Like to see how a full ground up resto of a rare genuine Wild Violet XY 351 K code GS Falcon progresses? Here's chapter one.

Geoff House of Powerhouse Ford in Cairns, has been entrusted to restore a rare wild violet K code 351 XY Falcon GS. He shares with us the nut and bolt restoration process being undertaken on this car.

According to Geoff, at first glance the car appeared to be another GT replica which had seen better days. But on closer inspection it turned out to be an original K-code, four-speed, Wild Violet with black interior, factory dual-exhaust, Falcon 500 GS.

The car had been the lucky recipient of a typical 1980's replica make-over - holes drilled in the quarter for the GT fuel ring, holes in the dash for the woodgrain and padding, holes in the engine bay for vacuum tank, MSD, and every other conceivable fitting, holes in the guard for an aerial in the wrong place, studs around the rear glass for GT trim, studs along the sills for GT moulds, even rear swaybar mounts in the chassis, and a tow bar for good measure - etc. etc.

But under the yellow paint on the inside - there was Wild Violet. And Wild Violet inside three of the four doors. All the necessary 54H bits are there - the radiator support brace, the engine crossmember brace, the exhaust mounts, and the chassis number lines up too.

So began a ground up nut and bolt resto. According to Geoff, the following has been done:

Garnet blast the body in all hard or solid areas: inside floor, underside floor, engine bay, boot area, door openings, front and rear structural members, gutters, door frame inners and outers, etc. NO BLASTING OF FLAT PANELS (door skins, roof, boot lid, bonnet, guards) TO AVOID HEAT BUCKLING AND WARPING.

Hand strip door skins, roof, boot lid, bonnet, guards etc.
Corrosion found in : lower corners of two doors, sills, lower rear quarters, and small area of rear door opening doglegs, small areas of front footwells, bottoms of roof gutters.

In general terms - car is in very good shape, when you consider the
massive corrosion and damage usually found in XY's and other vehicles of similar age that have been in fairly constant use for many years.
See attached six photos named "Bare Metal......."

(The yellowish primer on the car is from the blasting and the grey primer is the normal bodywork primer).

Fitted : new sills, new lower rear quarters, small patches to two doors, two front footwell sections, two lower gutter sections off another XY.

Welded-up a ton of extra holes in the engine bay and other areas.
Replaced two guards with good used units.

Note that the new sections fitted are all full welded, not simply spot-welded and bogged as often happens (refer lower rear quarter sections).
See attached six photos named "Repair......"

It is worth noting that some repairs appear unfinished, but have been primed. This is our normal i.e. no repair or bare metal is left unprotected for any length of time - not even overnight in a sealed building. Corrosion can start from fingerprints, moisture in the air, or any number of other factors, therefore all worked areas are primed every day to ensure that nothing starts anywhere unnoticed.

This cutting, cleaning, fitting, aligning, welding etc. process takes a number of weeks, and involves the fitting and removal of swinging panels (doors, bonnet, guards etc.) a number of times to ensure that fit and alignment is correct - to eliminate the need for excessive filler, and to ensure that doors open and close as smoothly as possible.

Stay tuned for further installments of the resto.

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