IT\u2019S HARD to justify calling an XW Falcon a sleeper these days. Particularly if it\u2019s painted Silver Fox and has a bright orange stripe down the side.<\/p>\n
Marcus Howe is a mechanic by trade and runs his own workshop at St Helens on the east coast of Tassie. Like a lot of blokes of a certain age, he has a bit of a thing for XW\/XY Falcons, and hatched a distinct plan from the very beginning of this build. \u201cI built the car to run a decent nine-second pass as a genuine streeter,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The car was already painted Silver Fox when he bought it, and although in good condition, it wasn\u2019t quite good enough for Marcus\u2019s discerning tastes. \u201cI used the car for 12 months before I repainted it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt had been touched up on one guard and was a slightly different colour, so I wasn\u2019t happy with the paint.\u201d<\/p>\n Not surprisingly, Marcus\u2019s Falcon has taken out the street class at Baskerville street drags for the past two years running. This is thanks in no small part to the dedicated work of Marcus\u2019s good mate Pete Eastley, who helps out with tuning duties on and off the track.<\/p>\n No scoops, no turbos, no tubs – this nine-second street trim XW Falcon boasts over 700hp at the wheels and gets the job done the old-fashioned way<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":12061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[30,535,566,1366,1449,2136,2245,6897],"coauthors":[1308],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1970-ford-xw-falcon-main-1422.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12060"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12060"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=12060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/span>Although this old bird isn\u2019t meant to replicate the Bathurst brawlers of yore, you probably won\u2019t be surprised to learn that it\u2019s not exactly slow. But if we tell you this car seats six and runs a sub-10sec quarter with a full street exhaust and nothing poking out of the bonnet, you might begin to appreciate just how stealthy this combo really is.<\/p>\n
<\/span>It all began when Marcus spotted the car online. \u201cIt was a good-bodied car,\u201d he says. \u201cI looked for ages to find one that was good in the body and not full of bog.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>Marcus also took the opportunity to shave some of the badges and fix a few dents while he was at it. After the respray was complete, he added a contrasting orange GS-style stripe. \u201cIt\u2019s basically a GS-configuration stripe, but I didn\u2019t like how they normally stop at the back,\u201d Marcus clarifies, \u201cso I thought I\u2019d make my own stripe to run the full length of the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>On the inside, the Falcon is pretty much stock, retaining the factory bench seats and hang-up belts. \u201cThe trim is factory original,\u201d Marcus says. \u201cIt did have a rubber floor mat in it, but I put carpet in to make it a bit nicer.\u201d There\u2019s a B&M Quicksilver shifter to select gears, and for safety\u2019s sake Marcus had ProFab Hobart install a six-point \u2019cage. \u201cI put that in when I first bought the car,\u201d he says. \u201cI knew I wanted to run decent times, so that was a basic part of the build.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>Marcus\u2019s older brother Phil is a mechanic, too, and has many years\u2019 experience building engines that need to perform under stress for racing applications. Marcus drew on Phil\u2019s knowledge and skills when it came to assembling his chosen mechanical components. \u201cI had a lot to do with the engine; I basically knew what I wanted. But I did get Phil to put it together so I knew it was right,\u201d Marcus says.<\/p>\n
<\/span>The motor is based on a 9.2in-deck-height Ford Windsor V8 boasting a massive 434 cubic inches of capacity. It runs a Callies 4340 crank spinning in Clevite bearings and pumping a set of forged CP pistons mounted on Oliver I-beam rods. Up top there\u2019s a pair of CHI heads that have been CNC-ported by Nathan Higgins, topped with a CHI manifold fitted with a 1050cfm Dominator carb. A Camtech solid-roller cam works a set of REV valves in conjunction with PAC Racing endurance valve springs, chrome-moly pushrods and Crower roller lifters. A Moroso external oil pump keeps the pressure up and draws liquid gold from a High Energy sump, and MSD ignition lights the fire.<\/p>\n
<\/span>The exhaust is a custom Howe Power dual three-inch system designed by Marcus\u2019s brother. \u201cHe used to race go-karts and the design comes from that,\u201d Marcus says. \u201cIt\u2019s a megaphone-type system similar to an X-pipe, but different. People used to say that whenever you put an exhaust on you lose power, but I can have this exhaust on the car and it will make just as much power as it will without the pipes.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>Backing up the monster small-block is a Turbo 400 auto attached via a JW bellhousing adaptor and built by Fred at Pro Trans. It runs a 5000rpm TCE converter and feeds power through a Hardy Spicer tailshaft to the Strange 35-spline full-spool rear running a street-friendly 3.7:1 ratio.<\/p>\n
<\/span>There aren\u2019t any full quarter-mile tracks in Tassie though, so Marcus was forced to cross the ditch to tick a sub-10sec pass off his bucket list. He achieved his goal in April this year, bringing the XW over on the boat to run at Heathcote, where he claimed a best time of 9.53@150mph with the full road exhaust and a set of slicks. \u201cThat\u2019s how I wanted to build the car,\u201d Marcus says, \u201cso it was fast and I didn\u2019t have to change it to go racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>Marcus is a humble guy and rejects the suggestion that this might be Tassie\u2019s quickest street car. We can\u2019t help but wonder, though, and would love to hear of anything quicker. We daresay Marcus would be up for the challenge too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"