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OCT. 2016 ISSUE 137

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KILLER VK Commodore

MEGA-POWER ‘33 Coupe

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from the ed TODD WYLIE

IF YOU HAVE EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL, YOU’RE NOT MOVING FAST ENOUGH – Mario Andretti

editor@v8.co.nz

PLAN TWICE, CUT ONCE A

few weeks back, I managed to catch up with the undisputed King of Kustoms, John D’Agostino, while he was swapping planes at Auckland Airport. If you haven’t heard of him, don’t worry, you may not be alone, but he’s a pretty big deal abroad when it comes to kustom cars — and I don’t write kustom with the letter ‘K’ to make me look cool. We’ve got a full interview with John in this issue, and it’s an interesting read, even if kustom cars aren’t your thing.

While I was talking to John and running him through a few old issues of NZV8, he picked up on something that I’ve been aware of for a long time, but I’ve always held off talking about, not wanting to look like an overly opinionated dick. While John was in no way being critical or condescending about our scene — quite the opposite, in fact, as he knows the quality of New Zealand cars — he’s got a very good sense of style, and he saw the problem straightaway.

That problem is our lack of vision — or, more specifically, the vision required to get the whole package ‘right’, for lack of a better term. It’s something that’s bugged me for a long time, partly as we come close so often yet seem to stumble right at the last minute.

What makes this even more frustrating is that Kiwis have untold ability in all areas of vehicle building, be it fabrication, panel work, paint, interior, engine building — we’re masters at all of them, thanks in part to the high standards imposed by LVVTA, which means that nothing but the best engineering practices are tolerated.

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Obviously style — what’s ‘right’ — is a subjective thing, and I’m all for trying to get people to think outside the box and try different things, but ensuring a cohesive style should still come first.

Without pinpointing specific local vehicles, it’s a bit of a hard concept to explain, but think along the lines of big wheels on nostalgia-style hot rods, automatic transmissions in pro-tourers, a wheel choice out of style with the rest of the build, over-done bodywork, or a big heavy audio install in a lightweight race-style car. They’re all simple things to fix that cost no more money to get right than it originally cost to get them wrong.

Chances are you’ll know exactly what I mean, or know cars that fall into that abyss between styles. That’s my point — lots of people can see it, yet so many Kiwis still manage to get it wrong.

I’m not saying that every vehicle decision or modification I’ve made myself has been right — I could write a whole editorial on my own failings — but I like to think that I’ve built cars that are to a certain style, rather than lost between them or missing the mark completely.

It all comes back to planning, or having a vision.

Think twice, cut once — or, more correctly, think twice, swipe once. It’s only when you get it wrong that it really costs.

Catch you next month, Todd todd@v8.co.nz

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RETURNING TO TV3 LATE THIS YEAR

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contents OCTOBER 2016

THE cars 30 KING OF THE MOUNTAIN VK BROCK WITH ATTITUDE 68 RED BARON ’33 COUPE WITH HISTORY 86 RESCUED FROM RESTORATION THE ULTIMATE FARM TRUCK 110 POWER TO WAIT MASTERPIECE MONZA RACER

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68 86

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22 GOATZILLA GTO CRUISER GONE WILD

42 76 82 THE events 42 MOTHERS CHROME EXPRESSION SESSION 76 PALMERSTON NORTH SWAP MEET 82 KRUZIN KUSTOMS OPEN DAY SPECIAL features

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50 JOHN D’AGOSTINO — KING OF KUSTOMS 92 TECH: CHASSIS MODIFICATION 98 DREAM SHED — FIELD OF DREAMS

THE other stuff 02 FROM THE ED 06 BENCH SEAT 08 NEWS 10 ONLINE THIS MONTH 12 TORQUEBACK 14 JUST QUICKLY 16 DAILY GRIND 18 IN THE BUILD 20 EVENTS 38 SUBSCRIBE AND WIN 40 STRAIGHT TALK 62 PIRTEK RACE DIARY 64 DRAGGED UP 66 NZ’S QUICKEST 106 QUICK FIX 108 CONCEPT CORNER 118 CMC NEWS 120 CARGO 122 A DECADE AGO 124 THIS MONTH AT V8 126 SPECIALIST TRADE DIRECTORY 128 COMING NEXT MONTH

50 98 92 themotorhood.com

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ISSN 1176 - 9920

bench seat 15 MINUTES OF FAME WITH DEPUTY EDITOR CONNAL GRACE

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WELDING AND BEING KINDA PRODUCTIVE

EDITOR Todd Wylie, todd@v8.co.nz DEPUTY EDITOR Connal Grace, connal@v8.co.nz SUBEDITOR Karen Alexander PROOFREADER Odelia Schaare SENIOR DESIGNER Mark Gibson PHOTOGRAPHER Adam Croy MEDIA SALES CONSULTANTS Dean Payn, dean.payn@parkside.co.nz Dave Maddox-Kane, dave.maddox-kane@parkside.co.nz

I

’ve got a lot of respect for anyone who builds a car themself. Whether it’s a simple repower or a full-on tube-frame monster, you’ve got to give credit when it’s due. It’s been said a million times before, by a million different people, but no one else really understands it — living off mi goreng and the cheapest beer that comes in a 15-box (dollar per bottle, mate); grinding — sometimes literally — past midnight; the joy of receiving new parts from the courier; or the setbacks that make you want to say “F*** it all” and throw in the towel.

In the past few months, for me, it’s been more of the latter than anything else. Then again, old Holden plus strip-down is obviously going to equal a bit of rust — I just happened to find a little more than I was hoping, or expecting, to find.

Last month, I finally decided to get back into the project. In theory, it should be a pretty straightforward conversion, if not for my inherent laziness — well, that and the lack of activity that results when you get a lazy person trying to save a wad of cash in order eventually to bankroll some rust repairs.

In the meantime, as well as sorting a few of the smaller jobs that I could never really bother to get around to, I’ve begun to think seriously about a problem that I’ve been ignoring — a problem concerning the combination of a fuel-injected engine and the terrible design of the HQ–HZ sedan fuel tank. Should I keep the factory fuel tank and run a surge tank set-up in the boot; weld a sump into the existing fuel tank, using a single external in-line fuel pump; or chop the boot floor out and drop in a fuel cell?

Running a surge tank was my first choice, because — let’s face it — it’s the easiest of the three, but I want the car to be as usable as possible, and a boot

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reeking of fuel isn’t something I’m too keen on. The fuel cell is therefore at the bottom of the list, for very similar reasons, not to mention the work that would be required — something I’m willing to do but not at the expense of maintaining a usable boot.

So, that leaves the ugliest solution — weld a sump into the fuel tank. After a fair bit of consideration, and a very brief chat to an LVVTA certifier, that’s what I’ve decided to do.

I know enough to not blow the tank up — touch wood — but that’s why I’ve decided the hundybuck gasless MIG welder will no longer do the trick.

Fortunately, the boss man, Todd, mentioned he’s got a TIG welder in the garage that’s not getting a lot of use, so that could be an avenue to look down.

In fact, TIG welding is something I’ve wanted to get familiar with for a very long time, and I suppose the whole purpose of my writing this is to prevent myself from making an excuse not to do it, and — more important — maybe to have a finished car sometime this side of 2020. It’s so much harder to put something off when you’ve pretty much committed, in writing, to doing it, right?

As both the most mechanically ambitious and mechanically useless person you’re likely to meet, I’m not sure how this is going to go, but I suppose most car guys can relate. Now that I’ve started to sort my shit out, in future, I may not even be racking my brains for column ideas just a few days before we go to print — then again, dreams are free.

P.S. I must give a thank you to Ron, who offered me a replacement windscreen after reading last month’s saga. I don’t write any of this expecting to receive free shit, but I really do appreciate it.

Connal Connal@v8.co.nz

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Rebecca Frogley ADVERTISING PRODUCTION Parkside Design CONTRIBUTORS DCG Photography, Rod Dunn, Lance Farrow, John Faulkner, Tony Johnson, Jaden Martin, Morice McMillin, Duncan Rourke, Kevin Shaw, Ashley Westmoreland, Shane Wishnowsky, Kym Wylie

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PHONE 09 360 1480, FAX 09 360 1470 PO Box 46,020, Herne Bay, Auckland 1147 EMAIL info@parkside.co.nz WEB parkside.co.nz PUBLISHER Greg Vincent, gvincent@parkside.co.nz

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PRINTING PMP Maxum DISTRIBUTION Gordon & Gotch, 09 928 4200 NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS Parkside Media uses due care and diligence in the preparation of this magazine, but is not responsible or liable for any mistakes, misprints, omissions, or typographical errors. Parkside Media prints advertisements provided to the publisher but gives no warranty and makes no representation to the truth, accuracy, or sufficiency of any description, photograph, or statement. Parkside Media accepts no liability for any loss which may be suffered by any person who relies either wholly or in part upon any description, photograph, or statement contained herein.

Parkside Media reserves the right to refuse any advertisement for any reason. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Parkside Media, the publisher, or editor. All material published, gathered, or created for NZV8 magazine is copyright 2015 Parkside Media Limited. All rights reserved in all media. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the publisher.

world NEWS CHECK THEMOTORHOOD.COM FOR REGULAR NEWS UPDATES

ZL1 PRICING RELEASED G

M has released the specs for the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, and they were certainly worth the wait. How does a 6.2-litre supercharged engine that produces 650hp and 650lb·ft sound? Apparently good enough to push the cars to 60mph in 3.5 seconds and down the standing quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds at 127mph! Helping to deal with those figures is the new 10-speed automatic transmission.

In theory, the ZL1 should be good competition

for the 707hp Dodge Hellcat in terms of straight-line speed, with the Hellcat being rated at 0–60mph in 3.5 seconds and the quartermile at 11.2 seconds. Where the ZL1 will come into its own, however, is in the twisty stuff, in which the Magnetic Ride suspension, Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tyres, and electronic rear diff will aid in traction.

The cars will go on sale later this year, priced from US$62,135 for the coupe and US$69,135 for the convertible.

FAST 8 FINISHED D

wayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson let his opinion of his fellow Fast 8 actors be known when he unleashed his feelings on social media, calling them “candy asses”. That taunt came in a statement about wrapping up filming of the movie. While Johnson didn’t say exactly who it was he was targeting, he did mention that, in some scenes, in which it appears that he’s full of rage, he’s not acting at all.

The film is set to come out in the US on April 14, 2017 and no doubt will air here shortly thereafter. As we’ve come to expect from the franchise, it’ll be full of interesting cars, action packed, and far-fetched.

FOOSE REVIVES A DREAM O

ver the years, there have been countless concept cars that never went into production. Chip Foose is about to change the fate of one of them.

Back in 1935, American car dealer Wes Rydell commissioned GM designer Art Ross to create a concept that involved shortening a Cadillac sedan, lowering it, and giving it a removable hardtop. Sadly, the project stalled not long after the illustration was completed.

Chip Foose is now working on turning that stalled concept into a reality, using a 1939 Cadillac Series 60 sedan as the basis for the build. The plan is to follow the initial design brief, but with Chip adding his own personal

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touches along the way. The car has been nicknamed ‘Madam X’ in honour of what GM designer Harley Earl would call client projects.

All going to plan, the finished vehicle will be unveiled late this year.

AUSTRALIA ON THE MOVE W

ith manufacturers more and more focused on autonomous vehicles, GPS coordinates are more important than ever.

Tectonic activity is making accuracy a touch more difficult, though, as it appears that Australia, for example, has shifted by around 1.5m over the past 22 years. A distance of 1.5m may not sound like much, but, in the case of autonomous vehicles, it could result in the cars ending up in the wrong lane.

With the continent moving around 70mm per year, the plan is to update the official coordinates in 2017 and remap again in 2020.

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online this month THEMOTORHOOD.COM

EXTRA CHROME

METAL MASTERY

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A

f our coverage of the Mothers Chrome Expression Session 2016 later on in this issue doesn’t do the trick for you, we’ve got a huge image gallery up online for your viewing pleasure. Just search ‘Polished to Perfection’ to check it out — you may even spot yourself!

REMEMBERING CHRIS AMON

s we went through our photo archives, we stumbled across a gallery of photos from the build of the iconic bare-metal ’36 Ford coupe, at the time being built by Steve Foster — one of the finest hot rods in New Zealand. While we featured the coupe back in NZV8 Issue No. 104, there was no way we could do justice to the full extent of the work in just one feature article, so you can now enjoy following the master crafters at Bodymods as they work their magic. Just search ‘Metal Mastery’ on themotorhood.com to see it all.

W

e were pretty shocked to hear the news of Chris Amon’s passing on the evening of August 3, and our sister magazine New Zealand Classic Car went through a last-minute redesign to pay homage to the Kiwi motorsport hero. Part of that included uploading a plethora of tributes to Chris Amon to themotorhood.com, our favourite of which is the interview that took place when he was reunited with his BMW CSL ‘Batmobile’ 38 years after he raced it. Search ‘Chris Amon’ on themotorhood.com to read it all.

WEEKLY MOTOR FIX F

or our latest Weekly Motor Fix, we take a look at Gavin Cornish’s 1948 Ford F100 — a ’48 that’s a bit more than it seems. The matt black work hack is powered by a 351ci Windsor, with an FMX trans and nine-inch backing it. Gavin beats up on it at events, as well as using it as a tow vehicle and an all-round cruiser. There’s a little more to it than just that, although you’ll have to read the article to find out what.

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Conservation never looked so good.

Mothers® California Gold® Waterless Wash & Wax The easy way to wash and wax your car. Its ultra-slick formula encapsulates and dissolves dirt and grime, bringing out an unsurpassed shine. No H20 required.

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letters HAVE YOUR SAY — WRITE TO US TORQUEBACK,

MAGAZINE, PO BOX 46,020, HERNE BAY, AUCKLAND 1147; EMAIL TORQUEBACK@V8.CO.NZ

GLOBAL WARMING Hi Todd, Just a quick email to say congrats on another great mag [Issue No. 135]. The article Burnside Style was a good read. Also, your coverage of the first Parked up out West [event] was first class.

What caught my eye was the coverage of the Nagoya Speed and Custom Show. The Japanese certainly bring their creativity to the car scene.

I have a question for you: is that a 1963 Fairlane compact wagon at the top right of page 51?

Cheers, Wayne Cheers for the feedback, Wayne. We always love to read Tony Johnson’s columns, too, and his Burnside Style was no different.

Agree on the Japanese, also; they have a great sense of style and seem to blend their own tastes well with American iron. The car certainly looks like a Fairlane wagon to us. Great to see one done differently — and just to see one at all!

Cheers, Todd

8 NZV mn

Colu

I

STRAIGHT TAL

WITH: TONY

JOHNSON

K

BURNSIDE STYLE

’ve got a kind of interesting story to tell you, interest in music. particularly so It really tickled if you have an me when I learnt it’ll do the same played music about this, so for you. If you all of his life, but, I hope don’t give a shit this one and for some reason his way until move on. about music, he was well into , major attenti maybe skip For the third on didn’t come his 60s, when faded away just consecutive year, he became ‘big’, as quickly. It’s buddies, Lester Linda and I — but then he said that his power better with age, together with and Lynda Davis our ful voice grew but only as long — spent our Easter Byron Bay Bluesfes stronger and as he kept drinkin toned down his break at the amazin t in New South W drinking, his voice g. On occasions 100 artists from ales. Man, I love g when he Burnside’s father did likewise. all over the world that event! Aroun lived in Chicag five stages, from congregate there d o, having shifted RL’s mother, and, midday to midnig and give it their there after splittin as a young man don’t start on all, on ht every day for g up with about it, or I could the south in pursui in the 1940s, five solid days.

RL moved up Best I t of better work soon be raving there from start, as he gained prospects. Things to you jobs at metal went well for fantastic the Byron about how and glass factori him for a Bay Bluesfest es, and got to is in nothing short hang out with of an evangelistic Muddy Water manner. So, I’ll s — who, fortuit spare you the ously, was his cousin ravings for now, -in-law — which but I must tell helped him to you this one intrigu get into the fabled ing story.

Chicago blues It started last scene. year when we However, 1940s were watching an Americ Chicago was an band a tough place, called ‘Alabam with crime and a Shakes’. I notice violenc e around every d that the bass corner. guitar player Apparently, in was wearing a cap the space of with two words a single year, RL’s embroidered father, his two on it. Initially, brothers, and they were hard to two of his uncles read, as the guy were all murde was playing right red right there over at the back in Chicago city. of the stage. Eventu A few short years ally, however, after arriving there, I made out that RL — sensibly, the words were one would have ‘Burnside Style to conclude — ’— nothing else, got out of Chicago and just ‘Burnside Sty headed back le’. Hmmmm. south.

Burnside moved Never heard of around the it. It intrigued southe rn states of Tenne me a little, as I wonde ssee and red what Mississippi, with ‘Burnside Style’ things going OK meant and who for a while. He or what ‘Burns played with many ide’ was. The established southe name popped rn blues player into my mind s.

However, he a few times over was going from the following job to job and finding year, but I never plenty of trouble quite got around along the way. to researching During the 1950s, it.

Burnsi de killed a man.

Fast forward, Although the then, to this year’s episode is not Bluesfest: we well docum were watching ented, it is thought to a blues player from have happened during Los Angeles by a gambling incide the name of ‘Blind nt. He was found Boy Paxton’ guilty of murde — standing right r and went to up the front prison — but he was against the barrier out less than a year , as we always later, due to his seem able to previous emplo do at Bluesfest yer arranging to get — and a professional him photographe because he neede released early r got in my way d Burnside’s a little. He looked abilities as a tractor by his clothin driver. Maybe g to be a seriou his boss was s sort of a music from a music a state senato dude — I guess magazine. As r or something.

I was trying to a reporter there it was again. look around him, bugge When asked somet This time it was Here’s my favour r me, ime later about very simple yellow right in my face ite bit of the story. quote is incom the murder he’d — a plain black embroidery on parable: “I didn’t committed, Burnsi cap with ‘Burnside’ thing? it that read ‘Burns mean to kill nobod the sonofabitch de’s ide Style’. What once in the head y. I just meant I asked a few was this to shoot music buddie between him and two times s, and no one and the in the chest. Him yeah, that’s RL Bur knew — until dyin’ was After a heart attack Lord.” nside, the blues one guy said, in pretty interes man. He was “Oh ting life, too.”

He took the advice 2001, Burnside was told by a musical genius his .

He doctor and quit, but My interest was had a to stop drinkin apparently then the guitar well renewed. After g. any more, and found himself some research, contact’s view unable his musica I It discovered that that Burnside would seem, to play l career came “had an interes however, that my understateme to an end. ting life” was RL Burnside’s nt! others, Luther something of influence lives Dickinson, forme RL Burnside was an on; among many r guitarist for front man for born in 1926 The Black Crowes, the North Mississ and died in 2005. singer, songw and now ippi Allstars — riter, and guitari — is said to have He was an Americ one of the cooles st. By all accou been greatly an blues ways. Like many t bands ever inspired by Burnsi nts, it was a hard ‘Burnside Style’ of his genre, life, in many de, and incorp in his he played the repetitive sound orates a lot of guitar and with the all-time maste fabulous music. In fact, RL Bur ; when he got a deliberately onto a good nside was regard r of the North fashion of older, thing, he’d stay Mississippi hill-co genre from which ed as established blues with it, in the untry style of Dickinson’s band men such as blues — the John Lee Ho Of course, for oker. Burnside me at least, RL Bur probably took its name. nside will go the world with down in history one of its best for providing damn quotes .

“HIM DYIN’ W AS BETWEEN H IM THE LORD”AND

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THERMALWRAPPING GAINS? Hey guys, I read somewhere that you gain thermal flow efficiency when you wrap headers / exhaust systems, mainly due to higher temperature giving better flow. I’d be really interested to know by how much, on average — sure, it depends on exhaust design, e.g. 200hp to 210hp, giving a gain of five per cent. So, 24 pack, plus 10m of thermal tape, plus dyno =?

Cheers, Grant Wills Interesting question, Grant, and one that we’ve referred to the experts at Magnum Automotive.

They came back saying, “Yes it would be interesting. We have thermal-wrapped headers in the past, but have never done a before-andafter with the dyno. A couple of things that it did do when we have wrapped headers was melt the shifter cable downstream, because the heat was transferred down the exhaust pipe, which sort of proves the higher velocity maybe.

It increased the in-cabin floor temp as well. The other thing it did was rust out the headers at the first bend, potentially because the internal temp is high due to the wrapping? Consequently, we have only coated not wrapped since then.”

It sounds as if it’s something we should consider a back-to-back test of, and perhaps we should also throw coating into the mix.

We’ll see what we can do.

Cheers, Todd

WIN NEXT MONTH

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local GOSSIP

EMAIL YOUR NEWS TO: EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ

RIP, CHRIS AMON C

hris Amon, the Kiwi driver who was widely considered to be the best Formula 1 (F1) driver never to have won a Championship Grand Prix, passed away on August 3, aged 73. He leaves behind a legacy as a driver with sublime talent at the wheel but a career plagued by near-wins after constant

mechanical failures robbed him of the winner’s laurel wreath in championship races. He also held the record for driving the highest number of teams in the history of the F1 championship.

Born in 1943, Chris grew up in Bulls, near Palmerston North, where the family farmed sheep and cattle. When his schooldays were over, he

WESTERN SPRINGS SPEEDWAY NO LONGER

began racing an Austin A40 in local events, later graduating to a 1.5-litre Cooper-Climax. Then came the Maserati 250F, which he tested at the young age of 17, competing against Stirling Moss and other visiting European stars of the era.

Behind the wheel of fellow Kiwi Bruce McLaren’s 1959 US Grand Prix–winning Cooper-Climax T51, Chris caught the attention of European teams with his efforts in the 1962–’63 Tasman Series. At the age of only 19, he arrived in Europe at the invitation of English team manager Reg Parnell, who had offered him a seat driving the year-old Lola Climax in his F1 team for 1963. Chris started eight races that year, with two seventh-place finishes. That was followed by a fifth at Zandvoort the following year, driving the team’s Lotus BRM. Staying with the team for 1965, Chris only started two races and did not finish either.

Chris delivered the greatest achievement of his career in 1966, when, alongside Bruce McLaren, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of a Ford GT40 MkII. Evidently, this feat caught the attention of Ferrari, and Chris soon met with Enzo Ferrari, who offered him the opportunity to drive with Scuderia Ferrari for the ’67 season. By 1968, Chris was the team’s number-one driver. The year should have seen him claim his first Grand Prix title; he led race after race but was let down each time by reliability issues.

Chris Amon’s F1 career spanned the years 1963 to 1977, during which time he competed in almost 100 Grand Prix races. He won Le Mans, raced Can-Am, and even tried Indianapolis.

The man himself said that he always preferred single-seaters, and the 1968 Ferrari F1 was his all-time favourite. Chris was a Kiwi legend — the absolutely best driver never to have won a Championship Grand Prix.

Rest in peace, Chris.

BEAT THE SUPERCAR DRIVERS I

I

conic Kiwi motorsport venue Western Springs will be rebranded this summer after partnering with telecommunications company Vodafone New Zealand. The speedway will soon be transformed from ‘WXC Western Springs Speedway’ to ‘Vodafone Speedway’.

“Vodafone is committed to getting Kiwis closer to the things they love, and Western Springs Speedway has been one of those things for almost a century,” said Vodafone’s consumer director, Matt Williams.

“As well as the rebranding, we are excited to be able to offer a variety of speedway ticket giveaways

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this summer as part of our loyalty programme, Fantastic Fridays, exclusive to Vodafone customers.”

The name change may come as a big surprise to some, but Western Springs has been aligned with WXC Communications for the past three years. Since Vodafone recently purchased WXC Communications, this has been a natural progression for both parties.

While we’re not sure that ’Vodafone Speedway‘ has the same ring to it as the long-standing original name, no doubt the new moniker will become the norm in time, as has happened with the rebranding of other iconic venues over the years.

f you think you can beat a V8 supercar driver, now’s your chance, as a handful of free go-kart events are set to take place in the lead-up to the ITM Auckland SuperSprint at Pukekohe. ’SuperSprint Karting‘, as it’ll be known, will be held on Tuesday, November 1, thanks to Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development, in conjunction with Supercars and ITM. Three venues will be utilized — Mangere’s Formula E Raceway, Highbrook’s Extreme Indoor Karts, and Blastacars in Henderson, and drivers will be encouraged to try to beat times pre-recorded by Fabian Coulthard and David Reynolds.

Even if you’re not likely to beat the lap times, if you’re interested in having a go at karting, register through the What’s on in Auckland Facebook page or at aucklandnz.com/supersprint.

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WALKINSHAW KITS FITTED TO YOUR V8

L

ong-time vendor of customized licence plates Personalised Plates has lost the contract with the NZTA after 28 years. The company made the announcement via its website and stated that all enquiries should be directed to the NZTA. The NZTA had expressed interest in finding a new company to do the job, and Australian business Publicis Communication was awarded the contract.

What does this mean for the average punter? Not a lot, really. At present, prices are remaining the same, and the website now offers a much more user-friendly platform, with a wider range of designs available. A fixed format plate, such as ‘ABC123’, starts from $599, while a fully custom plate starts at $999.

Not a lot has been said about future price increases or further design options. However, as the business platform is based on a continually declining number of available combinations, this is an all-too-real future.

WIN WITH REPCO T

PHOTO: RICHARD OPIE

o celebrate Father’s Day, Repco is giving customers the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and it couldn’t be any easier to enter. By simply purchasing two or more products from any Repco store in New Zealand between August 11 and September 11, 2016, you’ll go in the draw to win a $10K family holiday for four people to Queenstown over November 11–14, 2016. Thanks to Repco’s longstanding association with Highlands Motorsport Park, the lucky winner will also score VIP hospitality passes to the Highlands 101 event on November 12–13, as well as a trip up the iconic gondola and a jet-boat experience.

Terms and conditions apply; for more details, see in-store or visit repco.co.nz.

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Large high flow injectors WP Pulley Upgrade Unique WP Cold Air Intake Ceramic Coated Headers Unique WP Cat Back Exhaust WP507 ECU Edit W507 Badges W507 Certificate of Authenticity W507 Drive Line Warranty Full dyno tune from an authorised Walkinshaw Performance Centre

At Ebbett Holden Hamilton, we can supply and fit a range of genuine Walkinshaw Performance parts and accessories. All parts are fitted by our specially trained staff and are backed by a full Walkinshaw Performance Warranty, which will be attached to your Holden factory warranty.

EBBETT HAMILTON Ebbett Dealership Group 204-208 Anglesea Street PO Box 504 | Hamilton 3240 T 07 838 0949 | F 838 3380 E hamilton@ebbett.co.nz www.ebbett.co.nz

HAW WALKINS G& IN H T CLO DISE N A H C MER ILABLE NOW AVA themotorhood.com

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dailY GRIND IF YOU HAVE A COOL DAILY-DRIVER AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT APPEAR IN DAILY GRIND, EMAIL EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ

JASON THOMAS 1978 CHEV CAMARO

We saw a few months back that your wife also has a yellow Camaro. Who got theirs first?

