I visited @finchrestorations6456 to check out the restoration progress on the XA GT RPO83 also known as the "Chicken Coupe". Have a look at the incredible work the guys at Finch's are doing
My husband had a collection of Monaro's and a XAGT all have been sold off except a 71 HQ two door which he bought in 1981 , he knew Gordon as we live 10 mins from where this car sat. It wasn't in a chicken coupe as the wire mesh was put around the shed as the neighbour that lived behind him had homing pigeons and they would roost above the car and make a mess. Gordon actually didn't like the tag chicken coupe and as far as the other car being sold at the time for a lot less there is a big difference between a white RP083 and a RPO83 in Macrobertsons Gold with white trim. as only 3 were in this colour. Gordon also had a few acres north with a small collection of 70s Aus cars our friend bought a silver HQ Premier off the daughter a few months after Gordon passed away.
Thanks Benny and Andrew. Great to put a face to a name with Andrew. Nice work Troy! Somewhere I have photos of the spot welding fixture for the XD floor assembly when the fixture was being manufactured. It is likely that a similar design was used for the XA-XC. They were preassembled in structural chunks made in fixtures - some of which were automated, then the chunks were installed in even larger assembly fixtures for further welding. Quite a chicken and egg conundrum.
Another great video mate. I would debate that point at 21:00, the RPO83s were part of the regular production run to fill orders for manual XA GTs at that time, the RPO add-ons were purely bolt on items that got swapped with the standard parts at those points of the production line. They weren't ordered to be built as RPOs, the original owners who ordered a manual XA GT in that time period of mid 73 were just lucky to have a handful of upgraded parts added to their cars without their knowledge when ordering (Race cars excluded of course). So quality etc was exactly the same as the auto GTs going down the line (along with the regular Falcons, Fairmonts, Fairlanes, etc).
@@bennyjetski Indeed, many owners wouldn't have known it was any different to the next GT until they took it for a service or took the air cleaner off and found it had a Holley (I dare say there may have been 1 or 2 owners who stormed into their local dealer and demanded to know who took the original carby off and replaced it with a Holley, lol).
Great update on the XA GT. To answer your question, it will ALWAYS BE THE CHICKEN COUPE CAR. Its in good hands with Troy working on it as i've seen the mans artistry first hand in Darwin here and he is sorely missed up here being the best in his game. All the very Best to Troy on this car as I got to be at the GT Nationals at Bathurst last year and very much looking forward to seeing a full Concourse Resto of this RPO 83.
There is a RPO83 700 metres from my house in need of a quality restoration like this. Nice people but i know it will never get this qaulity restoration. No offence to them intended. These cars have come around to the point of deserving the money and skills it takes to bring them back right. You just need that wheel barrow of cash to do so. Top job fellas. 👍
Great video. Getting parts good parts is quite hard these days. I was lucky Graham had a parcel shelf for my sedan that was in good nick and that helped so much. It was interesting to see how different that one was put together compared to mine. Do you know of any rear quarter sections that wrap around the tail lights? I think now it's time to move on from the chicken coupe. It's too nice for that name but that's just my thought. Once again great work.
Always a struggle with parts, I agree. Luckily there was a lot of people in the community helping out. I'm 2 minds about the chicken coupe chapter closing. I think once it's finished it will be easier to see the car in its new skin and then that new "character" will be formed. Thanks for the support mate
@hardtophubadmin4923 that's why I say you can't erase history. I can't see it changing. But will be interesting to see how people view the cat once it's done
Rpo's were standard bodys. I was told that ford homolagated the larger rear inner wheel tubs through the 73 'superbirds'. There are a couple of recent videos about the 'Green' phase 4, inwhich i asked about supposed wide guards and body mods, which was told that they were standard.
My Parents were dealing in cars when this coup we was new. He was offered a landau (light green metallic with off white vinyl top) but even though the car was new (delivery mileage) the standard of the interior trim was pretty awful .As the 70's went on, the coupes were basically used old cars and many disappeared (I know someone who has 6 stashed away.and another Ford guy who shipped 6 to the USA) .To think someone wanted one so much they paid over $300,000 is mind boggling.
No, my little video spotted something different about this one which wouldn’t have come out on this model I think, none of those strengthen plate in the guard rails didn’t come out till XB am I correct. Mine didn’t have that in late on mine, or maybe late design..?
The braces between the upper skirt and the plenum/door pillar were present from January 1973, some December 1972 cars may have been fitted with them. There was a number of significant changes in structural from September 1972, with many cars sharing a mix of '72' and '73' parts through to the 'changeover in January 1973' - all dependent on what batch of parts was in the stillage pulled from stock that they put next to the production line. There was then additional design changes to the bracing in late 1973 to coincide and key into the additional bracing strengthening the firewall, plenum, sill and front door pillar area of the P5 Landau/LTD and ZG Fairlane - very early build Landau did not have the additional bracing.
I love the idea of fixing out an old car but that car looks like it’s all new parts. It does not look like the car from the auction sorry but that’s how I look at it. You might as well be building a brand-new car.
