 2000rpm power band. But..................they sounded amazing with a really cammy sound and feel.






So, in summery, the Holden's were generally faster, but sounded like a fart in a funnel. The Ford's sounded richer, more raunchy.
 
I watched the last video and have a bit of an issue with reviewers like him, just a minor one. In the beginning he says this example is all stock....except custom exhaust, intake and tune...that's NOT stock anymore Now don't get me wrong, most of do 2 or all 3 of those mods on our cars but come on, don't say "it's all stock...except".

Thanks for always sharing your knowledge Deyon, you guys got those and we got the Lincoln LS, not even close to the same thing but if you had a family and wanted a Ford product that was RWD and V8 and fun (sans the Lincoln or Crown Vic) that was your only choice for something "close" and I use that term VERY lightly

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So, the OHV Windsor V8 continued in Falcon right up until September 2002, where it was then replaced the by the 5.4 Modular V8 in 3V SOHC and 4V DOHC configurations (more on that in a sec.)

Ford Australia actually stockpiled Windsor V8's to carry them through until the new BA Falcon arrived in September 2002. The Falcon was the last Ford to have a Windsor V8, and by that time, its was pretty much outclassed by Holden who had moved to the GEN-III small block in 5.7 liter capcity across all models.

The Windsor was offered in a number of power formats in its last years.

175 kW / 235 HP - this was the optional engine on Fairmont's and Fairlanes, Utes and even the base model sedan with the plastic hub caps!
185 kW / 248 HP- this was the early XR8 engine, but was also used on the LTD limousines.
200 kW / 268 HP - this powered early TE50's, and mid series XR8's.
220 kW / 295 HP - this powered the early and mid series TS50, mid series TE50 and mid to late series XR8. These were partially stripped and rebuilt using alloy heads or machined iron heads later on. They even port matched the head and intake manifold. These engines are the sweet spot, very mean sounding.

For the last T-Series models, the 5.0 Windsor was stripped down and rebuilt with a locally spec'd stroker kit, taking them out to 5.6 liters and 250 kW and 500 Nm (335 HP / 369 ft.lb). They had a lot of local hardware including the cams, intake manifold, exhaust, valve train, rods, crank..................they were pretty special engines. Because of the big cam, they would rock at idle like an old school muscle car, and sounded like one two.



Engine video from back in the day -


Some Windsor warble (skip to 1.45.............


This guy annoys me, but he is one of a few that makes videos on these cars (6min for the noise)...............


As mentioned, in 2002 Ford launched the heavily refreshed Falcon with a range of new engines, including the first appearance of the newer Modular V8's. Ours were a bit different to what was offered in the US. The base SOHC 5.4 V8 had the 3V alloy heads on the iron block, which was the from the F-series, but teamed with local intake and exhaust manifolds. That engine produced 220 kW / 295 HP. The 3V was optional in Fairmont, Fairlane, and the workhorse utes, standard on LTD. They were basically a tow engine, low revving and a deep sound to them.

For the performance models, Ford locally assembled their own version starting with the 5.4 iron block, teamed with the alloy DOHC 4V heads, a locally designed intake manifold with huge pod filter, exhaust manifolds, all hand built. These engines powered performance Falcon's from 2003 to 2010, offered in 260 kw (349 HP), 290kw (389 HP), 302 kw (405 HP) and 315 kw (422 HP) power levels. The problem with those engines was the soft low-end torque, mainly because the 4V heads had no variable valve timing like the 3V version did. And because of the ultra-long 105mm stroke, they were limited to 6000 rpm, and later 6500 rpm with the Ford GT crankshaft, meaning they had a 2000rpm power band. But..................they sounded amazing with a really cammy sound and feel.






So, in summery, the Holden's were generally faster, but sounded like a fart in a funnel. The Ford's sounded richer, more raunchy.
This popped into my news feed a couple of days ago, you probably already know all about this one, they just needed a bit more courage.

https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/aussie-oddities-ford-au-falcon-300-two-door-prototype/




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I watched the last video and have a bit of an issue with reviewers like him, just a minor one. In the beginning he says this example is all stock....except custom exhaust, intake and tune...that's NOT stock anymore Now don't get me wrong, most of do 2 or all 3 of those mods on our cars but come on, don't say "it's all stock...except".

Thanks for always sharing your knowledge Deyon, you guys got those and we got the Lincoln LS, not even close to the same thing but if you had a family and wanted a Ford product that was RWD and V8 and fun (sans the Lincoln or Crown Vic) that was your only choice for something "close" and I use that term VERY lightly

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Agreed 100%. That guy is a bit of goofball, I don't really watch his content because of how he over emphasizes certain aspects of the car he is reviewing.

As for the Lincoln LS, would you believe the rear double wishbone suspension was starting point for the AU Falcon's IRS. The platform that underpinned the Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type, was too expensive to be used for the Falcon and sold at a low price point. So Ford Australia continued to evolve their own platform, but integrated the LS/S-Type IRS to suit the existing Falcon platform, changing to more cost-effective material choices. (as in cast rather than forged wishbones, steal subframe ect). That IRS was standard on high end models (T-Series, XR8, Fairmont, Fairlane), lower spec models got the watts link live axle. Yes, a live axle.
 
