MONSTER MASH

RADIAL LEGEND TIM CROSS HARNESSES THE POWER OF GODZILLA TO RUN EIGHTS IN HIS CAPRI STREET CAR

- TAS MCMILLAN

TIM Cross is one of those peculiar nutjobs who just can’t bear to be without a project on the go at all times. “I like to buy project cars that are half-done and finish them off,” he laughs. “I reckon I've done 30, and then there's more that I've bought for a bit of fun and got rid of.” However, not all of Tim's cars pass through his shed doors so quickly, including this 1969 Ford Capri.

Fifteen years ago, Tim bought the car from Lee Bloom of Real Dyno Performance, painted it VE Commodore Morpheus Purple and dropped a turbo 360-cube Dart Windsor in it. After a few years of racing, that combo resulted in a PB of 7.80@178mph, but then Tim got the opportunity to purchase his now-familiar Cortina (see sidebar, p. 59), and the Capri was moved on. Five years later, however, it showed up again as a white roller, and he couldn't resist having another crack at it.

This time, Tim wanted to build something a bit more streetable, so of course he repowered it with a billet-headed Windsor running 13.5:1 comp, which required constant maintenance and wasn't much fun to deal with on a leisurely cruise. Fortuitously, Tim has been a dyed-in-the-wool Dandy Engines customer since Frank Marchese fixed a thrust bearing issue in the Capri’s first Windsor, and while the pair were having a yarn about Tim’s headaches with the new small-block, Frank suggested it get turfed in favour of a brand-new 7.3-litre Ford Godzilla wearing a Harrop huffer.