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WHAT’S 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. STREET MACHINE NATIONALS - WHEN, WHERE, WHAT IF?
G’day Paul, I was looking through some old magazines and saw a feature on the Street Machine Nationals that you held at Rosehill Racecourse. It looked like a great event. Are there plans to bring that event back? For me, the Summernats has gone away from what it was originally about. I want to go back to where it was all about the cars. So how about it, will the Street Machine Nationals make a comeback? Will B via Email
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Hi Will, Yes, the Street Machine Nationals was a great event at Rosehill. We had so many sections there but it did lack some cruising etc. The next year, 2011, we made the move to Sydney Dragway where, at the time, there was a huge maquee in the pit area that we had show cars in and we set up the APSA to run their first ShootOut. They were good times, but at the time, with events like Summernats and Powercruise making huge inroads in the scene, it just didn’t make sense to continue with the Street Machine Nationals. Who knows what may happen down the track…
G’day Paul, Like so many others, I can’t wait for the Performance Street Car Road Trip to happen. My wife and I are planning to have our LS-powered HR Wagon ready to roll with everyone. We are going to treat this event as a family holiday as we have never been to many of the places the Road Trip travels through. Just one thing though, will you have a list of fuel stations where we can fill up along the way? We are so looking forward to hitting the road with a bunch of cool cars. Bring on October 2022! Andrew and Tania Via Messenger
G’day Andrew and Tania, Good luck with the build on the HR, here’s hoping you get it finished in time to make the cruise from Wollongong to Ballarat. In regards to fuel stops, each registered entrant will receive a daily schedule showing not only the cruise route but also each fuel stop and amenities stations along the way. We won’t be driving hours between each fuel stop so even those with horrendous fuel economy should still be OK. I’m with you – bring it on!
BARRA THE WORLD? I DON’T THINK SO!
Hi Paul, First we had the “LS the world” where everyone decided to put those engines into anything they could, from Corolla’s to Cadillacs, and now, it seems the “Barra the World” guys are making inroads with the humble Ford six-pack now the weapon of choice. What are we coming too? Commodore’s with Falcon powerplants? Whatever happened to the Holden vs. Ford rivalry? OK, they make power, but so does a 20B and we don’t see those being shoved into Torana’s, Mustangs and others. Come on guys, keep you Ford all Ford and you Holden all GM! Reg N Via Email
G’day Reg. As they say “Each to their own!”
Hi Paul, I have just purchased a well-worn HQ sedan and want to add a 600-plus cube Chev and I also want to tub the rear end to fit at least a pair of 15x12-inch rims and 15-inch Mickey Thompsons. The only issue I have is keeping the car legal to drive on the street. I have been told so many different stories from “you can’t fit bigger than 10-inch rims legally” to “ my 15x15’s are fully engineered and legal.” I want to be able to drive my car anwhere I want without the fear of getting a defect. Any ideas? Love the mag by the way, keep up the great work. Simon W via Messenger.
G’day Simon, Whilst that sounds like the ideal, tuff-street HQ, I reckon you’ll have some rego issues with the tubs and maybe even the size of the engine. At the end of the day, the certified engineer is the only person you should probably be listening to. If you’re lucky enough to find an engineer that will pass those specs, let me know, I’ll buy my old Studebaker back for a street car. At the end of the day, you can still build a tough HQ by the book that will allow you to cruise anywhere, anytime. Good luck with it all…
ADAM ‘CHEV SLED’ GRICE - 1957 CHEV TUDOR WORDS - PAUL BECK PICS - OWNER
57 57HEAVEN
BLOWN / INJECTED DART 427CI SMALL BLOCK Joe Blo EFI with 8 x 110lb injectors
For many, the ’57 Chev is the ultimate street car. It’s classic styling, ability to house any engine and overall appeal to all types of people, ensures this US icon will remain a mainstay in the street car scene…
Like most builds, Adam’s ’57 started off more like a wreck than a rescue. It had seen much better days and only those with some foresight would have considered a long-term restoration over a short trip to the dump. Thankfully, Adam knew the car had potential and committed to taking on what has turned out so far, to be a massive rebuilding process.
4 Bucket Seat Interior Billet Tilt Column AutoMeter Dash
3.9-GEARED STRANGE 9" DIFF FLOATING 35-SPLINE AXLES TRIANGULATED FOUR-LINK COIL OVERS DISC BRAKES
TUBE CONTROL ARMS DISC BRAKES COIL OVERS DROPPED STUBS
As soon as the once Blue Chev was towed from its resting place, Adam got stuck into stripping the body of all its removable parts before separating the body from the chassis. The body shell was the only part Adam was planning on keeping, and that has been subjected to many hours of work, removing rust and years of use and abuse. Every panel that could be replaced has been, with both rear quarter panels, the bootlid, both doors and guards along with the entire floor section including the boot area, rocker panels and sills being shipped in and fitted to the now rejuvenated body. Even the front valance panel is new! It’s been a huge task, but even with the body now in primer, it’s all been worth it. When the new colour goes on in the new year, Adam will fit up all of the new chrome work he has amassed over the years to complete the exterior makeover.
