Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i Street Machine

EVERYONE loves a good sleeper, and for our latest Carnage project, Scotty Taylor has decided to create a super-cool example of the concept by throwing a 1UZ Toyota V8 into a VR Commodore-based Toyota Lexcen wagon. The 1UZ will be helped along by an appropriately large Pulsar 7170G turbo, and we’ll be keeping the thing registered to create an awesome drag ’n’ drive machine that’ll also be able to haul parts for all our other Carnage projects. We bought the Lexcen wagon off Facebook Marketplace for cheap as a standard and fairly tidy machine. We drove it around stock with the Buick V6 until the transmission packed it in on Telfo in the middle of nowhere during one of the Drag Challenge Weekend 2022 drive routes. That was the trigger…

THE 1978 flick Grease has become such a cultural touchstone over the past 45 years that reviewing it in 2023 seems a little redundant. That said, modern-day critics haven’t been too kind to the film in recent years, with many declaring it all kinds of inappropriate based on current mores and attitudes that didn’t exist when it hit the big screens back in ’78. Because of this, I fear there’s a whole generation of younger movie fans who might miss out on the simple pleasures of this box-office smash, so let’s try to redress the balance. The film’s premise is simple – two high school kids from completely different walks of life fall in love during summer break and fear they’ll never meet again, only to later find themselves reunited…

WE’VE all dreamed of finding that perfect one-owner project car, and Sydney’s Ray Elia wound up with one of these elusive gems – not through years of hunting, but straight from his Chrysler-mad old man, John! “My dad bought it new; I drove it when I was on my L- and P-plates,” Ray grins. “I bought it off Dad when I was 16 years old – 27 years ago. I met my girlfriend, who’s my wife now, in the car as well.” By the way, don’t get him confused with Ray Elia of blown VN fame (SM, Dec ’22) – that’d be his namesake and cousin! “I was 22 when I stripped the car,” Ray continues. “It’s just been a slow build ever since; obviously with starting a business and…

LAUNCHED with the seventhgeneration Corvette in January 2013, the new Gen V V8 ushered in a new era of tech for GM’s venerable smallblock. The new LT1 may have had the same capacity, bore/stroke, six-bolt mains, allaluminium 90-degree construction, 4.40-inch centre-bore spacing, cam location, pushrods and deck height as the LS3, but it also brought some huge differences. On top of a new block and head design, the cooling and oiling systems were radically overhauled, and all Gen Vs feature direct injection. Power was up all over the shop, with the LT5 found in the C7 ZR1 packing 755hp, making it GM’s most powerful production car. In the decade since the LT series broke cover, GM has released 11 variants, with the new 6.6-litre (400ci) iron-block L8T causing a huge…

RICHARD BRADFORD LJ TORANA “HERE is my current little project, a 1972 Holden LJ Torana I’ve dubbed PRHBTD. It started life as a standard SL sedan when I got it back in 2017, and has undergone some major surgery since then. In the rear, I had the factory fuel tank removed and added a new boot floor, mini-tubs and acustom-made drop tank. Brakes have been upgraded and converted to VT 330mm discs up front, and a Hopper Stoppers customnine-inch discbrake conversion in the rear. It runs an LS1 andfour-speed auto from a 2004 Monaro, which is a pretty basicset-up for now, but I have individual throttlebodies, a camshaft and a stall converter all ready to go in. The interior includes new Auto Meter gauges in anXU-1 dash cluster. I’m going…

DYLAN MATWIJOW VX COMMODORE SS “HERE’S possibly Australia’s cleanest VX SS! Before builder’s fever hit the car, it was a standard, plain, untouched one-owner vehicle with under 80,000km on the clock. It wasn’t long before me pouring money into it became a familiar sensation. It’s only running a baby cam and freshened LS1 heads (with all the supporting mods as well), but the Harrop 2300 supercharger sure woke this beast up, as it makes just shy of 500hp at the wheels. From frying the tyres to Nan driving it to the shops, it offers the best of both worlds. It tucks 10in-wide Lenso D-1R wheels thanks to the Air Ride suspension, and a full exhaust system including ceramic-coated extractors gives this car the perfect note at all times. With the…