This one was first. I’d dreamed about it for a while, then, when I was working in Waihi Beach, I needed to go into Waihi to pick up supplies for the job on the day Beach Hop was going through, so I went and had a look. There was a ’78 all done up with a ‘for sale‘ sign on the back, so I sent Jo a photo and said, “Let’s buy it”. She came back straight away, asking, “How much?” It wasn’t the answer I was expecting. They wanted a bit more than I was prepared to spend, but the seller said his friend had one for sale more cheaply, so I went and had a look, and this is the car. It didn’t have the stripes on it at that stage; it was just all yellow.

Do people see the yellow and stripes and associate that with Transformers?

Yeah, they do, especially when this one and Jo’s one [NZV8 Issue No. 133] are together. I don’t see the reactions when I’m driving, but the passengers often point out that so many people are looking.

Are you leaving it as is, or do you have bigger plans for it?

I’ll probably spend more on it than it’s worth, but that’s always the way. It’s pretty much stock at the moment, as I haven’t had time to do anything as yet, but I have a project ending soon, which will let me get into it. I’ve got to make some decisions on which way to go with it. I was thinking about dropping an injected

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LS engine into it, but that’d mean a new transmission and everything, then you may as well change it to independent rear suspension, and it goes on and on. It’d be a lot simpler just to put a hot 350 into it and rebuild the trans.

What about the body?

It needs a strip-down and repaint. I’ll try [to] … do what I can; I’ve got a friendly panel beater who lets guys doing project cars come in and work on their own stuff — but I’ll do what I can at home first.

Always a good plan. Have you owned anything else like it?

No; I’d been looking on Trade Me for ages, always for a second-gen Camaro. A splitbumper model was my preference, and, to be honest, if I’d bought a split-bumper one already done, it probably would have been cheaper in the end, but you can’t get rid of your first one.

I believe fate is a bit of a thing. When I was working on a property we bought, I found a little plastic miniature toy from the ’80s under the house. It was a genuine Bumblebee, which was quite freaky. That was after we’d bought both of the Camaros, so it’s almost like a sign it was meant to be.

If that’s not a sign, we don’t know what is. We look forward to seeing which way you choose to go with the car.

in the build WHAT’S UNDER CONSTRUCTION AROUND THE COUNTRY EMAIL YOUR BUILDS TO: EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ

YOUNG GUN T

aranaki’s Lockie Bower bought his XA Falcon station wagon at the age of just 14, after saving all his pamphlet-run money and working an after-school job at a local panel beaters.

For the first 18 months, Lockie took on the panel work of the wagon himself, with guidance from his father, Clint, who showed him how to patch rust, weld, and fix dents.

Lockie bare-metalled the car, fixed all the rust and dents, and filled and primed the car himself, and a good family friend, Andrew Campbell, aka ‘Nits’, sprayed the top coat, thanks to Steve from A & G Paint and Panel for allowing him the use of the spray booth.

At age 17, having left school for a maintenance engineer apprenticeship, Lockie now has a few more funds available to help him finish his muchloved project. The enjoyment of attending swap meets with his dad and friends has taught him how to scrounge parts and has helped to keep the build affordable. The old wagon now sports a narrowed nine-inch diff — done by Lockie himself — with 14x8-inch and 15x10-inch wheels, a 302 Cleveland, and a C4 transmission ready to install.

Lockie has enjoyed the past six years of Beach Hop with his family and friends and has been attending Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Festival since the age of nine — he is looking forward to having his own finished car there next year.

QUICK CAT B

ryan James is no stranger to tough cars, yet his current build is a whole lot different from the rest. After memories of watching his father doing up a MkVII Jag and, on its completion, enjoying family Sunday drives, Bryan bit the bullet and purchased one to do the same with his kids.

Bryan says, “Luckily for me, no one wants these big cats, so they are cheap to buy — that’s if you can find one. I found this one at a scrapmetal dealer. He was about to turn it into a little metal cube. It had no motor or gearbox, but that was OK with me, as I had no intention of ever using old Jag running gear, as my father’s one was just a pain in the arse”.

After sourcing a set of Porsche GT3 brakes, Bryan began the hunt for suitable wheels, which was no easy task but has resulted in a set of 7 Series BMW wheels. The reason for the big brakes is the decision to go with an LS1 and six-speed, and to set the car up to be able to have fun on the track and burnout pad.

The intention for now is to paint the whole lot matt black, painting out the wheels and chrome in a gloss black. With a build plan like this, we can’t wait to see how the project progresses!

PAT’S BACK P

revious cover-car owner and serial car builder Patrick O’Keeffe is in the workshop once more, building what we can assume will be another stunner. After owning Camaros, Firebirds, and Chevelles, Patrick is working on a ’75 Pontiac Trans Am this time around. The big trick here is that he’s de-facelifting the car so that it will appear to be a ’70 while retaining the more modern underpinnings of the later chassis.

The owner of Boss Panelbeaters, Patrick has stripped the car back to bare metal and replaced both rear quarters on it for a flawless metal finish. Once the Boss team is totally happy with the body, it’ll be layered in coats of Cromax Pro waterborne paint to the team’s usual show standard.

win ner

WE KNOW THERE ARE SOME FANTASTIC CARS BEING BUILT OUT THERE, SO DON’T BE SHY — FLICK US AN EMAIL WITH A BIT OF A BLURB AND A FEW HIGH-RESOLUTION PICS OF WHAT YOU’RE UP TO. ONE PROJECT EACH MONTH WILL WIN A $100 VOUCHER FROM RESENE AUTOMOTIVE AND LIGHT INDUSTRIAL!

Coatings experts at your door

www.rali.co.nz ͘ 0800 108 008

JOIN THE MOVE

You’ll be w o h d e s i r p r u s s! little it cost

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world NEWS CHECK THEMOTORHOOD.COM FOR REGULAR NEWS UPDATES

SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER 24 ROYALS RUMBLE 2016 The Royals Rumble 2016 will be held on Saturday, September 24, at Pirongia Clydesdales, 1375 McClure Street, Pirongia. The laid-back event is open to all pre-1963 American vehicles and hot rods and pre-1966 American and British motorcycles, all to be modified in a 1950s or 1960s manner — no billet and no digital dashes. In addition to the selection of traditionally styled vehicles to drool over, there will be hot rod swap sites to keep the bargain hunters happy.

Gates will be open from 7am for entrants, with public entry from 9am to 3pm, via gold-coin donation.

There will be plenty of preferential parking for classics, kustoms, and hot rods that do not fit within the above show requirements. The venue will be well signposted, and there is even a licensed café on site!

For more info, contact Andy on 07 889 0580, Tony on 029 200 9117, or Bryan on 07 888 7818.

SEPTEMBER 4 NEW ZEALAND PETROLHEAD FATHER’S DAY DRAGS MEREMERE DRAGWAY, MEREMERE SEPTEMBER 4 ROCK ’N’ WHEELS AMBERLEY DOMAIN, AMBERLEY SEPTEMBER 15–18 KAIKOURA HOP KAIKOURA RACECOURSE, KAIKOURA SEPTEMBER 16–18 24 HOURS OF LEMONS HAMPTON DOWNS MOTORSPORT PARK, TE KAUWHATA SEPTEMBER 24 ROYALS RUMBLE 2016 PIRONGIA CLYDESDALES, PIRONGIA SEPTEMBER 25 CAFFEINE AND CLASSICS SMALES FARM, AUCKLAND

OCTOBER 1 AROHA CRUISE IN The first weekend of October is a special one in the Waikato, as the region plays host to the Aroha Cruise In — one of the best events of its kind. This year will be no different, with the ninth Aroha Cruise In being held on Saturday, October 1, in Te Aroha.

As always, the main streets will be closed off to allow classic cars and bikes, hot rods, vintage tractors, fire engines, caravans, and all manner of cool old machinery to be proudly placed on display.

The event has grown every year, and, with even more street closures this year to accommodate the increased numbers of entrants, stall holders, and public spectators, this is looking to be the best Aroha Cruise In yet — make sure you put it in your calendar, as it’s definitely worth your time.

OCTOBER 15–16 CHRISTCHURCH ALL OZ CAR SHOW New Zealand’s got a lot of love for Aussie-built cars, and Cantabrians will have a chance to check them out en masse at the Christchurch All OZ Car Show, organized by the Falcon Fairlane Club Christchurch and the Holden Enthusiasts Club Christchurch. To be held on October 15 and 16, the event will display all of the Aussie cars we know and love — from ’50s classics through to the latest models, and everything in between. All owners of Aussie cars are welcome to bring their cars along, whether they’re old or new, original or modified.

There will be a cruise on Saturday, October 15, starting at 5pm, from the Mitre 10 Ferrymead carpark, 1005 Ferry Road, Christchurch, while the show, on Sunday, October 16, will run from 10am to 2pm at Ouruhia Domain, via Chenery Ave, 721 Marshland Road, Christchurch. Entry is $5 for exhibiting cars, or a gold coin for the general public. You can keep an eye on event updates by visiting facebook.com/allozcarshowchristchurch.

OCTOBER 22 BAKESHACK WHEELS ON MAINSTREET End of the Road Rods and Classics Mount Maunganui will once again run its successful Wheels on Mainstreet on October 22, 2016. Sponsored by Bakeshack, the event takes place at Coronation Park, Mount Maunganui (entry via Nikau Crescent), with gates opening at 8am. As with previous years, the main prize on the day is a trip for two to the famous Back to Brunswick Hot Rod Run on Australia’s Gold Coast, in July.

Vehicle entry is just $5, including passengers, and no pre-entry is required. The show will be open to the public from 10am till 3pm, with a prize-giving to be held at 2.30pm sharp. A wide range of prizes is up for grabs, with international guest judges confirmed, so why not head along and make the most of the long weekend. For more info, call Straw on 0275 400 745 or email strawbgl@xtra.co.nz.

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FOR MORE EVENTS, HEAD TO THEMOTORHOOD.COM OR, TO GET YOUR OWN EVENT LISTED, EMAIL EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ

OCTOBER OCTOBER 1 AROHA CRUISE IN TE AROHA, WAIKATO OCTOBER 3 NZV8 NEW ISSUE ON SALE OCTOBER 15–16 CHRISTCHURCH ALL OZ CAR SHOW OURUHIA DOMAIN, CHRISTCHURCH OCTOBER 22 MUSTANG CONVENTION PUBLIC SHOW ANZ VIADUCT EVENTS CENTRE, AUCKLAND OCTOBER 22 WHEELS ON MAINSTREET CORONATION PARK, MOUNT MAUNGANUI

Sharing your passion for great cars and bikes

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. ruiser ome c e c i as a n and then s w O T ’66 G iven him, s i h d from build has g e t n a all w und-up re H d d All To hat a gro NCAN ROURKE w DU That’s AL GRACE PHOTOS: N

N S: CO WORD

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he fact that you’re reading an article about Todd Hall’s staunch-looking ’66 GTO is actually a bit of a happy accident. Todd never set out to build the masterpiece you see here, but the story of how it came to be is one that you won’t be unfamiliar with.

It all started some three years ago, when, in Australia, Todd caught sight of a first-generation Pontiac GTO — one of the best-designed vehicles to come out of the US, period. It’s a design that makes an impression, irrespective of your automotive inclinations, and one of only a handful that, through its simplicity — stacked headlights, Coke-bottle hips, and a perfectly proportioned profile — can be classified as art. That look was all it took for Todd to realize how much he’d like to own one.

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1966 PONTIAC GTO ENGINE: 455ci big block Pontiac, 0.030-inch overbore, forged pistons, custom-ground camshaft, roller rockers, Pontiac cast cylinder heads, Edelbrock Torker II intake manifold, 750cfm Holley Double Pumper carburettor, mechanical fuel pump, new fuel tank, HEI distributor, 9mm ignition leads, Hooker headers, three-inch exhaust system, alloy radiator, electric fan DRIVELINE: Richmond six-speed gearbox, Center Force 10½-inch clutch, nine-inch diff, LSD head, 3.25:1 final-drive ratio, 31-spline axles, 1350 universal joints, custom driveshaft SUSPENSION: Helix tubular front control arms, Monroe front shocks, triangulated four-link rear, coilover rear shocks BRAKES: CPP HydraStop brake booster, Right Stuff front calipers, 13-inch front discs, Right Stuff rear calipers, 11-inch rear discs WHEELS/TYRES: 19x8-inch and 20x13inch Rushforth Livewire wheels, 215/35ZR19 Nitto NT555 Extreme ZR and 29x15R20LT Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/R tyres EXTERIOR: New boot floor, new front floorpans, new rear quarter panels, new lower front guard panels, tubbed rear, smoothed firewall, de-loomed engine bay, Jet Black paint CHASSIS: Narrowed rear chassis, custom triangulated four-link pickup points, rear coilover mounting points INTERIOR: Retrimmed interior, Long shifter, Pontiac ‘Rally’ gauges, Auto Meter gauges, Sony head unit PERFORMANCE: Untested

This was a desire not helped by a trip up to C&M Performance in Auckland, where Carl Jensen was tuning Todd’s blown and injected ’69 Mustang.

As fate would have it, Michael Franklin’s ’540GTO’ — a blown alcohol-drinking all-steel ’66 GTO — was sharing workshop space with the Mustang and that was enough to really tip Todd over the edge. The internet browsing began, with Todd frequenting sites such as Craigslist in search of his dream car. All he was looking for was a cruiser …

The car you see here was purchased, rather fittingly, around Christmas 2014. It was located in Guilford, Connecticut, but Todd hadn’t factored in the massive port strikes across the US’s west coast at the time. As a result, it wasn’t until April 2015 that the Pontiac landed in New Zealand — a wait that could be described as nothing short of agonizing.

Once in New Zealand, the GTO’s true condition was revealed. Todd knew it wasn’t perfect, as it had cost around half the average asking price for a GTO, and the base-spec car — with no power steering or vacuum-assisted brakes — would need a bit of attention to become the cruiser he was after. “I thought it would be fine to drive around for a couple of years before starting on a rebuild,” Todd explains.

Of course, this plan would require that the car go through the VINing process, and it revealed a few rust areas in the floor that would necessitate body-off repairs. Even so, Todd wasn’t going to let that spoil his chances of enjoying his new toy before a rebuild that could take any length of time.

An upcoming run with the Cam County car club sounded like just the ticket — road legal or not!

“I put in two long, hard weeks just getting it ready to go,” Todd says. “I took the motor out to repair the rear main seal, rebuilt the diff, fitted new wheel bearings all round, and fixed the wiring.”

Unfortunately, Todd’s efforts were for naught. On the car’s way to Upper Hutt to meet up with the club, the water-temperature needle soared into the danger zone, while the oil pressure one sank to alarming depths. The time for that big rebuild had come, so the GTO was rolled into the garage and stripped back for a complete overhaul.

With a clear picture in mind of what he wanted to

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do and how he wanted the finished car to look, it was simply a matter of Todd talking to the right people.

An important part of the car’s appearance would be fitting a pair of decent-sized rollers under the rear end, so the bare chassis was sandblasted and epoxy coated, before being dragged down to Eddie and Josh Trybula at All Fleet Services. There, the rear chassis rails were carefully narrowed to accommodate the massive 20x13-inch Rushforth wheels, and pickup points were welded in for the triangulated four-link and rear coilover shocks.

“It doesn’t sound like much when you write it down, but there was a truckload of work in it,” Todd remembers. “Getting those wheels to fit without rubbing was quite a mission.”

Meanwhile, Todd was busy stripping the shell back to bare steel, so that Paul Knight, from Classic Auto, could work his magic. Paul’s a true genius when it comes to panel work, and the job he’s done is nothing short of amazing. The big Pontiac’s body was put on a rotisserie and myriad rust-repair panels were seamlessly grafted in, along with a huge pair of rear tubs, while the front end received a smoothed firewall. With the bodywork completed, the giant jigsaw puzzle could be reassembled, and the GTO finally began to resemble the tough cruiser that Todd had been dreaming of.

Although Todd was only ever building the Pontiac for stress-free cruising — he’s got the Mustang to beat up on — that didn’t mean it would be lacking in the grunt department. While this GTO would have rolled off the assembly line with a 389ci Pontiac V8 under the bonnet, someone, at some stage in the following 50 years, had slotted in a 455ci Pontiac big block in its place. Despite the

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ALTHOUGH TODD WAS BUILDING THE GTO FOR STRESS-FREE CRUISING, IT WASN'T GOING TO BE LACKING IN THE GRUNT DEPARTMENT

headache this engine had caused earlier, Todd deemed it the perfect power plant for the job, and had Reece Harrison — described by Todd as “A drag racer with 40 years of ‘been there, done that’ experience” — give it a freshen-up. Forged pistons were slotted into the bottom end, while a mild camshaft, roller rockers, and 750cfm Holley Double Pumper on a low-rise Edelbrock Torker II manifold ensure that it’s got bucketloads of reliable, usable grunt.

If the tough, albeit restrained, engine combo isn’t enough to convince you that the GTO has been built as more than just a lazy cruiser, perhaps

Todd’s transmission of choice might. Rather than opting for a laid-back automatic transmission, or a sloppy old four-speed, he sourced a brandnew Richmond six-speed manual gearbox — an engineering masterpiece that is more than capable of harnessing the 455’s massive torque, while providing Todd with a civilized driving experience that guarantees enjoyment of his time spent behind the wheel.

All that was left before Todd could actually get behind the wheel were the small tasks of sorting the paint, the interior, and LVVTA certification.

Mike McQueen, at August Panel and Spray, was

THE MAGIC YEAR While the Pontiac GTO badge was introduced in 1964, it wasn’t until 1966 that the GTO became a separate Pontiac model rather than an ‘option package’ for the Pontiac Tempest Le Mans.

It was also in 1966 that GM restyled its A-body (medium-sized) line-up, most notably with a large rear-quarter kick-up, giving those iconic Cokebottle hips. The 1966 Pontiac GTO also got unique tail lights, with the lenses integrated into a louvred tail-light panel.

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TODD HALL CAR CLUB: Cam County AGE: 48 OCCUPATION: Self-employed PREVIOUSLY OWNED CARS: ’68 Monaro, ’68 Mustang; currently own a ’69 Mustang Mach 1 DREAM CAR: This one — or maybe my next project WHY THE GTO? I saw one in Aussie three years ago then saw Mike Franklin’s GTO at C&M Performance in November 2014 — you don’t see many in New Zealand BUILD TIME: 14 months LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: One-and-a-half years TODD THANKS: Paul Knight from Classic Auto, for the panel work; Mike McQueen from August Panel and Spray; Eddie and Josh Trybula from All Fleet Services; Dion from Cover Me Upholstery

called on for the first of these unenviable tasks.

Countless hours spent sanding, priming, painting, cutting, glazing, and polishing have paid off — the Pontiac’s huge panels, covered in a deep coat of Jet Black paint, are mirror-like in their perfection, and the ultimate testament to Mike’s skill at his craft.

The Pontiac’s interior was taken to Dion at Cover Me upholstery, and the end result is perfectly aligned with Todd’s goal of a usable cruiser. The upholstery has been beautifully re-covered in a no-nonsense factory style, and it’s only the Grant wood-rimmed steering wheel, Long six-speed shifter, and trio of Auto Meter diagnostic gauges that hint at the firepower veiled beneath the GTO’s main role as a sedate cruiser.

You may remember that Todd jumped straight

into the grand rebuild without ever actually having got the Pontiac VINed. Fortunately, he’d been consulting Julian Cheer at Cheers Auto.

Julian had been following the build and guided Todd through the process to ensure everything was safe and compliant. With the VIN and LVVTA certification processes taken care of, Todd was on the road!

If you’ve ever seen Todd pedalling his tough Mustang — most often with smoke pouring off the rear tyres — then you’ll know that this car will also be driven the way it was built to. No, it’s not going to be subjected to the same level of mechanical abuse as the Mustang cops, but it will get driven — the best thing that could happen to a car like this, and a treat for all those who are lucky enough to see it in action.

THE PONTIAC’S HUGE PANELS, COVERED IN A DEEP COAT OF JET BLACK PAINT, ARE MIRROR-LIKE IN THEIR PERFECTION

CAN’T BEAT A BLOWER We featured Todd’s monster ’69 Mustang Mach 1 back in NZV8 Issue 110. Powered by an 8-71 supercharged 427ci small block Ford with FAST electronic fuel injection, it’s good for over 1000hp, and has so far run very low 10-second quarter-mile passes while fully street legal. At the time we featured it, the Mustang still had a lot of untapped potential, which tuning wizard Carl Jensen at C&M Performance has been busy extracting — look out for a new addition to our Quickest Streeters list in the near future, as this thing should now dip into the nines with ease.

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SERVICE • KNOWLEDGE

QUALITY • LATEST RANGES

ENGINE MOUNTS

STRUT MOUNTS

SUSPENSION BUSHES

SWAY BAR LINKS

SUSPENSION ARMS

BALL JOINTS

TIE ROD ENDS

SILICONE HOSING

ALUMINIUM PIPING

DIFF MOUNTS

DRIVESHAFT COUPLINGS

HARMONIC BALANCERS

HANGER MOUNTS

STEERING RACK MOUNTS

AIR INTAKE HOSES

BUMP STOPS

WHANGAREI PH 09 929-9724 HENDERSON PH 09 836-2304 PENROSE PH 09 579-5965 HAMILTON PH 07 847-6821 NAPIER PH 06 281-2402 PALMERSTON NTH PH 06 355-0613 LOWER HUTT PH 04 589-0880 CHRISTCHURCH PH 03 943-1658

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lour, o c e l ab redict p a e may b e hood! e r o d ommo ng under th C K V ’ iams rise is lurki l l i W Dale asty surp ADAM CROY S: n but a WYLIE PHOTO DD S: TO WORD

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N

ot that you’d know it now, but, back a bit — more than a decade ago, in fact — Dale Williams was a rotary fan. Actually, he was more than just a fan; his cars were well known the length and breadth of the country, both for the abuse they received on the burnout pad and the awards they won in the show hall. At any given stage, Dale’s overpowered RX 323 could only ever be found with melted rubber dripping off the back of it, and his candy-coated RX-3 was always polished to perfection.

However, that all changed when Dale moved his attention back to the racetrack. It turned out that, thanks to his years of karting as a kid, he wasn’t a half-bad pedaller, either, working his way through open wheels and into production-class racing before stepping his racing up a gear to the NZV8s, in which he campaigned a Falcon. But that all came to a sudden end at the Hamilton street race, when a major accident left Dale with a little less racing ‘motorvation’.

Although Dale stepped aside from cars for a few years, there was still petrol running through his veins and a desire to own, once again, something in which he could have a bit of fun. That fun came in the form of a VK Commodore, purchased with a 308 and Celica five-speed. It wasn’t long before Dale was up to his old antics and having a blast doing it.

As a panel beater by trade, looking at the lessthan-perfect finish on the car started to agitate Dale. So, just a few months into his ownership, the VK had its panels massaged to perfection. While the panel side was done at home, it was good friend and PPG employee Luke Cosford who was given the task of spraying the car, using a spray booth borrowed from Austin Autobody.

With Dale having grown up in the 1980s watching Bathurst and the like, there was only ever one colour the car would be and that’s the familiar — to VK fans, at least — Formula Blue. Fortunately for the budget, when Dale purchased the car, it had already been equipped with an SS bodykit, albeit badly fitted. The finishing touch to the paint job was a set of Brock graphics, created by signwriter friend Clint at Headcase Designs.

Any Commodore lover will know that when you’ve got a Formula Blue VK, there’s only one wheel choice and that’s a set of three-piece gold Simmons FRs. However, for Dale at the time, the price was far too high, so he tried out a few other options. While they worked OK, they weren’t the ultimate, so when local Simmons Wheels supplier Heads Racing Supplies announced that it could offer a budget-friendly, one-piece option, Dale couldn’t get to local tyre retailer Cooper Tyres quickly enough.

Measuring in at 20x8.5 and 20x9.5 inches, and wrapped in 225/35R20 and 245/30R20 tyres, the

THE SIZE OF THE WHEELS MEANT THE REAR GUARDS NEEDED PUMPING. WITH THE CAR RECENTLY PAINTED, THIS WAS A DAUNTING TASK

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HDT SUCCESS The VK Group A SS Commodores, on which Dale’s car is loosely based, were produced in partnership with the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) and were originally intended to be ready for the 1985 race season. However, delays with parts for the road cars meant failure to meet the homologation rules that year, so they didn’t debut until 1986. In the hands of Peter Brock and Allan Grice, the cars were instantly successful in Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere. HDT’s John Harvey was reported as saying that his own SS Group A road car was, in fact, faster and more reliable than the 1985 race cars.

1986 HOLDEN COMMODORE VK

size of the wheels meant the rear guards needed to be pumped to accommodate them. Obviously, with the car recently painted, this was a daunting task.

However, with his years of experience and plenty of patience, Dale managed it successfully. What made the task harder was Dale’s commitment to a proper ride height — and, by ‘proper’, we mean slammed.

This stance was achieved thanks to Iain Wilson at Autolign, who came up with the perfect combination of Bilstein shocks and Dobi springs to complement the previously fitted Whiteline sway bars and adjustable Panhard rod.

Dale, his wife Wendy, and son Troy cruised around with the car in this state for a few years, getting out and about in it almost every weekend, turning heads wherever they went. Dale wasn’t afraid to drive it hard, going so far as entering it in grasskhanas and partaking in the odd garage skid.

Of course, the near-stock 308 soon became a bit of a bore, so the family started to look for alternatives. Wanting to keep everything under the hood, the thought of an LS engine began to appeal more and more, especially when combined with a turbocharger or two. That potential to add boost easily in the future was all Dale needed to make the decision, and, before long, the old running gear

ENGINE: 5.7-litre LS1, high-flow oil pump, double-row timing chain, Kelford Cams camshaft, heavy-duty valve springs, custom pushrods, modified X-Air intake, custom drop tank, Bosch 040 fuel pump, Aeroflow fuel filter, Aeroflow fuel-pressure regulator, -6AN fittings, custom fuel rails, Pacemaker headers, twin three-inch exhaust, Flowmaster mufflers, Fenix radiator, Davies Craig electric fan, custom retune, Nolathane engine mounts DRIVELINE: Tremec T56 six-speed manual gearbox, Rip Shifter, Exedy heavy-duty clutch, hydraulic release bearing, VL clutch pedal and master cylinder, VK diff housing, VN LSD centre, 3.08:1 diff ratio, shot-peened VN axles, custom driveshaft SUSPENSION: Adjustable top camber hats, Bilstein shocks, Dobi springs, Nolathane bushes, Whiteline sway bars, adjustable caster arms, adjustable Panhard rod BRAKES: VX SS booster, VX SS master cylinder, VL pedal box, Wilwood brake bias valve, Wilwood four-piston front calipers, 330mm slotted front discs, VN rear calipers and discs WHEELS/TYRES: 20x8.5-inch and 20x9.5inch Simmons FR-1 wheels, 225/35R20 and 245/30R20 tyres EXTERIOR: VK Group A SS kit, shaved locks, shaved aerial, SS Brock decal kit, PPG Formula Blue paint CHASSIS: VN K-frame INTERIOR: Recaro front seats, Momo steering wheel, VX SS shifter, Auto Meter gauges, JVC/ Pioneer audio PERFORMANCE: 410hp at the wheels

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BLUE MEANIE The HDT Group 3 cars were only ever offered in one colour: Formula Blue.

In total, 500 were to be built, but, somehow, 502 rolled off the production line. Their success on the racetrack mixed with their huge power and handling — for the time — saw them earn the name ‘Blue Meanie’.

was being hauled out and a VX SS–sourced LS1 dropped off to ProTune Automotive. Rather than just installing the stock engine, the ProTune team was commissioned to add a Kelford cam, heavyduty valve springs, and the parts needed to make it all work.

