Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2018 i Street Machine

23-25 MAR, MOUNT GAMBIER, SA 2018 ASRF Blue Lake Nationals, Mount Gambier Showgrounds. Contact Trevor on 0435 711 305. 24 MAR, WOOROOLIN, QLD The Swamp Show & Shine, Boggy Creek Road. Contact Dave on 0427 164 221. 24 MAR, BROOKTON, WA Brookton Old Time Motor Show.Visit otms.org.au. 24 MAR, KWINANA BEACH, WA Nitro Hot Rods, Kwinana Motorplex.Visit motorplex.com.au. 24 MAR, MORPHETT VALE, SA Old Skool New Age Car Show, Morphett Vale Football Club. Visit offyarockerpromo.com. 24-25 MAR, KURRI KURRI, NSW Kurri Kurri Nostalgia Festival, Rotary Park, Kurri Kurri town centre. Visit kurrikurrinostalgiafestival.com.au. 25 MAR, FERNY CREEK, VIC Rotary Club of Belgrave Annual Car Show, Ferny Creek Recreational Reserve. Visit belgraverotary.com. 25 MAR, KOROIT, VIC 12th Annual Koroit Swap Meet Show ’n’ Shine, Victoria Park, High St. Contact Bruce on 0435…

MODIFIED car enthusiasts have always been a mixed bag. There are those that make a big splash on the scene before disappearing just as quickly, and others that come and go in waves as life commitments allow. Then there are car guys like Erik Johnson, who’ve been here since the very beginning and show no signs of slacking off. Erik has owned plenty of awesome rides in his time, and in this first instalment of a two-part Snap Shots, we take a look at his formative years, when hot rods, Cussos and early Holdens ruled. 01: ERIK’S parents owned Marulan Motors near Goulburn from 1950 to 1963. “Dad’s tow truck was a ’38 beer-barrel Ford and his daily was a 1940 Ford ute,” Erik says. “Dad raced dirt-track go-karts and…

STANDING six-foot-four, Barry Hall is an imposing figure who developed a bit of a reputation as a wild man on the footy oval. Barry captained the Sydney Swans to an AFL premiership and kicked over 700 goals during a career that’s spanned the best part of two decades. But he’s also a nice guy with a passion for fast cars, something he intends to pass on to his seven-month-old son Miller. Keeping it in the family, Barry has also partnered with his younger brother David at All Automotive in Wallan, north of Melbourne. Dave runs the business day to day, servicing cars for the locals and also building some tough machines, while Barry calls football matches for Triple M Queensland and serves as a brand ambassador for big-blokes clothing line…

SEVEN years ago, international rally star Rod Millen celebrated his 60th birthday in the best way possible. He got a bunch of his go-fast mates to come to his oceanfront property in New Zealand and race up his hillside driveway in their coolest cars. And so, the Leadfoot Festival was born. The annual event has been dubbed the ‘Goodwood Festival of the South’ due to the vast array of powerful cars and illustrious drivers who turn up to pedal them – fast – up Millen’s narrow, winding driveway. It is a genuine feast for all senses, thanks in no small part to the stunning location of the expansive farm, dubbed Leadfoot Ranch. The beachside town of Hahei, on NZ’s beautiful Coromandel Peninsula, is a two-hour drive east of Auckland, and…

THE Street Machine crew decided to spend the 2018 Australia Day weekend overseas. Sacrilege, I know – we couldn’t listen to the Triple J Hottest 100, eat any lamb or ‘shrimp’ cooked on any variation of a barbecue – but hear me out. Where we were heading, there would be burnouts, and we brought our own car, packing at least 7hp for each song in the countdown. We were going to Powercruise in Tasmania with the Carnage MX5.7! On Thursday afternoon we made our way to the big red Spirit of Tasmania ship, which travels between St Kilda in Melbourne and Devonport in Tassie twice a day. After security checked that we weren’t bringing any apples or weapons on board – apart from our 700hp twin-turbo LS, that is –…

OVER the past two issues, we’ve seen how hard Holden worked to Australianise the Commodore. From the very first tests of the wobbly Opel Rekord in the mid-1970s, it was clear Holden’s engineering knowhow was required to ensure the new car survived in Australia. The original Commodore’s mechanical, structural and styling improvements had been gold, but the first-gen V-car was simply too small. Were it not for the tenacity and passion of Holden workers at all levels, the next-generation VN may well also have been an all-too-narrow Opel Omega. Although an international mish-mash – a widened Aussie body over an updated VL chassis with German doors and an American engine – the VN was a uniquely Australian combination and a roaring success. It begat a long-wheelbase luxury series, reintroduced the…

