WHATS HAPPENING News, views and things of interest

Got something to say? Send it to paul@pscmag.com.au or message us from the Performance Street Car Facebook page.

COOL COVER!

G’day Paul, You know what I love about Killer Rides (and Performance Street Car)? You never know just what style of front cover you are going to get. I love the fact that each new issue is unpredictable, with the last cover shot showing the two guys with their haul of trophies and the Torana just awesome! I’m a fan of your creativity. Keep up the great work! Daniel J – Terry Hills, NSW Hi Paul, I was pleasantly surprised to see the return of the video features to Killer Rides. It certainly adds to the normal car features you do each issue and with the two combined, Killer Rides is the complete package now. Thanks for everything you do for the car scene – especially in our local area. Without you and your team, the car scene in the Illawarra region wouldn’t exist. Well done. Tony F – Brownsville, NSW

G’day Tony, I thought it was about time to bring back the video features to compliment the new style of Killer Rides. There will be more innovation added to the pages in the coming months as I implement some changes I have planned. One thing is for sure, you’ll never know what you’ll find in each new issue of Killer Rides. Thanks also for supporting the events we stage as well. I can put all the plans into place, but if you guys don’t attend, then my time is wasted. Bring on a big 2023!

G’day Daniel, Thanks for the support mate. Like you, I am a fan of seeing cool covers, and no one does it better than the American’s! I grew up reading Hot Rod, Car Craft, Street Rodder etc and they always put so much work into their cover shots. I guess not having to answer to anyone about my idea’s helps too, so I hope they are liked more than they are hated! More coolness to come!

AMAZING EVENT COVERAGE

G’day Paul, I work most weekends so getting to events is extremely difficult for me, but thanks to the amount of event coverage you have in each issue of Killer Rides, I don’t miss out on too much. I love the fact that you feature all kinds of event, not just the high-profile ones. Thanks for going that extra mile with Killer Rides, I’m sure I’m not the only one that appreciates it. Michael K – Logan, QLD

Hi Michael, Before I got involved in the magazine industry, I spent plenty of time checking out shows from around the country in various magazines. I didn’t have the money to travel to shows but seeing what was in the pages of various magazines made up for that. Fast forward all these years later and I hope I am doing the same for other people in the scene. I have to thank guys like Jimmy T, Chad Silvey, Lauren at Xposed Photography, Greg ‘Beach’ Ball and others for sending in pics from various events that I’m not able to get to.

Hi Paul, Why do car events attract the clowns (both male and female) that have to revs the shit out of their engines when idling through a carpark overflowing with muscle cars and genuine car enthusiasts? And if that’s not bad enough, when they leave, they leave with the tacho bouncing off the limiter and think it’s cool. Hey guys! Do us all a favour and find somewhere else to do that stuff, you’re simply not wanted where we are! Bryce O – Geelong, VIC

G’day Bryce, Unfortunately mate, a meet full of modified cars will always attract those undesirables who cause a fuss and then leave – usually just before the Police arrive responding to complaints. I have the same thing happen at our Mid-Week Meet-Up’s. I asked one guy not to do anything stupid because there are camera’s everywhere and there are Police watching. He just laughed at me and the proceeded to do the exact opposite of what I asked. Funnily enough, he hasn’t been back! Maybe the Police caught up with him down the road? We can only hope…

COMING ATTRACTIONS

SOUTHERN ROD & CUSTOM 1955 BUICK COUPE

WORDS - PAUL BECK PICS - SRC There’s no denying that the one-time forgettable mid 50’s Buicks are on a rapid rise in the desirable stakes, with your basic drive-spec rides going for crazy money – exceeding the 5557 Chev price range! This particular ’55 Buick coupe being built up in the Southern Rod & Custom garage will definitely be a Buick to behold!

Shane Rowe and his team at the Shepparton based Southern Rod & Custom have been Bare Metal responsible for building some of the most outstanding cars ever seen in this country. Only a few weeks ago, the Les Lawry owned ’30 Ford Vicky was awarded Australia’s Most Beautiful Hot Rod award at the Hot Rod & Harley Expo – despite being built more than 20-years ago. It’s quality like that, that people will pay good money for. And when you see the high-end projects on the go in the workshop, you can see just how big a reputation Shane and his team actually have!

BUICK SMOOTHED OUT BODY NEW FLOORS REWORKED BOOT AREA KATECH PERFORMANCE LS-BASED ENGINE AND MATCHING TRANS

REVISED CHASSIS MINI-TUBS FOUR-LINK 9-INCH DIFF RACK AND PINION STEERING WILWOOD DISC BRAKES BIG DIAMETRE BILLET WHEELS INDEPENDANT FRONT END TUBULAR A-ARMS

You can tell by these pics supplied by their inhouse photographer, that this ’55 Buick coupe is going to be special. The guys have taken a well-worn coupe and waved their magic over the body bringing the exterior back to what appears to be a perfect rendition of how the Buick engineers designed it. But, as with most SRC-built rides, there are subtle changes made to the body to make the fit and finish much better. The guys also replaced the floors, added a set of minitubs and completely redesigned the boot area. The workmanship, as you’d expect, is first rate and its almost a shame to cover the bare steel with colour.

