story craig parker photos chris thorogood - smoty

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ST O
PH O RY CRA
TO S I G P
CH R ARKE
R
IS T
HOR
OGO
O
D
EXTERIOR
Although Ryan Carter from
Stylemaster Designworks did
the original artwork over 10
years ago, the car pretty much
came out how he drew it way
back when
BOOT
Considering there’s a tank, twin pumps
and solenoids for the airbags, along with
a 12-inch subwoofer, two power amps
plus the battery, there’s still a surprising
amount of space left in the boot. Head
unit control is via wireless remote
The XP was Dean’s mum’s old shopping trolley.
It’s been in the family for more than 35 years
P
ICTURE this: It’s Summernats 28 and Southern Rod
& Custom is showcasing this sensational XP Falcon
coupe in the PPG marquee. An elderly lady strolls up
to one of the PPG representatives manning the stand
and says: “Excuse me sir, I’d like the keys to my XP
coupe please.”
“Er, I’m sorry ma’am, the car belongs to some lucky
bloke from WA,” the PPG guy replies.
“Yes, I know,” she responds. “He’s my son; I gave it to him 15 years
ago and now I want it back!”
Dean Weldon is the aforementioned “lucky bloke from WA”, and he
confirms that the XP was in fact his mum’s old shopping trolley. “As a
kid, she would drop us off at the school bus stop every morning in it,”
he says. “It’s been in the family for more than 35 years.”
When Mama Weldon tossed the keys to Weldon Jr in the late 90s,
the coupe was somewhat the worse for wear: lots of rust, a tired
six, rough interior and a dodgy respray. Dean is good friends with a
bloke called Les Lawry, and sought his advice on what he should do.
Known as The Rodfather, Les is a two-time MotorEx Best of Breed
champion and a guy who knows a thing or two about good cars. He
quickly assessed that Dean’s aspirations far exceeded his ability and
introduced him to Shane Rowe from Southern Rod & Custom (SRC).
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STREET MACHINE
When approached about the build, Shane replied: “I’m booked out
for five years. Park it up and I’ll call you when I’m free.” Sure enough,
four years later Dean’s phone rang and Shane told him to bring it
on over.
Dean was pretty clear on what he wanted: “Take some modern-day
exotica and slap a 60s body on top. Sure, a lot of people are doing
that now, but when we started this project 10 years ago, nobody was
doing this kind of stuff. It had to drive nice, with air conditioning and
power windows.”
“I’ve always loved the cars that Bobby Alloway builds,” Shane says.
“I base my builds on a shrewd piece of advice he gave me many years
ago: Start with the wheels and build the car around them.”
This is exactly what SRC did with XPensive. The 18- and 20-inch
wheel combo (radical stuff for 2005) was set up on a chassis jig inside
the gutted shell and moved around until the desired look was achieved.
Rather than trying to re-engineer the stock suspension to suit, SRC
pulled out the factory towers in favour of a Rod-Tech double A-arm
set-up (same width as a ’34 Ford) complete with rack-and-pinion and
Air Ride Shockwaves. Not only does this allow the XP to ride nice and
ultra-low, it also added a ton of extra room in the engine bay. Out back,
the mini-tubs extend right up to the parcel tray, while the original leaf
springs made way for a four-link set-up and Shockwaves.
ROLLING
Housed inside the Billet Specialties
rolling stock are Wilwood 330mm
rotors and four-piston Dynalite
calipers, which are actuated by a
Wilwood master cylinder (all of which
comes as a kit) and Gemini booster
ENGINE BAY
Thanks to the addition of Rod-Tech
double A-arm front suspension, the XP’s
engine bay is now minus the factory shock
towers. After fabricating new inner skirts,
SRC then knocked up a slick flat firewall
complete with recessed brake booster and
Datsun 180B-style bonnet hinges
INJECTION
Rather than the 52mm throttlebodies
used on its V8 Supercar set-ups, Morrison
specially tooled up these smaller 47mm
versions to suit the street nature of the
347-cube Windsor
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STANCE
The fully automatic AccuAir system
will only slam the XP when the engine
is off and handbrake on. It relies on
sensors at each corner to lift the car
to legal ride height as soon as the
ignition is keyed on
I base my builds on advice Bobby Alloway gave me:
Start with the wheels and build the car around them
“By building everything around ride height, the suspension
operates in the sweet spot,” Shane says. “You get full bump
travel, nothing fouls, nothing binds yet it sits on the deck and
drives nice.”
To accommodate this hunkered-down stance, the front
wheelarches were radiused and moved up 60mm. Body mods
don’t end there; the factory hipline and lower swage converge
as they make their way rearwards, but SRC hand-fabricated new
quarters, door skins and front guard sections so that these two
body lines now run parallel the full length of each flank. Up front, the
guards nose down 50mm, which required extensive modifications.
