FTO AUSTRALIA

GDay All,

I thought I would introduce myself to this site.

My name is Tom Poczman, from Adelaide (Sth Australia), I work in the ICT arena (for 20yrs now) and I have the definite fortune of having indirect access to working on a recently purchased FTO GPX 1995, via my wife - it's her bloody car !!

Anyway, I think I have the FTO bug, where one addresses the needs of an FTO with a passion. Suffice it to say, below are some snaps, and to date have only recently done the following

1. Changed all fluids with the following

- Castrol Response Super DOT 4 Brake Fluid
- Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 Oil
- Castrol TQM-ST Trans Fluid
- Tectaloy Xtra Cool Gold Concetrate Coolant
- All filters replaced (K&N Air, Oil & Trans)

2. 6 x NGK PFR7M Platinum Plugs
3. various New Gaskets to resolve several oil leaks.
4. Tinted Windows
5. New Tyres 205/45R17 Hankook Tyres Ventus V8RS H424
6. New Exhaust Headers and Exhaust System

Projects in hand

- Painting Calipers
- Investigating total brake replacement
- Reviewing DBA Slotted Discs
- Reviewing EBC Red/Green Stuff pads
- Reviewing choice in new brake lines

Some Recent Pics






Car When Bought






On many occasions to date, after washing and waxing the boss's car, I have sat on a deck chair, with my dog by my side and beer in hand, admiring the curves of her car. I just had to put in a photo of my new bitch, Tess (7 months old) !!



With man working on such a great car, relaxing with a beer and his dog, what more does he want ?? Its the ultimate Saturday Arvo !!

Anyway the above is my plot, and I can see I am going to have heaps of fun researching and working on this great car.

I look forward to interacting with you all, as Im sure I will learn a lot from this site. I hope to give back indepth info and photos on just some of the projects I will be tackling with this great car.

cheers
Tom

looking good outside, what about inside?

you need some retrim to pimp that ride

mxysxy wrote:looking good outside, what about inside?

you need some retrim to pimp that ride

Have inserted a photo on inside in the original/first post, as bought - no tears or scratches and in immaculate condition.

I'm at present focusing on the external mechanics so as to ensure its fully roadworthy and to give peace of mind.

Then Ill address cosmetic changes, with approval if not guidance from the Boss

cheers
Tom

WTTC

Nice looker you have there. WTTC. Hope to meet you soon. Do you feel like coming on cruises with the rest of us die hard FTOers in Adelaide ?

Welcome to the club.

Oh and happy to put any guides you put together up on Complete FTO

Hi Tom, welcome.

Just thought I'd pass on my feeling of DBA rotors and EBC pads.

I got DBA 4000 (f) and slotted (r) discs fitted a few months ago with EBC green stuff (F) and Black stuff (r). I've got to admit I'm not overly impressed. IS a lot better than stock but I've been in other owners with Race Brakes pads and they seem to have a lot more bite. I got the EBC's thinking they might be a little less dusty but they are still very dusty.

My pedal feel isn't real great (looking to fix this with Braided lines later) but my main gripe is that the pads seem to get hot and pretty spongy very quickly and lack bite (compared to cars I've been in with Race Brakes pads fitted).

I confess to being a heavy breaker

Anyway best of luck.

Garth

RallyMad wrote:Hi Tom, welcome.

Just thought I'd pass on my feeling of DBA rotors and EBC pads.

I got DBA 4000 (f) and slotted (r) discs fitted a few months ago with EBC green stuff (F) and Black stuff (r). I've got to admit I'm not overly impressed. IS a lot better than stock but I've been in other owners with Race Brakes pads and they seem to have a lot more bite. I got the EBC's thinking they might be a little less dusty but they are still very dusty.

My pedal feel isn't real great (looking to fix this with Braided lines later) but my main gripe is that the pads seem to get hot and pretty spongy very quickly and lack bite (compared to cars I've been in with Race Brakes pads fitted).

I confess to being a heavy breaker

Anyway best of luck.

Garth

GDay Garth/RallyMad,

Thanks for the heads up on EBC's and I will research Race Brakes as well. Nothing is set in concrete yet as to which way Ill go, and this includes braided brake lines.

With regards to braided brake lines, I found an interesting article several days ago that you might find worthwhile at

http://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/article.html?&A=2679

where by they tested the performance and improvements of such lines - it surprised the hell out of me, if the stats are accurate.

I do need to have brakes that bite as opposed to stock performance for the missus as she has a tendancy to speed up to red stop lights and slow trucks. (Big Cry). She also likes the sound of the exhaust as she races P-Platers off the green light, so there is a lead foot on both pedals (Even Bigger Cry !!). Im waiting for the day she loses her license, so that she can then walk to work (Starting to feel better now !! )

I need to look at new brake lines anyway, given that I suspect they are the originals, and would have peace of mind with new ones. Given the above mentioned report, I see I still need to research this even more now.

cheers
Tom

WTTC Buddy!

Is it just me or does it look like there is no intake :S?

WTTC, you should definetily come on a cruise with us, they're heaps of fun and i'm sure your wife would love it.

@eThix

Very observant of you - good eyes !! I took another shot and zoomed in on the image.



I took the air intake hose off, along with the bottom of the air filter box and battery plate so as to clean radiator fluid which had slowly leaked below from the top radiator hose. (See white arrow)

Im at present looking around for some form of plate to hold the air-intake hose as it has a K&N Pod filter on the end which rests on the bottom air filter plate. This is not good as with the movement of the car, it rubs and can break the metal mesh on the Pod Filter.

Any suggestions other than making a dodgey one ?? Are any such plates or housings available for a Pod Filter on an FTO ??

PS - @Mel_star_1 - Im sure my wife would enjoy it, as would I, but at present Im trying to discourage her lead foot - plus Im focusing on doing some basic stuff to the FTO before I let it out - atleast Ill have something to brag about as Im sure there are heaps of FTO's in better "enhanced" condition. WIll keep the invite in mind, and thanks

Tom

ah k so i wasn't going crazy

You could probably find all the parts you need from ebay.
I recently just made a intake pipe for my car from ebay (very easy) cost me about $100

tompocz wrote: I think I have the FTO bug, where one addresses the needs of an FTO with a passion.

lol!! wttc! well when i purchased my fto my boyfriend had that same FTO bug, exept it got to the point that he had to go out and buy one himself.
hope you can make it to the 8th july cruise, and don't worry we havt done much to our cars either and iv had it for over a year so theres nothing to worry about,

WTTC!! Yeah the FTOs are a passion...

Had mine 2 years and its pretty standard...

You should jump on a few cruises... We're not like most clubs that do dumb stuff on all their cruises...

WTTC TOM

the car looks tidy and neat and we would like to c u on the next cruise
that way we can all meet.

its a fun club to be in, you'll meet a lot of people and make new friends

dont worry about your car being on the stocky side just looking at it its got more mods than mine.

Oh yeah! what part of Adelaide are you from?

ps. i love your dog he's beautiful.

Thanks for That Tom. Was a very interesting read. Shame they couldn't test a new set of rubber vs braided. Still at those prices I'd still think it would be worth considering. Most race cars I know can't be wrong

@phantom
Im from Gawler, Adelaide and the dog is female. I couldnt hack a male dog cocking its leg everywhere, and female dogs are more family orientated, but do have a tendancy NOT to listen - wonder why !! LOL

@RallyMad
No worries mate - thanks for your input

cheers
Tom