The race 1981 Falcon used 2V closed chamber heads and stock ignition, and made 7 hp more than the 4V headed 1972 GTHO Phase IV Falcon.
9 years, 7 hp extra. For 1982, 4V heads became legal, then by 1984, they ended up true 450 hp engines. The 4V heads and better intake with better induction was worth more than 60 hp.
Little wonder the whole engine program galvanised Ford racing for then next 2 years untill the Group A era and 390 hp Windsor 5.0's.
The dominance of Ford created a sensational problem when the much slicker XA Falcon came out with the 30 extra hp more.
The use of road cars for racng development effectively stopped then, but the Improved Racing rules still required homologation, and so Ford Australia did lots of Cleveland tweeks from 1973 to 1983.
First was the new black D2AE-CA block, Blackwood Falcon XD engine. Since the XC Falcon in 1976, the 351C had run a Carter Thermoquad 9800 4BBL, and Bosch Duraspark small cap and integrated control unit ignition.
Second was the block changes for NASCAR XE blocks
The D2 AE CA was a many varaint beast block, with various pillow block variants under the same part number.
and the last of the line oddballs, the XE engine, which was the defacto NASCAR engine
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