welded it. Because of the droopy nose of the XM, if the arse sits
a bit lower than the front it always seems to look much better,
so I’m glad I went through with it.”
Powering the XM is a nicely warmed-over 289ci Windsor with
SRP slugs, a Crow Cams stick and Edelbrock E-Street heads,
mated to an Edelbrock RPM Air-Gap manifold with a Holley 650
Double Pumper. After trying two sets of aftermarket Mustang
headers and getting nowhere, Paul opted for a custom set, then
built the twin 2.5-inch exhaust system at home with help from
his mate Daniel Attard.
Backing the Windsor is a shift-kitted C4 with a 3000rpm
Dominator converter, funnelling grunt rearwards to a Truetrac-
equipped nine-inch with 31-spline axles and 3.5 gears.
Michael Stivala, of GSHOON XB Fairmont fame (SM, Apr
’15), squirted on the stunning VW Pacific Blue duco, and
subsequently introduced Paul to Angie Gordon, who ended up
tackling the interior fit-out. Paul’s brief to Angie was to retain the
original twin bench-seat configuration, and to trim the interior in
either charcoal or black. She did just that, and came up with a
design for the door trims that mimics the original pattern using
custom CNC-machined aluminium pieces, trimmed over the
top. The instrument cluster is a Ford Comet unit, which Paul
shipped to the States to have fitted out with Dakota Digital
instruments. Due to a bit of a shit-fight with customs, he almost
never saw it again! “Australian Customs refused to release it to
me because of new import taxes and GST laws. After parting
with more money and giving them a detailed explanation, I finally
got it back.”
Paul picked the car up from the trimmer on Christmas Eve 2016,
and the thrash began with less than a fortnight to Summernats- He’d been attending Summernats as a spectator since
before he was old enough to drive, catching the train down
from Sydney with his mates, but none of that prepared him for
everything that goes along with taking a car to the event.
“I didn’t set out to make the Top 60, but Mick [Stivala] pushed
me to get it judged in the Elite class,” he says. “Making it into
the hall was excellent, and it was really overwhelming to win 2nd
Top Sedan. I built it as a driver to cruise in and have a good time
with. That’s not to say that I’m not interested in shows, but it’s
not really one of the things I aspire to do with the car. To do so
well at Summernats after such a big push to get the car finished
was a huge bonus.”
After four years of hard slog, Paul has ended up with an owner-
built, trophy-winning, elite-quality car that he can happily pile
the family into and cruise anywhere at will. A fairly impressive
outcome, really! s
MAKING IT INTO THE ELITE HALL AT SUMMERNATS 30
WAS EXCELLENT, AND IT WAS REALLY OVERWHELMING
TO WIN 2ND TOP SEDAN