FRESH HERBS

IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE A SWEET STOCKER, BUT WITH BOOST APLENTY UNDER THE BONNET, THIS XR'S READY TO RUMBLE

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MAKE no mistake, Nathan Boyle has a hankering for fast Fords - especially early Aussie Falcons. Initially, he satisfied that hunger with a nasty XP ute, complete with big tubs and an angry, nitrous-sniffing, 347ci Windsor. Unfortunately, it was just slightly illegal and was eventually put off the road for good.

After pulling the XP's engine and gearbox and selling off the roller, Nathan began pondering what to do with the ute's staunch driveline. As luck would have it, a mate of his had an 'I'll do it one day' XR Falcon 500 project he was willing to part with. "My thoughts were that this model came with a V8, so I'd give it quick tidy-up and drop the XP's running gear into it," Nathan says.

While in pretty good shape, the Falcon 500 had tinworm in most of the typical places. And once you start, it's hard to stop, so it wasn't long before the shell was sent off for blasting back to bare metal.

After Nathan had completed cancer eradication duties, he tapped Billy Cowcher to look after final panelwork.

"He did a mint job," Nathan says. "We were both on the same page about how straight and how good the gaps had to be. Billy would come over after hours and on weekends, and we got the whole thing done in under two years, start to finish."

That was all done in Nathan's dad's shed. "He normally keeps it very clean and tidy, but during those two years, we made a massive mess of it," he recalls. "At the end, I completely emptied the entire shed to clean up all the bog dust!"