Meanwhile, a set of off-the-shelf LS1-VK headers was ordered and dropped to HPC for coating, and a Roadrunner custom starter motor was ordered.

However, as more people are learning, the conversion isn’t quite as simple as it first appears, with the starter motor being on the wrong side and the VK power-steering rack fouling the engine. Part of the solution in this case was to transplant a VN front K-frame to which off-the-shelf mounts were fitted. This allowed the engine to be dropped in the hole essentially fabrication-free — well, it would have been if it hadn’t been for Dale and Wendy’s desire to clean up the engine bay first.

Holes were welded up and ground smooth, and a custom wiring loom created by friend Ryan Darrah to leave the engine bay as clean as possible, before Luke was called back to spray it all in the garage.

Similar treatment was given to the engine, with as

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many components as possible painted or anodized black. The result is one of our favourite engine bays to date, with the engine seemingly floating in the bay.

Attached to the rear of the spotless LS1 is a T56 six-speed manual box, which was fitted with strengthened internals before Dale got his hands on it. This was paired with an Exedy clutch, complete with hydraulic release bearing, which required a VL pedal box and master cylinder to be fitted.

Later-model parts were also used down the rear in the form of a VN LSD centre, which Steelie Gears affixed to the VK’s housing along with shot-peened VN axles. The finishing touches to the diff were a VN disc and caliper set-up, along with a bunch of Nolathane bushes.

Any carb–to–EFI conversion requires a serious fuel system rethink, and this one was no different.

Dale opted to have mate, Sean Card, fabricate a drop tank, which now works in conjunction with a returnless Bosch 040 fuel pump and Aeroflow regulator combination.

The final step to the conversion was running the car

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up on the dyno at ProTune, where it was tuned to an impressive 410hp at the treads. Not only is that good power in a car that weighs as little as the VK, but it’s reliable power that will tolerate all that Dale throws at it — among other torture tests, those challenges will include burnout comps and, all going well, maybe even a blast up Rod Millen’s driveway. Before that happens, a pair of period-correct race seats will replace the current Recaros. However, with dogs and a kid in the back, the rest of the interior is set to remain as is, allowing the whole family to enjoy the car, stress-free.

Dale has owned show cars, and, despite how good the VK looks, he’s determined to make sure it never becomes so precious that it can’t be enjoyed by all. With a big-power LS up front, manual box in hand, and the perfect looks to match, the car may well become not only his most fun ride yet but perhaps the most famous, too — impressive stuff for a largely shed-built and comparatively low-budget machine.

DALE WILLIAMS AGE: 36 OCCUPATION: Foreman / panel beater PREVIOUSLY OWNED CARS: Mazda RX 323 hatch, Mazda RX-3 coupe, ’66 Chev Impala, ’63 Chev Impala, NZV8 Falcon race car, Mitsubishi Evo IX race car, Mazda MPS race car, VK Commodore SS replica DREAM CAR: ’68 Chev Camaro SS WHY THE VK? I grew up watching Brock, as my dad is a motorsport fan, and I always loved the shape of the VK

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LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: Five years BUILD TIME: Five years DALE THANKS: My wife, Wendy, and son, Troy; Luke Cosford at PPG; Iain at Autolign; Wayne at ProTune; Robin and Elaine Williams; Aaron at Manukau City Panelbeaters; Ryan Darrah; Steve Ellicott; Clint at Headcase Designs; Laurie for the mounts; Sean for the drop tank; Rob at On 2 It Engineering Services; Carl at Hanson Fleet Services; Randal at Elite Tint; Rob Cooper at Cooper Tyres; Rodney at Heads Racing Supplies; Aaron and Jamie Walden; Scott and Paul Webb; Hamish at Takanini Auto Service Centre

WOR TH

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straight talk WITH TONY JOHNSON

COME OVER

FOR DINNER A

merica — what a fantastic place. There is so much about that country to love — especially if you’re into big, brash, and beautiful cars. If you also have an appreciation for amazing landscapes, then I’m sure there’s no better place on God’s green earth to fill in your vacation time. Looming large on my bucket list is to have a big ol’ RV parked over there, so that we can go across and spend a month or two travelling around each year, discovering what will only ever be a tiny portion of that enormous country. Whether the RV dream ever happens remains to be seen, but it’s a great thought with which to fill one’s mind in bed at night before falling asleep.

But under the sunshine and palm trees of wonderlands like Southern California lies a less attractive underbelly, which makes me question whether it really is the paradise that many of us here, on the opposite side of the world, see it as. I heard an interesting story a while back that reminded me of this darker side of America, and I thought I should share it with you. I’m sure you’ll be as horrified as I was.

I was out for dinner with a friend, Paul, and I was interested in catching up on his frequent trips to the US — he lives the dream, racing his car there. Paul has a great living arrangement in the country: as a result of being the thoroughly good and decent guy that he is, Paul has forged a great relationship over time with an older American couple who live in a very nice part of Los Angeles.

He’s a doctor, and she looks after the administrative aspects of their small suburban practice. They have a beautiful home in a nice suburb, and on the expansive property, is a large detached garage in which the good doctor houses his small-but-very-desirable collection of classic cars, which includes an early Corvette and a couple of 1930s Ford V8s.

Adjacent to the garage is a small-but-comfortable self-contained flat.

Paul’s relationship with the couple has resulted in the situation in which, each year, he and his wife stay in the flat and use the place as a base during his racing trips. In return, Paul and his wife do some work around the grounds and a bit of cooking in the main house, and Paul’s considerable expertise with all things mechanical is used to help the doctor with his classic vehicle collection. Because of the trust that Paul and his wife have earned over a long period of time, it makes for a great arrangement for all parties.

Paul was explaining the work he does around the grounds to Linda and me, and his description of the outdoor area of the doctor’s house painted a picture in our minds of a lavish outdoor living area within a large shaded patio, with elegant slate steps flanked by water features and exotic shrubs, all leading down to an expansive lawn set within beautiful gardens.

I said to Paul that it sounded like quite the venue for some fairly exclusive dinner parties, and this was when the conversation took a turn I didn’t see coming.

“No,” Paul said with a grin. His expression suggested that there was more to that comment than just ‘no’.

He continued, “They never have people over for dinner, or for any other reason. They don’t have people over — full stop.”

I admitted to being confused, so Paul explained. The good doctor and his wife don’t have friends over because their friends might sue them. Friends might slip going down the beautiful slate steps and hurt themselves.

Friends might sprain an ankle walking along the path and become unable to work. Friends might have a drink or two and then be involved in an auto accident on the way home, for which the doctor would, of course, be responsible, as the host of the place at which the friend consumed his or her drinks. Friends might bang their head on something — or claim to have banged their head on something.

“Bullshit!” I said. “I don’t believe it. They’re friends. Friends aren’t going to sue you if they slip on your f***ing steps.”

Paul’s expression didn’t change, and it was clear that what he said was for real.

“Are they just paranoid?” I asked.

“The problem over there,” Paul explained, “is that friends might suddenly not be friends if they get a sniff of a big fat payout through a successful litigation, or even a payout made in order to prevent litigation.”

This is a no-shit story. Paul was deadly serious. He explained that the Los Angeles people are a lovely couple, and that they are neither paranoid nor crazy. They truly live in fear of someone having some sort of accident at their home, or as a result of being at their home, so they take the preventative measure of simply not having people at their home.

“Do they have friends?” I asked.

“Yes, of course they do, lots of friends,” Paul replied.

“They’re really social people.

However, when they want to get together with their friends, they all meet at a restaurant and have dinner there. They do that on a regular basis.”

It’s easy to say that friends wouldn’t do that to friends, but the litigious society on which American people’s behaviour is based is an ugly thing, and I’ve heard of many such cases. Normal people behave abnormally when there’s a cash cow to be had.

Linda and I saw people in the middle of New York City deliberately trying to get hit by yellow taxis at low speed so that they could get on this bandwagon — that’s why the New York taxi drivers on TV are always honking their horns; it’s not they who are the arseholes.

When people sue people they know — or are friends with! — they even say to each other, “Hey, don’t take this personally, Fred. Y’know how it is.

Your insurance will take care of it. What does it matter?”

That is a world I couldn’t live in. I don’t care how plentiful Camaros and Corvettes are over there, or how cheap the gas is, or how many ’32 Fords are lying in old barns, or how much car racing is going on, or how beautiful the deserts are. If I had to live in fear of my friends suing me because they slipped on my steps, I just couldn’t live there.

The only thing standing between that revolting culture and what we have here in New Zealand is our Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) system, so there’s a thought — maybe we shouldn’t bellyache over paying our ACC levies quite so much.

I think we’ve got the best of both worlds, we Kiwis. We can go to the US, enjoy all of the fabulous treasures and sights and delights it has to offer, and then come back home to our beautiful country — and have our friends over for dinner.

THE LITIGIOUS SOCIETy UPON WHICH AMERICAN PEOPLE’S BEHAVIOUR IS BASED IS AN UGLY THING

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event report

MOTHERS Chrome Expression Session 2016

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FARROW

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01

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hink about the Australian car scene, then think about New Zealand’s.

What’s the main difference? Well, Australia has a thriving show car scene, boasting builds that are consistently stepping the game up to the next level, with a huge automotive events calendar to boot — disregarding any economic factors, there’s a bit of a chicken versus egg scenario there. Do these cars get built demanding events to be shown at, or do the events these cars attend inspire people to step up the quality of their builds? The answer should be obvious …

However, to be general, the Australian legal system doesn’t favour hot rodders, be they of the older or younger variety. That’s why they’ve got so many crazy builds taken to the extremes of car building — builds that don’t have to jump through

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legal loopholes, but will only ever get driven in anger during the safety of a controlled event environment.

That long-winded introduction wasn’t to talk down the cars we’ve got over here in New Zealand — no, quite the opposite. We’ve got it better over here.

We have a system in place that allows you to take whatever crazy automotive idea you might have, and gives you a means to build it in such a way that, within reason, of course, it can be registered and driven on the street — and, when you can drive your pride and joy on the street, you’re invariably going to experience the urge to drive in a less than socially acceptable manner. We’ve all been there.

The Mothers Chrome Expression Session — more casually known as Chrome — takes this urge and packages it into a two-day event at

01 Dave Bail drove his sweet 1977 Holden Torana A9X up from Morrinsville, and it sure copped a bit of abuse over the weekend. Then again, with a COME Racing 388ci Holden V8 stroker under the bonnet and a bottle of nitrous in the boot, you can hardly blame him. Having run an 11.2-second quarter-mile, without the use of nitrous, this is one car that held its own down Chrome’s makeshift drag strip.

02 Allan Norris didn’t come out here to muck around. He entered his tough little Ford Cortina Mk2 — powered by a 350ci small block Chev — in just about everything he could, from the cruise sessions to the drop-flag drags, and even had a crack at the burnouts. You’d be forgiven for thinking he’d gotten lost on the way to the burnout pad, as he flamboyantly warms his tyres up before each drag race.

03 The Rattla Motorsport team were enjoying a smoky debut of their freshly completed 2008 Shelby GT500 drift car. Despite the modern exterior, the power plant is decidedly old school in flavour — a massive 468 cubes of Dart-blocked Windsor, topped with D3 Cleveland heads — and is backed by a trick HGT five-speed sequential box and alloy nine-inch diff. The completion of the GT500 means the famous ‘RATTLA’ Falcon will be retired from drifting and reverted back to street-legal race trim, to compete in events like Targa NZ.

02

04 Azhar Bhamji’s street-legal ninesecond Mazda R100 is one car you don’t want to see in your rear-view mirror — unless you’re Chris Green, that is. The ratty old Mazda 323 wagon is packing a turbocharged 13B rotary and is one of New Zealand’s quickest street cars, having run a best quarter-mile of 8.84 seconds at 154mph. Whether you love rotaries or hate them, you can’t deny just how awesome these cars are.

03

Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. The event is open to anything from high-performance Japanese imports through to tubbed and blown muscle machines, hot rods, drift cars, and all-out race cars. However, this year would be a little different. Held over the weekend of August 6–7, Chrome got to make full use of the new and improved Hampton Downs Motorsport Park facility.

The way Chrome is run is awesome — uniting the Kiwi car scene through a shared passion for automotive culture, and this is done with a show formula that appeals to as many people as possible. For those who take pride in their ride, the on-track cruising sessions — in which you hit

the track with a bunch of mates in your car — and show and shine were clear drawcards. For those packing a bit of heat under the bonnet, the dropflag drag racing, powerskids, and burnouts are a clear winner, and those wanting to live on the edge could participate in the drifting sessions.

There isn’t much more to it than that. While this article could go on and on about how great Chrome is, it doesn’t need to. It’s one of our favourite events on the New Zealand automotive calendar, and one we feel all Kiwi car enthusiasts need to experience. So sit back, enjoy flicking through some of our highlights, and start making plans to have that project ready in time for Chrome next year.

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05 Now this is how you do an engine bay. Conda’s insane ‘PROHSV’ Commodore is one of the bestpresented cars in the country, and is still a work in progress. Having just finished the twin Procharger conversion, Conda’s mentioned future plans to mini-tub the rear and get the slick Simmons rims re-barrelled to suit. The Commodore was one of the most popular cars at the event, despite the fact that the bonnet spent more time closed than open.

06 Ever since he finished the build of his megapower Impala, David Vea has been a fixture at Chrome. The big old ’65 Impala is hustled along by a 496ci big block, topped with a Littlefield 8-71 blower, and churns out an immense 920hp on 10psi of boost. Running on a strict diet of avgas, every press of the throttle destroys both fuel and the rear tyres at an alarming rate. However, when the Impala does get traction — which is a hard luxury to come by — you’ll struggle to find anything that can keep up.

05 06

07 Josh Fabish’s Mazda 929 wagon was one of a handful of vehicles that managed to appeal to just about everyone in attendance — a polished supercharger sticking out of the bonnet of a ’70s Japanese classic will do that. Beneath the eight Toyota throttle bodies and GM 6-71 blower lies a peripheral-ported 20B triple-rotor engine, built by Curran Brothers Racing, and backed by a Tremec T56 Magnum six-speed box and Ford eight-inch diff. Not only does the Mazda look the business, but it also pushes 540hp to the rears and sounds like a swarm of pissed-off hornets on steroids while doing so — good enough to net Josh the Best Burnout award.

07

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08

08 Here’s a shot that sums up what Chrome is about — there aren’t many other events where you’d see a tough Holden ute lined up against an equally staunch RX-7. If we could have awarded a trophy for getting into the spirit of the event, it’d go to Jason Smith, in the matte black '76 Holden HJ. He gave his ute hell for the entire weekend, and we can tell you that it’s a sight to see a Kingswood ute — with original boat-tiller steering wheel — getting sideways around Hampton Downs, while the driver casually hangs an arm out the window. Then again, with an angry small block built by the one and only Robin Silk, it's got no problem going fast or getting sideways.

09 10

09 It’s always good to see ‘MORG’ out and about. One of New Zealand’s most famous burnout cars, Justin Morgan’s 1970 Rambler Ambassador is seriously tough, and it’s not done yet. The team at West Auckland Engine Reconditioners are piecing together a blown and injected Mopar big block for the old tank, and we can’t even fathom the carnage that will result. Meanwhile, Dion D’Anvers’ wicked ’68 Charger has just received a heart transplant, in the form of an 8-71 blown 451ci Mopar big block, and will be set to destroy tyres even more quickly at his upcoming Scrap Palace Morrinsville Burnouts Comp in November.

10 Barrie Richards’ 1969 Holden Monaro HT doesn’t just look tough — it is. Classic Simmons wheels and a blown small block protruding through the bonnet are a good way to get these cars looking the business, but not everyone can shred tyres the way Barrie can. Then again, having owned the Monaro for more than 25 years, he’s pretty familiar with it.

11 Among the most attention-grabbing cars in attendance, this trio of RWB Porsches only managed to escape being surrounded by hordes of onlookers when they were on the track. The world-famous RWB Porsches are the trademark of Akira Nakai, who now flies around the world to put the finishing touches on the aggressively-kitted cars. The first two were built in New Zealand, while the silver RWB trailing in the background was recently imported from Japan.

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45

12

12 Glenn Longley was not messing around behind the wheel of his tough ’30 Model A. The injected 350ci small block and Tremec T56 six-speed allow it to hit some crazy fast speeds.

Glenn’s skill behind the wheel, destroying a number of high-performance vehicles on track, made the Model A a pretty surreal sight as it blasted through the corners at speeds you’d expect to overwhelm the skinny rubber.

13 A number of tough street cars came out to play, but few could match the overall quality of Shyam’s ‘BOSDOG’ Commodore. That quality is matched by a turbocharged 408ci LS, with a healthy dose of nitrous for good measure, so you’d feel for whichever poor bastard got the other lane in the drop-flag drags. Then again, with a tough RX-2 in the next lane, an unprepped surface, and a heads-up racing format, no win comes guaranteed.

13

14 Chrome was the debut event for Rob Macraee’s recently completed Holden HQ burnout ute. The blown and injected 383ci small block Chev runs on methanol, and would have been the angriest sounding engine at the event. Unfortunately, the Holden’s burnout was cut short by a methanol fire, but we’re expecting to see this thing destroying tyres in a spectacular fashion in the near future, as Rob and the boys prepare it to compete at the Tread Cemetery burnout competition in Australia later this year.

14

THE BLOWN AND INJECTED 383CI SMALL BLOCK CHEV RUNS ON METHANOL, AND WAS EASILY THE ANGRIEST SOUNDING ENGINE AT THE EVENT

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15 One of the few cars that could hold a candle to ‘BOSDOG’ in terms of cleanliness and build quality was Podge Reid’s 1979 Mazda RX-7. The car looks amazing from afar, but get up close and the effort put into elevating the standard of build beyond anything else built locally becomes apparent. The engine bay sets a new standard in packaging, detailing, and presentation — a standard that’s carried on throughout the entire car, top to bottom, inside and out. Even if Japanese classics aren’t your cup of tea, this machine is a lesson in car building that any car enthusiast can, and should, learn from.

16 Dale Williams’ clean Holden Commodore VK isn’t just a pretty face. With an LS1 residing in the shaved and smoothed engine bay, it’s not wanting for power, and Dale knows how to use every last bit of it.

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Celebrity interview

THE KING OF KUSTOMS — John D’Agostino

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Even if you don’t know his creations, the way that John D’Agostino’s life has evolved will blow you away INTERVIEW: TODD WYLIE PHOTOS: ADAM CROY / SUPPLIED

NZV8 8: We’ve been lucky enough to know your creations and even check some of them out up close, but, for those who don’t know you, who are you, and what do you do?

John D’Agostino: I’m a kustom car builder and designer. What I do is purchase the cars and design the cars. I have somebody do the rendering of the concept — usually Steve Stanford. I take the cars to a couple of different shops to be built.

In the past 15 years, I’ve been using Oz Kustoms in Oroville, California. They build the cars under my direction, but I also use a few of their ideas, and we build one or two cars a year. Most of the time, it’s just one per year, and that keeps me busy.

That car then travels from the West Coast [of the US], being shown to the East Coast, to Canada, to Europe, and to Australia and Asia.

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Do you build these cars for customers?

I actually build them for myself. I have customers coming to me, but I can only focus on one or two cars at a time. I don’t want to open up a shop and start hiring people, so, what I do is buy the car, design it, and get it built.

So, you’re not hands-on in the build a lot of the time?

Not too much anymore — probably 10 per cent of the time. In the early days, I was. I never did it all, because I was always too busy. I used to do more of the painting, finishing, and colour sanding, [and] buffing getting ready for the show. I was never into the welding much, the bondo, or lead work.

I’m a finisher. I like the finishing, as that’s what you look at last. When you get that baby looking

perfect, colour sanded and buffed, that’s what you see.

I’ve got a good team of guys. I look at Oz Kustoms as my A-team; we’ve probably built 20 cars together; he’s my go-to guy for body and paint.

Steve Stanford does everything by hand, doesn’t he? How critical is he to the builds?

Yeah, no computer, all by hand. He’s awesome.

He’s the custom car designer above all.

Sometimes, we don’t do a rendering at all, but, if I’m doing a car that’s radical, I kind of want to see what it’ll look like before I start. I also listen to Steve’s ideas sometimes; he’s got the eye on design. When he draws it, you can build it because of his proportions — balance from front to rear.

Always airbagged; it’s the only way to get them right. As I said, stance is so important; they have to lie right.

How important is the wheel and tyre combo?

Most of your cars have wires on them.

Very important. I’m a wire guy, but you can’t put a wire on a 1949–’51 Merc; they just don’t look right — you’ve got to have hubcaps. You can use wires when cars start hitting 1958–’59 — that era is no problem, especially with Cadillacs. I rely on [the] Coker Tire Company for all my tyres and wheels.

The end goal is to sell them off to help fund your life and the next build?

Yeah, but I’m at the point now where I’ve done that so many times [that] I can keep three or four cars at a time now and have a couple in the works — one being worked on all the time and a backup car after that. I just finished a ’58 Packard called ‘Rita’ — a Rita Hayworth tribute car. We’ve been building it for seven years on and off. It was just finished, and I debuted it at the … [Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance] in Beverly Hills, because it’s such a glitzy, glamour-type car: a two-seater all done in House of Kolor lavender pearls. Now, it’s in the vault at the Petersen [Automotive] Museum.

I won’t show it yet; I’m going to wait for [the] SEMA [Specialty Equipment Market Association; Show] in November for the big unveiling — I’ll be with Sonax car care of Germany there. Right after that, it’ll go back to the Petersen on display for about six weeks, then it will hit the big car show tour: Grand National Roadster Show, Pomona, Sacramento Autorama, Portland Roadster Show, Sweden, Finland, Australia, Japan, and on and on.

So, that’s basically my 2017 car.

a ’56 Chevy. I restyled it, put it in the shows, won some awards, and I’ve never stopped since.

Kustoms are generally shown with the bonnet down; do you go against that?

In the beginning, I didn’t do much on the engines as long as they ran well. I’d just clean them up and concentrate more on the outside of the car.

I’ve always had clean undercarriages but never chromed, because my cars are very low. Now, I’m getting to the point where my engine’s got to be nice — I have to have a lot of chrome, a lot of bling. The Rita car and the ‘Sophia’ car are both beautiful in the engine bay.

You talk about them being low. Are they static low or bagged?

What is the key to the perfect kustom look?

Top treatment and stance. It’s got to have the right stance from the start. Then you start modifying the front, and the grille, and tail lights, and side trim, and all of that. Colour is really important, because it’s the first thing [that] you see when you walk into a show. If a car’s painted in that vibrant candy apple that looks a mile deep, you’re going to go straight to that car to check it out, then you’ll start looking at all the details — the headlights, grille, interior. So colour means a lot.

Are you formally trained in any aspect of car building?

Sort of self-taught. I liked the look of a kustom car more than a hot rod or street machine or whatever, and I just focused on kustoms — mainly cars from the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s. Even though I do new cars — SEMA and the like will give me a new Chrysler to do.

You know you can’t put wide whitewalls on a new car, so you go with the 30- or 35-series tyres and all that — but my thing is traditional kustom cars.

How many weeks of the year would you be travelling with that car?

I usually do about 40 shows a year — so, four weeks out of five; there’s only 10 or 12 weeks I’m not travelling. I could do a show every week if I wanted, but I hold back and take a vacation or whatever. Cars are a passion, though. I do car shows for styling cars [Japanese imports], I do Pebble Beach–type shows, concours shows, custom car shows — I diversify myself a lot into different areas, but I’m not a hot rodder. If I built a hot rod, it’d probably be a traditional car with wide-whites — the real hard-core 1930–’40s look — but there are so many American kustom-type cars I want to do that I’ll probably never get to a hot rod.

Kustoms are quite a specific genre of car building. How did you get into it to begin with?

At an early age, my dad took me to the 1959 Grand National Roadster Show at the Oakland Coliseum, and that sort of sparked my interest. I grew up in Pittsburgh, California, and that was definitely the hotbed of kustom cars. You’d see Barris-type cars, Winfield cars, Joe Bailon cars, De Rosa cars — the famous old legendary customizers cruising the streets in Pittsburgh. A friend of mine, Richard Zocchi, who was about 15 years older than me, used to buy brand-new cars and have them restyled by Winfield. He used to drive by my dad’s house all the time. With looking at those and building model cars, I just had to have a car, so, when I was 16, I ended up buying

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We notice you do quite a lot of Cadillacs. Is there any particular brand or shape that sticks out for you?

Cadillacs are king. I’ve probably built more than 20 Cadillacs from the ’40s, ’50s, and into the ’60s. I’ve done many luxury cars — the Cadillacs, Lincolns, Packards, and Imperials, all those highend luxury cars. Even though I’ve done plenty of Mercuries, Oldsmobiles, and Buicks, I just love Cadillacs. There’s something about them — and a Packard; believe it or not, I love them, too. This 1958 Packard two-seater concept Sportster that I’ve just finished is going to shake them up on the show circuit. Many people who live locally and go to the show every year came up to me and said they’d never seen a car like it in Beverly Hills. It’s a two-seater, like a dream car or concept car. I call it a ‘sportster’ — not a roadster.

A lot of people might say they want to build a car, cut the top off, and make it into a twoseater roadster, but the word ‘sportster’ is a little different. You could also call it a ‘speedster’, but I don’t like the word ‘speed’, because it reminds me of something fast, so I basically trademarked ‘Sportster’. It’s a 1958 Packard Concept Sportster, and its name is Rita [below right].

the one that D’Agostino built back in 2010. I’ve done three Elvis cars — first one in 2007, second in 2010, and [third] in 2015. The second one — the Elvis II car, powder-blue pearl — is on display in Hollywood Boulevard. There’s a souvenir shop called ‘La La Land‘, which is actually the old Petersen Museum from the ’70s; the car is now sitting right where you walk in the door, so I’m getting some real good publicity off that car.

You’ve got a lot of names like that. Are they all generally inspired by people?

It’s just that it [a name] gives a car an identity.

You don’t want to say “John D’Agostino and Celebrity Kustoms Italy just built a 1959 Cadillac” — a lot of people build Cadillacs. You say, “Hey, I just built the Elvis II car,” and people know that’s

Do you get people with big budgets coming to you and asking if you can build them something?

I do most of my stuff for myself, but there’s always someone who comes along and wants to spend some good money, and he doesn’t care if it’s 300, 400, 500K, or a million — they say, “Just build me

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a car that is mind-blowing.” They don’t tell me what to do or how to do it; they don’t even pick the colours. They just say, “Build me a ’59 Cadillac like the Elvis car, but even better” — and that’s what I did with the Elvis II car. The first Elvis car was a knockout — three-position top, no top, half top.

It went to Pebble Beach, did a bunch of concours shows, but, to me, the Elvis II is really nice, even though Elvis III was made in Italy. That’s a gorgeous car, but, if I were to pick out of all of them, I’d pick the Elvis II, as it’s a true convertible — a true Biarritz convertible, quarter-million-dollar car to start with.

If you’ve been building two cars a year, how many have you built altogether, and is each better than the last?

