Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2019 i Street Machine

DON’T do the crime if you can’t do the time, the old saying goes, but it might have been worth stealing a pack of Tim-Tams to have been involved in the rebuild of this ripper 1986 VL Commodore SS Group A tribute. It’s the result of the awe-inspiring efforts of inmates at Junee Correctional Centre in southern NSW. And you can win it! This Commodore is the third giveaway car to be rebuilt at Junee; a Holden Monaro and One Tonner have also been resto-modded and given away in support of charity in recent years. Working on cars like this isn’t just something to keep the inmates occupied. There’s been a decade-long partnership between the GEO Group (which operates the centre on behalf of the NSW Government) and TAFE NSW.…

FOR a B-grade flick with a mostly B-grade cast and even B-grade distribution, Black Dog has without question the best trucking action you’ll ever see on film. Patrick Swayze plays dedicated family man and big-rig driver Jack Crews, who sees the ‘black dog’ after pushing the envelope one too many times and spends time in jail for vehicular manslaughter. His parole conditions ban him from holding a truck licence, which sees him buckling down to earn a crust as a diesel fitter. When his dodgy boss Cutler (Beckel) offers him a no-questions-asked drive with a $10K payday, Crews is quick to knock him back; however, a chance discovery as to his family’s dire financial situation sees him don the driving gloves for one last run. The job is simple: run…

LEGENDARY CONGRATS on the new Street Machine Legends book. Reading it, I recalled my memories as a kid of reading all of these early editions, not fully understanding the workmanship that had gone into each creation laid out before me. Back then, it was like: Wow! Look at all that shiny chrome, the big fat tyres and the huge engines in these cars. It wasn’t until the likes of Howard Astill’s Compact Fairlane came along that I was finally starting to understand the workmanship needed in stuffing a modern 5.0-litre into a classic car and stepping away from the norm by going EFI and trying to get the boys at the transport department to sign off on it. Then there was the outrageous paint scheme of Dennis Laing’s Ford Galaxie…

DIVERSITY is a key part of what keeps the car scene interesting. Some people like Flash Harry show cars; others like the streeters seen at local car-park meets. Then there are the sleeper fans who dig cars that hide their 200mph potential. What makes Daniel Szabolics’s HQ Monaro such an unbelievable piece of work is that it walks all those paths. MY BACKGROUND IS IN EARTHMOVING, WHERE WE MAKE OR MODIFY THINGS TO MAKE OUR PROCESSES EASIER. I HATE WHEN CARS AREN’T SERVICEABLE TO WORK ON “The whole idea behind the build was that I didn’t want it to look like a race car,” explains Daniel. “I wanted it to look like a tough streeter. It has original carpet, roof lining and door cards, and the rear end hasn’t been…

EVERYONE loves a Hemi – especially one that makes over 1100hp! One look at those big, wide rocker covers and Charlie Touma couldn’t help himself. He plonked his hard-earned down on the ’70 Dodge Dart without a second thought. Nope, that’s not a typo; this jaw-dropping ’68 Dodge Charger R/T build started out as an engine in another car! “The Dart was a pure race car,” recalls Charlie. “However, I soon decided I wanted something I could drive. I started hunting around for a ’Cuda, a Challenger, a Charger – a proper muscle car that I could drop the Hemi into.” Having dismissed several candidates (most of which were bare shells in need of extensive rebuilds), his four-month search came to an end in Melbourne. “The Charger was really good,”…

THIS stunning ’35 Chevy coupe is what happens when the owner has complete trust in who they’ve chosen to build the car for them. Now, we’re not going to get into the whole ‘built not bought’ argument here, because the two people we’re talking about are deadset legends in the car scene. The builder doesn’t really need too much introduction to regular SM readers: it’s Peter Fitzpatrick, SMOTY winner and multiple Summernats Grand Champion, so we know that he can put a car together. The other bloke is Kees Weel. You may not have heard of him, but you’ve probably heard of Paul Weel, his son, and their business Paul Weel Radiators, aka PWR. Kees is a car guy through and through, with a pretty decent collection of cool rides,…

THE NSW town of Wagga Wagga is one of the true heartlands of Aussie street machining. Besides producing many top-notch streeters over the years, Wagga is also the former site of the Street Machine Nationals and Riverina Revfest. The Revfest fired its last shot in 2012, and since then Wagga has been deprived of burnout events – until local club The Riverina Thrashers put their heads together and organised a brand-new pad to be built at Wagga International Speedway. “The Wagga International Speedway is a fantastic facility; it’s got ready-to-go amenities and infrastructure,” Riverina Thrashers co-president Dave Vearing said. “Thanks to the Wagga Motorcycle Club, the current lease-holders, we have total control of the venue [for our burnout events] and can create a laidback atmosphere. We plan to contribute to…