This popped into my news feed a couple of days ago, you probably already know all about this one, they just needed a bit more courage.

https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/aussie-oddities-ford-au-falcon-300-two-door-prototype/




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That was a nicely integrated conversion, I've seen it in person too. At the time, there was a lot of talk about trying to get Ford to make it as a production model to rival the Monaro (Pontiac GTO), but Ford had other issues to concentrate on. Monaro, even with exports, didn't necessarily make Holden a lot of money, but it did get the brand a lot of attention. In fact they even went so far as to say the Monaro was more of a brand building exercise that was heavily funded by the marketing department. You would think that would mean I hate the Monaro, but I would happily have one in my garage, such a handsome looking car.

The other one that did the rounds at the time had Mercedes C-Class headlights, it was hideous.................



 
That was a nicely integrated conversion, I've seen it in person too. At the time, there was a lot of talk about trying to get Ford to make it as a production model to rival the Monaro (Pontiac GTO), but Ford had other issues to concentrate on. Monaro, even with exports, didn't necessarily make Holden a lot of money, but it did get the brand a lot of attention. In fact they even went so far as to say the Monaro was more of a brand building exercise that was heavily funded by the marketing department. You would think that would mean I hate the Monaro, but I would happily have one in my garage, such a handsome looking car.

The other one that did the rounds at the time had Mercedes C-Class headlights, it was hideous.................





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I watched the last video and have a bit of an issue with reviewers like him, just a minor one. In the beginning he says this example is all stock....except custom exhaust, intake and tune...that's NOT stock anymore Now don't get me wrong, most of do 2 or all 3 of those mods on our cars but come on, don't say "it's all stock...except".

Thanks for always sharing your knowledge Deyon, you guys got those and we got the Lincoln LS, not even close to the same thing but if you had a family and wanted a Ford product that was RWD and V8 and fun (sans the Lincoln or Crown Vic) that was your only choice for something "close" and I use that term VERY lightly

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“Only minor modifications performed are…”


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The wheels on the Qashqai needed some work this week, mainly from yesterday's rain. They weren't too dirty so it was a simple spray with ONR, on the gutter side tyres as well, and a wipe over with an old MF that's now on wheel duties. Gave the tyres a wipe over with Autoglym Instant Tyre Dressing. Also checked the tyre pressures, they looked low, there was more bulge on the lower sidewall. They were all down around 28-29psi, I normally run 33-35psi. The only reason I can see is that we've had temps up around 90 - 100 for the last 2 weeks and the last 2 days they've dropped down to 67. If it had been just one I'd suspect a leak, but it was the same on all four.

It is already Thursday here, but it's still Wednesday over there, so I get a pass right.
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Time to redo the wheels on the FJ, the Collinite 845 I put on as a test a while back has disappeared. I'm not surprised as this is the hottest start to summer we've had in a few years, but with some heavy rain as well. I didn't go as far as taking them off, but I did work inside. I took all the centre caps off so I had full access around the lugs. I started off with an ONR wipe down, then a hand polish with Menzerna SF4000, followed by a wipe down with Eraser, finished off with some 303 Graphene Nano Spray Coating. Originally I wasn't going to do the tyres, but decided to give them a quick spray with Meg's Hyper Dressing, sprayed it on, spread it round, and wiped off the excess, I don't like them too glossy, the last pic was under artificial light.
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I mean, how could it not be these new-to-me wheels this week..................







Ordered a set of tyres for them today, hopefully have them fitted next week. I won't fit them to the car until I have coated them later in January.
 
I take back what I initially said about Meguiars Citrus Power Clean APC. It’s actually pretty good at cleaning wheels @1:1 and damn near incredible straight undiluted.

This is @1:1 and it nearly got this caked & baked wheel fully clean. I didn’t take any before shots because I wasn’t expecting such a dramatic result. These are the only pics I took but you can see how it cut through all that brake dust easily. My brush was bleeding chocolate milk. Lol.

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The FJ was due for a tyre rotation, so I cleaned inside the wheels, and the inside sidewall, as well as the outsides, while they were off. I used TWHS Hyper Foam on the sidewalls and inside the wheel, and ONR on the front faces of the wheels. Check out the brown coming off the inside sidewalls. I only used the Hyper Foam once on each tyre, I'd still be going if I was trying to remove all the browning. Last pic shows why these wheels will be going when these tyres wear out. They're almost 4 years old and the powder coating is starting to fall off, but then I never put any protection on the inside of the wheels. I knew they were cheap when I got them. I'll either put the original alloys back on, or get some new and shiny on.

Just a little FYI, I use a tread depth gauge and keep a spreadsheet to work out how I'm going to rotate my tyres. It shows that I wear the front left the most, then the rear right, then rear left, and front right the least. I guess I like to give it a bit on right hand corners.

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