FORD FALCON XT
347ci Ford Windsor, 302 block, Eagle rods, Eagle pistons, Eagle crank, Gilmer belt drive, Isky heads, Supercam cam, Edelbrock intake manifold, Holley carb, MSD ignition, Proflow headers, three-inch exhaust, M&H radiator
C4 automatic transmission, nine-inch diff
Aftermarket front coil springs, Monroe shocks, aftermarket leaf springs, Nolathane bushes
Aftermarket booster, stock discs and drums
18x8.5-inch and 18x9.5inch Foose Legend wheels, 225/40R18 and 235/40R18 Neuton tyres
Ford Electric Orange Pearl paint, XR Falcon tail lights
Scarles mahogany steering wheel, custom black retrim
Untested
own. That meant smoothing out the engine bay, removing the factory battery mount and all the old wiring. The rewire would be taken care of later on, at which time the battery would be relocated to the boot, keeping the engine bay free of clutter. For the boys to reach their goal of getting the car on the road as soon as possible, the job to respray the Falcon in a more modern colour was given to Chris. Always wanting something that stood out, not to mention something different from other X-series Falcons out there, as soon as he came across the Ford Electric Orange Pearl paint, Nick knew that he’d found ‘the one’. Those with blue blood in their veins may have noticed that the tail lights have been changed out for a set sourced from an XR Falcon, this occurring during the reassembly process. Rather than deal with
AS SOON AS HE CAME ACROSS THE FORD ELECTRIC ORANGE PEARL PAINT, NICK KNEW THAT HE’D FOUND ‘THE ONE’
old chrome bumpers, new replacements were sourced and fitted, along with the lovingly polished original trim items.
Although Nick’s previous cars had all been fuel injected and turbocharged, for his foray into the V8 world, he’d go the opposite way with a carburetted naturally aspirated (NA) V8. For this, he found a 302 Windsor on Trade Me in need of a complete rebuild — something that suited him perfectly, as he wanted to learn how everything went together. A mate, Clayton, would help out with the engine build but Nick was jumping in the deep end, ordering an
Eagle stroker kit to throw at it. With the new pistons, crank, and rods installed, the engine now displaces 347ci. Rather than run the old asthmatic heads, Nick managed to source a pair of Isky-branded items, which he fitted along with a Supercam cam. Externally, the detailed engine wears a Holley four-barrel carburettor and Edelbrock intake manifold that is fuelled by the stock fuel system. To ignite the liquid dinosaurs, Nick wisely selected an ignition system from the MSD catalogue, while, to expel the remnants, a set of Proflow headers were ordered. The finishing touches to the engine bay were an M&H radiator, along with a custom three-inch exhaust system. With the car being a big departure from his highperformance days of old, Nick opted to bolt a C4 automatic transmission to the engine before