I drove past this car for year's . The old chicken coop is still standing where this car was sheltered for many year's. Looking forward to seeing it finished. Does anyone know or have a update on how they went with the MOTHBALL xa sedan? Would love to know what happened to that car.
I would of thought those Rear 1/4 Panels were very savable, they didn't look that bad to me, i've seen a hell of a lot worst saved... the old ones would be hot items...
It is difficult if not impossible to repair a rear quarter panel and have no trace of the repair left. Thermal expansion with the car in the sun will show defects that weren't present when the car was perfectly blocked back in the shade at 20c. The problem is even worse with filler. No matter how good you are as a metal finisher, letting new material into a panel that is of different thickness, different metallurgy, with internal stresses and stress vectors different to a factory panel or the surrounding original panel will be an issue - the repairs will show up. Saveable yes - meeting their quality requirements, no - their decision.
@@pa6370 Great information, They Must Be Looking for A MotorEx Grand Champion Finish.. I hope the customer has those very deep pockets, and Finch must have the contacts and luck to get 2 NOS Ford quarter panels... I will say it will be amazing when it's finished....
Only 4 RPO's and only oen out of those marked on their compliance plate as a ford production vehicle off the line as opposed to others being built but specials. all the other RPO bits were farned out as options in the GT and some of the police special vehiciles. but 4 x RPOs and 1 of the four was badged in its production run. owned by the same bloke for decades and in the days before cars got advertised on the net. :)
Your thinking of the phase 4 GTHO not RPOs.only one was built on the Ford Australia production line the other 3 red ones were built a Lot 6 Fords racing skunkworks,they were stamped standard XA GTs .The Calypso Green XA GTHO is really the only proper XAGTHO built. There were over 250 RPOs built in Sedan and Hardtop
I know they would love to show more but out of respect for the owner, they have not been showing much. Im subscribed to them because some of the other things are pretty interesting too.
Original is long gone, never coming back. I think it should have been rebuilt to the exact factory specifications Ford DESIGNED it to be & not replicate the F.ups, with tolerances as close to plus or minus zero as you can make it. And make it better where you cannot see it...
Thats the age old argument for concourse Restorations I suppose. Their specifications allowed such variances. If you improve it then it's technically not factory and you're now just doing a restoration with improvements. If you want to win GT nationals, it needs to be how it rolled out of the factory, flaws and all
@@bennyjetski Each to their own, I assume the owner has other cars he might rather drive. I remember my fathers Red Pepper XA GT he bought new. He immediately blacked out the bonnet to match the "Wheels " magazine cover car then had a Tan vinyl roof installed...
My general feeling is once you strip a car down and with this car to this extent it has lost its originality plus when it was found it would not have been original to how it left the factory either so where do you draw the line. For me now that’s it’s down to this point it’s a full on resto to how it would have been built if done today without the defects so it can be enjoyed as per the original vision of this car and not the poor craftsmanship that was unfortunately bestowed upon it but that’s my feeling and not everyone will agree
Been waiting to hear more about this car so thanks for the update. I don’t think it can ever not be called the chicken coupe as that’s what it is, it’s a bit like changing your own name, you might be called something different but you will always be tied back to your original name. I understand the dilemma on how to restore something like this but my feeling is it’s never going to be original no matter how deep you go into making everything period correct as it’s been completely stripped and has many non original parts to the car now on it so I would make it perfect instead of how it left the factory and it’s much more work trying to put defects back into a resto then to just fix them but that’s my feelings and not everyone will agree
The rat urine is pretty acidic and will start some rust. Andrew doesn't mind an old dunga, so when he said it definitely wasn't safe, I believe him. The character will be a memory for sure
the chicken coop is dead its just a orange gt falcon now, i personaly would have left it and just tidy up the trim brakes ect, the iconic beat up gt is now a pig with lipstick its still the same pig😂
Screw the critics. I bet most of these keyboard mental masturbators could not do half as well. The car is YOUR vision. So........... Do what thou wilt. Along with the Charger & challenger both here & USA, these were one of the best looking muscle car designs ever created. Carry on and enjoy the fruits of your labour. You dont need to justify yourself to anyone. Especially not to trolls. 👍
When you die….. With an old cool car in your garage, you don’t get to take it with you….. 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤦♂️. Maybe you won’t get to “do it up one day “……….. Anyway 👍👌
The car was ruined from the years it was left to rot and to leave it how it was for d would make it nothing more than a mantle piece and too fragile to ship around for shows, being restored let’s us see how it was before someone left it to die and how it should be seen
They’re only original once. Well done you’ve just destroyed a rare original piece of Australian motoring history. Lazy restoration at its best. Nothing but a clone now. How disappointing.
The car was already destroyed from rust and vermon 😂 What are they supposed to do with the car? Put it in a museum? It will be back on the road by being restored. It will never be a clone. The car has been saved
It’s not destroyed, it still holds it dna and like every car out there it was never how it left the factory anyway so the resto hasn’t destroyed it one bit, leaving it how it was found would eventually see it destroy itself and nobody would ever be able to enjoy it
It's been saved. It wasn't in the condition to be original once. So many cars out there with that amount of work needed to be what they were. Top job fellas.
