Craige Lewis’s nitrous 427-cube XY Falcon 500

Craige Lewis’s 700hp small-block Falcon oozes base-model cool

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Photographers: Matt Everingham

With a ProCharged Fox-body Mustang racer, street-driven twin-turbo TD Cortina, and now a nitrous-huffing, 427-cube XY Falcon 500 on his hot-car résumé, it’s pretty clear that Craige Lewis has a type. No matter the number of doors or nation of origin, his retro Fords pack mega-tough drivelines with a smooth finish and killer stance.

First published in the September 2024 issue of Street Machine

With the ’Stang and Corty in hibernation, Craige had an uncompromising vision for a cool streeter, and his existing Falcon didn’t fit the bill. “I had a freshly built Phase II replica in Surfer Orange, with a wind-back sunroof and everything,” he says. “I did a wedding in Sydney and drove it around for three hours with the Top Loader. I got home and wanted to put an auto in it, but it would’ve spoiled that car – it wasn’t the right car to do this to.”

While that could imply that this Falcon 500 was a basket-case in comparison, quite the opposite is true. In fact, this XY’s history is entirely documented, having been won in a raffle by an elderly man way back in 1971 and sold to long-time owner Graham Dowdeswell a few years later. Graham reckoned the car had seen rain only 15-20 times in his 50 years of ownership, which explains its brilliant original condition. “It was mint – a full day of work would’ve covered the rust,” Craige says. “It went all the way from the top of Queensland down to Pakenham in Victoria.” He admits he shelled out a fair sum for the car at the peak of COVID pricing, but the quality of the 76,000-mile survivor paid dividends when it came time for blasting, chopping and painting.

The originally optioned Teal Glow pops against the Hawaiian Spectrum cloth inside, reflecting the type of vibe you’d find on a full-colour Falcon ad back in the day. “When I took it up to Beachfest the week after it was done – where it made the Top 10 – it was funny to just stand back and listen to the comments about the interior,” Craige says. “Most of them were good, but some were pretty funny! I think some people don’t realise it’s a factory option.”

A genuine Golde wind-back sunroof is the third piece of the 70s equation. “I bought it from the guy I sold the Phase II to – he was going to put it in a Falcon coupe,” Craige says. “To be honest, if you drive it in the middle of the day, the sun flogs your left leg and arm, but with the colour and interior, it sets everything off.”

The latches, door strikers and body bolts were re-zinced, and Craige cherry-picked his favourite aspects of Falcon 500 styling while steering away from Fairmont and GT influence. “I could’ve put the GT spoiler and twin headlights on it, but it’s just not that car,” he reasons. “There are so many replicas out there – Tristan Ockers and I are trying to start a Falcon 500 revolution, because he’s just found a mint one!”

The SVO-blocked 427 is based on the mill from Craige’s killer Fox-body notchback (SM, Jun ’22), which hit 1750rwhp on 48psi before splitting down its guts. “I got a new block and got Frank at Dandy Engines to swap it all over, and then got a new engine for the Fox-body,” he says.

A Callies four-inch-stroke crank swings Diamond pistons via GRP alloy rods, with Edelbrock Victor Glidden heads and intake on top. Ignition is a combination of MSD and ICE goodies, while the Pro Street Industries-fabbed extractors run into a ceramic-coated system with Hooker mufflers. With an Induction Solutions nitrous plate replacing the ProCharger, the mill spat out nigh-on 700hp at the flywheel.

The column-shift arrangement is an especially cool touch for a car with this kind of power; Craige fabbed his own cable system to make it work alongside the fully manualised C4.

Matt at Pro Street Industries built a 35-spline nine-inch and spliced 40mm into each wheel tub, before fabricating mounts for Gazzard Brothers mono-leaf springs and sliders to hang inboard of the rails. JZ Custom Alloy knocked up a fuel tank that’s narrow enough to clear the suspension set-up while still hooking to the factory mounting points, holding 120 litres of pump 98.

The sweet bodywork and engine parts from a proven combo helped the XY come together without too many hassles, though a hard-to-spot issue had Craige scratching his head on the first test-drive. “I had a vac pump on it but no gauge,” he explains. “The Moroso sumps aren’t super strong, and because it’s got alloy rods, there’s not much clearance – it sucked the bottom of the sump up and the rod bolts hit it!

“The noise seemed to scatter, so I first had the manifold off thinking it had done a lifter. When I pulled the engine, the sump had four lines on it that looked like bead-roll marks, and I thought, ‘I don’t remember seeing those before!’” Some reshaping with a block of wood sorted out the high spots, and it’s not been a problem since.

With the Wollongong weather clearing up, Craige’s had a ball cruising the XY with his daughter in tow, and he’s certain it’ll do 10s on the quarter-mile without touching the gas bottle. “I’ll run some half-trackies to see what it’s gonna do, and maybe run down the back on the last pass,” he laughs. “I’ll get kicked
out with it aspirated, so we’ll see what happens!”

CRAIGE LEWIS
1971 FORD XY FALCON 500

Paint:Spies Hecker Teal Glow
ENGINE
Brand:427ci Ford SVO V8
Carb:APD 1050cfm
Intake:Edelbrock Victor Glidden
Heads:Edelbrock Victor Glidden
Camshaft:Solid-roller
Conrods:GRP alloy
Pistons:Diamond
Crank:Callies 4in
Oil pump:Melling high-volume
Fuel system:Aeromotive in-tank pump
Cooling:PWR radiator, Maradyne twin thermo fans
Exhaust:Pro Street Industries extractors, twin 3in system
Ignition:MSD 7AL, ICE Ignition coil, MSD leads
TRANSMISSION
Gearbox:AJ Dominello-built C4
Converter:SDE 4800rpm
Diff:Strange 9in, Truetrac, 35-spline axles
SUSPENSION & BRAKES
Front:Viking coil-overs
Rear:Viking shocks, Gazzard Brothers mono-leaf springs
Brakes:XY discs (f), drums (r)
Master cylinder:XY with vacuum pump
WHEELS & TYRES
Rims:RC Comp Torx; 17×4.5 (f), 15×11 (r)
Rubber:Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/R 26×6.00R17 (f), BFGoodrich 275/60R15 (r)

THANKS
Steve at Cruz Restorations; Matt at Pro Street Industries; Wired by Joe; Innocent Motorsports, Paul at Aqua’s Auto Skinz; Frank at Dandy Engines; Scott and Paul at Gazzard Brothers; Shane at Precision Suspension; John at JZ Custom Alloy; Jason Hoctor for going to look at the car for me.

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