AN UNLIKELY 70s classic recently notched over 11,000km in a pilgrimage to Australia’s northernmost tip and back, raising money and awareness for a great cause along the way. Twenty-seven-year-old Tom Carriera of Wangaratta, Victoria drove his HQ Holden ute all the way to Cape York – and back through the centre of Australia – to accompany mate Cam Gray and his dad Andrew on a fundraising mission for Young Veterans, dubbed ‘Tassie to the Tip,’ in their 1978 HJ45 Land Cruiser. Tom didn’t expect to tag along at first. “Cam said I should come, and I said, ‘No way I’d get time off work, and I don’t have a 4x4 to do it in,’” he says. “But then my boss said I could take as much time as I want…

YOU JUST DON’T SEE CARS LIKE MINE OR TRACEY’S, SO WE LOVE GOING TO SHOWS AND SHARING THEIR HISTORY WHEN we heard there was some unique metal rolling around this year’s Cooly Rocks On festival (see p.42 for full feature), we set out on a mission to spot Bryan and Tracey Little’s split-window Kombi and Ford Sunliner convertible amongst the thousands of assembled cars. We found them parked side by side, which was where we caught up with the married couple to talk about their love of classic cars. You’ve both got some rare rides! Tell us about them. BL: I’ve got a 1960 Ford Galaxie Sunliner convertible. There are only six in Australia, and three are in Queensland. It’s got a 351 Cleveland in it with a C4 automatic.…

HIPS were swinging and engines were revving as a record breaking number of petrolheads rolled into Coolangatta on the Gold Coast to celebrate all things 50s, 60s and 70s at the 2023 Cooly Rocks On festival. Vintage fashion, rock music and car culture of bygone eras were front and centre over the five-day event, with plenty of hot rods, chopped sleds and classic cars lining the beachfront and surrounding streets. The show is an adaptation of the Wintersun festival, which morphed into Cooly Rocks On in 2011. The annual event saw a massive 136,000 spectators in 2022, and this year’s celebrations look to have topped that. The extensive program included car cruises, club runs and a mammoth show ’n’ shine spanning six city blocks. If that wasn’t enough, live music…

ONE THING THAT GRGIC BROS ALWAYS TOLD ME WAS, “IF IT LOOKS MODIFIED, IT’S NOT DONE RIGHT” JASON De Silveira purchased this 1970 Chevy C10 way back in 1996, not long after he began an apprenticeship as a mechanical fitter. “I bought it in bits, thinking I knew what I was doing,” he recalls. “The old chestnut – it looked like it was nearly finished and just needed to be put back together.” As it turned out, the build ended up taking a good while, as Jason’s career took him overseas. He still chipped away at it over the years, but as his knowledge and financial situation improved, the direction and quality of the build also changed. “When you’re an apprentice, [you buy] what you can afford then, but it…

WHEN drag racing legend Ben Gatt was told his family’s 1968 XT Fairmont was available for sale, he had to have it. The old Ford held too many memories, and he knew exactly what his dad, Paolo (Paul), had desperately wanted to do with the car back in the day. Once he had this family treasure under his care, Ben and some trusted mates rebuilt it over 15 months or so, transforming Mum and Dad’s old XT into a very neat streeter, just like his old man would have wanted. BEN NEVER DYNOS HIS MILLS; HE RECKONS IF HE PUTS THEM TOGETHER CORRECTLY, ALL THAT’S NEEDED IS JUDICIAL USE OF THE LOUD PEDAL I’ve known Benny for a good number of years, and jumped at the opportunity to photograph the…

JANET Hough and Victor Reilly own and run Bucket Panels in Moorabbin, and have been together for over 43 years. Throughout their journey, Janet and Victor have remained diehard hot-car fans. They also had a lot of fun racing Honda Odysseys for many years, plus a bit of touring on their Harley-Davidson. And while a number of cars have come and gone, the one street machine that has steadfastly remained is Janet’s beloved 1966 Mustang. Having first featured the bright yellow fastback in our June 1986 issue, Street Machine couldn’t resist catching up with Janet and Victor to see what the three of them have been up to over the ensuing 37 years. You’ve owned the Mustang for a very long time! JH: Our daughter Raewyn is about to turn…

ZSA Zsa Biacsi has been a keen revhead since she was a young lass, and is a willing wrench-turner on her stable of rides. There’s too many of them to feature here, so we focused on the hot rod she can be found piloting most weekends at car events across SA – her chopped and channelled ’26 Model T coupe dubbed FIDDY. How’d you get into hot rods? Growing up, my brother and I were always going to the drags and Rowley Park Speedway. Then I built a 302ci Clevelandpowered ’29 Dodge roadster when I was in my 20s. That took me about two years to build, with help from my brother. That was in the early 80s, and I sold the Dodge a few years later. I still see…