SOME sheds are packed to the rafters with automotive-related paraphernalia: model cars, number plates, Summernats entrant stickers, old hubcaps, Street Machine back issues – you know the deal. Then there are garages that can blow mortal minds even with the walls bare, devoid of a single automotive reference. The shed of 44-year-old Western Sydney local Mario Attard is one such haven. MARIO’S HOLDEN COLLECTION LOOKS LIKE THE START OF SOME GLORIOUS GENERAL MOTORS AUSSIE MUSCLE MUSEUM The western suburbs of Sydney are a mecca for modified muscle; our NSW photographers probably spend more time rumbling through the Wild West than any other part of Sydney, with scores of sheds in the region housing untold automotive riches. Mario has lived out here for around 20 years, and his unassuming-looking shed contains…

“THE ENGINE IS A 6.0L L98 WITHCNC-PORTED GM 821 HEADS, FED BY A GARRETT GT4788 TURBO” WITH the inaugural Street Machine Drag Challenge Weekend just around the corner, a bunch of Queensland locals are throwing their hat in the ring for the first time, including Brisbane-based Ben Vlekken in his mega-tough VH wagon. Having gone as quick as 8.74@158mph at Willowbank, Ben has the form to run towards the pointy end of the field, and will be competing in the Radial Blown class. Ben bought the car as a roller back in November 2016, and got stuck into repowering it with his good mate Ricky Fenwick. The engine is a 6.0-litre L98 with a factory crank and aftermarket rods and pistons, topped with CNC-ported GM 821 heads. The turbo is…

COME April, the attention of sports fans around the world will turn to the Sunshine State, as a group of fiercely competitive and talented sportspeople gather for one of the most anticipated events on the world stage. We speak of Street Machine Drag Challenge Weekend – not the Commonwealth Games, which will, coincidentally, also come to a climax over 13-15 April. DCW is our three-day version of Street Machine Drag Challenge, and is our first foray into Queensland with the concept. The event is all about proving the streetability of your street machine – and having a whole bunch of fun with like-minded folks along the way. Entries had just opened as this issue of the mag went to print, so there may still be spots left if you’re keen…

ELUSIVE BADGER G’DAY! I was reading the April 2017 magazine recently when I noticed Eddy Jausnik had some custom badges made for his GTS Monaro (HOSTILE) by Damian at Custom Car Badges. Any chance you could forward me Damian’s details so I can finish off my project (pictured right)? Hope you like the old girl! Murf, email NICE truck, Murf! Head to the Custom Car Badges Facebook page and get Damian to sort you out: facebook.com/mdsklz1979 – Telfo UNCOMMON ’DORE MY FATHER-in-law passed away recently and his pride and joy (pictured above) sits in the garage; his poor wife doesn’t know what to do with it. We’re not sure of its origins but I know it’s in good nick and is worth something. Can you point us in the direction…

YOU have to admire a bloke that has held on to his first car – a car he bought over 25 years ago and has been driven, raced, maintained and improved over those years. This isn’t a car that sat in the shed under a cover and recently got a bit of a birthday; it’s been on the road and sporting a hot Holden six with a turbo hanging off it for the past 20 years. If Jeremy Cullen’s LC GTR Torana looks familiar, it’s probably because you saw our Grunt Hunt story on the car in SM, Oct ’17, where we mainly chatted about the motor and how Jeremy had dragged the venerable old Holden six into the 21st century with a new turbo, EFI and a whole heap…

ANDY Fensom has a thing for Holden One Tonners; this is the second one he’s owned. “I’ve always liked the shape of them,” he says. “I had to up the ante the second time around, though; the last One Tonner I had was just a bit of a burnout ute, so I wanted to take this one to the next level.” Andy bought the car in 2010 from Brisbane as an unfinished project, and, like so many unfinished projects, it didn’t come with all of the original parts. “I got nothing when I bought it,” he says. “I had to find all of the parts, from window moulds to door handles. It turned out to be much more difficult than I first thought.” The Tonner wasn’t much to look at,…