It’s more than 100 since 1967, and being better is the goal. You always think your last car is the best, then something else comes out. I thought my Sophia car, my ’40 Cadillac, was, but now that I’ve come off the Rita car, I like it more. They’re all different. You look at the style of the cars, the colours, the way they’re built — they’re all traditional kustoms, but they’ve all got their own style, so you can’t really pick your top three or five.

I could pick 50 of them as my top, then there’s some of them I like a lot but they aren’t my best — although people say they’re all good; I don’t know.

How much of a build is planned out in your illustrations, and how true to the concept does it stay?

We stick pretty close to the concept, as, when I look at a car, I know straightaway what type of

i’ve built more than 100 cars since 1967, and being better is the goal. you always think your last car is the best headlights I want to use to tie in with the shape of the fenders, what type of grille cavity, and, if I want to change that, what type of bumpers I want to add to it, or will I recycle the ones on it, maybe I’ll add chrome bullets and make it one piece [points to NZV8 Issue No. 135]; it just depends. I usually tell a guy like Steve Stanford, “I want to use ’56 Olds headlights, a ’58 Buick grille — because of the diamonds on it; I want to reshape the tail fins and use ’56 Packard fins, reshape the wheel wells, etc.” I like fender skirts on a car, but not on late-’50s cars, as they don’t look good. They look like low-riders, so you’ve got to be careful. When you go into the early ’50s or ’40s, it’s got to have skirts — you can’t have an early Mercury without fender skirts, and raise the wheel well up; it don’t look right. With a ’40s car, you have to tail drag the back a little bit. A lot of people say that on the late-’50s cars you go opposite, but I don’t like a car that’s too low in the front and high in the back. It depends on the fin. If the fins are sweeping up, you go up a touch, but not too much, or you’ll lose the whole profile. The top treatment means a lot, too — you have to get your lowering correct first before you chop a top. If you have a car that’s kinda high, and you chop a top where it looks good, then lower the car, you lose all the proportions. So, you’ve got to do the top to where you want the car to sit.

How many custom body mods would there be on a car like the Rita? [Below] The Rita car is probably the most radical out of all my builds when it comes to design and time being built. You could probably hand build a car faster out of flat metal than that Rita concept Packard, as there were so many pieces to that car to make it work. It’s not only made into a two-seater; we also brought the doors back about eight inches, lengthened the cowl, used a modified ’55 Chevy dashboard, built the back of the seats to match the dashboard, changed the fins, headlights, grille, wheel wells, and rocker panels, extended the front fenders, and so on. There’s so many pieces to make that work, and Oz [Welch, Oz Kustoms] kept saying we were going to finish the car in January. We never made it, not even close, because it all takes time. We ended up finishing it mid-year, and I usually never debut a car mid-year, but, since I didn’t want to wait seven months to do it, I did something different: I called the Petersen Museum. I was bringing my ’68 Riviera, the ‘Pantheon’, to the concours on Rodeo Drive, and I said, “Hey, is there a chance I could get the Rita car there if I debut it at your show?” They just said, “Get it here — we’re full, but we’ll find room for it.”

So, we ended up having both cars together.

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North America sewn up and get to number one.

Petersen Museum is starting to use our product; Galpin Autosports, which is a huge deal, carries it.

Other companies in LA, such as La La Land and Sacramento Vintage Ford, are carrying Sonax now, and, at SEMA, Sonax is huge.

Do you have any technical involvement with Sonax, as far as developing the products goes?

No, not yet, but we’re going to do a John D’Agostino Signature Series line of polishes and waxes. Around 1999 to 2005, I was the face of 3M, and I know Barry Meguiar from Meguiar’s really well. I’ve appeared on many of his Car Crazy TV shows. Even though I’m licensed with Sonax, we still remain close friends. In 2015, I did Meguiar’s Car Crazy TV Show at SEMA, with Linda Vaughn and Gene Winfield; we did a Barris tribute.

barris, winfield, winkler ... they’re all the same as us, car people I got it there at 11pm one day before the show, put it in the vault at the Petersen, and had a little brake problem, so, one of the mechanics, Rob, stayed there till it was fixed.

Next morning, I had Renny Doyle and the detail mafia crew who use Sonax products come and clean the car for four to five hours. Then the next morning, boom, I had a truck waiting. I could have driven it, since it was only two miles up the road, but I drove the Riviera behind the truck and unveiled the car there.

We understand not driving a car before its reveal, but do you drive them once they’ve been seen a bit?

I usually drive them as little as possible during the show circuit. They’re drivable cars that can go out on the freeway and everything, but, while they’re doing the shows, I try to keep the driving to a minimum — just use an enclosed trailer, or, once in a while, an open trailer if it’s close.

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Do you own cars that are drivers, then?

Oh yeah, I have a few. My everyday car is a Lincoln MKX SUV, but I have a few ’60s Rivieras, which I drive a bit. I just bought a ’50 Packard fourdoor original one-owner car — never been in the rain, 29,000 original miles, original paint, original everything. I’ll get a new set of wide-whites for it from Coker and drive it.

Speaking of companies like that, do you have good sponsorship deals with people for parts?

Yeah, I would say most of the products are now sponsored. It still costs me money to build, as I’ve got to buy the car, pay the body guy and [for the] chrome and interior; but when it comes to paint, I’ve got House of Kolor for all their candies, clears, and pearls. Sonax car care, from Germany, is my biggest sponsor, [but there’s] also 3M, Dynamat, US Radiator, etc. Not only do they give me all the product, but I’m [also] licensed with them now, so they use me as the guy who’s trying to get

Speaking of Barris, were guys like Gene Winfield and George Barris supportive of you as you came through?

When I was growing up, I used to see those guys at the car shows and in the magazines.

Everything was Barris, Winfield, Starbird, Bailon, ‘Big Daddy’ Ed Roth; they were the guys — my icons. I met them all; I looked up to them. Then, little by little, I started building cars and getting to know them more. From the late ’80s, I started doing guest appearances around the world and signing autographs right next to them. Then we’d go out together, eat, drink, and walk around.

I started doing a lot with celebrities, such as the American Graffiti people — Paul Le Mat, Candy Clark, Cindy Williams, John Schneider, Bo Hopkins, Henry Winkler — ‘The Fonz’ — and Richard Dreyfuss. I’d do shows with them — I’ve probably done shows with 100 celebrities now, as well as the legends of customizing, so we’ve got to be like a big family, and we’re all the same. You think that because his name is Barris or Winfield or Winkler [that] he’d be different, but they’re all the same as us, car people — especially Jay Leno; he’s a car guy and a half. He loves talking cars. I took some German people to his place about six months ago. He was filming the TV show, so I didn’t want to bother him, but when he saw me, he stopped production and came to me, and his worker, who was taking us around, said, “John, you’re going to get me in trouble, because he’s doing TV.” He spent about half an hour with us, just talking cars, and the German guy was showing him what he’s got and all that. We took pictures, and after that he went back to work.

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In which countries around the world have you made guest appearances, and what events do they bring you over for?

I’ve been to so many countries, I could talk for half an hour about that, but the first one I really went to back was Sweden in ’94. The show was called ‘Custom Motorshow’, and I’ve been there 19 times in 22 years — that’s just for that one show. I’ve been to three different shows in Finland, probably 20-something times, so just those countries I’ve been to probably 50 times — and that’s not counting Norway, Denmark, England, Estonia, Russia, Italy, France, Austria, Hungary, Japan, Australia, etc.

Is that all to make guest appearances?

It is, but over the past 10 years it’s more been as a judge for the kustom category, especially for the German shows. I do four German shows a year, and they all want me to judge, or judge the Miss Tuning Competition, where they pick Miss Competition for all of Europe. I’m one of the head judges for that. For the Theo awards, which is like SEMA, I’m one of the presenters, which is cool.

When I went to Tuning World Bodensee four years ago, styling cars were the big thing. There were probably only five or six American cars — that’s all you’d see; now there’s more than 200 American cars there, a whole building full, and a lot of kustoms, because I give them the Custom d’Elegance Award. Little by little, I’m trying to get the young guys to build an American car along with their styling car, and they’re starting to do it.

Outside the US, which country has the best kustom scene, and who has the best car scene in general?

For kustom cars, I’d put Finland at number one, with Sweden very close. However, when it comes to the overall scene — classics, restored, customs, hot rods, etc. — you can’t touch Sweden. The shows there have 500 or 600 cars, and most of them are American. The quality and innovation at MotorEx in Australia also impressed me.

What makes them great? Is it the talent, the money, or something else?

I think it’s just the love of the cars, especially in Sweden — they love Americana. It’s not only the cars, it’s the music, the movies; they’re really into it.

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I’ve been talking to noddy about coming to beach hop for a guest appearance in 2017

I’ve got to admit that, when I went to my first MotorEx show in Australia seven years ago, I was really impressed with the quality and the innovation. I remember a guy from Perth brought a blue chopped Merc into the autorama at Sacramento four or five years ago.

The Mercury was so far advanced, and he really shook us up. He won everything: most innovative, best kustom, best engine. Then, about three years ago, Mario [Colalillo] brought his ’59 Cadillac over, and he won one of these [points to Autorama King of Kustoms ring] — Mario, myself, and James Hetfield. Hopefully, I can win another one with the Rita car, so I can have two.

These are like Super Bowl rings. My other one is from Hot Wheels — they have to vote you in.

Mine’s from 2010. Chip Foose, George Barris, Jay Leno; ‘The Snake‘ and ‘The Mongoose’ [Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen, respectively], Carl Earnhardt Senior, and I all got them at the same time

about the New Zealand cars, as far as quality goes — more about hot rods and street machines than kustoms, though. In Australia, I met a bunch of people from the End of the Road club [Tauranga]. They asked me to come over to their Wheels on Mainstreet Show in October, and I’d love to. I’d love to come to a few shows each year in New Zealand, but Beach Hop would be my number one. I’ve been talking to Noddy [Watts] about coming for a guest appearance in 2017.

You mentioned Australians having the quality and innovation. Have you seen many New Zealand cars or know much of our scene?

Not a lot yet, but I’ve heard a lot of good stuff

It’s a pretty cool life you live — building cars and travelling the world.

You meet so many people. I’m travelling to concours shows, styling car shows, hot rod,

Would you try to bring a car over?

I think the first year I’d want to feel it out. I know I’m going to like it, but then, the second year I could bring, maybe not a Rita-type car, but a car like my Riviera — it’s a cool show car. That’s the car that won The World’s Most Beautiful. Here are these cars with maybe $500K in them, and I end up winning three of the six awards, and one of them was with the Riviera, which is a $100K car, but it’s got the right look.

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kustom, and classic car shows — I do a lot of everything and try to keep things going with the younger generation.

I call myself the ‘middle generation’. There’s the guys in their 80s and 90s, guys in their 50s and 60s, like me, then there are guys in their 20s and 30s — there’s not a lot of big name guys that young in America. Who is there? Hollywood Hot Rods, Troy Ladd — he came to Australia last year for Back to Brunswick. He’s in his late 30s and doing good stuff. Jimmy Shine — he’s more of a hot rod guy. He and I have done many seminars together in Finland and Sweden. I do the kustom part of the seminar, and he does the rod scene.

What do the seminars involve?

You have a stage area and a big screen, and we put [on] a slide presentation together. The promoter might ask for 50 slides and get me to talk about each one for a short time. It’s maybe 90 minutes all up — I’d do 30 minutes, Jimmy would do 30, then we’d have a Q&A session. We’d have about 150 people, and the show would make money off it by charging people to be there. It’s easy. You stand up there, you look at the screen, and say, “Well, we used 5⁄8-inch rod there, and we wrapped it around the headlights and faded it into the doors,” then you click on to the next one. It’s easy, it’s fun and informative, and people loved it.

Does it ever feel like work?

No, I never feel like I’m working; I’m just being me. In Australia, I did a deal with a club, for about 30 minutes, nothing to it. Then I picked the cars for the top six awards, and I’m just being me. I don’t even read things off, apart from the people’s

names. I never know what I’m going to talk about; I just go up there and talk — and 99 per cent of the time, I’ve had a welcoming response from the audience.

So, you’ve built 100 cars, you’ve won everything there is to win, what’s next?

Just stay healthy and keep doing more shows around the world. I’m trying to move into the Middle East now; obviously, come to New Zealand; I’m pretty well established in Australia, Europe, and Asia. I’ll start doing more shows in South America — a lot of these shows overlap, though. There was a show in Hungary they wanted me to go to, and they were going to pay me such good money, but the Portland Roadster Show is on at the same time, and I’ve done that show for the past six years in a row, and they’ve told me [that] they want me there as a guest appearance for the rest of my life. I know all the people who run it, so it’s almost like a family thing now.

We notice you’ve got ‘Celebrity Kustoms’ on your shirt.

What’s that?

Celebrity Kustoms is something I started forming in 2007. It’s like a parent company. I went to some shows overseas in 2008 and 2009, and, in every country I went to, I tried to find the best shop to build a kustom car. The second one, after California, was in Italy.

I found the best shop there, looked at their work, and checked out the shop.

I sell the shops a franchise, so they can use my logo, as an authorized shop. Before they build a car under the Celebrity Kustoms name, I have to

i try to keep things going with the younger generation. i call myself the ‘middle generation’

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When i come here [for beach hop, i’ll find a shop that i think can build a super cool kustom authorize the design. So, they sketch it out, and say they want to build the Liz Taylor car or Marilyn car or whatever. If I like the design, I stamp it, done deal. If I don’t like it, they modify the design or don’t use the Celebrity Kustoms name on it.

What they usually have is Celebrity Kustoms, my John D’Agostino logo, and their logo together.

The third Celebrity Kustoms shop was in Australia; then Finland; then Sweden; then Germany; then Iceland; and, most recently, Japan, Canada, and Estonia.

Would you try to team up with someone here in New Zealand as well?

Without a doubt. When I come here [for Beach Hop], I’ll find a shop that I think can build a super cool kustom. I plan to come a few days before the event and take some shop tours. Then, at the trophy presentation, I’ll unveil who it is. By then, I’ll probably have 13-plus shops using the name. Currently, I’ve got plans for five or six more countries.

Do you think that’ll help encourage the kustom scene here?

That’s what I want to do. I’ll help with the vision, work with them a bit, show them what I’m doing, and show that kustoms are cool if built right.

Obviously, it’s not as easy for you to get the parts, though. But at least now we have the internet — before that, it was so hard.

What three events around the globe would you say New Zealanders should attend?

I would definitely go to the Grand National

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Roadster Show in Pomona. That’s number one.

Number two, I’d say Detroit Autorama for the Ridler Award, but only three is tough. Maybe the Bilsport [Performance and] Custom Motor Show in Sweden — without a doubt you have to do that — but I’d probably put the Mooneyes show in Yokohama on the list, too. There’s a show in Lahti, Finland, that I like a lot, called ‘Yankee Car Show’ — that’s a great show. Australia has MotorEx, which is excellent. If I threw another in there just for kustoms, I’d say Sacramento Autorama, without a doubt. That’s the kustom capital of the world. Everybody goes there to win the ‘big B’ awards: the HA Bagdasarian World’s Most Beautiful Custom, the Sam Barris award, the Joe Bailon award, and the Dick Bertolucci award.

They’re the most prestigious awards you can get for a kustom car. Luckily, I’ve won them 13 times.

For outdoor events — West Coast Kustoms’ Cruisin’ Nationals in Santa Maria and Kustom Kemps of America’s Leadsled Spectacular in Salina, Kansas.

What else have you won?

I’ve won the World’s Most Beautiful Kustom four or five times, the Barris four or five times, the Bailon eight or nine times.

Of the countless awards you’ve won, what meant the most to you?

Probably the Sam Barris Memorial Award, which I won back in ’84 with the ‘Midnight Sensation’ Merc.

That was built right after I saw American Graffiti.

Then the World’s Most Beautiful Kustom — that

means a whole lot; I won it several times. The King of Kustoms [ring] means a lot, because you wear it. I don’t wear it every day, only at car shows, but other car guys get it. Hopefully, next year, I can win another one with the Rita car — one on each hand.

You must have a pretty cool trophy room at home.

Too much. I’ve got a garage that’s full. I need to get them out, as they are taking up two car spaces. My one room is completely full. My father’s house is full and my attic is full. I’ve got well over 1000 trophies, and that’s not counting plaques.

Is it worth trying to sort out something with Petersen perhaps?

I was thinking of that a while back. They were telling me they want to do something on me and my cars, maybe for six months or a year. I’ve got trophies from the late ’60s to ’70s to ’80s, the tall eight-footers to the smaller beautiful Barris awards.

It’d be cool to have them on display together, and just keep one room at my house with some. You can’t move in my office; they’re everywhere. It’s beautiful, I’m surrounded by it.

Does indeed sound like a great life. Travelling the world; building cool cars.

And meeting great people.

TO VIEW MORE OF JOHN’S CREATIONS, SEARCH ‘KUSTOM’ ON THEMOTORHOOD.COM

pirtek Race Diary WITH MORICE MCMILLIN

WINNERS ARE

GRINNERS O

ur fourth event racing the ’One Bad Kiwi’ nitro funny car was at a new facility called Springmount Raceway, about an hour west of Cairns. The venue opened earlier in the year, and this was its first major event. Set on nice flat tablelands and surrounded by hills, it’s one of the most picturesque racetracks I’ve been to. Following on from our up-and-down meeting at Willowbank Raceway, where we had clutch issues followed by a PB, the team was very keen to get some consistent laps in.

With Springmount being a new track to us, we didn’t have any previous run notes to go from, but, this time, we were not the only car in that situation; the two ’57s Chevs (‘Nitro Express’ and ‘Red Devil’) were the only two cars that had run there before — at the grand opening — so we felt we were on a level playing field with everyone else.

The Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car series is getting more and more popular, and this event proved that — the crowd around the pits seemed to be getting bigger and bigger as we got closer to racing. Before the salute to the crowd, I went for my usual look-at-the-start-line walk.

When I got out there, the banks were packed as far as I could see — and I don’t mean just near the start line; there were people packed in down by the finish line.

North Queensland had not seen a show of 10 nitro funny cars before, and the people had come in their droves to see it.

For the first round, we were paired up once again with previous New Zealand visitor and very popular guy Anthony Begley, in the world-famous ‘LA Hooker’.

Now, I didn’t really want to face Begs in the first round, as he’s one of the fastest guys in the series and has more experience driving nitro funny cars than I have had experience driving anything.

Besides that, we also pit next to him, and our two teams banter non-stop when we don’t race each other, so there was more trash talking than a Daytona 500 Nascar race before this one.

So, as we were getting the car ready to run and I was grabbing my helmet to clean it and check my visor, a young kid came along. He wanted an autograph on his One Bad Kiwi giveaway card. So, of course, I went to talk to this young boy and sign his card. What I didn’t notice was that, as I did so, Begs had snuck up and autographed my helmet! He reckoned it added value, but I figured we’d determine that after the first round.

All that banter may have paid off, as Begs left a red light on the tree. He was certain he didn’t leave early, but the tree still had the red on the bottom. It turned out to be a great side-by-side race, but not for the right reasons. Both cars seemed to struggle; we dropped a cylinder from the hit of the throttle

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and ran a 6.30s at only 214mph and Begs ran a 6.40s. It was certainly great to get that first-round bogey off our back finally, even if it wasn’t the way we’d wanted to do it — but hey, a win’s a win. Towing back down the return road was just awesome, as the crowd was all waving and cheering all the way back to the start line.

I jumped out of the car to do an interview by the start line, so I got back to the pits five minutes after the car, but let me tell you, it was pretty cool to see the team already getting One Bad Kiwi ready for round two. We had found the reason for our lack of power — that dropped cylinder — so we changed a few things in the fuel system to get the motor back on all eight cylinders. The team got the car finished, we fired it up, and we were ready for the next round. Actually, apart from sitting in it, I hadn’t done any work on the car; it’s not that I didn’t want to, but the team had it all under control.

In one of those cool drag racing stories, pitted on the other side of us was the Paul Messino–driven ‘Dark Horse’ Mustang funny car.

Paul’s engine wasn’t happy, so the team decided to put the spare in.

Then, once again, I was talking away to some young drag racing fans, when I looked back and my team had disappeared. I didn’t have to look far, though — they were all next door pulling the motor out of Dark Horse to try to get it ready for round two, and that was pretty cool to see!

For round two, we had Harold Campbell in ‘Insanity’. By now, the sun had gone down, and we were racing under lights, the wind had picked up, and it was cold. We knew the track was going to be getting slipperier, as the wind was blowing the dust around, but we couldn’t underestimate Harold. Well, after the burnout, Harold’s reverse lever fell off, so he was stuck in the middle of the track.

Unfortunately, this meant that Harold turned his car off, and, sitting on the start line, we had to do the same, as it was too dangerous to run with him sitting there — plus, it’s really no fun to race yourself; this is drag racing not time trialling! So we pushed both cars back, refuelled them, and Harold fixed his reverse lever.

Attempt two at round two was better: after a shorter burnout to keep the clutch temp down, we both rolled into stage. At the flash of the amber, One Bad Kiwi shot out of the hole really well; then, about quarter-track, it went into some wicked tyre shake. I gave it a quick slap on the pedal, and it hooked back up, shoving me back in the seat, until just before half-track, when it just started smoking the tyres. I felt like John Force from the ’90s as it kicked sideways, so I got off the throttle quickly, then, when I felt the

THE CROWD WAS GOING NUTS ABOUT WHAT IT HAD JUST SEEN. IT WAS AN AWESOME FEELING! driving the Red Devil in the One vs Two race! If we beat Shane and set the low ET, we would be taking home the number-one ‘rocket’ trophy.

Unfortunately, as the boys were completing the between-round service, the wind and dust got the better of the track conditions, and, for safety reasons, the meeting director had no choice but to call the meeting off. It was a huge disappointment, as I was looking forward to racing Shane in the final round. We were, however, stoked that this meant we had won our first rocket trophy, finishing second for the event — not how we wanted to win it, but, hey, it’s a dream come true to have won a rocket trophy.

Overall, it was an awesome event: we ticked another racetrack off the list, we won both rounds, and we have some silverware to take home — although, we did have to put the trophy in the trailer, as we weren’t sure how airport security would handle us bringing a massive rocket- or bullet-looking thing through the airport!

PHOTOS: QUICKSMART PHOTOGRAPHICS

tyre slow down, I jumped back on the throttle only for it to smoke the tyres again. One more quick pedal, and I legged it through to the finish line.

It was one fun race to drive, and I didn’t ever see Harold in front of me, so I was pretty pumped to know we now had two wins from two. I was so pumped that, when I got out of the car, I was running around like a school kid who has just been let out for the Christmas holidays. It was even cooler towing the car back this round, as the crowd was going nuts about what it had just seen. It was an awesome feeling!

As you may know from my previous columns, our series is not run on a traditional knock-out format; it’s based on points from winning rounds.

There were now four cars on maximum points, although I figured that our tyre-smoking run may have not been good enough for the One vs Two run! Well, when the final round draw came out, we had two wins and the second-fastest ET, so we were to run against Shane Olive

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dragged up DRAG RACING NEWS EMAIL YOUR INFO TO: EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ

ALTERED INTENTIONS J

im Wildermoth’s wild procharged 1976 Mitsubishi Lancer has been a familiar sight at Masterton Motorplex over the past few seasons as it’s worked its way down into the low eightsecond zone. Next time it hits the track, the car is set to look a whole lot different.

Over the off season, the steel body was removed and a fibreglass Fiat Topolino body fitted. Of course, the task was far more complex than that, with the body first needing to be widened

AERO TACTICS

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by 300mm and the A-pillars also requiring modification.

With the same F2 procharged 327ci engine under the hood that pushed the far-heavier-bodied vehicle to a best of 8.35s at 149.64mph, all going to plan, the new set-up should see the car closer to the seven-second mark. With a Reid two-speed trans and 6000rpm stall and full floating nine-inch packed with 4.11:1 gears, the car certainly has the driveline to get it there.

T

he team from DB Racecars set the internet rumour mill alight recently when it showed a photo of its Chev Beretta top doorslammer’s new nose cone under construction and implied that it was designed to fit over a twin-turbo set-up. The intentional wind-up spread like wildfire. However, we can confirm that turbos aren’t on the agenda — for now, at least. Instead, that new fibreglass nose cone has been designed in an effort to improve the car’s aerodynamics, by incorporating a reverse cowl scoop that will cover more of the engine. Due to the body’s sleek design, the original front end left not just the intake manifold up above the body line but also the tops of the rocker covers.

With the car having grazed the wall in the final event of last season, the team took advantage of the opportunity created by the need to make repairs.

Making the replacement out of carbon fibre was considered, but the car would have then been under class-minimum weight, not to mention the added cost involved, so fibreglass was the material chosen.

In addition to the new nose cone, the team has been working on refining the suspension, in an effort to avoid the tyre shake that plagued it last season. As the Chev ran a PB of 6.47s at 220mph with a bad launch, tyre shake, and early gear shift, we can’t wait to see what this season holds for it.

BACK-HALF REBUILD H

itting the wall hard with both a front and rear corner wasn’t quite the way the team had hoped New Zealand’s quickest and fastest back-halved car, the Lucas Oil and DC Trading– sponsored Camaro driven by Jodey Irving, would end last season. Determined to get the car into the six-second zone, though, the Irving family resisted the urge to change to a full chassis or replacement vehicle, instead opting to make repairs to the car, which are now almost done.

After plenty of time on a chassis machine and an inner guard being replaced, the car is square once more. The task wasn’t an easy one, with the car not having the stock reference points to take the

measurements off for the laser line-measuring system. A new, lighter-weight front nose cone has been constructed by the vehicle’s owner, Warrick Irving, who, fortunately, used to run a panel shop and had the ability to do the majority of the work.

With the engine having done only one burnout since being freshened up, it’s ready to be reinstalled before the team bring nitrous guru Mark Hayes over from Australia to reinstall the electronics and nitrous system. The plan is to hit a handful of Meremere Dragway events this season and, all going well, run that magic six-second 200mph pass.

NITRO FUNNY CAR DATES D

ue to the huge success of the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car series, a new series manager was required, and who better to keep a bunch of Aussies on track than a Kiwi. That recently appointed series manager is one Morice McMillin, NZV8 columnist and Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car driver.

