THE COUPE WAS BEHEADED, THE NEW ROOF WAS STITCHED IN
though, Stuart received the dreaded phone call that no new car owner wants to receive, which would turn things from ‘tidy up and drive’ to something a hell of a lot more involved. It was in a much worse condition than was initially thought; the more they looked, the worse things got. Back home it went to be blown apart to a bare shell, before heading back to the shop for an extended stay and some serious bodywork.
A plan was actioned and Stuart thought the coupe was in good hands. He kept in regular contact and things appeared to be going well; progress was being made, and from the outside things all appeared to be great. Stuart had decided that seeing as he was going to this extent with the bodywork, he would delete the ’80s abomination that was chopped into the roof of many cars of this era: the dreaded pop-up leaky sunroof. Try as they might, however, they just couldn’t get the curve of the roof quite right with a patch. Somehow though, Stuart had located a brand new, never-been-on-a-car roof skin in a local guy’s shed — a real one-of-a-kind find and probably the only one in the country. Finally, a win for team Pankhurst. The coupe was beheaded, the new roof was stitched in, and everyone was happy again.
After close to two years, the coupe was supposedly ready for paint. Stuart cast his eye over the shell and wasn’t at all happy with what he saw, which was disappointing given the time that the shop had had the car, and the considerable amount of money he had handed over. He was so unhappy that he decided he didn’t want them to paint the car, and the shell once again moved home again. Bugger. Feeling quite disillusioned, the hunt was on for someone else to finish the job when he saw an ad for Big Shed Customs in Blenheim. Giving Mark Stead a call, Stuart filled him in on the coupe’s coloured history thus far. Happy with how the conversation went, the car was shipped north and delivered to Mark’s shop to be painted and fitted out. While Mark was blocking off the body in preparation for the blue-on-black-pearl top coat to be
applied, he began to see some issues … major issues. Stuart once again found himself on the wrong end of an expensive phone call. By this time, he was too far into it and had no other option but to go back to square one. The body was dip-stripped, every panel that could be removed was, and every sin was exposed. Every blemish that could be repaired was, and everything that couldn’t was remade or replaced: A-pillars, B-pillars — you name it, they did the lot!
Over the next five years — yep, you read that correctly — Mark and his team of perfectionists began piecing the coupe back together. The plus side of such a long build was that Stuart was able to collect everything that he needed to make the inside and underneath look as good as the twice-rebuilt outside.
The 351 Clevo was handed over to HPE, and the original block was stroked out to 393 cubes and crammed full of tough ‘please don’t break, I’ve been through enough already’ bits. Tremec supplied a TKO 600 five-speed manual with a short-shift kit — Stuart says he loves the feel of swapping cogs, and this combination is bloody nice to drive fast. A nine-inch Currie rear end with 31-spline axles and Truetrac locker shouldn’t break in a hurry, and the 3.25:1 rear ratio has no problems hazing the Sumitomo 315/35 ZR 17 rears. Rolling stock is a set of custom built 17-inch FR1 Simmons: eight inches wide with a three-inch dish up front, and 11 inches wide at the rear with a massive five-inch dish, making for one hell of a tough stance.
Moving inside, Stuart opted not to mess with what Ford Australia had done when the car rolled off the production line in the ’70s. The factory seats, front and rear, have been recovered in leather, along with the door cards. A factory GT dash containing factory gauges has found itself inside and sits behind a Grip Royal steering wheel. Completing the factory-appearing interior is a Retro Sound system; lurking behind the original XB faceplate is all brand new and modern, complete with USB connections and Bluetooth, a nice mix of old meets new.
Finally, after seven long years, the XB was ready for its maiden voyage. Well, at least Stuart thought so, until finding the block had a crack in it and was leaking water into the exhausts. So out came the engine, with both car and engine being returned to Christchurch for the engine to be rebuilt.
The drama-filled build would have one last curveball to throw his way. The end result was one tough-looking car, and a damn sight better than what was delivered to Mark initially, but Stuart still wasn’t quite happy with how things looked. He received a call from Mark echoing his exact thoughts: both weren’t happy with the paint. By mutual agreement, the car went back to Blenheim for a repaint that everyone would be happy with. Now sporting a flawless paint job that everyone loved, the XB arrived
back in Christchurch for the final time. Stuart jokes that, so far, around 2000km had been put on the car without a wheel being turned!
A few minor issues were picked up during the certification process and quickly rectified by Stuart and his sons, the biggest being the bump-steer issue created by the twoinch drop spindles. A few places had a go at fixing the problem; however, all attempts were unsuccessful. Not wanting to give up, Stuart and his sons spent, “Many hours under the car measuring, altering, and pissing around”, and eventually sorted the issue. The certifier was happy, but, more important, Stuart and his family were happy. The big Australian two-door was finally finished, ready to burn some fuel and some rear tyres. As Stuart says, with a wry smile on his face, “If it’s not worth doing at least twice, it’s not worth doing.”