(^42) themotorhood.com
1974 FORD XB
FAIRMONT
ENGINE: 351ci Ford Cleveland
V8, .030-inch overbore, 4MA
crankshaft, Romac harmonic
balancer, ARP rod bolts,
Edelbrock camshaft, Cleveland
2V open-chamber iron heads,
stainless-steel Cleveland
4V valves, screw-in rocker
studs, roller rockers, Peterson
supercharger manifold, GM
6-71 supercharger, Als Blower
Drives supercharger drive
gears, Als Blower Drives rear
bearing plate, boost-referenced
Quick Fuel carburettor, Garlits
Streetcatcher scoop, Mallory
electric fuel pump, custom
distributor housing, MSD
distributor internals, MSD 6AL
ignition, four-into-two-into-one
headers, three-inch exhaust,
Procool radiator
DRIVELINE: Ford C6 three-speed
automatic, Ford nine-inch diff,
Strange Engineering diff centre,
31-spline billet axles, 4.56:1
diff ratio
SUSPENSION: Factory front
suspension, Koni front shocks,
custom four-link rear, rear
coilovers, rear Panhard rod
BRAKES: Drilled and slotted front
discs, rear drums
WHEELS/TYRES: 15x6-inch
and 15x15-inch Center Line
Convo Pro wheels, 29x18.5-15
Mickey Thompson rear tyres
EXTERIOR: Satin orange paint,
white pearl
CHASSIS: Custom rear section,
driveshaft safety hoop
INTERIOR: Recaro bucket seats,
B&M shifter, Auto Meter gauges,
roll cage
PERFORMANCE: Untested
(so far)
“Around four years ago, Vance, a good mate of
mine, stumbled across this beauty sitting in a shed
in Napier. Once he had purchased the car and let
me know about it, I knew I just had to have it in my
shed,” Willy recalls.
It took a few years of
persistent harassing, but
Willy got there in the end,
coming up with a good-
enough deal to prise the
keys from Vance’s hands.
Having owned more than
his fair share of tough
street cars, Willy didn’t
lose much sleep over his
decision to pull the tough
460ci big block in favour
of a more streetable set-
up. Yeah, bragging rights
are one thing, but Willy’s
not about those if it takes
away from his enjoyment
of the car.
“I suppose as you get older you get wiser,” he
chuckles.
It can’t have hurt to have a nicely built 351ci
Cleveland and C6 transmission already sitting
around in an EL Falcon he owned, either!
Well, that was the plan, until Willy found an
almost-complete 6-71 supercharger set-up on
Trade Me. He took all the bits and pieces to Marty
and Zoe Radford at Radford Ventures Ltd, and a
plan of attack was drawn up, the end result being
the tubbed and blown Falcon coupe Willy had
always wanted.
As the coupe had already
been tubbed, with a
narrowed rear chassis
section, custom four-
link, and Panhard rod
set-up under the bum,
Marty began work on the
Cleveland immediately.
It’s worth noting here
that the gear that he used
is mostly reconditioned
second-hand equipment
— cost-effective, reliable,
and more than enough for
what Willy’s going to use
the XB for.
The distributor, for
example, is a Marty special — a re-machined body
and driveshaft to clear the supercharger snout,
filled with MSD internals. With the exception of
the blower-grind Edelbrock camshaft, the entire
bottom end is as Willy removed it from his EL. The
4MA crankshaft is out of an American-assembled
frankie
(Frankie)
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