barra ford falcon xe wagon

Taking a cheap engine and building a Barra-engined mega sleeper Ford Falcon XE

Jeff Glucker

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I’ve never seen this era of Ford Falcon wagon. It’s like an alternate universe LTD and I love it. But what I really love is the fact that the builders have taken a simple, inexpensive Barra straight-six and cranked it to the moon.

The Skid Factory found a Barra for two hundred bucks. They then completely rebuilt it into the amazing mill you can see in the video above. The video walks through everything done to turn this low-buck engine into a high-horsepower machine that serves as a perfect compliment for the old Falcon wagon. Once it’s nearly all bolted together it’s also a good-looking engine. I look forward to watching this all come together and seeing how it serves the wagon once it’s in place.

And yes… I’ve already emailed Tim (Mad_Science) this video to say we need to do the same for our Lemons Ranchero. No, we don’t need 800 hp. But a bit more would be fun, no?

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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5 responses to “Taking a cheap engine and building a Barra-engined mega sleeper Ford Falcon XE”

  1. Slow Joe Crow Avatar
    Slow Joe Crow

    That generation Falcon (XF) is an interesting mashup of Ford UK styling since it looks like a late 80s UK Escort nose grafted onto an early 80s Granada body. I thoroughly approve of a hot rod six as alternative to the more common V8

    Reply
    1. OA5599 Avatar
      OA5599

      Very interesting that its proportions are not too different from a Fox, but the wheelbase is longer than a Panther.

      Reply
      1. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        The tailgate is taken from the Fox Fairmont wagon!

        They got the basic $200 engine because they are replacing everything inside bar the crank, this will be a $lots-of-thousands engine by now. 500rwhp could be done with a turbo engine and stock internals, but not 800. The turbo engine has stronger pistons & rods, the green top LPG engines are somewhere in between.

        Jeff, just turbo the existing engine. Probably not very Lemons friendly though (the trial and error aspect…)

        Reply
    2. Avatar
      Anonymous

      *XE

      Reply
  2. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    Personally, even half of the 800hp would be more than plenty for me, especially in a family car from the 80’s. That said, I love the idea of swapping a Barra in any number of North American Fords, as much as domestic market engines probably make more sense.

    Reply