AS SUMMER approaches, it reminds us that a proper cooling system is critical to the life of your engine and the enjoyment of your street machine. Few things are more stressful than sitting in traffic watching your temp gauge rise. It’s the same as having bad brakes; you can’t relax because you don’t know what is going to happen next. We build cars to enjoy them, so we don’t need overheating. A correctly running engine generates a certain amount of heat at idle, which increases depending on the engine load during faster driving and acceleration. This heat is a natural part of internal combustion and is removed from the engine as noise energy, exhaust heat, air transfer from the engine block and, most critically, water-to-air heat transfer from the radiator…

01 HIGH VOLTAGE YOUR car needs a good battery to keep it ticking over, regardless of whether it’s the weekend or daily commuter. The boss won’t be too impressed if you’re late to work on a frosty morning because of something as trivial as low CCA. Having a good battery is just common sense, and Optima offers some of the best. Optima’s batteries are almost 100 per cent pure lead, with heaps of vibration resistance, and they aren’t spillable so you won’t end up with battery acid making a mess of your engine bay. Visit optimabatteries.com. 02 HEAD JOB UPGRADING heads on pushrod donks has been a no-brainer for car fettlers for decades, and it’s still a favourite for the LS fans. RHS now offers a killer new option for…

FORD’s Barra inline-six mill has made a huge impact on the Aussie aftermarket tuning scene in recent years, and is fast becoming the country’s favourite go-to performance mill. While it’s still hard to deny the appeal of an angry V8, at the end of the day horsepower trumps all – and the Barra can make ponies by the truckload. The example presented here is a concoction put together by Paul Sant and the boys from ProFlo Performance in Rossmore, NSW. ProFlo has built some mental cars and engines over the years, so the numbers behind this monster mill should come as no surprise. “The goal for the build has changed a bit over time, as we originally started on it when Barra tuning was still a fairly new thing,” Paul…

SINCE its inception in Sydney in 1994, Supernats has had many homes, including Oran Park Raceway, Sydney Motorsport Park, Sydney Dragway and last year’s Supernats Burnout Party in Stawell, Victoria. But for 2019, Supernats took over Mallala Motorsport Park, just north of Adelaide, for three days of action including off-street drags, powerskids, track cruising and burnouts. Plenty of high-quality cars turned out, including Dave Cufone’s Nova, Tom Beltrame’s LandCruiser, Jason Ballard’s HELLRAZOR Holden Cruze and Jono Kelly’s 3FIVE5 VK Commodore. For Jason Ballard and his blown, injected 2015 Cruze, it was a hugely successful weekend. The pair won the Pro Class burnout comp, came second in the powerskids, and took out Show & Go Grand Champion. “The weekend turned out excellent,” said Supernats promoter Ahmet ‘The Mad Turk’ Sehirligil. “For…

15-16 NOV, WAYVILLE, SA Adelaide Auto Expo, Adelaide Showground. Email gsgarage@ tpg.com.au or visit adelaideautoexpo. com.au for more info. 17 NOV, MEREDITH, VIC Meredith Car Show & Family Day, Meredith Cricket Club. Search ‘Old Skool Street Cars Geelong’ on Facebook. 17 NOV, CRAWLEY, WA Classic Cars and Coffee, University of WA. Visit classiccarsandcoffee.com for more info. 17 NOV, YARRA GLEN, VIC Day of Volkswagen 2019, Yarra Glen Racecourse. Visit vwclub.com.au for more info. 17 NOV, TEMPLESTOWE, VIC Melbourne Datsun Day 2019, Fitzsimons Lane. Search Facebook for more info. 22-24 NOV, GEELONG, VIC Geelong Revival Motoring Festival, Eastern Beach. Visit geelongrevival.com.au for more info. 22-24 NOV, SHEPPARTON, VIC Springnats 2019, Shepparton Showgrounds. Visit autofest.com.au/ spring-nats/event-info for more info. 22-24 NOV, BALLARAT, VIC 2019 Ballarat Rod Run, BIG 4 Ballarat Goldfields Holiday…

SHANE Tapscott’s HT Monaro pulls serious attention and controversy wherever it goes – not because of something like 20-inch Simmons rims or a Ford donk, but because it sits atop a capable 4x4 chassis! Shane managed to fit a crash-damaged shell onto a GQ Patrol chassis and kitted it out with a bunch of off-road accessories like the roof rack and bullbar. In doing so, he saved a car that was otherwise destined for scrap. He recently took the beast to the HKTG Nationals on the Sunshine Coast, before driving it up to Cape York for a holiday! When we shared the car on Facebook, the responses were predictably divided. Isaac Vipond – Here before people say ‘ruined’. Karen Murray – It’s his car and he can do whatever he…