One of Morice’s first tasks in his new role was to lock in the event dates, which have now been confirmed. If you’re looking for an excuse for an Australian getaway, make sure it coincides with one of the below events:

NAME REECE FISH GARY BOGAART MIKE BLACK BRENDON SHEARING BARRY PLUMPTON CHRIS GREEN AARON THOMAS ROBERT LIU DAVE MOYLE STEVE WALL SHANE RYLAND MIKE BARI AZHAR BHAMJI AARON JACKSON RHYS O’MAHONY MIKE CARLTON DARREN RICHES ROB MCBRIDE MIKE BLACK DOUG STEWART ROSS WHELAN TONY GERA DANIEL SOUTHALL MATT AVERY WARREN BLACK GLENN BREWER IAN MCKAY BEN MOORCOCK TONY GERA ZAC WILKINSON RAY PETERSON HAYDEN THORN ABDUL SAMAD IAN RAINBOW MATT KRILETCH

VEHICLE 1956 CHEV BEL AIR 1975 FALCON COUPE 1973 HQ HOLDEN UTE 1971 HQ HOLDEN MONARO 1974 HQ HOLDEN 1984 MAZDA 323 1954 FORD POP 1993 TOYOTA SUPRA 1990 FORD FALCON XF UTE 1966 CHEV CHEVELLE 1980 HOLDEN TORANA 1971 CHEV CHEVELLE 1969 MAZDA R100 1974 HOLDEN TORANA 1923 FORD T-BUCKET 1973 CHEV CORVETTE 1954 FORD POP 1973 PLYMOUTH CUDA 1993 VR COMMODORE 1967 CHEV CAMARO 1934 FORD MODEL Y 1970 FORD MUSTANG 1969 CHEV CAMARO 1974 MAZDA RX-3 1972 HOLDEN HQ MONARO 1972 HQ HOLDEN UTE 1992 MAZDA FAMILIA 1974 MAZDA RX-3 1971 CHEV VEGA 1987 HOLDEN COMMODORE VL 1970 FORD MUSTANG 1992 NISSAN SKYLINE GT-R 1992 MITSUBISHI EVO I 1950 CHEV COUPE 1973 FALCON XA COUPE

TIME (S) 7.69 8.67 8.71 8.76 8.83 8.84 8.84 8.92 9.01 9.17 9.24 9.26 9.34 9.42 9.56 9.57 9.66 9.67 9.69 9.69 9.70 9.73 9.77 9.81 9.81 9.81 9.82 9.85 9.85 9.90 9.94 9.97 9.98 9.98 9.98

MPH 175.00 159.04 158.01 158.00 147.00 158.35 152.00 152.00 156.00 153.42 148.22 148.92 148.33 145.46 137.21 144.24 133.00 139.30 144.01 139.00 138.05 143.40 141.62 142.87 137.95 128.04 143.57 145.91 140.00 138.84 137.27 140.48 138.00 136.97 135.36

ENGINE 540CI BBC TWIN-TURBO 408CI SBF NITROUS 509CI BBC TWIN-SC 536CI BBC SC 565CI BBC SC NITROUS 13B TURBO 408CI SBC TWIN-TURBO 2JZ TURBO 563CI BBF NITROUS 540CI BBC PROCHARGER SC LS2 TURBO 598CI BBC NITROUS 13B TURBO 496CI BBC NITROUS 383CI SBC NA 540CI BBC SC 540CI BBC NA 604CI HEMI NA 355CI HOLDEN VORTECH SC 502CI BBC SC NITROUS 427CI SBC NA 480CI BBF NITROUS 406CI SBC NITROUS 13B TURBO 555CI BBC SC 621CI BBC NA 4G63 TURBO 13B TURBO 400CI SBC NITROUS 408CI LS TURBO 417CI WINDSOR NA RB26/RB30 TURBO 4G63 TURBO 572CI BBC NITROUS 410CI BBF NA

TRIM AS RACED PUMP GAS, ET STREETS C16, EXHAUST REMOVED, ET STREETS C16, EXHAUST REMOVED, FULL SLICKS AVGAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, DOT HOOSIERS C16, EXHAUST REMOVED, DOT HOOSIERS PUMP GAS, FULL SLICKS AVGAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, DOT HOOSIERS C16, ET STREETS C16, ET STREETS C12, EXHAUST REMOVED, DOT HOOSIERS PUMP GAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, FULL SLICKS C16, EXHAUST REMOVED, DOT HOOSIERS PUMP GAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, ET STREETS AVGAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, DOT HOOSIERS PUMP GAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, ET STREETS AVGAS, ET STREETS AVGAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, ET STREETS AVGAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, ET STREETS AVGAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, FULL SLICKS AVGAS, ET STREETS C14, EXHAUST REMOVED, DOT HOOSIERS PUMP GAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, ET STREET C16, EXHAUST REMOVED, DOT HOOSIERS E85, EXHAUST REMOVED, ET STREETS AVGAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, DOT HOOSIERS AVGAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, ET STREETS C16, MT SLICKS PUMP GAS, DOT HOOSIERS PUMP GAS, EXHAUST REMOVED, ET STREETS PUMP GAS, FULL SLICKS PUMP GAS, ET STREETS PUMP GAS, ET STREETS E85, DOT HOOSIERS C16, EXHAUST REMOVED, DOT HOOSIERS C12, EXHAUST REMOVED, ET STREETS

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Yellow text denotes a new entry or bettered ET

NZ’S QUICKEST STREETERS

October 29 – Calder Park Raceway (Melbourne) November 26 – Sydney Dragway January 7 – Perth Motorplex March 4 – South Coast Raceway (West Victoria) May 13 – Willowbank Raceway (Brisbane)

Dramg es NZ’S 100 QUICKEST V8 DRAG RACERS i T GROUP ONE TOP-10 VEHICLES

To update your details, email editor@v8.co.nz Yellow text denotes a new entry or bettered et / *Currently competing vehicles only listed

TOP FUEL Anthony Marsh Reece Fish Willy White Karl Bonniface Dave Gauld Les Herst TOP ALCOHOL Anthony Marsh Shane Lodge Johnston/Peterson John Neilan Todd Vincent Bert King Dwane Garrett Mark Vincent Wayne Curry Bryan Norman TOP DOORSLAMMER Wayne Yearbury Ross Taylor Mark Bardsley Benjes/Dillon Mark Thomas Trevor Smith Barry Plumpton Murray Smith Andrew ‘Squig’ Miles Russell Lowe

SPONSOR Marsh Motorsport / Mount Shop Prepared Produce White Truck Dismantlers Castrol Kiwi Sheds Kendall Oil SPONSOR Marsh Motorsport / Mount Shop Service Engineers Harcourts Digga RPM Engineering Powder Surfaces Kiwi Race Cars RPM Engineering

SPONSOR Wayco / Roket Air Ross Taylor Motors Rislone Childs Play Trevor Smith Racing Focus Construction Papakura Engine Specialists STA Parts The Toy Shed

VEHICLE Top Fuel dragster Top Fuel dragster Nitro FC Nitro FC Fuel Altered Nitro FC VEHICLE Dragster Dragster Dragster Dragster Dragster Dragster Dragster Freightrain dragster ’27 T-altered FE Dragster VEHICLE ’53 Studebaker ’57 Chev ’68 Camaro Chev Beretta Ford Customline Holden Statesman Chev Monte Carlo ’55 Chevrolet Ford Falcon ’69 Camaro

ET 4.78 5.00 5.47 6.89 6.99 7.70 ET 5.37 5.48 5.53 5.68 5.94 6.09 6.25 6.57 6.65 6.65 ET 6.16 6.22 6.44 6.47 6.47 6.49 6.56 6.88 6.99 7.03

MPH 315.12 260.16 264.75 206.90 190.30 106.00 MPH 272.45 253.80 259.36 246.98 230.13 226.00 200.52 208.00 206.99 203.81 MPH 235.89 222.50 223.10 220.91 218.15 219.65 208.00 203.00 191.00 191.18

6.30 6.41 6.59 6.68 6.71 6.91 6.92 6.97 7.02 7.04 7.04 7.07 7.10 7.11 7.13 7.13 7.22 7.27 7.28 7.30 7.30 7.32 7.34 7.35 7.36 7.36 7.36 7.37 7.40 7.46 7.48 7.52 7.54 7.57 7.57 7.58 7.60 7.61 7.62 7.63 7.65 7.69 7.70 7.77 7.77 7.78 7.84 7.85 7.91 7.91 7.92 7.94 7.96 7.97 7.99 8.00 8.01 8.06 8.18 8.18 8.33 8.34 8.34 8.35 8.39 8.42 8.43 8.44 8.46 8.48 8.50 8.57 8.62 8.65

215.89 214.45 209.71 205.60 211.59 190.89 194.04 202.89 194.44 198.17 178.07 193.24 186.82 196.56 193.02 189.44 187.57 180.96 168.95 193.46 190.24 168.16 183.90 188.45 188.68 187.34 178.30 181.37 182.11 182.00 176.66 185.08 183.39 184.00 177.53 181.30 173.64 180.96 167.63 189.26 169.30 177.96 167.88 180.30 165.47 161.88 174.62 181.54 171.10 161.15 174.62 173.61 174.92 171.11 167.01 156.00 152.83 166.89 160.65 160.10 156.94 154.68 140.70 149.64 160.88 164.53 152.37 170.12 157.59 160.61 158.83 156.45 153.69 155.00

GROUP TWO/THREE QUICKEST VEHICLES IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO SHOULD BE ON THIS LIST, BUT ISN'T, MAKE SURE TO LET US KNOW BY EMAILING EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ THIS LIST ONLY INCLUDES THE 100 QUICKEST V8-POWERED CARS THAT HAVE COMPETED IN THE LAST TWO YEARS

Johnny Alsop Lindsay/Karen Hay Rivers family Grant Briffault Simon Fowke Aaron Lelean Christoffersen/Gubb Prestney/Dobson Raymond/Trent Smyth Darren Hayes Alan Hartley Craig Griffith Mike Reid/Bob Tynan Jodey Irving Nigel Dixon Paul Davison John Sheppard Richard McCarthy Gary Cawthra Paul Johnston Bobby Owens Graham Christison Frank Bogaart Adam/Graeme Bates Roger Binnema Paul ‘Pins’ Sattler Kevin McGregor Glen Collett Bill/Clint Minchington Ian Metz Kendal Smith Jason Sellars Karl Witteveen Kane Douché Cameron Patterson Gerald Smith Mark Gapp Rhys Humphries David Hopper Jan Kadlec Gary Benham Brad Langford Neil Morgan Andrew Rea/Gary Martin Arran Brattle/Pauline Lane Dave Mason Michael Franklin Jarrod/Heath Mahon Gavin Green Steve Milliken Graham Carter Ryan Sheldon Rex Duckett Fabian Goldbert Ces Miller Aaron Phillips Dean Blackburn Brett Whittingham Kenny West Doug/Daniel Jefferies Ross/Shane Windley Dean Scott John Gourdie Jim Wildermoth Brad Taylor Mike Cload Chris Duncan Steve Anderson Josh Trybula Dutchie Wijdeven Alex Hogg Jody Burgess Stacey Price Ian/Dylan DeBoo

Silvester V8 Perf. / Alsop Joinery R.I.P.S Racing Blu’s Brothers Racing Scrap Palace

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feature car

ls whee ! e h t riving years ago d s ’ y s one or 30 f J t t l i u u b b , cades hat it was e d r o w f round upe — just a n e It’s be 33 Ford cOoS: ADAM CROY ’ OT off hisONNAL GRACE PH S: C WORD

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S

‘

cotty and the Chief’ — one moniker, comprising four words, that could elicit a knowing nod from drag racers and drag racing fans in the decades leading up to the turn of the century. It’s clearly a name that has earned its respect over the years, but who exactly were Scotty and the Chief?

They’d be Ian Scott and Willie Roach, who were — and still are — rather well known in New Zealand’s drag racing circle for their vivid red Pro Stock– style Pontiac Trans Am with ‘Scotty and the Chief’ emblazoned on the side. A frequent sight at Thunderpark Raceway, that Trans Am would later fall into the hands of locally renowned drag racer Mike Nola, while the early ’90s saw the Scotty and the Chief duo move on to a certain Chev Beretta doorslammer. Over two decades later, that Beretta’s shell is still in the drag racing scene, now a key part of the top doorslammer campaigned by Rod Benjes and John Dillon of the Childs Play racing team.

However, there was a time before these allout purpose-built drag weapons bearing the ‘Scotty and the Chief’ name — a time known

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as the early ’80s, when they were hitting the strip in a seriously wild ’33 Ford coupe. That coupe, which, to this day, gets mistaken for Bobby Owens’ ’34 Ford coupe, was featured as a bright and shiny masterpiece on the cover of New Zealand Hot Rod magazine in August 1985.

Its remarkably clean appearance belied the totally rotten shell Ian had started with. An ex–stock car, the coupe’s body had essentially been in three main pieces when Ian got it: bulkhead, roof, and rear quarters. Pieced together with miscellaneous parts Ian managed to find, and with little more than time and hard labour — and plenty of both — the beautiful ’33 Ford you see here was born.

All those years ago, the car was powered by a tunnel-rammed and nitrous-equipped 331ci small block Chev and backed by a four-speed manual box, but not much else has changed in the intervening years. The ’33’s still got that vibrant red paint, the same sleek looks yielded by its full-fendered profile, the same roll cage that just screams business, and the same timeless prostreet stance — your final warning that this hot rod is not to be messed with.

TOWER OF POWER The staunch power plant built

by Dave Best back in 1997 was more than up to the task, easily propelling the coupe to 11-second quarter-mile passes, despite clear deficiencies in the traction department. A harmonic-balancer issue munted the crankshaft a few years later, necessitating a bottom-end rebuild. The 357-cube Windsor, based around a 351 block with 0.030-inch overbore, produces just as much reliable power and is still as streetable as ever.

1933 FORD COUPE

It’s not all looks, either, as the ’33 became a frequent sight at Thunderpark Raceway and Champion Dragway (Meremere) during the mid ’80s. As Ian took the coupe down the strip, the drag racing bug bit hard, and he began to modify it further in search of performance, all the while ensuring the car retained street legality. In 1986, he added mini-tubs, a nine-inch diff, rear slicks, and a Muncie four-speed manual box. And although Ian would end up selling the ’33 as a rolling body just a few years later, to fund his big OE to the US, the coupe had already made its mark on the local drag racing scene.

When he sold the ’33 in the late ’80s, it was to Rob Forsyth in Palmerston North. Rob had just collected an insurance payout after his hot rod was T-boned by a driver who'd run a red light, and when the ex–Scotty and the Chief ’33 came up for sale, he knew it was the perfect car into which he could transplant his old motor and box. However, it wouldn’t be long before Rob on sold the car, once again minus engine and transmission. This time around, it ended up back in Whanganui, in the hands of Wayne Brougham, who repowered it with a Ford engine and

ENGINE: 357ci Ford Windsor V8, 351W castiron block, 0.030-inch overbore, polished and shot-peened rods, Speed Pro forged pistons, Childs and Albert moly piston rings, JP roller timing set, custom-ground camshaft, Comp Cams Pro Magnum lifters, Dart heads, double valve springs, Hampton intake manifold, Petersen 8-71 supercharger, two 600cfm Holley vacuum secondary carburettors, Holley electric fuel pump, MSD ignition, tubular steel headers, header caps, alloy radiator, electric fan, highvolume oil pump DRIVELINE: Ford C6 transmission, Ford nineinch diff, narrowed diff housing, four-pinion LSD centre, 3.9:1 diff ratio, floating hubs SUSPENSION: Four-bar front suspension, chromed drop axle, transverse leaf spring, torsion bar rear suspension, custom adjustable rear four-bars BRAKES: Wilwood pedal box, Wilwood front brake hubs, Wilwood front calipers, Wilwood front discs, Ford rear calipers, Ford rear discs WHEELS/TYRES: 15x6-inch and 15x10-inch Steelie Superline alloy wheels, 205/55R15 Bridgestone and 31x16.5R15 Hoosier Pro Street tyres EXTERIOR: Steel body, 3½-inch roof chop, recessed firewall, fibreglass fenders, fibreglass running boards, ’39 Ford blue-dot tail lights, recessed rear number plate, louvred rear panel INTERIOR: Custom bench seat, custom door cards, vintage race steering wheel, B&M Pro Ratchet shifter, Smiths gauges, Auto Meter rev counter, five-point roll cage PERFORMANCE: Untested

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Toploader gearbox, until he, too, sold the car — yep, as a rolling body once more.

Ending up in the hands of one Peter Street from New Plymouth, the ’33 was subject to yet another re-power, with the engine and transmission from Peter’s Falcon. It’s around here that the connection to the car’s current owner begins, although it’s also a bit of a hibernation period in the hot rod’s eventful history.

The coupe is now owned by Paul Jones, better known as ’Jonesy‘. When his mate Tory MacRae bought the ’33 in the mid ’90s, Jonesy thought it was the coolest thing ever.

“Up until then, we’d never really gotten into hot rods,” Jonesy recalls. “We’d all been into Escorts, Cortinas, Toranas, Falcons, and all that, but then Tory bought this hot rod …” and that was that.

Jonesy just had to own the coupe for himself; he told Tory that if he ever wanted to sell it, he’d buy it — 15 years later, that dream would finally become a reality.

When Tory was looking into buying the ’33 off Peter, it was powered by a 302ci equipped with rare Gurney Weslake heads, which would be worth a pretty penny nowadays. However, Tory also had the option of buying it as a rolling body for a fair bit less, so a rolling body it was. Purchasing the

hot rod with the four-speed manual box, it wasn’t long before Tory had a single tunnel-rammed 289 in the hole, driving the car in that guise for a year or two before taking it off the road for a full stripdown and rebuild from the chassis up.

With Tory’s father, Ian, operating his own panelbeating shop out of Tauranga airport, that side of things was never going to be a problem. Once the bodywork had been tidied up, the coupe was resprayed in the same bright red that so suits the swoopy lines of these full-fendered hot rods — the same paint that’s on the car to this day, in fact.

However, while the aesthetics would be kept as they were, it was decided that the heartbeat would be all new — Dave Best, at the time working out of his US Auto Centre business, was commissioned to build a blown 357ci Windsor power plant to provide the coupe with the performance it deserved. The 351-based engine was built tough, and it worked to push the coupe to a string of smoky and traction-deficient 11-second quartermile passes.

“Tory loved the shit tyres on the back, to smoke them up, but even with good tyres on it for drag racing, the rear end would break loose — the car could have run a 10 with proper tyres,” Jonesy says.

THE BLOWN ENGINE PUSHED THE COUPE TO A STRING OF TRACTION-DEFICIENT 11-SECOND PASSES

THE OTHER RED COUPE

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Jonesy’s ’33 is often mistaken for Bobby Owens’ very similar looking blown ’34 Ford coupe. After all, it’s not every day that you see a fullfendered five-window coupe with a blown power plant and pro-street style finished in gloss red paint.

Bobby’s coupe — which we featured in NZV8 Issue No. 128 — was built back in the ’80s as a street and strip car, just like Ian Scott’s, and is also regularly driven on the street these days. You can read the full feature on Bobby’s ’34 on themotorhood.com — just search ‘Racer Reborn’. themotorhood.com

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SCOTTy AND THE CHIEF Ian Scott and Willie Roach are still hanging around these days, although neither is spending time in the hot seat. Ian is still heavily into panel work, operating his Scott Panelcraft business out of New Plymouth, while Willie Roach is the proprietor of the successful Eagle Automotive, specializing in right-hand drive conversions.

PAUL ‘JONESY’ JONES AGE: 40 OCCUPATION: Truck driver PREVIOUSLY OWNED CARS: Ford Escort MkI, Ford Falcon XY GT-HO replica, Holden Torana SL/R 5000 replica, Holden Torana LH V8, Ford Falcon XA V8 coupe, blown V8-powered Ford Falcon XB, Jaguar, two Ford Falcon XC V8s, blown V8-powered Ford Escort MkII, 1964 Chev Impala, Holden Commodore VT SS, blown V8powered Holden HQ Monaro DREAM CAR: Lots of them WHY THE ’33? I wanted this car ever since my mate bought it 20-odd years ago BUILD TIME: It never stops LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: Four years JONESY THANKS: Ian, Jenny, and Tory MacRae, for selling it to me; my wife, Lou, for letting me buy it; Shaun at Action Canvas and Upholstery; Bruce at Fraser Cove Automotive; Mike at Sonic Race and Machine; Glen from Eze Auto Electrics; and all of my mates who have helped me with it

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A C6 transmission was bolted to the back of the combo and the obsolete third pedal chucked in the bin, making for a staunch hot rod that was as at home on the street as it was on the strip.

However, as the game of life often goes, Tory and his wife, Lauren, ended up purchasing a house not long after the rebuild was completed, and the coupe was adopted by Tory’s parents, Ian and Jenny, to free up some much-needed capital.

The coupe would then spend more time sitting in the shed than it would on the road, effectively disappearing from the public’s eye for more than a decade.

By 2012, Ian had begun to work on the coupe with the aim of tidying it up a little. Part of that included upgrading the braking system and the required re-cert. With the blown motor’s ability to produce speed at an alarming rate, Ian felt the need to slow down just as important. The coupe therefore found itself going back under the knife in Ian’s all-too-familiar workshop to have a Wilwood pedal box, front calipers, hubs, and rotors installed.

Unfortunately, it was also around this time that Ian and Tory had to make the hard call to put the coupe on the market.

As it was no secret how much Jonesy loved the car, having been on Tory’s case to buy it off him since day dot, he was given first right of refusal.

No messing around here — with the blessing of his wife, Lou, Jonesy was finally the proud new owner of the hot rod he’d lusted after for so long! In fact,

one of the first things he did as the owner of his dream car was to drive down to Paul ‘Pins’ Sattler’s workshop to get the new cert plate fitted.

With the ’33 driving the way it should, Jonesy was just ready to drive the thing, and that is exactly what he’s been doing over the past four years. It’s not the most practical of cars, but Jonesy will drive it without hesitation to whatever event takes his fancy, and this has been when he began thinking about the next set of improvements.

Despite the coupe’s ground-up rebuild in Ian‘s and Tory’s hands, the interior was beginning to feel a bit dated for Jonesy’s liking, and he decided to call Shaun at Action Canvas and Upholstery. Now, with beautifully finished upholstery throughout the cabin, the car is a comfortable place in which to spend time, although Jonesy does point out that there are still a few things he’d like to fix — such as the square hole in the original carpet, a throwback from the days when a manual shifter would have poked through the floor. He’s not sweating the small stuff, though, spending his time cruising wherever he feels like going.

Jonesy hasn’t drag raced the car, being all too aware of the value of all-steel five-window coupes and the risks involved in putting the hammer down in such a wild machine, but you can’t deny that it would be a sight to see after all these years. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to witness it in the future. For now, though, Jonesy’s more than happy just to pile on the miles behind the wheel of his dream machine.

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event report

Palmy Swap Meet 2016

F Although the weather was cold — very, very cold — it didn’t stop the swap-meet faithful from braving the blizzard and having a bloody good time WORDS AND PHOTOS: SHANE WISHNOWSKY

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or as long as anyone can remember, the first weekend of August has been swapmeet weekend for the Palmerston North Hot Rod Club (PNHRC), and it’s the weekend that many lower North Island petrolheads look forward to.

August weather is historically sketchy, and August 2016 proved no different. The week leading up to August 6 could best be summed up as cold, wet, and dirty — it really was that miserable. Come dawn on the Saturday, things hadn't changed. A bitterly cold wind was blowing the rain horizontal, the Desert Road a few hours north had been shut due to heavy snow, and the South Island hadn’t escaped and was copping the wintery blast. In fact, it was probably the worst weekend the country had seen all year, but still people ventured out in it — such is the romantic attraction of the humble swap meet.

As the gates swung open at 8am, it was fairly obvious — judging by the reduced spectator count hoping to bag a bargain before all the good stuff went — that the weather had indeed affected proceedings. That didn’t mean the swappers’ plot was completely devoid of car parts, barn finds, fixer-uppers, and everything else in between, though; they were just a little thin on the ground compared with years gone by. PNHRC president Tim Olsen was philosophical: “The weather is what it is, and you can’t change it. Sometimes, you just have a bad one.”

01 Jonathon Greene from Turakina and his dad, Michael, brought this 1961 Impala bubble-top along. Jonathon has owned the ’61 for around six years, although it was in need of a bit of TLC when it first came into the country. Pete Wilton from Hunterville took care of the rust repairs, as well as the panel and paint, and it sure looks good now — what’s not to love about a bubble-top?

01 02

02 Hamish White from Palmerston North’s Smash Palace brought along a customer’s 1946 Ford Business Coupe. The coupe’s been at the shop for two or three years, being slowly pieced back together. Originally from Upper Hutt, the car was dip-stripped seven years ago before being mothballed in the GM factory in Trentham. After being exhumed from there, it was shipped north to Hamish, where he and his team of clever bastards have performed a body drop (channelling) and added a long list of custom touches to the car, both inside and out.

We can’t wait to see the finished product!

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the indoors area was noticeablY down on numbers, but not quality The smaller crowd just meant a better chance for those who had rugged up to grab a bargain, and it also meant that those who chose to stay away would have to wait another year to find that elusive piece of glass or 'impossible-to-find-anywhere' chrome strip — their loss was everybody else’s gain!

Heading inside and away from the elements, things turned down a notch, to a far less frenetic pace. Umbrellas were put away and much easier conversations were able to be held away from the wind and the rain. The indoors area, usually full to the brim and overflowing with cars, was noticeably down on numbers, too, but that didn’t mean a drop in the quality of those parked up.

As is the norm with any car event these days, dotted around the perimeter of the enormous covered space were trade stalls selling anything and everything car related — from Mexican blankets through to starter motors, headers, and lubricants, if they didn’t have what you wanted, they could either try to find it for you or they knew a mate who had it.

Also exciting to see was the sheer number of craftsmen displaying samples of their work — what these guys can do with a flat piece of steel, a hammer, and a welder is nothing short of amazing. If you were so inclined, you could easily have started at one end of the building; walked

03 04

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03 Tanya from Kiwi Shipping and Joe Janus pose beside Joe’s supercool 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 XL. Joe has owned the vehicle, an exMontana, one-owner 427ci ‘R Code’ — denoting a factory highperformance 427-powered version — for 10 years. Backing the potent big block is a bulletproof bull-nose Toploader manual box hooked up to an equally bulletproof nine-inch diff.

When Joe first took possession of the car, the front clip was in pieces, as was the motor. He’s spared no expense in restoring the old girl back to her former glory, even retaining the original plates with their correct 1964 licence tags 04 Proudly sitting on Chris Pocock’s Classic and Custom Motor Trimmers trade stand, and finally seeing the light of day after an intensive 16-year restoration, was Gerald Smythe’s ’38 Chev sedan delivery. There is barely a square centimetre of the car that hasn’t been touched, with custom features everywhere. Chris has beautifully trimmed the car’s interior with acres of cream leather to complement the fetching twotone paint. There’s only one word we could use to describe it: flawless

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to the other; and, by the time you had completed your walk, bumped into more than enough people to find you a car, bring it into the country, rip it to pieces, upgrade everything, fix all the rust, panel beat it or fabricate hard-to-find custom panels, paint it, repower it, insure it, and get it certified. Where else could you get all that done in one building?!

So, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Although the weather had refused to play ball, those who braved it didn’t go away disappointed. The atmosphere

05 If you wear the plate ‘FLAKED’, you’d better make sure you are, and Phil Mackley’s ‘Tin Indian’ didn’t disappoint. We’d hate to guess how many kilos of coarse flake are weighing down the bright blue Pontiac, but, needless to say, there’re a lot!

06 Despite the Antarctic blast, it was all smiles for Whanganui’s Dave Rowan and Grant Rivers, peddling their wares out in the swappers area

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buzzed all day long, people stopped and chatted, old friends were reunited, and tall stories were told.

When you gather a whole bunch of like-minded individuals together in one place, magic tends to happen. Thus, while the weather was what it was, no one we spoke to or saw seemed to have a bad day. Those who decided to flag it for this year might have to think twice next August when the whole shebang rolls around again. Don’t say we didn’t warn ya!

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event report

Kruzin Kustoms OPEN DAY

Who needs an excuse to visit a hot rod shop and drink free beer? We sure don’t, and this is one hell of a shop to visit!

