Fat Bottomed Girl

When it comes to his super-tough, Showquality XB, Steve Bellia reckons it’s hip to Bfat.

- Craig Parker

LOOK closely at any square inch of Steve Bellia’s ultra-sanitary XB Falcon and you’ll quickly realise that nothing is what it seems. Everything is modified (even if only subtly), re-engineered or fabricated from scratch to be smoother, slicker and a whole lot neater.

“Nothing’s off the shelf on this car,” says proud builder Steve. “Maybe the bonnet hinges. Even then, I machined up new pins to neaten them up.”

Steve inherited this GS sedan off his father (see breakout, p42), and promptly set about fulfilling his longterm dream of owning a mega-tough FoMoCo streeter.

“It’s my brother Tony’s fault,” Steve says. “He’s got a tough XY Falcon that he’s owned for 20 years and I’ve always wanted one of my own – I just never intended to go this far.”

Steve began with the understanding that a tough car needs a tough engine. So with a near-new 351 Clevo block in tow, he headed off to chat with Chris from Gibson Race Engines. Chris’s advice? If you want bulk, reliable power, ditch the factory block. Go with a Dart and lots of cubes – 434 to be precise!

“Chris had built a killer 355 stroker for a mate of mine, Russ,” Steve says. “I trusted him, so pretty much let him do whatever he wanted. He was awesome.”

The parts list is all absolutely top-shelf, including deep-breathing CHI 3V heads, tall single-plane manifold and 1050 Holley Dominator. On the dyno, Steve’s faith in Chris was rewarded with a big-cube small-block good for a very stout 754 horses.

“The engine was the first thing I organised, but the last thing finished,” Steve says. “We didn’t want the assembled engine sitting around for years. Chris loaned me a dummy block, cylinder heads and inlet, and we literally build the car around the engine.”