The interior couldn’t be further from the 50’s in its style, colour and execution. There will be a quartet of stylish bucket seats, a billet, tilt steering column and matching wheel and appropriate sized stereo system that will provide the cruising tunes if Adam ever gets bored with the whine of the big cube, blown small block. Adam is keep the US-spec dash and has filled it with AutoMeter dials. The reshaped door trims will feature more billet accessories.
Whilst the body will remain almost as the factory had intended, Adam did take out a small piece of steel from the bonnet to allow the EFI injector hat to hang through and the old door handles will be replaced with Kindig It Design billet items. That little engine teaser lets you know there’s no stock 283 powering this cool Tudor. That hat is connected to a big blower pushing plenty of air and fuel into a 427-cube small block that features a Scat crank, H-beam rods, JE Extreme forged pistons and a sizeable Lunati solid roller cam inside the Dart block. Dart 230 allow heads have been added after being fitted with Pac springs and Scorpion roller rockers. The engine pushes the power through a Hugo’s Raceglide with a 4500rpm converter, to a narrowed Strange 9-inch diff with 35-spline axles, floaters and a 3.9-geared Detroit locker centre. The frame has been completed renewed with the front suspension scoring tubular arms, dropped stubs, disc brakes and coil-over shocks. Down the back, there’s a triangulated four link, disc brakes and coil-overs as well.
To date, the rebuild has been a massive job, but it’s at a point now where things are happening quickly and the finishing date is within sight. With the paint due to flow onto the body early in 2022, Adam is hoping to be cruising the Chev as much as he can later in the year.
BOTTLED UP
ANGER!
Is there anything nastier than a wheelstanding, bottle-fed, big block black Camaro? Paul Paterson doesn’t think so…
Actually, this story could have been so much different if things had worked out just how Paul had planned. After cruising the streets in a 383ci EK Holden and big blocked ’66 Fairlane, Paul headed to Queensland to check out a Pro-Street ’57 Chev that Roly Leahy bought in from the US. But, upon entering the workshop, Paul spotted a blue with black vinyl roof ’67 RS Camaro for sale and something inside him said “screw the ’57, get the Camaro!” Now it may very well be a guy thing, but once the Camaro was back on Victorian soil, Paul was working on a plan to change the Camaro from what it was, to something very different. Can we ever leave things alone? Probably not – but that’s a good thing, right?
Whilst the Atlantis Blue paint was in fair shape, Paul knew that the Camaro would look so much tougher in black. Before too long the Camaro was relieved of its vinyl roof and the blue paint was just a memory. For Paul, the original colour scheme made the car look like a resto, he wanted his Camaro to stand out. Thanks to Troy Favor, the PPG Jet Black and satin RS stripes have transformed the coupe into the tough street car Paul had envisioned. The Cowl Induction bonnet and boot spoiler are the only non-original additions to the exterior. Paul even had the original mouldings and badges refitted to the now glistening body. Bolting on the satin finish Centerline Auto Drag wheels (the rears with beadlocks) completed the external make-over and Paul was now sporting a grin from ear to ear.
The Camaro’s interior has bene updated to continue that tough street car feel. The low back bucket seats that were fine in the 60’s didn’t make the cut and have been replaced by a pair of sports seats that have provision for the Pro-Force harness belts – a necessity when Paul hits the drag strip. Likewise, there’s now a chrome-moly four-point cage with a drivers intrusion bar just in case the unthinkable happens. Unfortunately, that puts an end to any rear seat passengers, but you can’t have everything. The factory dash has been complimented with an AutoMeter tacho with shift light with several more gauges added to the centre console and at the opening of the bonnet scoop. You can never have too much information… A wood-rimmed Grant steering wheel gives a 60’s feel. In aspirated form, the stoutChev produced 897hp, but with a tickle of the gas, that number soured to a neck-snapping 1200-ponies!
There’s no stereo in the Camaro and why would you need one when you have a 1200hp, nitrous-sniffin’ big block providing the tunes? Built by James Melmoth at MCE Melway Competition Engines, the 548 cube big block Chev is not just a regular runner at the track, but also on the street. James knows just what it takes to keep that street and strip balance and kicked engine build off with a new Chev Bowtie block, adding a suitable crank and Compstar H-Beam rod combo, forged pistons, and a custom roller cam. The Dart Pro 1 heads have been modified to breathe much better than they did out of the box and provide the platform for the Victor Junior intake and single 1050cfm Quick Fuel Dominator that gets plenty of E85 pushed through it via an Aeromotive 1000 EFI pump with return. A pair of custom headers flow the gases through four-inch collectors and a dual 3.5-inch exhaust system after the Crank trigger ignition system puts the fire into the belly of the beast. In aspirated form, the stout Chev produced 897hp, but with a tickle of the gas, that number soured to a neck-snapping 1200-ponies! A reverse-pattern Turbo 400 with 9.5-inch, 5800rpm Nitrous converter feeds the power through a three-inch tailshaft to the tough nine-inch diff that features 31-spline Moser axles and a 4.11-geared centre. To date, the driveline has proved to be up to the task of dealing with the Camaro’s power – even on regular trips to the track!
