MARK BOXER 1997 FORD XH FALCON UTE
Paint: Grey
ENGINE
Type: Atomic semigrout-filled Barra
Capacity: 3984cc
Intake: Extrude-honed FG Falcon, 12 injectors, Hypertune 90mm throttlebody
Induction: Garrett GT47/88 turbo
Head: Atomic Race ported
Pistons: Cosworth
Rings: Cosworth
Crank: Atomic Race
Rods: Atomic Fat Rods
Cam: Atomic Stage IV+ Race with VCT delete
Valve springs: Atomic Valves: Atomic
Ignition: LS coils on Tuff Mounts bracket
Fuel pump: Three Walbro in-tank
Exhaust: 4in turbo dump and side-pipe
TRANSMISSION
Transmission: MV Automatics reversepattern TH400 with transbrake Converter: TCE billet 5500rpm high-stall
SUSPENSION & BRAKES
Brakes: Stock (f), Wilwood (r); parachute and line-locker Springs and shocks: Pedders coil-overs (f), QA1 coil-overs (r)
Steering: Customised Falcon column with VK Commodore manual steering rack-andpinion
Rear end: Custom ladder bar with wheelie bars and antiroll bar
Differential: Currie Enterprises sheetmetal housing braced by Zagari Engineering, full spool, Strange 3.55:1 gears, 40-spline billet axles
WHEELS & TYRES
Rims: Weld Alumastar; 15x3.5 (f), 15x12 (r)
Rubber: Mickey Thompson; 15in frontrunners (f), 33x10.5 slicks (r)
the bar is gone’. Perfect for a quick trackside engine swap if something grenades at a meet. Boxer now works mostly as a TV producer and cameraman, running Hoontv, but as a former mechanic, he was able to do plenty of the XH’S fabrication work himself, though he had plenty of help along the way. “If it wasn’t for Cameron Lees from Solid Mechanical & Engineering, this car would never have been finished,” he says. “Cameron and his head fabricator Brett Graham were nothing short of incredible in pushing this car along.” Another good friend, Craig Williams at Mad Performance, was instrumental in setting the firewall back about five inches, liberating real estate for a subtle dump tank behind the engine. Down the back, Boxer assisted talented race car builder Luke Szkoruda to reset the rear rails further inboard and fashion tubs to suit. Luke and Boxer also formed up the rear sheeting and hung an unbreakable Currie Enterprises 40-spline nine-inch off a set of ladder bars, but not before additional bracing by Zagari Engineering. Boxer is quick to extol the virtues of social media as a motivating force to keep chipping away at the build of his XH. “Occasionally, I’d decided I was done with the car, over it,” he says. “Then I’d get a bunch of friends on social media talk me out of quitting. Then Telfo said he wanted to feature the car when it was finished; well, I turned into a man on a mission.”
The well-wishers pushed Boxer to complete the car, but he’s decided that after a decade of toil, the Falcon must go. “I was more into cars when I started; I was younger,” he admits. “Bikes are more my thing now.”
As we exit the building, I ask Boxer what happened to ‘Frank the Tank’, his trusty Land Cruiser. It turns out some significant body mods and an LS conversion are on the cards, with a view to getting it to Summernats in January. Yeah, not into cars much these days, Boxer? We beg to differ.
FEATURES THE ATOMIC BARRA BLOCK RACE MASSIVE CAMS, ATOMIC PISTONS, STUFF CRANK – ALL SORTS OF GO-FAST