JOHN Kerr should be a familiar name to Street Machine readers. He first featured in SM Hot Rod in 2010 with his wife Julie’s ’34 Dodge hot rod, and since then John has competed in every Street Machine Drag Challenge to date with his 1964 Mercury Comet coupe – a place-getter in the DYO class in both 2015 and 2016. Now, this bespoke, homebuilt Mercury Comet/Ford Ranchero hybrid has been added to the mix. “I’d been wanting a ute when my dad Jim spotted a cheap Ranchero shell on eBay and suggested I could build it from the parts I had lying around,” John says. I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT TURBOS, SO I LEARNT. IT SURE BEATS PUTTING A STOCKER INTO IT The eBay special consisted only of a bare…

POWERCRUISE TASMANIA WAS ON AUSTRALIA DAY WEEKEND! WHAT COULD BE MORE AUSSIE THAN BURNOUTS IN TASMANIA ON AUSTRALIA DAY? LAST year we built MX5.7 – our twin-turbo LS1-powered Mazda MX-5 – to take to Red CentreNATS. The little roadster was a big hit in Alice Springs, but a trip to the drag strip revealed some problems with the plastic idler pulleys and the boost control. Normally two 45mm wastegates would be plenty, but the design of our turbo headers limited where the wastegates could be placed; the exhaust energy took the path of least resistance straight past the gates and spiked the boost. Even without wastegates, we were making 10psi. So we grabbed a pair of 60mm Turbosmart Pro-Gates and had Adam at MPW modify the pipes to suit. All…

01 CLEAR THE AIR THE perfect companion to the Edelbrock finned alloy rocker covers we showed you last issue, this new line of Edelbrock air cleaners includes three models for single- or dual-quads, providing the right look for any nostalgia rod or muscle car. Additionally, the small oval air cleaner provides adequate bonnet clearance in demanding applications. The Classic Series air cleaners are available in either polished aluminium or a durable black powdercoated finish. They come with a medical-grade, pre-oiled cotton gauze element for excellent filtration, and will work with all popular 5 1/8in necks on popular carburettors and throttlebodies. For more information, head to eagleautoparts.com.au. 02 ON THE CANS THERE’S no such thing as too many cans, and Haltech has thoughtfully provided an opportunity for unlimited CAN expansion with…

I’D IMAGINED A PURPLE TORANA DONE THIS WAY FOR A FAIR WHILE. I WANTED A COLOUR THAT NO ONE ELSE HAD KERRI Weeding’s a Torana nut, becoming afflicted with the disease after a chance sighting of a Torana mag when she was 15 years old. This set her on a solid Holden L-series path, culminating in ‘Yoshi’, the silky-smooth LX gracing these very pages. Tell us how you got into Torries. My family isn’t into cars, yet my first boyfriend’s dad was. I helped him work on cars and also came across a Torana-only magazine; it was love at first sight. I still have the mag to this day, having read it thousands of times. And you had a Torry as your first car? I bought a $400 LC…

SOME say that there’s no substitute for cubic inches, while others argue that, actually, turbochargers make a pretty handy cubic-inch substitute. But the two theories needn’t be mutually exclusive – why not have the best of both worlds with a twin-turbo big-block? Dale Heiler of Castle Hill Performance has just finished buttoning up such an engine for a customer’s ’69 Camaro street car, and it’s a thing of beauty. The combo retains a factory GM 454 four-bolt block and GM steel crank, and thusly the standard four-inch stroke. A 4.280-inch bore (30thou over standard) delivers a displacement of 460ci. The rotating assembly has been strengthened with the addition of Oliver connecting rods and JE pistons, and the camshaft is a Camtech hydraulic-roller unit. Crower lifters and chrome-moly pushrods were used,…

AMERICAN car builder and TV personality Chip Foose will be a special guest at this year’s Meguiar’s MotorEx, thanks to the good folks at 3M. Chip has been out to Australia quite a few times, but MotorEx will be his most extensive assault on an Aussie car show yet. “Chip is spending two full days at the event,” says MotorEx’s Andy Lopez. “There will be heaps of opportunities for the public to meet him; he’ll be doing autograph-signing sessions, drawing sessions, panel chats and hosting a special breakfast seminar for apprentices and TAFE students. “We’re putting a big focus back on the Real Street element of MotorEx and we expect to at least double the amount of Real Street cars on display. To encourage those guys and girls, Chip will…

