First published in the November 2003 issue of Street Machine

Chris Gofton grew up surrounded by a family mad about cars. “I guess it’s in my blood with my brothers having V8 Holdens and Dad having an E38 Six-Pack Charger,” he explains. “I started playing around with cars and buying Street Machine, and as soon as I saw Phil Rilotta’s blown Torana and Fred Cavassini’s blown Hot Rod I instantly knew what I wanted.”

What he wanted was to pack a 6/71 blower, monster rubber and a tough attitude into a classic Aussie muscle car. A methanol-slurping XY that appeared in the classies was a natural choice.

“I had no idea how to maintain a blown methanol 351 but I was soon going to find out the hard way,” Chris says.

Living in Halifax up in Far-North Queensland meant there were long private roads to test out the unregistered beast. “I used to take it for a lap all the time but I over-revved it one day doing some practice launches near a mate’s place and bent some valves.”

Along with thrown blower belts and fuel-delivery issues that have kept the XY from completing a full-powered pass down the quarter, that over-rev was the last straw and a major rebuild followed.

“Once I’d re-installed the motor, it began to show up the rest of the car which was starting to get a little tired in places,” he explained.

Originally featuring graphics by Paul Bennett, the XY had won Top Graphics trophies at the Ingham Car & Bike Extravaganza and the Top Competition gong for three years in a row. Though rust-free, the paint was starting to show its age so with the help of a few mates, Chris stripped down the XY in a corner of his parents’ huge shed. After the bodywork was completed, another mate, Jerry Gaggiano from Gianotti’s Custom and Panel Works, was entrusted to spray the delicious custom-mixed Raspberry duco.

Once spotless and immaculately detailed, the engine bay became home to a tough, blown 351 Cleveland screwed-together by Andrew McNaughton at X-TREME Motorsport.

“It’s basically an entirely different motor from before, with all the best bits that I could possibly use,” Chris says. Towering above everything else, even a blind person couldn’t fail to notice the awesome Newby 6/71 blower and Enderle mechanical fuel injection!

Wanting to get the very best out of the supercharger, Chris used chrome-moly pushrods, Isky double valve springs and a suitable Crane bumpstick to activate larger Ferrea valves inside the ported 4V cylinder heads. Ross blower pistons and Lunati steel rods swing from an Eagle 4840 steel crank while the rest of the carefully-balanced bottom-end includes race bearings, a high-volume sump and a modified oil pump for reliable lubrication.

A hungry Enderle 80A pump supplies the methanol from an alloy fuel cell while 10mm leads carry the electrical energy provided by a modified electronic distributor, MSD Blaster three-coil and an MSD 7AL-2 system. Some pretty heavy duty gear.

Before the big rebuild a trip down the quarter didn’t quite go according to plan. “After a pretty hard launch, I suddenly heard this really loud bang,” Chris says. “The pinion gear snapped which then trashed the entire diff assembly and tore out all the rear suspension!”

Determined to suffer driveline breakages no more, Chris opted for some serious hardware as part of the XY’s extensive resurrection. The C6 tranny was given a freshen-up by good mate Eddie at Eric’s Automatics and equipped with a full manual valve body and mated to a Dominator Top Eliminator torque converter. A 9in diff with a Strange nodular centre, full spool, Strange 4.88:1 Pro gears and 31-spline fully-floating billet axles complete the tough driveline.

Sticky Mickey Thompson Sportsman Pros are the final link between the car and the tarmac and cover Center Line Auto Drag rims measuring 15×5 at the pointy end with immense 15x15s filling the cavernous rear tubs.

Just like the mechanical specifications, the interior is definitely all business with a 20-point roll-cage being the dominant feature. RPM harnesses complement the XD Falcon seats and dashboard assembly which has been filled with Auto Meter products including a Sports Comp 10,000rpm shift-lite tacho and gauges for water temperature, oil pressure and boost.

NAILING THE COLOUR

There’s an amusing story behind choosing the new paint. “I racked my brains for months trying to decide on the new colour, going through old books and looking at cars. One day at the paint shop I decided that if I couldn’t find a colour I liked I would stick with the traditional Track Red or Electric Blue. Near the end of the day, I found the colour I wanted and, despite being told to only bring back a sample by the spray painter, bought enough to do the entire car. As I showed the sample to my wife Andrea, she put her fingernail in it and gave it the OK by declaring it to be ‘a nice nail polish colour’ and now I’m really happy with it. It’s unique and suits the car.”

CHRIS GOFTON
1970 FORD XY FAIRMONT

THANKS
Chris would like to thank every single person, family member and business who helped and supported the build – you guys know who you are – but most of all, his wife Andrea for being so patient and “putting up with me, not just with this car, but with all of them”.