First published in Street Machine Fords #01, 2003

Tough-as-guts street machines don’t get any more in your face than Jason Loane’s blown and injected XD Falcon. Stacked like a block of flats on the edge of a cliff, the mountain of metallic muscle bursting through the bonnet, topped with an Enderle bug catcher, threatens to suck the lines off the blacktop as the Ford shreds the tar.

“I headed to Summernats back in 1992,” recalls Jason. “I was there with my mates checking out the cars and I remember seeing Red Rat, a nasty XD Falcon with a blown Cleveland in it, and as we were standing there checking out the cars, Nick Karathanasopoulos’s blown XY went cruising by. The sound of that blown Ford rumbling past had everyone speechless and I knew there and then that that’s exactly what I wanted – a blown Ford.”

As a furniture polisher the old reddies were never abundant, but as luck would have it Jason’s folks were about ready to pension off the trusty old six-banger XD Falcon, which had served loyally as the family truckster for nine years.

“It wasn’t anything special,” says Jason, “but it was straight and rust free. I cruised it around for about a year before jamming a 351, FMX and nine-inch diff in it. About a year later I got the shits with not having the car looking the way I really wanted it and decided it was time to do something about it.”

Stripped of its running gear, Jason struck a deal with a local backyard panel beater to get the body into shape and dropped off the car with a large cash deposit. Some 13 months went by and close to nothing was done to the shell. Words were exchanged and Jason took the car down to Shiloh Custom Art in Wynnum, Brisbane, with a list of instructions for the new panel beaters.

Within three months the car was looking like new after an extensive massage. The makeover included fitting a flat floor in the boot, welding up the rear quarter vents, seam welding, and smoothing over the engine bay and entire undercarriage before etching, priming, high-filling and painting it in Hyundai’s Lobelia pearl.

“I went and talked to my engine builder and told him that I wanted to build a blown Cleveland,” says Jason. “Together we sorted out a plan to get it happening.”

Like the rest of the car, Jason didn’t scrimp on hardware when it came to screwing the combo together. A good virgin block was sourced and fitted with a 4MAB crank along with Lunati conrods, custom Ross blower pistons and a large-capacity sump built for the big-revving small-block. Compressed air/fuel mix comes courtesy of a 23 per cent underdriven Littlefield 6/71 supercharger utilising a BDS drive kit. Once pumped through the Newby manifold, the incoming charge flows into a pair of modified 2V items fitted with the usual 4V hardware.

Bob Grant got the nod to build a tough Powerglide and make the appropriate adaptor to mate the GM auto to a C4 bellhousing.

Once it was back from the panel beaters, Jason ripped the front and rear ends out of the car and totally rebuilt and detailed both of them. To make sure it could handle the grunt, the nine-inch was fitted with a Mark Williams carrier, Moser axles, Romac pinion support, full spool, billet yolk and 3.82:1 gears.

“This, along with collecting and fitting all new bits and pieces, which included heaps of things like door rubbers and weather strips, took me close to three years,” says Jason.

The cabin received at complete makeover to put it on par with the rest of the car, including securing a set of Cobra seats to the PlayStation control area. A custom dash, fitted out with larger-than-life Auto Meter gauges for reporting all the vital engine statistics, replaced the originals. The list of interior and fit-out modifications is enough to give even diehard street machiners heart flutters. Better still, it’s not all show – there’s plenty of go as well.

“Not only did I want a car capable of running 10s,” says Jason, “I wanted a tough-as Ford that would turn heads big-time. I finally got the car on the road in 2000 and took it to the Lawnton Powernats, where it won Top Judged.

“From there it went straight to the track and with a pair of 600vac Holleys sitting up top, it ran a 10.60 straight off the trailer. Mission accomplished.” After running such a stout time, Jason couldn’t run it again until the chrome moly cage was fitted. Good friend Gonzo fitted one (he also did the exhaust) and it was back to the track – sporting a pair of 750 double-pumper Holleys this time. KULPRIT then proceeded to rattle off a 10.29 at 130mph.

As good as the car ran using the Holleys, Jason had his heart set on injection.

“Yeah, I always wanted a bug catcher on the car and it’s better suited to the style I was after,” he says. “I’m really glad I did it. At the track it’s especially good out of the hole. I just love the first 60 feet. Problem is I can’t get it registered anymore, so I don’t get to drive it much.

“In fact, I’m thinking about selling it. Blowers are fun, but not much fun with the cops. Besides, you’ve always got your hand in your pocket – though once it’s finished, it’s finished.”

When asked if he would do it over again, Jason was in two minds: “The car has done quite well, including People’s Choice award at the ABC Autogear, plus Best Dressed Undercarriage and Runner-up in Tuff Street at Summernats 15. However, I probably wouldn’t build a car that I had to trailer everywhere. Maybe something street legal with a carby so I can drive it whenever I get the urge. Then shove in heaps of gas (nitrous) for track work.”

“Then again, I do love how it gets to 60 feet.” Arrrgh, decisions, decisions!”

DEVINE INSPIRATION

For most car heads there will be one car that forever sticks in their minds. Eventually the urge to replicate this inspirational car gets the better of us and we just have to go out and build a tribute machine.

For Jason Loane it was the sight of George Salamas’s ultra-neat blown XD, Red Rat, and the sound of Nick Karathanasopoulos’s mega-tough blown XY. When it comes to divine inspiration these would have to be two of the best.

Jason Loane
1980 XD Falcon

Many thanks
“I couldn’t have done it without the help of my brother Guy, Gonzo, Dave and all the others who have helped me. There’s also Brett Ehmer and Jim Bombolas for building the engine and sorting the injection, and Logan Priest for rewiring the car.”