WE’VE had quite a few feature cars lately that have enjoyed long-term ownership. More often than not they’ve been the owner’s first car, hotted up to follow the trends of the time. This thoroughly modernised ZB Fairlane, owned and built by Jon Sandham, follows that script. It’s never been mothballed, and has been Jon’s daily driver for much of its life. “My dad had a ZD for about 16 years and he was going to give it to me when I turned 18,” Jon says. “When I was about 17 it had engine problems and he sold it. A couple of years later he bought the ZB and I hounded him. I said: ‘Mate, you owe me a Fairlane,’ so I ended up buying it off him.” MY BROTHER BORROWED…

AT SOME POINT I DECIDED IT WASN’T GOING TO BE A STREET CAR ANYMORE. IT WAS JUST GOING TO BE TOO MENTAL MARK Boxer is a man of many hats – stunt rider, cameraman, vlogger , former Street Machine writer, and now, builder of a 1000hp Barra-powered XH Falcon ute. But the ute’s journey from shitter to shit-hot was a tumultuous one – the battleship-grey beast pushed Mark to the end of his tether more than once – yet the result is a stand-out success. The story of his Falcon ute st arts not only in a different decade, but with a completely different magazine. “I was working in Sydney with Andrew Broadley at the now-defunct Street Fords magazine,” Boxer begins after we meet up at an Adelaide coffee shop.…

REWIND the clock just 13 years and the world was a very different place. The term ‘Android’ sounded more like a mispronounced Star Wars reference than a teenager’s life-support device, the movie Borat was allowed to be shown in cinemas without half the world getting offended, and, importantly, it was the last time anyone had a chance to own a brand-new Monaro – until now. ON THE SURFACE, IT MAY LOOK LIKE IT’S JUST HAD A NEW LICK OF PAINT AND SET OF WHEELS, BUT THERE ARE DOZENS OF CUSTOM TOUCHES THAT MAKE THIS MUNRO UNIQUE Holden has taken it upon itself to rebirth a much-loved Aussie two-door coupe, tracking down a worn-out 2004 CV8 with over 200,000 clicks on the clock and resto-modding it into a one-of-a-kind machine. On…

SOUTH COAST RACEWAY 14 NOV SM Drag Challenge 14 DEC Wild Bunch Wars 11 JAN ANDRA Sportsman Series southcoastraceway.com.au SYDNEY DRAGWAY 15 NOV Full Throttle Friday 20 NOV Race 4 Real: Skyline Night 21 NOV Smoke n Skidz Team Challenge Final 23 NOV ATURA Round 7 27 NOV Race 4 Real 04 DEC Race 4 Real 11 DEC Race 4 Real 14 DEC ATURA Final 18 DEC Race 4 Real: Boosted Night 19 DEC Smoke n Skidz 20 DEC Full Throttle Friday sydneydragway.com.au Phone (02) 9421 0700 WILLOWBANK 16 NOV Test & Tune 22 NOV Test & Tune 27 NOV Test & Tune 30 NOV Test & Tune 06 DEC Diesel Assault 07 DEC Test & Tune 11 DEC Test & Tune 14 DEC Test & Tune willowbankraceway.com.au Phone (07)…

DEEP THINKER AN AMERICAN tourist asks an Irish dive master: “Why do scuba divers always fall backwards off their boats?” The Irishman replies: “If they fell forwards, they’d still be in the boat.” Fuzzy Lodjik, email LICENCE TEST A LITTLE girl asked her mother out of the blue: “Mummy, how old are you?” The mother responded: “Honey, women don’t talk about their age. You’ll learn this as you get older.” The girl then asked: “Mummy, how much do you weigh?” “That’s another thing women don’t talk about,” the mother replied. “You’ll learn this too, as you grow up.” So the little girl asked another question: “Mummy, why did you and Daddy get a divorce?” The mother, a little annoyed by the questions, responded: “Honey, that is a subject that hurts…

PICK-UP ARTISTS I JUST wanted to say I really liked Carly Dale’s article on Pete and Michael Ahrens’s 1932 Ford pick-up (SM Hot Rod #19 and online). Turns out I have the same very rare Toyota Hemi V8 engine running in my 1934 Ford coupe (left). We may be the only people on the planet with this engine outside of Japan! It would be good to compare notes with Peter and Michael on finding or fabricating parts and any service we plan to do on them. I also have a spare engine that came with the car from Vegas originally. Roland Macrae, Toronto, Canada FITTING TRIBUTE THANKS for your tribute feature on the late John Peterson (SM, Nov ’19). I never met the bloke, but he became a bit of…