REMAKING a classic movie is always fraught with danger. Too often the specific qualities that made the original flick so memorable are lost in the remake due to excessive modern-day wizardry and over-production, serving only to tarnish the forerunner’s legacy. This was front and centre in my mind as I strapped in to watch Pork Pie, a remake of the popular 1981 New Zealand flick Goodbye Pork Pie. The storyline centres around three people – from different backgrounds and leading vastly different lives – who get lumbered together in a stolen yellow Mini for the adventure of a lifetime. The driver, Luke (Rolleston), is a young bloke on the run from a chequered past, while hitchhiker Jon (O’Gorman) is a 30-something writer with a flat-lining career, trying desperately to win…

KYLE Breed’s VH Commodore drag wagon grabbed the attention of SM’s Facebook friends recently, with many impressed that it cost a measly $3800 to build and has run a best of 11.82@120mph. Others were less amused by the fact that it’s being propelled by Ford Barra power! Rick Putland – They must be good fabbies and got creative to keep it under four grand. David Ogi Mackieson – I call bullshit on it being less than four grand for that conversion. Shane Pettiford – Must have stole three-quarters of the parts. Conrad James – It’s called DIY. Steve Weber – It’s possible to build that for that. I’ve got a Cortina and it would probably cost me the same to put an LS1 in that. No different. I built a…

IF PATIENCE could be monetised, Kim Argaet would be a multimillionaire. For 30 years he yearned for an Aussie Falcon hardtop, spending all that time looking and planning. The magnificent XB coupe you see here is how fate eventually rewarded him. “In 2011, I went to the Wangaratta Swap Meet looking for some Ford badges to put up in my garage,” Kim says. “I wasn’t really looking for a car; it just happened that a four-door XB GT mock-up caught my eye. I talked to the seller, struck a deal and I bought it – it was a good, clean, running car.” As it turned out, the sedan seller had a mate who owned more than a dozen Ford coupes. Kim decided it was now or never, and enlisted the…

SPARE time. I remember those days. As a young bloke kicking around with cars, time and energy were in plentiful supply, and it was amazing what you and a bunch of mates could achieve when working on each other’s projects. Then life takes over and family, work and house commitments suck your time stores dry – seemingly 25 hours a day, eight days a week – and the prospect of any free moments to swing spanners or shoot the breeze becomes a mirage. Forty-four-year-old Richard Hatton remembers those early days well, spending many a weekend working on chrome-bumper rides with his mates. His automotive interests were a product of his parents’ influence. “My dad Kevin always loved cars but never had the opportunity to fully immerse himself in them like…

WHEN Adam Wheeler handed over the cash for this VL Commodore, it was already a bit of a head-turner. Decked out with Calais appointments, finished in a neat custom blue paintjob and fitted with an injected five-litre V8, five-speed and custom-trimmed interior, it was a turn-key proposition. Adam simply got on with the business of enjoying the car, cruising the wheels off it with his family for two trouble-free years, until December 2012 when it all went south. “It had an engine bay fire,” Adam says. “Luckily I had a fire extinguisher in the car, but the damage was bad enough that I parked it up at my grandparents’ place while I saved every dollar I could to get it back on the road.” It probably seemed like a shitty…

BEN CREWES HOLDEN ONE TONNER “THIS build was all about honouring a friendship I’ll never forget. Matt Barry was my best mate, taken from us in August 2002 in a car accident. This Tonner was his project; one of the things in his life he had big plans for. I bought it off his mum and dad after he passed and promised I’d finish it for him. Years went by without much progress until December 2015, when I finally bit the bullet and threw everything I had at it to try and make it to Summernats 30 – which I achieved with only days to spare. On numerous occasions Matt had talked about powering it with a big-block Chev, TH400 gearbox and nine-inch, so that’s what we went with for…

GAG OF THE MONTH DUMMY SPIT A YOUNG ventriloquist is touring the clubs, and one night he’s doing a show in a small town. With his dummy on his knee, he starts going through his usual dumb blonde jokes, when a blonde in the fourth row stands on her chair and starts shouting: “I’ve heard enough of your stupid blonde jokes. What makes you think you can stereotype women that way? What does the colour of a person’s hair have to do with her worth as a human being? It’s guys like you who keep women like me from being respected at work and in the community and from reaching our full potential as a person. You and your kind continue to perpetuate discrimination against not only blondes, but women…