WORDS AND PHOTOS: SHANE WISHNOWSKY

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s you can imagine, we get a lot of opportunities to see some pretty cool shit here at NZV8. You might even go so far as to say we are privileged — not that you’d catch us complaining. So, when the opportunity arose to have a bit of a poke and prod around at the Kruzin Kustoms open house, we leapt at the chance.

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The population of little old ‘Noo Zillund’ may be a bit thin on the ground compared with those of other countries inhabited by animals blessed with the opposable thumb, but we sure know how to make the most of those ever-special thumbs when it comes to ingenuity and engineering skills!

Kendal Smith and his talented team of fabricators and engineers at Kruzin Kustoms have been part

of the furniture, in terms of the hot rodding scene, for a fair few years now. You’d be pretty safe in saying that these guys eat, drink (and, boy, do we mean drink!), and sleep all things V8. For the last few years, they have thrown open their doors on a Saturday afternoon for a good old-fashioned beer and bullshit session. Just as we’ve all experienced on more than one occasion, these usually involve a

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BBQ; a half-finished car on axle stands; half a dozen mates — in mandatory uniform of work boots, an oily pair of ripped jeans, and a black T-shirt — and, most important, cold beer!

That’s exactly the atmosphere that was created on Saturday, August 6 (the very same day as the popular Palmy swap meet) with a couple of subtle differences: there was much more beer, way more than half a dozen people, and more BBQ’d sausages than a deep freezer could ever dream of!

With the swap meet in the area on the same day, the number of people crammed into the workshop came as no surprise at all, and being held bang-on lunchtime, there needed to be enough refreshments on offer to feed a small army. We’d hate to think just how many sausages were served on the day, but suffice to say it was plenty!

As such, it was hard to tell if people came for a free feed, a catch-up, or to take a close look at what was going on in the workshop. However, in the grand scheme of things, why they were there was irrelevant; they were there, there was cool shit to look at, there was free food and drink to consume, and there were people to talk to — what more could you want?

For most, this was the first time they’d have looked through the business’s new, much larger, and farmore-open premises. Taking a wander in and around people doing the exact same thing, it was great to see the varying stages of builds in progress, of which there were many!

01 It may not look like much like one at the moment, but this will be a ’40 Ford coupe when finished. While these are already cool cars, this one is going to be taken to a whole new level with a manually shifted blown 354ci Hemi up front. Keen eyes will note the alternator driven off the rear of the driveshaft, implying that the engine bay will be seriously clean and the car will probably be a longdistance cruiser — it would be a shame to run out of juice while sitting still at the traffic lights on the way to get a Sunday coffee

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02 This awesome-looking 1965 Chev C10 was one of the shop’s standout cars, although, being up on a four-post hoist must have helped. It’s owned

by Darren Kerslake, and its position on the hoist becomes clear when you realize that a year ago — at the last Kruzin Kustoms open house — the truck was little more than a dodgy-looking chassis.

Now, it boasts a Heidts front clip with four-linked rear, Ridetech air suspension, and myriad repairs to the chassis and bodywork. With wide steelies, wide-whitewall tyres, and (mostly) original patina covering the body, this is a seriously cool truck that we’d be more than happy to park in the garage

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work you wanted done or the US tours he holds each year. At one point, he was asked whether he was happy with the turnout, to which he replied that he had no idea how many people were out in the workshop, because he hadn’t been able to get out from behind the counter! No doubt, when it came time to clear away the empties, boot the last person out the door, take a well-earned breather, and count the cash in the till, he’d have had a fair idea of how successful the event was. We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon there — a great way to end a full-on day of all things cars. Keep an eye and an ear out for next year’s one — and make sure you pack an extra stomach and a spare liver!

In attendance from the tropics up north was Auckland’s Charlie ‘Chaz’ Allen — man, he must have loved the cold weather! Chaz had packed his paintbrushes and a couple of tins of paint and was striping away on Phil Mackley’s Pontiac. It’s pretty cool to stand back and watch the absolute concentration and skill required to pinstripe someone’s pride and joy freehand.

When you tired of eating and drinking, watching, looking, and talking in the workshop, you could spend some time in the showroom, away from the crowd — although, it was actually just as full in there as it was out in the shop!

Kendal was on hand to answer questions about any

03 Tri-5 Chevs are awesome cars, but it’s becoming harder to find any that haven’t been built to a similar cut-and-dried style. That’s why Raquel Graham’s ’56 Chev Bel Air Sport Coupe stands out so much — it’s got an awesome stance, and, if the fat rear wheel mocked up on the other side is anything to go by, it’s gonna look the business. Oily bits consist of a reliable GM LS2 and four-speed auto, and, alongside the extensive bodywork being put in, a set of custom wheels is being made for it at Raceline Wheels in the US. Kruzin Kustoms is on the money with its builds, and this car is just one of the reasons why 04 There’s a lot going on here — can you see it all? This intense rear end is under the tray of Noel Richmond’s ’50 Ford Bonus, with a built nine-inch diff held in place by a triangulated four-link, and some seriously dished rear wheels. Then there’s the Ridetech airbag suspension, which was chosen for Noel’s end goal of a truck that he can “just get in and drive”. With an injected 6.2-litre V8 from a 2011 Ford F-150 Raptor sitting above the bagged Heidts Mustang II IFS (independent front suspension)–style front subframe, the build’s well on the way there, and we’re seriously looking forward to seeing it completed 05 This neat 1951 Chev truck is owned by Phil and Carmelle Penney and is currently undergoing a bit of surgery. The front end is a narrowed Jaguar IFS unit, with a narrowed diff at the rear and mini-tubs worked into the deck. It’s all been beautifully done, and it’s going to look fantastic when finished

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06 Chaz was the definition of concentration as he laid down some neat pinstriping on Phil Mackley’s custom Pontiac. Given the number of people wandering around with beers in hand, we figure it was pretty lucky that no one managed to accidentally bump into him as he did his thing 07 The fabrication that has gone into the chassis of Peter and Delilah Schimanski’s 1970 Holden Monaro is nothing short of incredible. The chassis includes a McDonald Bros Racing Products rear clip and custom front end, all fabbed up in-house at Kruzin Kustoms.

What this photo doesn’t show is the funny car–style roll cage and the custom flat floorpan inside.

It’s all there for a reason, though — with an 8-71-supercharged 540ci big block Chev providing motivation and a Tremec TKO600 hopefully harnessing all of that grunt, this is going to be one wild ride

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FARM D L O S EA! E HI D I R R O E T T S NN TO RE A FAR BEIETPHOTOS: ROD DU D E T D YL N D WA SONS HAWORDS: TODD W L A N S O I MACD AL, BUT H M A BRIGH TO ORIGIN HACK

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hances are that, at some point in your life, you’ve driven through outlying rural areas and admired the big sheds scattered throughout the properties.

If you’re anything like us, you’ll have wondered what gems lay within them — could the sheds have been home to that elusive barn find you’ve always dreamed of, or could they've been full of someone’s already-impressive car collection? Or maybe — well, more likely — they were just there for the farming essentials. Unless you go door knocking or late-night prying, you'll probably never find out what such buildings contain.

Brigham MacDonald is one such farmer with one such large farm shed. It’s the type of shed that townies can only ever dream about owning, but the reality is that it’s there as an essential business tool to keep the farm running — however, it’s also large enough to have things pushed into its corners and forgotten about.

A few years ago, Brigham’s five sons thought it was about time the old boy got a hobby, and, since he was, like all farmers, practical with his hands, playing around with an old car seemed like just the thing for him to get into. As his entire life has been on the farm and spent raising the boys, Brigham had never acted on his interest in cars, never sparing the time or having the motivation to build anything interesting or buy anything that wasn’t a practical workhorse. With the boys talking him into splashing out, Brigham’s thoughts turned to the old ’46 Chev pickup sitting in one corner of the

shed. It was the car that some of the boys had learnt to drive in, and it had been used as a farm hack for many years, until the bonnet flew off one day and it got parked up, all but forgotten about.

Looking at the truck with fond memories, Brigham decided that restoring it to original would be a good interest outside the farm work. Of course, his five boys thought otherwise. After all, what would a group of young guys want with a grandpa-spec restored pickup? It was hardly the type of thing they’d want to be seen in, let alone score the keys to for heading off for a cruise in.

As if being outvoted five-to-one on his own project wasn’t enough to make Brigham realize the pickup was never going back to original, the lads called in the dad of one of their good mates to take a look at it. Well, that good mate’s dad just happened to be Les Beaumont of Marlborough Classic and Custom Restorations (MCCR).

Les ran through the various options with the family. When discussing modifying the truck, Les suggested that, to get it sitting at the height the boys wanted it, it would be easier to drop the body onto a different chassis and that finding something suitable might not be an easy task. Oh, how wrong he was, as, also taking up space in the shed was an old Mitsubishi L200 ute, from which the motor had been removed long ago.

With Les announcing that there couldn’t be any better chassis for the job than that, the truck’s fate was sealed — and a stock restoration was not going to be a part of it.

to get the height right, it would be easier to drop the body onto a different chassis

1946 CHEV PICKUP ENGINE: 350ci small block Chev, 0.030-inch overbore, ARP fasteners, GM steel crank, stock rods, hypereutectic pistons, mild cam, Verner double-row timing-chain set, 600cfm Edelbrock carburettor, aftermarket headers, twin 2¼inch exhaust, Flowmaster mufflers, aluminium radiator, relocated fuel tank DRIVELINE: GM TH350 transmission, EB Falcon diff, 2.93:1 ratio SUSPENSION: L200 front end, L300 van springs, Nolathane bushes, L200 leaf suspension, Monroe shocks, custom Panhard rod BRAKES: Custom pedal, aftermarket booster, underfloor master cylinder, L300 front discs and L200 calipers, EB Falcon rear discs and calipers WHEELS/TYRES: 18x8-inch Foose wheels, 235/40R18 and 245/40R18 tyres EXTERIOR: Custom wellside, fibreglass rear guards, custom glass, macrocarpa deck lining, custom ‘Brigham blue’ paint CHASSIS: Stock L200 chassis, custom body mounts INTERIOR: Full custom re-trim, custom gauges PERFORMANCE: Untested

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JAPTASTIC Fitting a later-model chassis under a pickup like this is nothing new, although there are plenty of things to look out for when doing so. It’s commonly thought that a Mitsubishi L200 chassis, such as that used in this build, is a better option than the more readily available Toyota Hilux.

That’s due to the L200 having wider-spread chassis rails, into which builders find easier to install larger motors. In addition, L200s use coil springs, as opposed to Hiluxes, which have a torsion bar set-up. It pays to consult an LVV certifier before considering any chassis swap such as this, as the vehicle’s identity is normally associated with its chassis; that can cause problems further down the line if not dealt with the right way.

“The ’46 was pulled out of the shed and delivered to MCCR, and the boys and I volunteered to strip the L200. We pulled off the body and all the bits we thought we didn’t need. Les told us not to throw anything away till the project [was] … finished — so we dumped everything apart from the rolling chassis and delivered that to him! The first thing Les asked was where the steering column was. Whoops!” recalls Brigham, laughing now about a situation that wasn’t so funny at the time.

With both the chassis and pickup at MCCR, Brigham would pop in from time to time to check up on progress. These chats evolved into talk about all sorts of other things, with the two growing from strangers into great mates as the build progressed.

Despite the MCCR team looking after the build, Brigham wasn’t totally hands off — after all, it was meant to be a project for him to do, not just to pay the bills. He got involved when he could, from stripping paint to running parts and everything else that was achievable without Les’ years of specialist knowledge and experience.

“My wife and I had a trip to Christchurch on a buying spree for shiny things,” recounts Brigham. “Les suggested we see Fast Eddie at American Auto Parts, who was really helpful. I got the steering wheel, shifter, wiper motor, rocker covers, air cleaner, etc. It was fun, and, without the boys there, the choice of parts was mine but so was the bill!” he laughs.

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BRIGHAM MACDONALD AGE: 60 — unless I’m in the truck OCCUPATION: Farmer / Vineyard owner PREVIOUSLY OWNED VEHICLES: Triumph Stag V8, various farm hacks DREAM CAR: The ’46 WHY THE PICKUP? My sons talked me into it BUILD TIME: Three years.

LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: A lifetime BRIGHAM THANKS: My wife, Lynley, and my sons and daughters for their support and help, and who now have turns at taking it for a run; Les and the team at Marlborough Classic and Custom; Graeme from RPM on 8 for the engine work; and Ian from Marlborough Motor Trimmers.

Meanwhile, Les and the team at MCCR were busy rectifying the damage sustained by the pickup’s body over the 60-plus years since it had rolled off the production line. With the wellside tray beyond repair, a replacement was built from scratch under Brigham’s specific instructions that it must have rolled top edges rather than square folded ones. A pair of fibreglass guards was attached to the new wellside and modified to suit the running boards.

Now that the boys were having their say on the direction of the build, the pickup’s original motor was never going to have the power or noise they were after. When searching for something more suitable, Les came across just the thing — a CF Bedford van that had been fitted with a 350ci small block Chev, TH350 transmission, and Ford

nine-inch diff. While the van’s engine was complete and running, for peace of mind, it was sent off to Graeme at RPM on 8 for a teardown and rebuild.

There, it was fitted with new internals, including a decent cam. With a 600cfm carb already fitted, along with a set of aftermarket headers, the combo, while untested on any dyno, provides more than enough power for the truck.

The TH350 transmission was also swapped across to the L200 chassis but not with the nine-inch; it is running a Falcon diff, which was mounted to the stock leaf springs. While the diff provided disc brakes for the rear, more Mitsi parts were sourced for the front end in the form of L300 discs to match the L200 calipers. The whole lot is controlled by an underfloor-mounted master cylinder and custom pedal assembly.

Over the years, time had taken its toll on various parts of the truck, and some bits either just weren’t good enough to be refitted or had simply vanished over time. Thankfully, Graeme the engine builder was also building a ’46 and had a spareparts truck, which came in handy on more than one occasion.

With the body beaten back to perfection, the task of choosing an appropriate colour was undertaken.

This was one area of the build in which Brigham knew exactly what he was after — however, what he wanted didn’t exist on any colour charts. After plenty of custom mixing and spray-outs, the perfect colour was arrived upon, and aptly named ‘Brigham blue’.

The cab was the first item to be fitted, and, when Brigham saw it sitting there — no doors, no tray, no front end — he couldn’t help but take it down the

road for a test drive. While Les was concerned that Brigham had forgotten he was in suburbia rather than out on the farm, the result of the drive was one super-happy owner who now couldn’t wait to get the pickup completed.

After spending plenty of time in the truck’s uncomfortable cabin back in days gone by, Brigham was determined to make it a comfortable place going forward. To help with this, the MCCR team called on Marlborough Motor Trimmers to stitch up a full custom interior for it, to which a set of Auto Meter gauges and an aftermarket heater system were added. With the interior and engine bay sorted, the finishing touch to the exterior was required, and there was no better wood for the job than macrocarpa grown on the family farm.

The goal was to have the truck completed

by Christmas 2012, and, as the deadline approached, it was all hands on deck to ensure the target was met — and it was. By midday on Christmas Eve, the truck was all legal and delivered home for the first time.

Since then, much as expected, it hasn’t been just Brigham who’s enjoyed it, but his boys, too. Its debut outing to the Nelson Motor Show, with eldest son Dion behind the wheel, saw it take home Best Pre-’49, while another son drove it up for Repco Beach Hop 15.

It’s not the awards that are important to Brigham, though; it’s the experience as much as anything — sharing not only time but also a passion with the boys. The truck was an important part of their past, and now it’s set to remain an important part of their future — and it’s never likely to be pushed into a corner of the shed again.

the perfect colour was arrived upon, aptlY named “Brigham blue”

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tech FEATURE

HOW TO: Chassis Modification

Have you ever wondered what’s involved in chassis modification? Matt Gibson shows us as his C10 gets shortened, C-notched, four-linked, and bagged WORDS: CONNAL GRACE PHOTOS: MATT GIBSON / ADAM CROY

Before we get into this article, it’s probably a good idea to begin with a disclaimer: this is intended to give an insight into how chassis modification is conducted. It is not intended as a substitute for proper research, knowledge, and ability.

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t’s not uncommon, when talking to someone about their car, for them to mention, “It’s been four-linked” or, “I just Z’d the chassis” — making these sound like the simplest of tasks. While chassis modification isn’t necessarily a massive job if you know what you’re doing, the amount of work required may go over the heads of many car lovers.

That old adage ‘measure twice and cut once’ is a very good one to follow — especially if you’re thinking about taking an angle grinder or welding torch to the vehicle’s chassis. In the world of custom vehicles, chassis modification is a common phenomenon, be it for converting to a different suspension style, improving the vehicle’s performance capability, or achieving a lower ride height.

However, because any chassis work involves the structural frame of the vehicle, it’s not something that you’d want to do if your only measuring

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tools are a pair of eyeballs and a ‘She’ll be right’ attitude. So, when we heard that Matt Gibson from Pariah Custom Werks would be putting in some work on his own Chevrolet C10 pickup, it sounded like the perfect chance for us to take a closer look.

The work Matt is talking about is probably a little more extensive than you may at first imagine.

Starting with a long-wheelbase Chev C10, Matt plans to install a bunch of off-the-shelf Porterbuilt components — including a front drop member, rear C-notch, and four-link kit — and shorten the chassis to turn the truck into a short-wheelbase version. The purpose of the build is to turn the truck from a long-wheelbase cruiser into the essential short-and-slammed pickup / bike-hauler.

Matt doesn’t mess around — starting at the end of June 2016, the build is completed in the space of a month.

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STEPS FRONT 01 The first part is the easiest — installing the boltin Porterbuilt front clip. The kit is almost entirely bolt-in, with a bolt-on drop member, tubular front control arms with airbag perches, bolt-on upper shock mounts, and a weld-in notch for steering rack clearance. The bolt-in stuff is reasonably straightforward — just drop the old gear out, and install the new kit in its place.

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02 Having the new front end installed on the chassis allows Matt to identify where the steering rack ends would foul on the chassis rails when the suspension is fully aired out. This is where the supplied notches must be welded in, to provide adequate clearance. As this is the first part of the chassis that will be hit with the angle grinder, it’s very important to ensure that everything is measured and triple-checked before cutting.

Measurements are made and marked, and Matt cuts a section out of the chassis rail into which the notch section will be welded. This is done with a MIG welder, and it’s probably worth noting that these welds are meant to be strong, not pretty. Browse Instagram if you want to see ‘rolls of dimes’.

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03 With the notch welded in, Matt takes the time to close off the open chassis rail in front of it by welding sheet steel in place. While this part of the chassis only provides support for the radiator, radiator support panel, and nose cone, the additional rigidity will not go amiss. With the welds smoothed and the chassis painted, this will look almost factory.

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square. This is crucial, because if the chassis is not square to begin with, any modification work will also be out of alignment, potentially creating problems with LVVTA certification, drivability, and the fitment and alignment of components.

05 Matt has enlisted the help of Leigh Fitzgerald, a ticketed welder and oldschool fabricator with the knowledge to ensure everything is done by the book.

The next step involves measuring — and lots of it — to ensure that everything is

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CHASSIS JIG 04 With the body panels, including the cab, stripped from the chassis, the chassis is mounted on a purpose-built chassis table, which acts as a large jig. This is essential, as it keeps everything square and fixed in place — necessary to ensure all measurements are correct and consistent. Starting at the front, the chassis is welded to the table at four or five points, the rear is knocked square, and then the remainder of the chassis is affixed to the table. This may sound simple, but an entire day’s work goes into ensuring everything is mounted correctly.

REAR 06 Things get a little more complex at the rear.

Not only will Matt be installing a Porterbuilt C-notch and four-link kit with Panhard bar, but he will also be shortening the chassis rails, effectively converting his truck to a short wheelbase. Before any work here is started, the cab is installed on the chassis and the new short bed is mocked up, allowing visual proportions to be perfected.

07 While Porterbuilt does offer bolt-in C-notch kits, Matt has opted for a weld-in version, just to be on the safe side when it comes time to get the truck road legal. A ‘C-notch’, for those who are unfamiliar with such terminology, refers to a kicked-up rear chassis rail section — with a cross section resembling a ‘C’ — intended to provide axle clearance when lowering a vehicle’s ride height to this extent.

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08 Rather than go the usual route of chopping a length out of his chassis beneath the cab, Matt does it a little differently. The Porterbuilt fourlink kit includes the all-important four-link bars, diff mounting brackets, and chassis mounting brackets. Positioning the four-link chassis mounts further forward — to a point where the wheels sit within the short-bed arches — means that Matt can install the C-notch further towards the front, removing the required chassis length from behind the C-notch, thus killing two birds with one stone.

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09 The C-notch comes as a section to be welded in place of the existing above-axle rear chassis section. Measurement before installation is key — getting the C-notch properly aligned is critical — as this is where the build passes the point of no return. Once Matt is happy with his measurements, it’s time to cut the chassis rails off from behind where the C-notch will be installed.

Since Matt will be installing the C-notch further forward than its intended position on the chassis, he has an alignment issue to take care of. To get the C-notch rails to line up with the chassis rails, the chassis rails must be splayed outwards.

To do this, a slit is cut in the upper and lower chassis rail section, allowing the rails to be dragged outwards to meet the C-notch. Since the chassis is squared on the chassis table, it’s easy to ensure that the distance is the same on each side.

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10 The C-notch sections can now be mocked up on the chassis by tack-welding them in place, but it’s important to reinforce the chassis wherever modification has occurred. Lengths of 5x50mm flat bar are welded inside the chassis rails where the rails were splayed, and the cuts are plug welded. We don’t have any close-up photos of this, but you can see the area in the above photo, just above and in front of the four-link chassis mount.

11 Having the short bed mocked up on the chassis jig means the rear chassis rail section can be easily finished. Since this section of the chassis is responsible only for supporting the deck, it doesn’t need as much reinforcement as the front C-notch join.

12 With the rear section in place, a piece of 5mm plate steel is used to box the rail. It is cut to the right shape then welded in place. The chassis rails in front of the C-notch are boxed at the same time, using the same method, allowing the C-notch to be welded in place both front and rear.

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13 A hole saw is used to drill ‘plugs’ on both sides of the C-notch, as seen in the image. These plugs are then welded, providing additional structural reinforcement.

14 With the rearmost chassis rails taken care of, Matt can turn his attention to the front C-notch connection. This will need intensive reinforcing, as the C-notch contains the mounting points for both the rear airbags and the rear shock absorbers. First, the excess original chassis railing is cut off at an angle, to sit flush with the C-notch. This can be seen in the image; note that the rail had already been boxed.

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15 Another section of 5mm plate steel, cut to sit around the C-notch, is welded to the boxed chassis rail to provide further external reinforcement. More plugs are drilled into this plate and the C-notch, which will be plug welded to provide yet another weld point.

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16 The last bit of chassis welding involves boxing off the C-section.

The underside of the C-notch is supplied with the Porterbuilt kit, and simply needs to be welded in — observe the welds throughout the inner part of the C-notch.

FINISHING TOUCHES 17 Next to be installed is the Porterbuilt tubular suspension cross member, incorporating the upper mounts for the rear airbags and shocks. The cross member and C-notch came pre-drilled to allow for correct alignment, and Matt supplements this by welding the cross member to the C-notch and adding several plug welds to be sure.

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18 With this all taken care of, the chassis can now be separated from the chassis jig and the finishing touches taken care of. While some things, like the new short bed, will take a bit of time to sort, there’s no lack of other things to do.

In addition to installing the remainder of the suspension componentry, Matt also has to sort out some form of front bump stops to get the truck through LVVTA certification.

19 Using his knowledge from past builds, Matt devises a system in which a length of mild-steel box section — with pre-drilled-through hole — is welded to the base of the front chassis rail, just above the lower control arm.

This is gusseted with a wedge of box section, also welded into place, and finished off with a scalloped end. This will provide a suitable mount for a front bump stop, which will sit between the mount and the lower control arm.

20 With all the fabrication done, Matt can now strip the chassis and get it painted. All finished, it’s hard to believe this is the same chassis — but it doesn’t just look the part; all of the work has been done properly; legally; and, somehow, within the space of a month.

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dream shed

HADLEIGH Oudemans

Hadleigh Oudemans’ passion for family and restoring old cars is what drives him to get up every day, and what drove him into making the most of his shed WORDS AND PHOTOS: ROD DUNN

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round 15 kilometres out of the Canterbury town of Timaru, on a long country road, lies a group of inconspicuous sheds on a two-acre piece of land that holds not only some beautiful classics belonging to its owners but also a restoration business turning out some of the country’s loveliest resto jobs. Hadleigh Oudemans, his wife, and his six children have called this piece of paradise their home for 14 years.

Having done his panel-beating apprenticeship and been lucky enough to learn some old-school techniques, Hadleigh would come home from a busy day and continue working in the shed on old cars.

“That’s where my passion is,” says Hadleigh. “I love oldschool restoration.”

After working as a foreman in a Timaru panel shop before becoming the floor manager, Hadleigh decided that he wanted to do his own thing, so, in September 2006, he

did just that, setting up H Bomb Customs & Classics, and has never looked back. Now, he’s got four staff working on up to 25 projects at any time.

“It wasn’t always like this,” Hadleigh explains. “When I first started out, I was working from an old barn, with a dirt floor, on my own. My first jobs were a VW van and a Chev truck, both in need of rust repairs.” A mate returning from overseas offered his skills as a painter, of which Hadleigh was in desperate need, and the business has grown from there into what it is today, complete with a large new shed, paint booth, and storage containers for all those parts.

The original barn has been fitted with a concrete floor and is now used as the assembling area for customers’ vehicles. When not in use, it houses Hadleigh’s beautiful ’56 Ford F100 truck. The Ford was found on Craigslist in the US back in 2014, and, after several conversations with the original owner’s daughter, Hadleigh made the

of a detective’s car — hence its great condition.

The back wall has large shelves, filled with books, magazines, and parts, including the manifold and triple carb set-up that was destined for the F100.

Old gaming machines and a fridge fill the side space of the shed. The two mopeds are interesting items; one belongs to Hadleigh, and the other is being rebuilt for a customer who plans to use it to deliver coffee. They are both German-built Zündapps.

Across the driveway, in another shed, is the place where the metalwork is done. Currently, two cars are being worked on in here — a ’62 Mercury Monterey belonging to a staff member and a ’55 Chev for a customer. The Mercury, which is a recent import, has had a massive amount of tin worm — caused by salt damage — removed. The interior trim is still in great condition and will be reused, and the 390ci V8 has had a freshen-up and will soon be united with a new chassis, due to the original being too rusty. After extensive repairs and panel alignment, the right-hand drive Chev body will be fitted to its original chassis, which, in turn, has been fitted with EA Falcon running gear and suspension.

WHEN I SAW HOW GOOD THE F100 WAS, I DECIDED TO BUILD IT AS ORIGINAL AS I COULD decision to purchase it. The truck was used a lot by the original owner, even to camp in. Sometime during the early ’70s, it was painted in a pale blue metallic paint, which it was still wearing when it reached our shores.

Hadleigh’s plan was simply to keep it as it was, other than dropping it and adding some wide whitewalls, exhaust, and triple carbs, but that plan went out the window after he got a good look at it during some small repairs.

“When I saw just how good it was, I decided to build it as original as I could to showcase what we do,” Hadleigh tells us.