The lowered headlight surrounds needed to be scalloped into the
top of the bumper bar – which itself was slimmed down before
being cut and tucked into the body.
Shane always thought the XP coupe looked like a baby ’61
Galaxie Starliner. To enhance the similarity and give it that big taillight look, larger-diameter Ranchero tail-lights were grafted into
place. Unfortunately the Yankee ute lights have no provision for
amber blinkers. To remedy this, the centre of the Ranchero lens
was bored out, a matching disc was cut from a Hella trailer lens,
then glued in place. To isolate it from the surrounding glow from
the ring of red LEDs, an aluminium tube was affixed to the internal
reflector. The clear insert illuminates with amber LEDs.
Old-fashioned quarter-vent windows are the pet hate of many,
including Dean and Shane – XPensive was always getting custom
side glass, sans quarter glass. However Shane decided to go one
step further by adding a groovy swept-back curve to where the
front and rear glass butts together. “I think I saw it on a custom car
in the States,” he says. “I thought it looked trick and that it would
really suit the XP.” You have to admit the mod gives the car a nice
custom flavour.
That Morrison eight-throttlebody injection system looks pure
circuit racer, but the 347 Windsor is far from a track animal. Based
on an Aussie injected 5.0-litre block, it sports a mild cam, long-arm
crank and Edelbrock alloy heads. The radically changed engine
bay, combined with the lowered engine height (for the injection
to clear the bonnet), called for custom headers. A Wolf 3D ECU
brings it all to life. Deniliquin Offroad & Marine Engineering
screwed it together and gave it a little tickle-up to boost output
to around 500hp.
“That might sound a bit puny compared to all these 1000hp bigblocks,” Dean says, “but I just wanted something that was reliable.”
With acres of bright red leather, incorporating a clever design
and some skilled stitching, Mick’s Custom Trim has transformed
the interior. The front Mercedes buckets feature integrated lapsash belts, and the driver keeps tabs on things via an array of
STREET MACHINE
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DEAN WELDON
1966 FORD FALCON
XP COUPE
Colour: PPG Blue Pearl
MOTIVATION
Engine: 347ci Windsor
Induction: Morrison eightthrottlebody EFI
Heads: Edelbrock alloy GT40
Ignition: MSD Chevy LS coils
ECU: Wolf 3D
Radiator: Aussie Desert Cooler
Headers: 15/8in primaries into
2.5in system
Exhaust: HPC-coated with
Magnaflow mufflers
Preferred fuel: PULP
Power: Approx. 500hp
BENEATH
My mum still thinks it’s hers and is
desperate to get the keys back
Auto Meter gauges mounted in a fascia intended for a
2005 Mustang. Tucked up under the custom-fabricated
dash (which SRC loosely based on the original XP) is a
Vintage Air Space Saver unit that works with a Sanden
compressor incorporated into the Billet Specialties Tru
Trac accessory system. Sitting in behind the AU Falcon
grilles in the doors and parcel tray are six-inch splits that
work with the boot-mounted 12-inch subwoofer and two
power amps.
Colour selection started out pretty straightforward –
“make it match my Harley” was Dean’s instruction. But
after spraying out a few test panels, the hue was deemed
to not have enough balls. With the help of PPG, SRC
started playing around with the colour before settling on
the stunning custom pearl you see before you. It really
is attention-grabbing.
Surprisingly Dean hasn’t actually seen the finished
car yet – a number of his friends have though, and
report that it’s a knock-out. “I was supposed to see it at
Summernats, but work got in the way,” Dean says. “I’m
currently based near the Pilbara in WA and it’s way too
dirty and muddy to bring it over here. It’ll stay with family
in Sydney for the time being. I’ll head over soon and
finally get to enjoy it after all this time.”
So did Mama Weldon end up getting the keys?
“Ah, no,” Dean says. “However she still thinks it’s hers
and is desperate to get the keys back! Once back in
Sydney, I’ll definitely be taking her for a drive.” s
Gearbox: AOD electronic fourspeed
Diff: Currie 9in, alloy housing,
3.7:1 Truetrac
Suspension: Rod-Tech double
A-arm (f), SRC four-link (r)
Springs & Shocks: Air Ride
Shockwaves (f & r)
Brakes: Wilwood 330mm rotors,
four-spot Dynalite calipers (f & r)
ON THE INSIDE
Trim: Red leather
Seats: Mercedes
Carpet: Mercedes
Wheel: Budnik Famosa
Shifter: Lokar
Column: Flaming River
collapsible
Gauges: Auto Meter
Tunes: Pioneer head unit and
speakers, Alpine amps
ROLLING STOCK
Rims: Billet Specialties Vintec;
18x8 (f), 20x8 (r)
Rubber: Kuhmo; 235/35/18 (f),
255/35/20 (r)
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