Astill Compact Fairlane - Early Falcons

Retrotech 'Rock 4'

Builder:            Howard Astill

Engine:            302 Windsor fuel Inj.

Trans:              AOD 4 speed

Diff:                 9"   3.00:1

Howard Astill needs no introduction to the hobby of street machining. He's been around the scene since 1977, building and showing a series of cars, most notably his XA Falcon which appeared in several different guises. 'Rock 3' was the culmination of the XA project, after which it was sold and subsequently raffled at the Summernats. It's replacement made it debut at Summernats 5, the smooth and individually rebuilt Compact Fairlane you see here.
'Rock 4' started out as a $650 hulk that was purchased in September 1990. At that stage it had good glass and trim but precious little else apart from plenty of rust. In typical Howard Astill fashion nine months frantic work transformed the Compact into one of the finest street machines in the country, just barely making it in time to compete at the Summernats.

If there is a trend discernable in the street machine movement at present it would have to be a move towards individually constructed chassis as is commen with street rod projects. In this case such a chassis was constructed from 100mm*50mm box tube with custom built independant front suspension by RPM in Adelaide. Features include Pedders springs, Spax shock absorbers, Cortina rack and pinion and HQ Holden stubs.

More Pedders and Spax components are used in the rear suspension which locates an uncut XC Falcon nine inch diff with 3.00:1 centre. An XB Falcon four wheel disc brake master cylinder controls HQ Holden front brakes and XC Falcon rear discs. Wheels are 17"*8" and 17"*10" Compomotives with Pirelli 235/45/17 and 255/45/17 tyres.

Subtle changes have been made to the body work of the Compact, in particular the lower body reveal has been eliminated to give the side profile a smoother appearance. It's all bathed in Berger Permacryl Violet, as is the undercarriage, while the engine is two pack black. Speaking of the engine, it's a stock 5 litre Ford Windsor V8 as used in the EB Falcon. This was specially made available by Ford Motor Co. prior to the release of the EB and apart from a Mustang sump and extensive detailing remains as delivered from the factory. Even the EB exhaust system is used along with a four speed automatic transmission with XA column shifter. Cooling is provided by an unusual combination, an XY Falcon 4 core radiator with cut down Holden V8 tanks. Fuel is contained in a 50 litre custom built tank, and fed to the engine through Duffield D600 high pressure fuel line.

A-1 Audio Doctor supplied the electrical wiring for Rock 4 incorporating separate systems for the engine and trans management and the elaborate Pioneer sound system. There's 1100 watts of music power on tap through a 12 speaker system. It sounds good !
Roman Auto Tech were called on to deck out the interior using standard wool blend material and vinyl over the original seats. Door panels feature a moulded pattern in the same wool blend while the headlining is velour and the carpet is actually household nylon blend. Dash and gauges remain as standard '63 Fairlane but the steering column is XA Falcon with a Momo wheel.

Howard has plenty of experience building street machines so it's no suprise to find he did the bodywork, paint and mechanical work himself. Others who contributed to the project have been mentioned along the way but Howard also wishes to acknowledge the assistance given by TIC for engineering support, A Class Metal Finishes for chrome and polishing and Rare Spares for supply of rubber items, lenses etc.
It was a rush to debut the Fairlane at Summernats 5 but a rush that was worthwhile. Even though Howard admits there was still plenty required to finish Rock 4 off properly it still went home with the Top Street Machine Overall trophy. With the high quality field of entries present at the Summernats that's quite an achievement.