Preview: NZV8 Issue No. 151

GET THERE — THE Car-lover's ULTIMATE EVENT BUCKET LIST

SUNDAYS ON

DEC. 2017 ISSUE 151

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BIG-POWER DROP-TOP PLYMOUTH, TWIN ’58 CHEVS, WE MEET TONY STEWART, THE LOW-DOWN ON TOWING, AND MORE

416803 510003

LS-powered VK big banger, Pro-touring Mustang, Tough Mopar ragtop, Global event bucketlist Issue 151

MUSCLE GARAGE

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contents DECEMBER 2017

PRIZE BOOTY

SUMMER-LOVIN’ PLYMOUTH

RAISING THE ROOF

THE ULTIMATE HDT TRIBUTE

THE cars STRESS TEST

TWIN ’58 CUSTOM CHEVS

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ELITE STREET MUSTANG

PRO STOCK HITS NEW ZEALAND

TEXAS HEAT

HALF-TRUTHS

THE events

56 PUKEKOHE’S FINEST — HOT ROD AND HORSEPOWER SHOW 128 LEVIN THE DREAM — CHROME N CUSTOM AUTO FESTIVAL

SPECIAL features

44 THE GLOBAL BUCKET LIST — DREAM EVENTS GUIDE 86 FAYE GRANT, THE MEMOIRS — THE EXTRA BITS 102 KING TONY — THE LEGEND TELLS ALL 108 WHEELS OF CONFUSION — ALL ABOUT DYNO TUNING 116 DREAM SHED — FIRM FOUNDATIONS 124 TOW MATTERS — YOUR GUIDE TO TOWING RIGHT

THE other stuff 04 SHORT SHIFT 08 BENCH SEAT 10 NEWS 12 JUST QUICKLY 16 ONLINE THIS MONTH 18 DAILY GRIND 20 IN THE BUILD 22 EVENTS 40 SUBSCRIBE AND WIN 42 STRAIGHT TALK 70 AEROFLOW RACE DIARY 72 DRAGGED UP 76 NZ’S QUICKEST 114 CONCEPT CORNER 134 CMC NEWS 136 CARGO 138 A DECADE AGO 140 THIS MONTH AT V8 142 LOCAL SPECIALISTS 144 COMING NEXT MONTH

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feature car

1986 Holden Commodore VK

WORDS: TODD WYLIE PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

WE’VE SEEN SOME FAT COMMODORES IN OUR TIME, BUT ROB COOPER’S LATEST TAKES GIRTH TO THE NEXT LEVEL!

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feature car

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1967 Ford Mustang

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THIS TOUGH NOTCHBACK MAY HAVE BEEN BORN IN TEXAS, BUT IT WOULDN’T BE WHERE IT IS TODAY WITHOUT THE KNOW-HOW AND SUPPORT OF TARANAKI WORDS: TODD WYLIE PHOTOS: DAYNA JURY

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ike a bunch of other clever Kiwis, Wayne Fabish spends plenty of his working life overseas. While that sounds glamorous to those who’ve not done it, those in the know will tell you that travelling overseas for work is often anything but. For Wayne, throw in running his business during the week and emergencies and scheduled race meetings at weekends, and work on a Mustang build was a juggling act in the early stages of the planning.

Having previously owned and built a couple of Mustang race cars, Wayne had contemplated owning a tough street version for a long time, so he set about planning the perfect pony-car build. Sick of the numerous Eleanor clones he’d come across at local Texas events, he knew that he wanted something different. This set him off on a six-month research exercise that involved not only looking into the best parts available but also coming up with an overall build plan. Even though Wayne lived and worked in Houston, Texas, the car was always destined for the roads of Taranaki, so getting it legal here played a big part in what components he would purchase.

All of this research was done before Wayne had even found a base car to work with. The hunt for the perfect shell included the usual drama of cars not being as advertised or the right ones being too expensive. After a trail of lemons, he went to check out one that was a bit on the high-price side, only to find it was damn near perfect, having had only one owner since new and been parked in the same shed since the mid 1980s.

The 1967 coupe was, in fact, in great condition; no one had ever even sat in the back seat.