WHILE Holden was the maker of choice for many budding Australian customisers of the 1960s and early 70s, Ford and Chrysler products from the preceding decades were also popular and cheaply available once they had a few years under their belts. A number of builds from the Aussie-delivered Ford and Mopar stables left an indelible mark on our show scene and captured the hearts of many, so for our final Snap Shots instalment on custom builds of this era, we remember a few icons that flew the flag for the Blue Oval and the Pentastar. 1: SURE, all hot rods are basically ‘custom’ by default, but it isn’t overly common to see pre-’48 models treated to body mods like headlight, grille and tail-light changes. George Clark was one builder who…

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ADAM ROGASH’S BRAND-NEW STRIPSHOW CAPRI KNOCKED OUT A 7.00@191MPH, FOLLOWED UP BY A 6.91@199MPH TO DIP COMFORTABLY INTO THE SIXES ON DEBUT SOMETIMES, race events are exactly as advertised on the packaging, and Grudge Kings tells you everything you need to know right there in the name. The first Grudge Kings event, way back in 2016, aimed to bring the US style of grudge racing to Australia – door cars, world class trash-talk and side bets were the name of the game. Race fans embraced the concept put forward by promoter Po Tung from the get-go. It didn’t matter what make, model or power adder you had – the only thing that mattered was the win light. In the post-COVID years, Grudge Kings has evolved into more of a traditional…

AT THE risk of it sounding a bit like a cheesy Dom Toretto line from a Fast & Furious film, Steven Thrift’s EH Holden is all about family. It was built in Steve’s shed with his dad Geoff front and centre, to be enjoyed by Steve, his ever-supportive wife Amanda, and their two kiddos Holly and Marley. The family connection is such that Geoff even owned the EH for a time! “The car was quite nice when I got it 15 years ago; blue with a white roof, billet wheels, a 186 and a four-speed,” says Steve. “I had the idea of painting the engine bay after pulling the engine out for a tidy-up and got carried away, stripping the whole car for a little rust work and a change…

THE Honda K24 is the new hot ticket to major horsepower and reliability on the cheap, as you can pluck ’em straight from grandpa’s junker, throw some basic forged goodies in and boost them to the moon to enter the four-digit power club. That explains why Queenslander Brendon De Ruyter has slung one into his 1983 Toyota Celica to make a killer small-tyre drag-and-drive weapon. Brendon was less interested in the Celica itself than in its potential as a base for what he wanted to build. “They’d have to be one of the ugliest cars out there, but the wheelbase was right for what I wanted, and the engine bay had enough room for the K24 and turbo gear,” he says. “So, I got it from my mate and turned…

THE BARRA versus LS rivalry has been a mainstay of Australia’s modified car scene for close to two decades, but in the Japanese tuner scene, a much longer battle has been raging, with Nissan’s RB and the Toyota JZ vying for force-fed straight-six supremacy. Chris Ethell’s VL Commodore kicks that rivalry up a notch, taking one of the most revered RB-powered cars of all time and slapping 1000rwhp worth of 2JZ under the bonnet. “I’d say most people aren’t that angry about it, but I have had some purists get upset at me,” Chris says. “I will admit it was on the cards to upset people with the JZ.” If it’s any consolation to the RB faithful, Chris did initially have intentions of putting a hot RB25 turbo and manual…

GATHER ’round, Holden V8 fans; this one’s a doozy. Ever encountered a 900+hp all-motor plastic before? Ange at Molinari Race Engines has screwed together this absolute screamer for Domenic D’Agostino’s street-and-strip LX Torana hatch, aided and abetted by Pete Murray at Horsepower Engineering. It measures in at 411ci, and while it uses a Torque-Power Little Paw cast-iron block, arguments we’ve seen online that it’s somehow “not a Holden” as a result are pure nonsense. The Little Paw accepts OEM-style Holden cylinder heads, crankshaft, timing case and bracketry, and this engine retains the factory firing order. It is simply an aftermarket block, and this mill is no less a Holden than an SBC built using a Dart block is a Chev. “I first built the car in 1996, and it’s only…