Working nights and weekends, Hadleigh completed the rebuild in seven months — when you look at the quality and standard of finish, you realize that’s an incredible effort. The truck has been completed to factory spec, and everything

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from the interior and exterior colours to the drivetrain has been finished to the way it would have been when it left the factory. The engine is the original 272ci V8 backed by a four-speed box, which was a rare factory option, usually selected at the time of ordering if you intended doing a lot of heavy towing.

Sharing space with the F100 is Hadleigh’s painter’s ’67 Galaxie, which is a recent import. Coming from Arizona, the car required only a small amount of rust repairs to the boot floor. The car is currently going through compliance and isn’t far off getting its WOF and rego.

An eye cast around the shed reveals a great collection of New Zealand number plates hanging on the wall. They are all double sets and in good condition. The ‘police’ plate is the real McCoy, having probably done its time sitting on the dash

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“It’s an unusual choice,” says Hadleigh, “but will work well.”

In the back corner is something a little bit different: a ’37 Brockway 4½-ton truck, being restored for a client down south.

“It was complete when it arrived,” explains Hadleigh. “The metal was good, but the wooden frame was rotten. We have completed what metalwork was required, built new framing out of American white oak, and completely rebuilt and painted the chassis and suspension. It’s now close to reassembly.”

Sitting outside the shed is the family ride, a peppermint-green mid-’50s Ford Fairlane wagon, purchased from a couple in Rangiora.

“What do you buy when you want a classic and have six kids?” laughs Hadleigh. “This thing is a nine-seater and suits us well.”

WHAT DO YOU BUY WHEN YOU WANT A CLASSIC AND HAVE SIX KIDS?

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When purchased, the engine was in need of a rebuild, then it needed carpet and a new hood lining fitted.

When talking with Hadleigh, it is easy to see the passion he has for his craft, and the knowledge he has about each vehicle.

“The internet is certainly a huge help when researching a project, or tracking down those hard-to-find parts,” he explains.

Wandering over to the new shed out back, it becomes very apparent just how busy these guys are. Hadleigh explains that, with a number of projects, they will work on the build, then the owner will take them away while they save for the next stage.

The back shed contains new arrivals and vehicles being stripped down. There is a former racing MkI Cortina that requires a massive amount of

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work and plenty of new panels, and a New Zealand– new ’46 Ford jailbar flatbed pickup that will be converted to a wellside and have all the metalwork done before being finished off to original. Next in line is a ’36 Ford three-window coupe, which is in need of some metal fabrication for the floor and firewall to bring it back to the land of the living. The vehicle will be finished off as a nostalgic hot rod.

Around the walls are a number of old Coca Cola bottles, and an early cooler. Old flathead V8s sit on the floor, as does a spare 272 for the F100, should it ever be needed. Up on a shelf is a cool collection of fizzy bottles, including Pepsi Cola and Dr Pepper.

Moving outside, Hadleigh points to an area that houses more projects waiting for his attention and also part of the boneyard, home to cars that will

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be picked to death for their bits. The two 40-foot containers next to it are used to store all the parts that are removed from customers’ vehicles. “We have a filing system in here,” laughs Hadleigh. “We know where everything is.”

Stored on top of the containers are numerous body panels that may be required one day. The same can be said for the large car cemetery in the back paddock — some are just junkers, and some will become donors. Nothing really gets thrown away, because, as time goes by, parts are harder to find.

With such a strong emphasis on family and a passion for what he does, setting himself up to work from home has meant that Hadleigh is living the dream, and his customers are just lucky they’re the ones who get to benefit from it!

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QUICK FIX SETTING IGNITION POINTS WORDS AND PHOTOS: NZV8

SETTING POINTS

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he older generation can probably do this blindfolded, but, if you’ve grown up in the electronic age, setting ignition points probably sounds far more daunting than it really is.

While it pays to check your points gap occasionally, the main time you'll want to set your points gap is when you’ve replaced the old, wornout points with new items, which is the case we detail here. The replacements cost us just under $11 from an auto-electrical supply store and the set of feeler gauges was $7 from Repco.

Essentially, the process of the points opening and closing — and the gap created when they do — dictates when a spark is sent to your engine, so, for optimal performance, it’s crucial that the gap be as outlined in the manufacturer’s specifications.

The first step is to pop the distributor cap off and pull off the rotor. You’ll then see one screw,

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or maybe two, and a small wire with a clip on it.

Undo the screws and unclip the wire, remove the old points, and throw them firmly in the bin. Sit the replacement part in place, connect the wire, and tighten the screws until the points can still be moved but are not floating freely.

On the arm of the replacement, you’ll see a contact pad. The engine needs to be turned, either by putting your car into gear and pushing it — make sure the coil and the battery negative are disconnected — or via a strong arm on the front crank pulley until the pad is sitting on one of the lobes of the octagonal distributor shaft.

The gap that needs setting is the distance between the two contacts when the contact pad is on the most extreme point of the lobe.

The vehicle owner’s manual should have a recommended gap — and chances are that,

Position contact pad to touch the most extreme point of lobe

Measure the distance here when the contact pad is on one lobe of the distributor shaft

nowadays, you’ll also be able to find it on the internet. In this case, the gap was between 0.013 and 0.018 inches, so, to be safe, we found the 0.016-inch feeler gauge on our set. From here, it’s a matter of adjusting the positioning of the points until the gap is as required — the easiest way being for the screws holding the points assembly in place to be reasonably tight — leveraging the whole part with a screwdriver if required.

Once the points are in place and the screws tightened, select a feeler gauge one step larger and double-check it doesn’t fit. Next, select a feeler gauge that is one step smaller and confirm that it’s loose — there is, after all, the possibility that the points moved during tightening.

Assuming your gap is in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations, your car should now run as good as new.

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concept corner SPORTING CHANCE

CONCEPT: TODD HALL ILLUSTRATION: ASHLEY WESTMORELAND

SPORTING CHANCE Over the past few years, we’ve featured two of Todd Hall’s cars, both black, both tough, and both street cars. So, what would Todd build if he had a blank canvas and an open chequebook? More of the same, of course — except that this time around he’d start with something way outside the square: a 2009 Range Rover Sport

T

he first obvious problem would be the ride height — even though these vehicles are more often seen outside schools than out in the mud, they’re still way too high off the ground for someone of Todd’s mindset. The easy way around that would be to lift the body off the chassis then roll in an Art Morrison replacement chassis. The added advantage would be that Todd could spec the chassis to be built with narrowed rear chassis rails, giving room for the massive 20x15-inch rear rims that he’d tuck under it.

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Since all Todd’s cars seem to end up on the drag strip at some stage, the nine-inch diff would need to be secured to the chassis by way of a four-link — except that, instead of coilovers, it would be an airbag suspension set-up. After all, there’s no point in dropping a Rangey unless you can slam it right to the floor.

Clearly, Todd’s not a fan of Pommy power plants, as his plan would be to ditch the stock engine in favour of an 8-71-blown and mechanically injected 427-cube big block

Ford. Backed by a decent auto trans, this should certainly help get the kids to school on time, as well as fry those massive tyres when required.

Interior-wise, Todd would add a half-cage to help stiffen the whole lot up and include some protection, but keep the rest of the factoryfitted black-leather interior stock apart from a few additional gauges.

Could this be the ultimate school-run machine? We think so.

OF C O CARTHIS MOURSE, CONIS ONLYNTH’S C OVE TEPT, BUA QUICK THOLU GHTSO HEART WE’D YOU OUR IT’S HR SAY ABON IT. SYO OT, N OUT W , HAV OT, IM HET E OR R COM IDICU POSS HER M L IB FAC ENTINGOUS BY LE, FACEEBOOK PON OUR NZV8BOOK.CAGE, MAGA OM/ ZINE

YOUR THOUGHTS ON LAST MONTH’S SHOW SKIDDER CONCEPT Richard Brown: I’d move the door jamb rearward about three inches, cut the rear doors down and weld them in, stretch the front doors to match new openings, and ‘crop’ and tuck the front and rear bumpers.

Steve Hldnup VG-Veight: Notched, tubbed, and bagged on Intro rims. It’s the finer details that make a car.

Michael Wilkinson: Yea cool; just make sure you put a Ford small block in it to make up for the other f*** up.

Dave Gurr: Bring it back out like it used to be in the ’90s. That car used to dominate the illegal drags!

LVVTA’S VIEW Justin from the LVVTA says: “The Art Morrison frame would be a good option here — they’re well built and come with good suspension, steering, and brakingsystem options — but the installation of a full chassis into the Range Rover would tip this into being a scratchbuilt vehicle. This means that the low-volume-vehicle (LVV) frontal-impact requirements contained in section 5.10 of the NZ Hobby Car Technical Manual (HCTM) could be used, due to the fact that the late-model Range Rover was originally designed and crash-tested to meet frontal-impact standards. One downside to this becoming a scratch-built vehicle is that the multiple factory-installed Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) airbags and pre-tensioner seat belts would also need to be removed, as these would no longer work in tandem with the electronic systems, which are timed

to deploy in a direct relationship to the crash loads being subjected to the OEM chassis but not to the new chassis. New web clamp–type seat belts could be fitted in place of these and would provide the next-bestpossible level of occupant safety.

The engine of choice shouldn’t present any issues, but don’t forget that the LVV sight-line requirements would need to be met, which basically means that no part of the scoop could be higher than halfway up the windscreen. For full details on how to measure this properly, check out the External Projections LVV standard, which is available free from the LVVTA website.

You’d also need to plan any roll structure carefully, as there are a few requirements in this area, particularly from the Interior Impact rules, which basically state that no part of the roll cage can be positioned within the

head-strike ‘A-zone’, and that it must be padded when positioned adjacent to any A-zone. The high roofline might help to keep any bars away from the A-zone, but it’d pay to check out the Interior Equipment chapter of the HCTM for more details relating to roll-cage requirements and also to see examples of the interior zones.

Although the Range Rover may not be a vehicle of choice for hot rodders, if you take away the Picton ferry–spec 4WD suspension, questionable-atbest British drivetrain, and electrical systems, they’re not actually a bad vehicle, and we do hope to see this on the road some day. Good luck with the build!”

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feature car

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cade, e d a n re tha now o m r at fo ev Monza r lost time! e s t o h h o in the ig-power C make up f n e e b b bt t have eight and ill no dou o n y a He m h his lightw Anderson w it e CHIVE but, w ted, Wayn AM CROY / NZV8 AR le AD comp WYLIE PHOTOS: D

D S: TO WORD

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T

he old saying about a builder’s house never being completed is one that most of us know to be true. Of course, for every rule, there’s an exception, and that exception is usually in the form of the builder who not only completes their own house but also does so to awardwinning standard and national acclaim.

Wayne ‘Jacko’ Anderson doesn’t build houses; he builds race cars, and, as you may have guessed, he’s more akin to the award winner than the non-completer, as his mindblowing ’75 Chev Monza shows.

While Jacko laughs that, when he turns up to the track with the car, people will

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wonder what this silly old fella is up to, the reality is that he’s had far more race experience than most others on the track, even if he’s not been behind the wheel competitively for well over a decade.

Those years spent out of the driver’s seat were consumed with owning, building, campaigning, and maintaining various race cars, both for himself and for others — with very successful results, we might add.

So, when Jacko decided that it was time to get back in the hot seat, there was never any chance that the car he’d do it in would be anything less than extremely well planned out and even better built. After all, it’d give him the chance not only to try out new things but also to build a car exactly as he wanted, with no one else’s opinions, sponsors, or tastes getting in his way.

With the last few cars he raced competitively being Camaros, Jacko was keen to build something along those lines — except that, with so many of them already on track, he yearned for something a bit different. Reportedly, there was talk of AMC Gremlins and Pacers — however, a Chev man at heart, Jacko couldn’t stray that far from his roots. Instead, what he decided on was a 1975 Monza Mirage — a decision made easier by the fact that a customer of his at AV8 Motorsport also wished to build one. This meant that all the time that went into developing parts could be shared between the two builds — and we can assure you that plenty of time was involved.

When the Monza rolled off the production line

back in 1975, it was available with a range of anaemic engine options, from a 2.3-litre fourbanger through to a 350ci small block V8, which made a comparatively big, yet still abysmal, 125hp.

It was one of these ‘big-power’ V8 Monzas that Jacko managed to get his hands on, finding it deep in the South Island. What made it appealing to him, besides the fact that it was a lightweight rear-wheel-drive car that came factory fitted with a small block, was that it also came wearing a Monza Mirage bodykit. Around 4000 of these Mirages were built in 1975 on the GM production line, whence they were shipped off to a business called ’Michigan Auto Techniques‘, which was authorized by GM to modify them. The cars were fitted with wide-body front and rear guards and trendy (at the time) stripes, before ending up in dealer yards around America.

When the Monza landed at AV8 Motorsport, it still had a current WOF and rego, and Jacko’s son, Tony, even took to driving the car to and from work while the plans for its transformation were taking shape.

Before long, the plan was cemented and the car stripped to a bare shell. A trip to Kiwi Metal Polishers in Rotorua, where the car was submerged in an acid bath, soon saw not only the paint but also the body filler that had been applied over the years removed. While a few more accident and rust repairs were required than initially expected, it was still a great starting point — it’s not every day that a Monza comes up for sale locally.

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1975 CHEV MONZA MIRAGE ENGINE: 409ci small block Chev, Dart Little M iron block, forged crank, forged rods, forged pistons, Dart 16-degree CNC-ported heads, Holley Pro Systems carb, Dart intake, MSD 6AL ignition, 17⁄8-inch headers, twin 3½-inch side pipes, PWR radiator, PWR oil cooler, PWR gearbox cooler, XRP dry sump, Aeroflow air filter, MagnaFuel fuel pumps, Fuel Safe fuel cell, Peterson fuel filter DRIVELINE: Emco four-speed dog box, Tilton triple-plate clutch, Ford nine-inch diff, custom housing, Detroit Locker centre, 3½-inch driveshaft SUSPENSION: KW adjustable coilovers, remote-reservoir shocks, custom tubular arms, three-link rear, Watt's linkage, adjustable roll centre, solid rod ends, custom adjustable sway bars BRAKES: Tilton pedal box, Brembo calipers, 330x32mm front discs, 300x25mm rear discs

With the customer car being built while Jacko’s was in the planning stage, every time a piece was produced for it, a second was created for his. Included in this pre-planning and cutting was plenty of tubing for the comprehensive roll cage the car would receive. Of course, every car is different, and, as it turned out, so are the floorpans between Monzas of different years.

Side-exit exhausts were planned, along with a factory-style three-link rear end, so very few parts of the original sheet-metal work needed to be cut out. Of course, various new parts were soon added, such as custom front strut tops, which are an integral part of the roll cage, along with enlarged shock mounts in the rear to allow room for the adjustable KW coilovers.

Rules for the Enzed Central Muscle Car (CMC) series, in which the car may one day compete, dictate a few very specific items regarding

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suspension and what can or cannot be changed from factory. It was with these rules in mind that Jacko had custom arms created that work in conjunction with a Woodward steering rack and SKF hubs. Down the back, the custombraced diff housing was secured in place with an adjustable roll centre and features plenty of custom bracketry for the three-link. While all the parts Jacko and his son Tony produced for the car would look impressive in their raw state, they decided on a gold-passivated finish. It’s a look that adds a whole new dimension. This high attention to finishing details is carried on in the rest of the fabricated parts in the vehicle, of which, understandably, there are plenty. For example, the custom gauge mount isn’t just a folded piece of metal but another piece of functional artwork, without a single weld out of place.

WHEELS/TYRES: 17x10-inch Simmons FR17 wheels, 275/40R17 Hankook Ventus tyres EXTERIOR: Custom front bumper, Monza Mirage bodykit, fibreglass guards, PPG Silver Birch paint, custom headlights INTERIOR: Custom roll cage, OMP seats, OMP harnesses, Auto Meter gauges, Woodward steering column PERFORMANCE: 699hp, 597lb·ft

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WAYNE ‘JACKO’ ANDERSON CAR CLUB: Auckland Car Club AGE: Not a pensioner yet OCCUPATION: Race car fabricator WHY THE MONZA? Small and light, with plenty of potential BUILD TIME: 2500 hours LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: Two years JACKO THANKS: My son, Tony; Moselle Panel and Paint; Shane at Segedins; Mark at Racer Products; Edgell Automotive Ltd for the motor

NO NEWCOMER Wayne’s no newcomer to motorsport in New Zealand. He and his brother, Bruce, competed for decades in the wellknown Pinepac Mustangs and Falcons. We managed to catch up with them both for an interview in our last issue. If you missed it, you can purchase a copy via magstore.nz.

You’d think that, after decades of racing and years of building cars, the fun might have worn off for Jacko, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Every time a new part for the Monza arrived, he was as excited as a kid at Christmas, unwrapping and inspecting it before adding it to the growing pile of parts. When all the parts required for the finished build were collected, the AV8 team could essentially mock up the whole car and ensure that every last bracket, including those for the complex oiling and fuel systems, was in the perfect place before sending the shell off for paint.

Tony’s own race car wears silver and blue, so it seemed fitting that the instructions passed on to the team at Moselle Panel and Paint were to replicate that look. Before the car could be sent for paint, fibreglass moulds of the original Monza kit were taken, with Jacko making the smart decision to create the front guards and flares as one piece at the same time. The only other body modification was a CMC-class-legal extension to the front air dam, which, although low, sits well within the car’s original proportions.

Speaking of keeping inside the body lines, the twin 3½-inch side-exit exhausts also fit in without adding any width to the car. Those big pipes were required to help eke as much performance as possible out of the Edgell Automotive–built 409ci small block Chev. All parts for the engine build, including the Dart Little M iron block, Dart heads, intake, and Holley carb, were purchased through fellow CMC racer Shane Johnson at Segedins Auto Spares. The result of these parts combined with Edgell’s know-how is an impressive 699hp and 597lb·ft. More important than overall figures, though, is just how low down in the rev range that torque is available; with 546lb·ft at 4000rpm, the Monza should give the Nascar-powered competition a good run out on the track.

With those torque figures came the need for a gearbox that would last; for that, Jacko opted to install an Emco four-speed dog box along with a Tilton triple-plate clutch.

Many of the race-specific parts, such as these, the Tilton pedal box, the Brembo brakes, the OMP seats, and the dry-sump oiling system, were

sourced through Mark Petch at Racer Products.

The parts list alone makes it clear that the car was always going to be a good one, but it’s the execution of the build that sets it above the rest. With every small detail taken care of and a few of Jacko’s own touches added — for his own satisfaction more than anything else — the more you look, the more impressive you realize the result is.

Now that the car’s complete, when is it racing?

Jacko’s actually not quite sure. The thrill of the build is equally important, if not more so, for him. So, after a build time of 2500 hours, rather than head straight into fierce competition, Jacko is intent on enjoying laps in a non-competitive environment. However, we’re sure that that once the adrenalin starts flowing, it won’t be long before he’s back in the groove and keen to prove that the car goes every bit as well as its looks suggest it should.

FOR MORE BUILD PICS, SEARCH 'MONZA' ON THEMOTORHOOD.COM

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on track ENZED CENTRAL MUSCLE CARS NEWS

THE BATHURST TEAM I

t’s now just days before the Enzed CMC cars competing at Bathurst will be packed into shipping containers and sent abroad. All going well, we should have a more in-depth profile on each of the cars and drivers up online at themotorhood.com by now — search ‘CMC Bathurst team’.

As you can see from the list below, we’re sending the best to try to stick it to the Aussies on their home turf. Many of the cars have been given a mechanical overhaul as well as a cosmetic touch-up for the trip, so here’s hoping they do New Zealand proud.

HOLDEN POWER FOR HOPKINS C

larke Hopkins’ Heads Racing Supplies– prepared Torana has been at the pointy end of the Group 1 field ever since it debuted in Central Muscle Cars (CMC) back in 2010. Since then, a few different engine combos have been under the hood, but Clarke’s always stayed loyal to the car’s having a Holden 308–based combo.

But for the upcoming season, things are set to get far more serious, thanks, in part, to the big guns now being well up on horsepower in relation to the Torana. To fix the deficit, Clarke’s decided to sit out the Bathurst tour to focus on an engine build like no other.

Based on an Australian-made Torque-Power Little Paw block, the motor has a bore of 4.125 inches and stroke of 3.75 inches to displace 400ci, smaller than the potential capacity that can be achieved with one. The heads are six-bolt CNC–ported Torque-Power TP 230cc items filled

CENTRAL MUSCLE CARS COVERAGE

with 2.15-inch intake valves and 1.625-inch exhaust valves operated by a large-diameter Crower cam.

Up top is a 950cfm Braswell carburettor on a Torque-Power Pro Paw manifold, while MSD components have been used to take care of the ignition side of things. The result is exactly what Clarke asked for: a motor that works best between 4000 and 8000rpm, topping out at a massive 780hp at 7800rpm and 571 lb·ft at 5700rpm.

With the engine being the first of its type to be used locally, people will be watching to see how well it goes. Rodney Heads, of Heads Racing Supplies, says, “They’ve had these blocks in 1500hp twinturbo drag cars in Australia, so there shouldn’t be any problem in that regard”, and that gives the team plenty of confidence in them.

With Clarke’s talent behind the wheel, the Torana sure looks set to give the pointy end of the field a good shake-up!

DRIVER Bruce Anderson Calvin Andrew Tony Barrow Paul Clarke Cam Crawford Greg Cuttance Grant Dalton Michael Eden John Elliott Sean Fowler Tony Galbraith Ross Graham Steve Hildred Greg Holden Mark Holland David Hopper Duane Ingley Brendan Mason Colin Meadows John Midgley Steve Noyer Dean Perkins Steve Ross Steve Scoles Tristan Teki Andrew Turner

CAR Ford Mustang VK Commodore VK Commodore Ford Mustang XA Falcon Ford Mustang Chev Camaro XY Falcon LJ Torana LX Torana Valiant Charger LX Torana HT Monaro XT Falcon Chev Camaro Chev Camaro Dodge Challenger Chev Camaro Chev Camaro XE Falcon Ford Mustang XD Falcon VK Commodore Chev Camaro Chev Camaro VK Commodore

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

Get it right the first time If you are thinking about making changes to your car If you are wanting to import a vehicle

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cargo THIS MONTH’S MUST-HAVES

GET A GRIP Not all clutches are created equal, and unlike some off-the-shelf options, the Mantic Stage Clutch System is designed, engineered and manufactured with one thing in mind: performance. The five stages of the range suit streetperformance to track weapons, and feature upgraded cover assemblies, multiple clutch plate options and patented ER2 Technology. With 200 vehicle applications in the range, there’s a clutch system to suit your build.

Visit clutchindustries.com.au, or call the team on 09 636 5428 for further information.

CERAMIC PROTECTION If you’re the kind of person who enjoys making the most of your classic, whether it’s via spirited country driving or braving the supermarket car park, you will want to check out Ceramic Pro 9H. Ceramic Pro uses cutting-edge nano-ceramic technology to protect surfaces such as paint, alloy, metal, leather, fabric, glass, plastic, and rubber. The ceramic coating features a high-gloss finish with permanent bonding properties, a hardness rating over 9H, and super-hydrophobic and anti-graffiti characteristics. With inherent oxidation, corrosion, UV, and temperature resistance, Ceramic Pro 9H is just the ticket for keeping your prized possession in perfect condition.

Call Ceramic Pro New Zealand for an application quote, on 0800 202 025, or visit ceramic-pro.co.nz for more information.

LUBED UP Castrol Transmax with Smooth Drive Technology takes the guesswork out of buying quality transmission oils. This stuff features an innovative automatic adjusting friction level formula, to ensure changing pressures on critical transmission parts are correctly addressed to protect the life of your drivetrain. It’ll also deliver smoother gear changes, eliminating noise and shudder — meaning you can spend more time focusing on the next corner on those spirited weekend drives.

To get peace of mind and confidence from only $79.99, head to castrol.co.nz for the finer details.

themotorhood.com

BRAKE DUST, BEGONE! We can’t be the only ones who are fed up with cleaning brake dust off wheels.

The iron particles produced by braking friction slowly eat into the protective coating, potentially wearing away the surface. Agent X Iron Remover is an easy way around this problem — just spray Agent X Iron Remover onto the affected wheel or paint surface and watch it turn purple as it safely extracts the iron from the surface, ready to be washed away. Agent X Iron Remover is available from luxxio.co.nz for $23, but you can get it for $15 by using the promo code ‘V8AGENTX’, which is valid until October 24. Call Luxxio on 0800 589 946 for more information.

QUALITY COUNTERS

SPEEDY COATING

Classic Instruments is one of the key players in elite-level car builds throughout the USA, and you can now get its gauges right here in New Zealand, thanks to Rods by Reid.

Rods by Reid is the authorized New Zealand vendor for Classic Instruments, which has just released an all-new performance bezel with AutoCross and Velocity series 2 5/8-inch gauges.

All instruments are packaged individually, include wiring harness, installation hardware, and the necessary sending unit. The full range of gauges and any additional information can be found at classicinstruments.com, or you can call the Rods by Reid team on 07 552 5977.

Speedy Coating will change the way you clean your car. While the vehicle is still wet after its wash, apply one or two sprays of Speedy Coating to each panel, spread it with a microfibre cloth, allow three minutes for it to set, then rinse and dry the car — you can now enjoy an amazing shine, UV protection, and a hyper water-repellent finish. Even better, Speedy Coating is safe on all external surfaces — including your windscreen glass — and lasts for well over three months! Speedy Coating is available for $40 from luxxio.co.nz, although NZV8 readers can get it for just $20 with the promo code ‘V8SPEEDY’, valid until October 24.

THE ICE ADVANTAGE The thing about power is that you can never have too much, and a capable ignition system is one of the most important ways of getting there. Upgrade your system with an ICE 7051 Extreme Duty 6AL — a direct replacement for the MSD 6425 box — featuring an adjustable rev limiter, from 1000–10,900rpm, in 100rpm increments, via push-button switches. ICE’s unique digital inductive spark (DIS) technology also delivers a more powerful spark with longer duration across the rev range, when compared with conventional CDI ignition systems.

The ICE 7051 Extreme Duty 6AL is available for $450 (incl. GST) from myautomotive.co.nz.

BLOW ’N’ GO Want some blown grunt in a small package for your street rod or muscle car? Then it’s hard to look beyond the Edelbrock E-Force Enforcer crate engine. The crate comprises a trusty Edelbrock RPM E-Tec four-bolt mains 350ci small block Chev with 9.5:1 compression, and bolts an Edelbrock E-Force supercharger to the top, with either two 600cfm Edelbrock Performer carbs or a pair of 1000cfm Edelbrock throttle bodies.

The EFI engine is good for 519hp and 507lb·ft on pump gas, with full specifications available at staparts.co.nz.

EARL KNOWS Quality fittings can make or break the performance of any motorsport–oriented vehicle.

Earl’s has the most complete line on the market, and is renowned as the world’s number-one motorsport hose and fittings source — if you want it done right, you buy Earl’s.

Segedins Auto Spares now carries a large range of Earl’s fittings and hoses to suit all your performance and motorsport demands.

For further information, contact the team at Segedins Auto Spares on 09 638 6439, or head to holley.com/brands/earls/.

themotorhood.com

decade ago ISSUE NO. 17, OCTOBER 2006

BUY THIS ISSUE

ONLINE

WHERE IS IT NOW?

