After cutting ’n’ shutting the rear bar and sucking
it into the body, the factory gap between the tail-
lights, quarter panels and boot lid was filled and
smoothed. Having seen Andy rework the rear bar,
Steve decided to tackle the front.
“Andy coached me through it,” he says. “I shaved
all the bolt holes and I got rid of the ugly hole at
the top by MIG-welding in a piece of flat bar. I put
too much heat into the first one and warped it – I
had to start over again with a fresh bar. All up it
took me over a month to complete.”
The grille turned out to be an even bigger
challenge. At considerable expense, Steve
purchased two second-hand grilles and had one
of them repaired. However, neither fitted right;
they cracked and never followed the bonnet line.
IM Composite Technologies fixed the problem by
making a complete new grille out of fibreglass.
After all the fab work was completed, Andy
and Marty spent countless hours massaging the
body before laying on the HOK pearl white with
HOK Galaxy Grey accents, separated by a red
pinstripe. BFAT’s body and paint is flawless!
The interior continues the ‘insanely modified’
theme. Mick at Mick’s Custom Interiors really
outdid himself. The front and rear seats, door trims
and centre console were all made from scratch.
Look down and you’ll note that BFAT has been
flat-floored; look up and you’ll see what Steve
calls the spider-web. Mick fashioned fibreglass
panels for the surrounding section (all trimmed
in leather) and filled the rest in with six individual
panels. About the only Ford bit left in the interior
is the XB dash – that’s because Steve loves their
shape.
“The trim colour actually determined the exterior
colour,” he says. “When it came time to settle on
body colour, Andy and I looked at some of Mick’s
completed work and we both agreed that white
would be the perfect contrast.”
Although the car had been together at least
seven times, it was never fired up until after it
was painted, Daniel (Gizmo’s Auto Electrics)had finished the wiring and all the Earl’s fittings
(thanks to Jack) were plumbed. “It was pretty
nerve-wracking,” says Steve of the first turn of the
key. “But as soon as the engine fired, it was smiles
all ’round. Everything was all good, and it was
immediately obvious the engine was plenty tough.
“Eventually I’ll race it,” he muses, “but the whole
build was a constant challenge, so I’d like to keep
it nice for a while and drive it a bit before heading
to the track.”
Watch this space! sFAMILY HEIRLOOM
STEVE’S XB has been in the Bellia
family since new. Originally a
Tango Orange GS (above), Steve’s
father bought it new off the lot
in 1976 and used it as his daily
driver until 2000 – it was the only
car he owned during that entire
period. After sitting idle in the
garage until 2010, Steve and his
father decided to give it a full
rebuild. “Once we pulled it down,
Dad was like: ‘Wow, this is too
much,’ and decided to just give
me the car,” Steve says. “Which
is about the point things got out
of hand!”HEART OF THE MATTER
BFAT was built around its 434ci
Dart-based small-block, which
was lowered a couple of inches
to get the tall CHI intake under
the bonnet. It was also shifted
rearwards a total of eight inches
to help weight distribution.
Dowel-located engine plates front
and rear ensure it stays put when
those fat Mickey Ts hook up and
begin making the most of its 754
horses. The original engine plates
were solid-mounted, but engineer
Mick Dudley directed Steve to
modify them to accommodate
nylon bushes, which gives the
Falcon street-friendly manners.BOTH JAMES AND ANDY REALLY PUSHED ME.
PLENTY OF TIMES THEY’D BE LIKE: “COME ON,
LET’S DO THIS!” I CAN’T THANK THEM ENOUGH
B
FAT