But, as with most SRC-built rides, there are subtle changes made to the body to make the fit and finish much better.

The conversion from left to right hand drive has been done using a fabricated steering column and pedal assemblies, whilst at the other end of the interior makeover, sees a fabricated parcel shelf with recessed speaker pods added. Retractable seat belts have been added as well.

Under the Buick’s big bonnet sits a KATECH Performance LS-based engine that is surrounded by a fabricated engine bay and firewall. The underside of the front-end features tube control arms, rack and pinion steering and coil over shocks. Each corner scored a set of Wilwood discs and calipers that live inside a large Diametre Billet Specialties wheels. As well as the minitubs, there’s also a 9-inch diff located via a four-link.

The Buick is a master class of how to build a show-winning classic with subtle mods, and modern day power. It’s a typical Southern Rod & Custom build in the fact that it not only is built to the highest quality, but its built to be a driver too, and at the end of the day, having both of those attributes is what we all strive for.

ON SHOWKILLERRides Rides Words - Paul Beck / Pics - Chad Silvey ROB DE SCISCIO LC GTR TORANA

As far as impact goes, Pro-Street will always be king! There’s nothing subtle about a ProStreet car, just hardcore performance at its very best. And that’s exactly what Rob’s stunning LC GTR is all about. Even though its detailed like a seasoned show car, make no mistake, this build is all about raw, unadulterated horsepower. Don’t believe me, check out the Torana’s engine bay! Yep, that’s wall to wall performance there! In amongst all of that turbo plumbing sits a 440-cube Dart LS block that’s been stuffed full of top shelf gear with just one goal in mind – producing bulk horsepower! The block features such goodies as a Callies billet crank with matching Ultra rods, JE pistons and a secret-spec hydraulic roller cam. The reworked LS heads scored PAC dual valve springs wrapped around much bigger valves. Right from the outset, this engine package was going to score two turbo’s and EFI, so a Plazmaman billet LS7 intake with no less that 16-injectors was added to fill the gap between the heads and now works in with the twin Garrett GTX3528R mirror turbos and custom twin-entry Plazmaman intercooler to get the small block screaming quickly! Custom exhaust headers get rid of the spent gases, with the engine being told how to react to Rob’s right foot via the Motec Global engine management system. The engine package was meticulously pieced together by Powerhouse Engines.

Making its long-awaited debut the recent Extreme Auto Expo in Adelaide, Rob De Sciscio’s wild LC GTR was the star of the show!

A tough-as-nails Turbo 400 auto built by Al’s Raceglides, sits behind the megahorsepower LS and utilises a manual, reverse pattern shift, to get the power back to the custom sheet metal 9-inch diff with Strange full-floaters, a Detroit TruTrac and Race Products 35-spline axles. The almost unbreakable rear-end sits inside a modified rear clip that was handled by the master, Frank Zagari. The ¾ chassis features a fourlink and wheel tubs big enough to swallow the 20x12-inch Weld Racing RTSs71 rims and 29x15 Mickey Thompson tyres. Upfront, the wheels measure 18x6 and roll on 26x6-inch Mickey Thompson Sportsman rubber. The standard issue front suspension has been ditched in favour of a custom K-frame, tub arms and Viking double adjustable shocks. Wilwood Pro-Series disc brakes feature on every corner.

Even though its detailed like a seasoned show car, make no mistake, this build is all about raw, unadulterated horsepower.

Apart from the wheel tubs, the Torana still resembles a factory-fresh resto – at least with the bonnet down, with Southern Classic and Customs laying down the custom mix over the Platinum Silver base as finishing off the body to perfection. The familiar GTR striping completes the external look nicely and ties in with the black centres of the rims. What can’t be considered even remotely close to what the factory had intended, is the interior. In amongst a mass of roll cage sits a full custom interior, with lots of red Nappa and Alcantara leather used to cover the Recaro seats, door trims, and dash. Speaking of the dash, Rod added a digital version of the original dash cluster, keeping the heritage, but updating the look! That piece of technology sits behind the factory thin rimmed steering wheel. Trims by Mooch handled the stitch work.

Whilst Rob’s wicked LC GTR has only just been unleashed onto the scene, don’t think that Rob’s intention is just to show the car and collect trophies. Hell no. You don’t spend that sort of coin on that sort of engine just to look at it! Whilst the driveline certainly has the capabilities to run into the 7-second zone, Rob is playing it down a little saying that everything needs to be right on, on the day. But when you consider the Torana is fully engineered, and ANDRA teched, you get the feeling this Torana is going to be part show, part street and part strip! Just how we like it…

SEMA2022

SEMA was back with a vengeance with more cars, more products and more people flowing through the doors than ever before. Thankfully, for those of us that couldn’t make the trip to the US to take in the event first hand, our well-travelled correspondent, Greg ‘Beach’ Ball was there and snapped a bunch of pics to make us all jealous. Enjoy!