Cameron Waters’s XB Falcon coupe build

UPDATE: The crew at Rides by Kam have been busy on Cameron Waters’s XB Falcon hardtop, so much so that it now has paint!

Cam is keeping the colour under wraps for now, but suffice to say, this will be one hot coupe!

We covered the engine build by former Supercars spanner man Jon Grove here. Stay tuned for more!

Supercars Tickford Mustang racer – and the most recent series race winner after a stunning drive last time out in Townsville – is using Lockdown #6 in Melbourne to push on with work on his XB Falcon coupe project.

The 2020 Bathurst pole-sitter and Supercars season runner-up is building the 1974 two-door coupe during lockdown in his hometown of Mildura.

While we’ve recently seen fellow Supercars driver Scott Pye working on his 1956 F100, which will be powered by a Coyote engine and 10-speed auto straight out of a road-going Mustang, Waters plans to fit a Supercar-based engine into his Aussie two-door body.

“Good mate Jon Grove is building the engine for me. He worked in the engine shop at Tickford for a few years and has a coupe himself,” Waters says. “The original plan was to use my Sandown 500-winning block [from 2017], but it was at the end of its life, so I bought a new block and went bigger capacity.”

A new Dart block will be the basis for a 6.0-litre V8 with Tickford heads, manifold and sump, as well as a Tremec Magnum six-speed manual and nine-inch rear.

“The lockdowns have made things a little harder for me being able to get back and do things on it myself,” says Cam, who’s currently locking down in Melbourne. “I do have Dad and his mate helping to keep things happening while I’m away, so there is still some progress even though I can’t work on the car myself.”

The latest round of work has seen the fuel tank and exhaust systems made, with brake and fuel lines next on the list before Haltech wires the whole thing up. “After that it will go back to Rob from Rides By Kam to get the body sorted and then paint it,” says Cam, who still hasn’t decided what colour it will be.

Waters purchased the car in 2018 from mate and sponsor, Colin McQuinn (you’ll see McQuinn Electrical on Tickford race cars).

“Colin had two shells at the time, and just in conversation he told me that he was selling one of them,” Cam explains. “I thought I’d go have a look at it that afternoon. Once I saw it, I couldn’t say no and bought it.”

The XB hardtop, which was originally a 302 Fairmont T-bar auto when it left the factory, had been on Water’s list for some time. “I always wanted to do an old-school car up, and I love the shape of the coupes,” he says.