S IS the tradition, the mighty Valvoline Street A Machine Of The Year trophy must be bestowed upon the winner under a cloud of great secrecy. When voting closed and it was clear that Adelaide’s Matt Morgillo had won for his incredibly tough, 632ci big block-powered PRO HQ Statesman, we had some work to do. Broads had to post the trophy to South Australia, and I had to find an excuse to visit Matt and his dad Vince without them getting suss. When covering the Statesman for the February 2019 issue, we noticed Matt had an LC Torana GTR XU-1 in the final stages of a factory-fresh restoration. No big-block V8s or Adelaide hubcaps on this one! Social media recently informed us that the Torana was finished and on the…

FOR most of the spectators that rocked up at Sydney Dragway for the World Fuel Altered Challenge, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some of the most legendary cars to ever run down the quarter-mile. Of course, being fuel altereds, they usually travel a bit further than 400m as they squirrel and squirm their way to the finish line on short wheelbases powered by nitro-burning blown Hemis. But that’s what makes them so much fun to watch – you never know which way they’re going to go! With passes in the low sixes at almost 250mph, they were not just there for show, either. In testing, Shane Olive had run a five-second pass in Psycho III, but rumour has it they backed off the tune a bit to give…

FINDING that much-loved and cared-for classic car owned by a little old lady doesn’t happen too often today. You’d be forgiven for thinking all those dry, arrow-straight classics have all been snapped up and turned into GT, XU-1 or R/T replicas. But Rohan Gordon has proved they are still out there and available, if you’re prepared to act lightning-fast and take a punt. A mate of Rohan’s discovered a bone-stock four-pot LJ Torana in its delicious original shade of chocolate disco-funk brown, and forwarded the message on to Rohan late one night. “I bought it sight unseen, as my mate said it was too good to pass up,” says Rohan. “I knew how long good Toranas last for sale, so I jumped on it. It was that clean that one…

This car’s previous owner had the left-hand quarter panel smoothed out and the filler relocated into the quarter top with this gigantic fuel door. It looked pretty ordinary WHEN it comes to factory fuel fillers, in most cases form tends to follow function, which can sometimes leave a vehicle less than appealing visually. Relocating your juice hole can rectify this, whether hiding it behind hinged number plates or tricked-out taillight mechanisms, or the bolder approach of relocation on the body. The latter can be a nice upgrade, turning a once bland-looking stock piece into more of a feature. Let’s have a look at how to spruce up an already-relocated filler. STEP 1 THE entire section is cut away using an air hacksaw, in the process giving the ends of the…

SO, I’M about to do a track day in a parent-spec daily driver. It’s the first late-model, family-oriented machine I’ve had the opportunity to punt around a track – a VF Calais V Sportwagon with leather and chrome and automated things that go ding. WHILE MY MATE HAS BEEN ‘EXPLORING THE LIMITS CAREFULLY’, I’VE BEEN FLOGGING PAST LIKE HUNTER S THOMPSON, HOLLERING, HOOTING AND SKIDDING BROADSIDE IN A CLOUD OF SMOKE It’s got the Bluetooth and remote start. It can play songs off my phone and reverse parallel park for me. It not only tells me when I’ve backed too close to another object but shows me on closed-circuit television. It’s dark green with a charcoal interior. Compared to the 1978-model car I last raced, it’s a miracle of modern…

SHIRLEY Freeman is undoubtedly a first-gen Camaro addict; she and hubby Greg own no less than five of the curvaceous and sporty Chevrolets. But this vibrant, big-cubed ’68, branded SPOILTA, is Shirley’s favourite – and it’s all hers. So, you kind of like Camaros, Shirley? I’m totally in love with first-gen Camaros. I love the shape, and they drive fantastic. We have Greg’s ’69 Camaro, ‘Texas Pig’ [SM, Sep ’19], his ’68 Historic race car and his ’69 Targa car, and then there’s my two ’68s. Generally if there’s a Camaro for sale around here, people call Greg to see if we want to buy it. You have two ’68 Camaros? Yes. My Old Girl, which was built seven years ago, is my daily, and now this one. Old Girl…

SEND photos of your car and a few details of what went into the build to Readers’ Rockets, Street Machine, Locked Bag 12, Oakleigh, Vic 3166 or email readerscars@bauer-media.com.au. Please note: Send us copies of prints as we are unable to return your photos. DARREN LAWLER 1959 MKII FORD ZEPHYR “I HAVE owned my Zephyr for eight years. I bought it complete and eventually rebuilt the engine and transmission to suit. I found the engine block in a garage on a farm just outside the ACT; it’s a 347ci Windsor that we fitted with a turbo cam from Comp Cams. All the parts came from Summit in the USA. I fitted a set of eBay-sourced turbos at first, just to see if I liked them – I did! So then…