AT MAGSTORE.NZ

1963 HOLDEN EH ALLAN NORRIS

F

or well over the past 10 years, Allan Norris and ‘BAD EH’ have been staple features at just about every car event within driving distance. Although, at the time we first photographed it all those years ago, it was one of the best-presented street cars in the country, Allan’s intention was always to drive the car the way it deserved. That meant enormous burnouts, furious quartermile passes — the EH runs easy 10s — and driving it to whatever event he wanted, down whatever crap back road needed driving down.

Since we featured BAD EH, Allan’s made a

number of changes, to make the car more up to date. These include having Terry Bowden, of Terry’s Chassis Shoppe, rework the roll cage to keep up with rule changes; replacing the old exhaust system with new pipework, including four mufflers to keep everything 100 per cent street legal; and installing a new transmission and stall converter.

After all the grief he’s given it, Allan decided it was only fair to give the BDS 6-71 blown 350ci small block a freshen-up a few years back, accrediting the engine’s reliability to a good engine builder, Murray Smith from Papakura Engine Specialists.

AND THE REST The only one Whether you just picked this issue off the shelf by chance, or you’re a diehard reader since day dot, one thing should be obvious — we can only feature the cars that people actually build, which means an abundance of Holden HQs, Chev Camaros, Ford Mustangs, and the like. Chevrolet Suburbans?

Not so much. But grab a copy of NZV8 Issue No. 17 to read all about this awesome example — the only Suburban we’ve ever featured — with a silky-smooth finish outside, supercharged 415ci small block under the bonnet, and Chassis Tech air suspension underneath; a very neat car that was ahead of its time in New Zealand when we featured it.

Father’s Day is on Sunday …

It’s interesting to look back on our Father’s Day Drags coverage from 10 years ago, as it makes you appreciate just how far the local V8 scene has progressed — no turbos in sight, just a whole lot of tough, aspirated, nitrous-fed or supercharged lumps making for the country’s toughest

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street cars. While some of these cars are instantly recognizable, like Craig Wall’s tough Camaro, others — such as Reece Fish’s ’56 Chev — are totally different. From what we can gather, it was Reece who had the quickest ET of the day, running a 9.18-second pass — how times change!

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CHRISTCHURCH 15C Byron St, Sydenham Phone (03) 366 2500 0800 6STOCKS (0800 678 625)

This Month at V8 FUTURA TRAILERS LOW LOADER WORDS: CONNAL GRACE PHOTOS: ADAM CROY

TRANSPORTATION REVELATION I

f you’re reading this magazine, you’re probably well aware of the love–hate feeling that cartransporter trailers inexplicably evoke. Yeah, they’re incredibly handy — and usually a pain in the arse to load and secure a vehicle onto. When we got a call from Futura Trailers to check out its all-new Low Loader, designed to make loading and unloading a breeze, we didn’t hesitate to do so — it’s not every day you see a full race-spec Porsche GT3 drive on and off a trailer with no long ramps, blocks of wood, or profuse sweating to be seen.

The Low Loader trailers are the brainchild of Futura Trailers’ Glen Reid, and are a totally original and patented design that the company has been producing since 2010 — one that has evolved into these brand-new aluminium Low Loaders.

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The basis of the Low Loaders’ structure is in the aluminium deck. These are manufactured and anodized overseas from 6005 aluminium — and we were surprised to learn that no welding is involved in the assembly of a Low Loader trailer. In the original design, Glen wanted to have the frame welded, but experts advised him against it.

Glen explains, “Welding softens the area, making it prone to cracking. [The material] would have needed to be thicker in the welded area, adding weight and cost, and it would lose the anodizing.”

The aluminium deck features a tapered floor, allowing a very generous approach angle for even the lowest vehicles when the deck has been lowered. The system is based on cleverly designed lifting arms, which incorporate both the lifting mechanism and suspension system and are operated by an electric winch.

That winch, which avoids the need for an expensive, complex, and heavy hydraulic system, is in a sealed box mounted on a steel cross member. The electrical system includes a trickle charger, which runs off the tow vehicle’s tail lights, and a solar-panel charger to ensure that the trailer is always ready to go.

Futura Trailers has already begun fielding orders and enquiries from the US, as well as locally — race drivers, show car owners, and vehicle-oriented businesses just love the Low Loaders. While we can’t fit all the information on this page, you can visit themotorhood.com to read our full rundown on how they’re made. For full technical information, visit futuratrailers.com, phone 021 918 800, or email glen@futuratrailers.com.

VISIT THEMOTORHOOD.COM TO VIEW A FULL ARTICLE ON THE LOW LOADER TRAILERS

VE Commodore

DIFFS

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Our knowledgeable sales team offer product and technical expertise – just a phone call away.

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AUCKLAND MTS PERFORMANCE Lowest price guaranteed on wheels, tyres, and suspension mtsp.co.nz / 021 4 TYRES (021 489 737) / 82 Wairau Road, Glenfield AUTOSTANCE Wheels, tyres, and suspension autostance.co.nz / 09 271 40587 / 1B Highbrook Drive, Auckland

TARANAKI TARANAKI TYRETORQUE For more than just tyres! tyretorque.co.nz / 06 757 5988 / 53 Molesworth Street, New Plymouth

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ENGINE SPECIALTIES LTD Performance engines are our specialty enginespecialties.co.nz / 09 444 4213 / 96 Hillside Road, Glenfield, Auckland

FRANKLIN CAM SERVICES NZ Custom built and modified camshafts for your exact needs camshafts.co.nz / 0800 CAMSHAFTS (226 742387) / 127 Manukau Road, Pukekohe, Auckland

QUALITY REBUILDS LTD Contacts, rotors, caps, condensers, advancers, electronic kits for engines qualityrebuilds.com / 09 267 4700 / 85 Polo Prince Drive, Manurewa, Auckland

DR TRANS Custom automatics/gearboxes/diffs, and tuning specialist 200–1000hp drtrans.co.nz / 09 444 6222 / 6A Kaimahi Rd, Wairau Valley, Auckland

NATIONWIDE FUELSTAR Fuelstar fuel combustion catalysts for less fuel, cleaner air fuelstar.com

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Engine reconditioning, automotive machinists, metal reclaiming, engineering, balancing, and automotive diesel parts franklinengineering.co.nz / 09 238 4079 / 129 Manukau Road, Pukekohe, Auckland

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MANAWATU-WHANGANUI HAMCO INDUSTRIES We specialize in wire wheels repairs and restorations

actiontyres.co.nz / 04 939 2284 / 7 Wareham Place, Seaview, Lower Hutt

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NATIONWIDE WHITEWALL TYRES NZ LTD

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whitewalltyres.co.nz / 027 242 5430 / Nationwide

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AUCKLAND GEORGE STOCK & CO Your first choice for performance suspension systems georgestock.co.nz / 0800 STOCKS (0800 786 257) / 8 Te Apunga Place, Mt

Wellington, Auckland THE DROP SHOP Custom air suspension specialists thedropshop.co.nz / 021 384 666 / 70 Kerrs Road, Manukau, Auckland

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Right-hand drive conversions, importing, sales, parts, and servicing atstrucks.co.nz / 09 438 1571 / 9 South End Avenue, Whangarei

AUTO SUPER SHOPPES AUTOCARE Your one stop shop — WOF, services, diagnostics, suspension, wheel alignment autocare.co.nz / 09 438 4700 / 116 Lower Dent St, Whangarei

AUCKLAND HYTECH ENGINES Complete engine reconditioning hytechengines.co.nz / 09 262 0955 / 15B Ryan Place, Manukau, Auckland

CLASSIC VEHICLE SOLUTIONS LTD Full mechanical services. Vehicle storage classiccarsauckland.nz / 09 276 2726 / 16 Marjorie Jayne Crescent, Otahuhu, Auckland

AUCKLAND ENGINE REBUILDERS From the latest to the oldest, we can rebuild it enginerebuilders.co.nz / 09 589 1280 / 2 Botha Road, Penrose, Auckland

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PRO STREET PERFORMANCE Commodore modification perfection 09 238 6324 / 89B Manukau Road, Pukekohe, Auckland

FUEL CONVERSIONS & AUTOMOTIVE REPAIRS LTD (EST. 1993) Servicing, repairs, computerized tuning/fault diagnostics, LPG specialists — all makes fuelconversions.co.nz / 09 630 1277 / 3 Charles Street, Mt Eden, Auckland

GLENDENE ENGINE RECONDITIONERS 60 years experience in engine reconditioning, servicing and repairs ger.co.nz / 09 818 5352 / 31D Cartwright Road, Kelston, Auckland

Rust, paint, fabrication, automotive, restoration, certification, mechanical, upholstery, panel, and custom work rustorations.co.nz / 03 374 6330 / 7 Penn Place, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch

SOUTHLAND COVENTRY CLASSICS LTD Classic Jaguar recreations in alloy coventry-classics.com / 03 208 0748 / 20 Oldham Street, Gore

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NORTHLAND BINDONS LTD Your one stop shop for automotive/engineering parts and tools bindons.co.nz / 0800 246 366 / Corner Water and Walton Streets, Whangarei; 3 Klinac Lane, Waipapa

Hamilton’s ‘Engine Whisperers’ — guaranteed to deliver tuning expertise and professionalism terapaauto.co.nz / 07 849 6722 / 14 Northway Street, Te Rapa, Hamilton

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Vehicle service, repairs, maintenance, dyno tuning, engine building, and development conceptdynamic.co.nz / 07 572 5089 / 5 Hocking Street, Mount Maunganui,

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Specializing in vehicle tuning, maintenance, and performance enhancements ddtdynotune.com / 06 754 8336 / 4 West Quay, Waitara, New Plymouth

Car diagnostic specialists stahlcar.co.nz /Ellerslie, Auckland

WELLINGTON TULMAC CARBURETTOR SPECIALISTS Specializing in carburettor rebuilds and full reconditioning services tulmac.co.nz / 027 612 2312 / 5 Burn Street, Levin

Vehicle window tinting, vehicle wrapping, and mobile tinting service owt.co.nz / 0800 649 323 / 122 Railside Road, Henderson, Auckland

AGEING AUTO SPARES Specialists in Ford and Holden parts Facebook: Ageing Auto Spares Ltd / 09 269 2011 / 18A Westbrook Avenue, Takanini, Auckland

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Specialists in flywheels, ring gears, and flexplates ringgear.co.nz / 027 493 2855 / 19 Olena Avenue, Pakuranga, Auckland

Wellington Automotive Gearbox Specialists www.wellingtonautomotive.co.nz / 04 569 7827 / Cnr Victoria & Wakefield Sts, Alicetown, Lower Hutt

BESPOKE AUTO GLASS

NELSON TURBO CHARGERS Specialized service and repair of all high-speed turbo chargers turbochargersnz.com / 0800 4 TURBOS (0800 488 7267) / 108 Vickerman Street, Port Nelson

NATIONWIDE MICROTECH NZ Producing a range of affordable high quality engine management systems microtechnz.co.nz / 027 472 5000 / Nationwide

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Classic, custom, and competition glass bespokeautoglass.co.nz / 021 161 6831 / 17 Manu Place, North Shore, Auckland

MINI BITZ Classic Mini spares and restoration minibitz.co.nz / 09 837 0040 / Unit B4, 50 Keeling Road, Henderson, Auckland

MUSTANG CONNECTION Classic Mustang parts, panels and accessories. Huge range in stock mustangconnection.co.nz / 09 253 9911 / 29 Neilpark Drive, Highbrook, East Tamaki, Auckland

A & W AUTO SPARES Top quality parts for Holden and Nissan cars awautos.co.nz / 09 276 2399 / 30 Westbrook Avenue, Takanini, Auckland

WAIKATO THE SPEED SHED

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AUCKLAND SOUTH PACIFIC ETHANOL Suppliers of quality race fuels southpacificethanol.co.nz / 021 885 902 / 20 Bledisloe Street, Cockle Bay,

RECHARGE BATTERIES Battery revitalizer and conditioner recharge.net.nz / 0800 36 66 36 / PO Box 350, Pukekohe, Auckland

NZ’s largest range of new Mustang parts in stock thespeedshed.co.nz / 0508 MUSTANG / 8 Matos Segedin Drive, Cambridge

ANYFORD CAR PARTS We specialize in Ford car parts from 1990 onwards anyford.co.nz / 07 847 7777 / 76 Higgins Road, Frankton, Hamilton

BAY OF PLENTY NZ CLASSIC CAR MIRRORS & ACCESSORIES Original classic styles from the original English manufacturer classiccarmirrors.com / 07 571 3119 / 75 Churchill Road, Tauranga

CORVETTE PARTS We specialize in Corvette parts, importing, and Corvette service corvetteparts.co.nz / 07 543 2566 / Griffin Road, RD1, Tauranga

YOUR LOCAL SPECIALISTS Have your business listed here for only $10 a week — email advertising@parkside.co.nz

CANTERBURY ROADSIDE RELICS NZ Restoring old motorbikes? Decorating man-caves, garages or sheds? View our memorabilia online! road-relics.co.nz / 027 937 7177 / Christchurch, Canterbury

KELFORD CAMTECH New performance camshafts, regrinds, valve springs, stainless valves, CHI heads kelfordcams.co.nz / 0800 338 000 / 15 Kennaway Road, Woolston, Christchurch

OSAKA AUTO PARTS Used Japanese Nissan performance parts osaka.co.nz / 03 366 8477 / 63 Gasson Street, Christchurch

PROTECT AUTO SOUND Sound and security specialists protectauto.co.nz /0800 HOOK IT (0800 466 548) / Unit 2/75 Blenheim Road, Christchurch

SILVESTER V8 PERFORMANCE American V8 performance engine parts and racing equipment silvesterv8.co.nz / 0800 327 350 / 144 Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch

JT AUTOGLASS LTD Installation, windscreen replacement, glazing, glass replacement, repairs jtautoglass.co.nz / 0800 555 141 / 16 Surfers Place, North New Brighton, Christchurch

NATIONWIDE MOUNT SHOP Quality guaranteed! mountshop.co.nz / 0508 86 66 86 / Henderson, Penrose, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Christchurch

auckland

TAUPO AUTO & MARINE TRIMMERS

THE UPHOLSTERY COMPANY

Quality upholstery trimmers for automobiles — superior fabrics achieving quality results grant@taupoautomarine.co.nz / 07 378 6969 / 16 Manuka Street,Taupo

PANEL, PAINT, EXTERIOR

PANEL BEATING, PAINTING, CUSTOM BODY WORK, BODY PARTS AND EXTERIOR EQUIPMENT

NORTHLAND FULL NOISE AUTO RESTORATIONS LTD

SCUDERIA CLASSICA LTD Classic Ferrari for lease, static hire and Ferrari driving experiences 021 213 2816 / 57 Marine Parade, Herne Bay, Auckland

AIRONAUT CUSTOMS The car shipping specialists for import and export aironaut.co.nz / 09 309 8814 / 156 Parnell Road, Parnell, Auckland

XPERT WINDOW TINTING & SIGNAGE

AUCKLAND

VIPHIRE CAR RENTALS LIMITED

AUTOBLAST LTD Vehicle media-blasting specialists blasta.co.nz / 09 443 6574 / Unit 11, 59–63 Porana Road, Glenfield

CASCADE AUTOFINISH

AUCKLAND BEARING DISTRIBUTORS LTD Specialist suppliers of Japanese and USA wheel bearings, hubs, and seals aucklandbearings.co.nz / 09 444 6566 / Auckland, Manukau City, New Plymouth

BERRY PANELBEATERS

USA STREETWEAR

Restoration, commerical, accident repairs berrypanelbeaters.co.nz / 09 525 3242 / 15 Fairfax Avenue, Penrose, Auckland

The home of genuine car apparel in New Zealand usastreetwear.co.nz / 07 863 9082 / Delivery Nationwide

KWIK STRIP

ALL THINGS AUTO-ELECTRICAL, AUDIO AND UPHOLSTERY

Motorbike seats, automotive interiors, carpets, hood linings, door panels, dashboards, tonneau covers, custom upholstery, and full vehicle re-trims theupholsterycompany.co.nz / 021 150 6617 / 728 Beach Road, Browns Bay, Auckland

Specialist panelbeating and restoration services from brand new Ruakaka workshop fullnoise.co.nz / 09 432 9351 / 35 Pokapu Road, Port Marsden Park, Ruakaka

Not your average car painter showpaint.co.nz / 09 576 4345 / 139 Cascades Road, Pakuranga, Auckland

INTERIOR / ELECTRICAL

VALUATIONS, INSURANCE, SHIPPING AND TECHNICAL SERVICES

NATIONWIDE

PROTECT AUTO SOUND Sound and security specialists protectauto.co.nz / 0800 HOOK IT (0800 466 548) / Unit 2/75 Blenheim Road, Christchurch

SERVICES

Specialists in paint stripping and rust removal Facebook: Kwik Strip Ltd / 09 828 1462 / 40 Patiki Road, Avondale, Auckland

DENNIS SYVERSTON CAR PAINTERS Quality refinishers specializing in classics and V8s 09 238 9766 / 3 Paerata Road, Pukekohe, Auckland

DOMINION PANEL & PAINT

Automotive, marine, commercial — we provide mobile services throughout Auckland xperttinting.co.nz / 09 299 3728 / 179A Great South Rd, Takanini, Auckland Mercedes-Benz and Bentley rentals — the luxury car specialist viphire.co.nz / 0800 847 888 / 1384 Dominion Road, Mt Roskill, Auckland

KW HISTORICS — LOTUS & TVR Home of Lotus — NZ’s top parts, service, new/used car dealer lotus.co.nz / 09 274 3020 / 21D Lorien Place, East Tamaki, Auckland

CANTERBURY BRUCE MCILROY LTD Authorized Bentley service and Rolls-Royce heritage dealer bentleyservice.co.nz / 03 308 7282 / Corner Racecourse and Aldford Forest Roads

DRIVELINE/ BRAKES

BRAKES, GEARBOXES, DIFFS, DRIVESHAFTS AND AXLE PARTS AND REPLACEMENTS

AUCKLAND

Masters of quality — V8 specialist — call Rob for a quote 09 815 5521 / 16 Morningside Drive, Sandringham, Auckland

AUCKLAND

HOTWIRE AUTO ELECTRICAL

COUNTIES CAR PAINTERS

Car audio and security professionals hotwirenz.co.nz / 09 813 2460 / 4099 Great North Road, Kelston, Auckland

JUST BRAKES

Providing a comprehensive vehicle restoration and automotive painting service countiesautopainters.nz / 09 238 3267 / 52 John Street, Pukekohe, Auckland

Specializing in brake component overhauling for classic and race cars 09 579 4666 / 340B Church Street, Penrose, Auckland

MTA award-winning air conditioning specialist workshop for 2014 coolcar.co.nz / 09 443 8025 / 99 Wairau Road, Glenfield, Auckland

WAIKATO

STERLING CLUTCH & BRAKE

AUTO ELECTRICAL SPARES

BODYMODS

The alternator and starter motor specialists aespares.co.nz / 0800 478 278 / 25 Paramount Drive, Henderson, Auckland

Specializing in custom metalwork and panel beating on all makes and models Facebook: Bodymods / 07 849 7006 / 745 Te Rapa Road, Hamilton

DASHBOARD RESTORATIONS

COLLETTS PANEL & PAINT

Have your classic’s dashboard restored to a long-lasting factory-new finish dashboardrestorations.co.nz / 09 444 4211 / 3/54 Ellice Road, Glenfield

Specialists in restoring all models of MG and suppliers of new and used MG parts collettspanel.co.nz / 07 827 6458 / 43 Shakespear Street, Cambridge

CAR STEREO SPECIALISTS

NGATEA PANELBEATERS LTD

COOLCAR AIR CONDITIONING CENTRE

Car audio and security, GPS tracking, insurance assessments and repairs carstereospecialists.co.nz / 021 823 232 / Mobile service

JAY BEE AUTO ELECTRICAL GPS, alarms, air conditioning, re-wires, stereos, reverse cameras batteries, stereos jaybeeautoelectrical.com / 09 620 7813 / 156 Stoddard Rd, Mt Roskill

WAIKATO CH ALLEN UPHOLSTERY Highly skilled automotive upholstery and trimmings; classic, vintage, performance, hot rods, and boats challen@xtra.co.nz / 07 871 6619 / 243 Rickit Road, Te Awamutu

Vehicle restoration specialists ngateapanelbeaters.co.nz / 07 867 7561 / 12 Pipiroa Road, Ngatea

MUSCLE CAR FABRICATIONS Quality restoration, custom fabrication, radiator repairs, fibreglass repairs Facebook: Muscle Car Fabrications / 07 888 4295 / 55 Firth Street, Matamata

MANAWATU-WHANGANUI Old-school bodywork, painting, airbrushing, and all other restoration needs countryclassiccars.co.nz / 06 324 8884 / 699 Rongotea Road, Palmerston North

Leading home of car audio and security in the Waikato trendshamilton.co.nz / 07 846 6340 / Corner of Massey and Greenwood Street, Frankton, Hamilton

TARANAKI

BAY OF PLENTY

Paint and mechanical workshop Facebook: RE Automotive / 06 765 7656 / 32 Fenton Street, Stratford

Fittings, upholstery, covers, carpet, accessories, trimming, installation, repairs 07 574 1888 / 23A Hewletts Road, Mt Maunganui, Tauranga

DIFFS R US Not only diffs, also chassis fabrications, suspension, tubbing, custom body modifications 09 270 0855 / 4A Kaka Street, Otahuhu, Auckland

ZNOELLI LIMITED Specialist in brake parts, suspension, and wheel spacers/adapters znoelli.co.nz / 09 263 0350 / P.O. Box 82140, Highland Park, Auckland

WAIKATO ROCKET TRANSMISSIONS Providing top quality auto and transmission repair services since 1980 rockettransmissions.co.nz / 07 829 8217 / 1313 Horotui Road, Hamilton

NATIONWIDE

COUNTRY CLASSIC CARS

TRENDS CAR AUDIO & ALARMS

ACTION CANVAS & UPHOLSTERY

All brakes for all makes, including caliper overhaul and cylinder reconditioning sterlingbrake.co.nz / 09 636 4919 / 55 Nelison Street, Onehunga, Auckland

RE AUTOMOTIVE

CANTERBURY

THE KRYSLER SHOP Nine-inch housings, performance axles, full-floating hubs, third members, and brake kits thekryslershop.co.nz / 07 575 2206 / 8/19 Rerewai Place, Mt Maunganui

ATTRACTIONS

PLACES TO VISIT, THINGS TO SEE, MUST-STOP LOCATIONS

WELLINGTON

AEROTECH

SOUTHWARD CAR MUSEUM

MANAWATU-WHANGANUI

Quality body-kit manufacturer aerotech.co.nz / 03 384 3629 / 16A Maces Road, Christchurch

The largest and most comprehensive car museum in the southern hemisphere southwardcarmuseum.co.nz / 04 297 1221 / Otiahanga Road, Paraparaumu

CLASSIC & CUSTOM MOTOR TRIMMERS

AUTOTECH PANEL & PAINT

Specializing in classic cars and hot rods ccmt.co.nz / 06 357 0835 / Unit 1, 209 John F Kennedy Drive, Palmerston North

Full restoration and minor repairs, paint suppliers, and tyre fitting autotechpanelpaint.co.nz / 03 688 6488 / 50 Redruth Street, Timaru

MARLBOROUGH

RUSTORATIONS LTD

OMAKA CLASSIC CARS

CANTERBURY CURRENT ELECTRONICS Electronics wholesaler currentelectronics.co.nz / 0800 401 857 / 11 Elgin Street, Sydenham, Christchurch

SOUNDWORKS Car audio installation soundworks.net.nz / 0800 2 INSTALL (0800 246 782 55) / 352 Ferry Road, Christchurch

UPPER CLASSICS NZ Wood trim and veneer experts upperclassics.com / 03 962 7700 / 2 Halls Place, Christchurch

Rust, paint, fabrication, automotive, restoration, certification, mechanical, upholstery, panel, and custom work rustorations.co.nz / 03 374 6330 / 7 Penn Place, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch

OTAGO WHITESTONE PANEL PAINT AND COACH LTD Panel fabrication, alloy/steel, classic restoration, reproduction, crash repair, and paint whitestoneppc.co.nz / 03 433 1216 / 7 Dee Street, Oamaru, North Otago

A living, working display from the 1950s to the 1980s omakaclassiccars.co.nz / 03 577 9419 / Aerodrome Road, Blenheim

COATINGS

HEATPROOF, COSMETIC, CHROME , AND SPECIALIST COATINGS & WATER TRANSFER PRINTING

AUCKLAND HPC (HIGH PERFORMANCE COATINGS)

NATIONWIDE FINAL TOUCH Stone chip / dent repairs, paint sealants, detailing, bumper repair, wheel restoration finaltouch.co.nz / 0800 346 258

New Zealand’s leading performance coating specialists, serving you over 20 years hpcoatings.co.nz / 09 267 1007 / Unit 0/62 Mahia Road, Manurewa, Auckland

OTAHUHU CHROME PLATERS The chrome restoration experts and specialist metal polishers chromeplaters.co.nz / 09 276 9689 / 20 Hua Road, Otahuhu, Auckland

he

t From

trivia WE TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Net

COOL THINGS WE DISCOVERED ON THE INTERNET THIS MONTH

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR GTOS? OPTIONS: 1964, 1966, 1969, 1974, 2006 (Answers at bottom of page)

A

B

C

GTO TRIVIA The name ‘GTO’ was the idea of John DeLorean, the man behind the car carrying the same name, and was a direct ripoff of the Ferrari 250 GTO. ‘GTO’ is an Italian abbreviation for gran turismo omologato, (grand-tourer homologated), meaning the car is homologated for racing in the grand-tourer class.

D

E

Sales of the 1974 GTO were so bad that the model was discontinued, only to be reborn in 2004 on the VZ Holden Monaro platform.

Over the next few years, 40,808 GTOs were produced. Then, in early 2006, it was announced that 2007 would be the final year for the car due to its inability to meet new airbag safety standards.

BOOSTED MUSTANG If you read our review on the latest-generation Ford Mustangs a few months back, you’ll have seen that we said we suspected there was plenty of potential in the 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine.

That’s now been confirmed by an American tuning company, Bisimoto, which has extracted no less than 900hp from one.

Sure, the bottom end is full of aftermarket forged componentry, but the block itself remains stock and the head is a modified production item.

While we don’t think we’ll be seeing power figures of that sort locally for some time, it does show what’s possible.

NO. 138 Nexot nth ISSUE ON SALE OCTOBER 3 M

THE BIG 5-0

50 YEARS OF THE CHEV CAMARO PLUS:

BLOWN DODGE CHARGER, STAUNCH TORANA, FATHER’S DAY DRAGS, AND MORE SUBSCRIBE NOW, AND YOU’LL SAVE A BUNCH OF CASH, GET YOUR COPY OF NZV8 EARLY, AND AUTOMATICALLY GO IN THE DRAW TO WIN GREAT PRIZES EVERY ISSUE. FOR MORE INFO, SEE PAGE 38, VISIT MAGSTORE.NZ, OR CALL 0800 727 574 ANSWERS TO TRIVIA (ABOVE) A: 2006 B: 1969 C: 1974 D: 1966 E: 1964

DON’T MISS OUT

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This unique exhaust system helps improve performance so you not only JGCT VJG FKHHGTGPEG [QW YKNN DG CDNG VQ feel it as well.

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