As Wayne performs the role of crew chief for Craig McCormick Racing (Fox Body Mustang circuit car), Craig kindly offered Wayne the use of his workshop for the car to be built in.

Work began early in 2014 with the stripping of all the mechanicals and unwanted items from the car. The pre-planned parts started to arrive, although, at that stage, the engine combination was yet to be decided on. That all changed when a friend, who happened to be parts manager for Ford Racing in Houston, mentioned that a 2012 Boss 302 engine was sitting spare from Ford Racing’s Texas Mile race programme. However, before Wayne could commit to it, the engine had sold. However, two days later, he got a call to say that Ford had six similar engines from its drag race programme up for grabs and, with the Houston-Texas area having the biggest sales for Ford Racing parts, the dealer had been given the option to take them.

Wayne was given three days to decide whether he wanted one, which was about three days more than he needed, as

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feature car

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1964 Plymouth Fury

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WITH CARL JENSEN BEING ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S FOREMOST HIGH-PERFORMANCE VEHICLE SPECIALISTS, THERE WAS NO WAY HIS FAMILY CRUISER WAS GOING TO BE A SLOUCH! WORDS: TODD WYLIE PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

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feature car

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1958 Chev Biscayne and 1958 Chev Bel Air

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AARON TUCKER DOES HIS BEST WORK UNDER PRESSURE — THAT’S THE ONLY EXPLANATION FOR HIS TAG TEAM OF ’58 CHEVS, BUILT BEFORE A CRAZY DEADLINE

WORDS: CONNAL GRACE PHOTOS: CHARLY SKULLY (ZEALOUS DEZIGN PHOTOGRAPHY) / NZV8 ARCHIVE

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on track

ENZED CENTRAL MUSCLE CARS NEWS

MUSTANG PROGRESS A

ngus Fogg’s ’70 Mustang is getting closer to the starting grid, with the fabrication side of the build now completed. The car is currently at Moselle Panel and Paint to receive its PPG paintwork.

Angus, an experienced race car engineer and fabricator, has performed the build himself, and, as expected, it’s nothing short of breathtaking. To help keep costs down and components as highly specced as possible, Angus purchased a Ford Fusion Nascar for its componentry. That’s not to

say there was not an extreme amount of custom work required to swap the 358ci Roush Yates engine, G-Force gearbox, and nine-inch diff over!

The car has been built well within the CMC rule book, and will hopefully have passed scrutineering and be on track in time for a few test laps before the season kicks off. With Angus’ skills behind the wheels, we’re sure we’re not the only ones looking forward to seeing how the Mustang goes once it hits the track.

RAMPING UP

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t’s not long now until ignition buttons will be pressed for the first time as the 2017–2018 Enzed CMC series kicks off. Already, 29 cars are confirmed for the first round of the series, which takes place at Hampton Downs on October 27–29. Round two takes place as part of the Pukekohe Supercars event held over November 3–5, and has a confirmed entry list of 34 vehicles, with a high chance of more to come.

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CAMARO COMEBACK

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aul Boden’s Group2 Nova is a thing of beauty, but that hasn’t stopped him from upping the ante for this coming season. Paul’s purchased the former Billy Dunne Group1 Camaro, as it was too cheap to turn down, and is currently setting about bringing it back to Group2 specs.

The car has required plenty of changes to the front-end setup, as well as a few rear-end tweaks, all of which have been taken care of by Macbilt Engineering.

One thing that’s not been changed, however, is the 410ci Dart-based small block Chev engine and Tex 101A gearbox setup that the car was purchased

with. This combo should give the car a touch more power than the Nova, and see Paul back in the hunt for Group2 podium positions.

The lightweight composite panels that the car once ran have been removed to help bring the car up to weight, and new, standard width, rear quarters replace the previously widened items.

Now that the bodywork has been completed, the car is in the hands of previous NZV8 feature car owner Kim Macauley, who’s looking after the paint side of the rebuild. Paul’s aiming to get the car on track for round one of the coming season, which, as we know, is creeping up quickly.

Total hose and fitting service www.enzed.co.nz / 0800 4 ENZED