WOW…. Issue 04 already!

For those of you who subscribed from day one, thank you sooo much for your support. The feedback we are having is truly awesome and fully appreciated! From a simple yarn over a cold beer to actually have this up and running where you can actually watch videos, check out a heap of photos and link straight through to providers to research or buy bits for your own creation is pretty cool if I may say so myself. There has certainly been some learning for me to get my head around everything that is involved that’s for sure! I fully get that this is something totally new and unique to the car scene, so the awesome feedback so far is fantastic to say the least. So what a crazy yet amazing month it has been since issue 03. Mangakino Hop went off fantastically with an amazing sunny day right from sunrise! This honestly would be the best oneday event that I have been to. The entertainment on and off the lake was awesome. The fields were absolutely full of very cool cars on show and the day just went without a hitch right to the end before the clouds rolled in. So lookout in a future issue for all the photos and videos to come out from that event. Winter certainly hit us after that but hopefully all that weather is now done and dusted as there is a lot coming up from now on! There are some very cool track events coming up too! Autofest will be held at Manfield this year and this is definitely worth getting along to. From show n shines to track cruising and burnouts, this event is going to ROCK! It is a two-day weekend event this time, so make sure you check it out. Apart from that, there is a heap of day shows coming up as well, so get the polishing rags out and get amongst it! In this issue we feature Henry’s Hot Rod shop opening day which was straight after the doors opened from our Covid lock down. Everyone was obviously hanging to get out with cars arriving from all directions. We’ve also got Part 1 of our Muscle Car Madness coverage. This is such a huge event and I love it! We have to cover this week over two issues as its huge! So look for the video icons and make sure you catch it all. As for our feature cars this month, we have Turtles awesome Willys coupe and Richard and Jacqui Thomson’s classy Chevy Bel Air. Both these awesome builds could look quite comfy in my shed I reckon! So jump in, make sure you check it all out, grab the video links and kick back and soak up the scene.

Cheers all, and thanks soo much again. Giggles (aka Bogan)

CONTENTS:

FEATURE: Richard & Jacqui Thomson’s classy boosted Chevy Bel Air ................ 4

Henry’s Rod Shop opening day 2020............................................................... 52

FEATURE: Turtle’s awesome Willy .................................................................... 120 31 years of madness! Muscle Car Madness 2021 - The build up ....................... 150

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EDITOR / PHOTOGRAPHER / VIDEO:

Kelvin Couchman (aka Bogan)

DESIGNERS:

Lisa Lewis & Michael Bogalo

AWESOME WILLY Turtle’s

Like a dream hot rod straight out of American Graffiti, this awesome build screams the early era of home built drag cars cruising the streets and looking for trouble! In my opinion, this is such a cool shape and I love it!

You either hate this model or you love it, but it gets in your face with that huge aerodynamic bonnet pointing at you saying “want an automobile race”. It just can’t help itself but look like a drag car, which is bound to be why a heap of them ended up on the drag strips back in the day. With huge tyres jammed in under the extra wide rear guards and a set of skinnies up front, they looked totally at home with that nose in the air and smoke rolling off the tyres. When Craig first hit me up to photograph his Willy, my first thought was, I better grab the wide lens for this job! (ohhh I know, but he’ll buy me a beer for that!) I’ve always fancied one of these Willy’s, and like Craig we probably got bitten by the bug as kids watching old hot rod movies. Craig’s search to find one of these rear bodies was getting pretty hard so the decision was made to build his own and what an awesome call that was. After finding a body in Palmy, the mission began building everything into and around it. A roll cage was snuck into the interior along with a heap of custom fabrication to build the massive stereo in behind the seats and roll the centre console up to the dash to install the necessary switch gear and stereo head unit! Being a full build like this, the bonus is, you can do pretty much what ever you like as far as custom bits go. If you get the chance to check out underneath this thing, you’ll see it’s pretty staunch with all the stability and strength that’s been built into hanging onto that 9” diff! It’s bound to need it too, as up front the tricked up Big Block 454 Chevy is bound to shove some twisting down the line!

ENGINE SIZE: Big Block Chevrolet 454, four bolt mains, mild cam, Weiand Stealth intake manifold, 750cfm holley double pumper carburettor, electric fuel pump, spitfire HEI distributor, 8mm ignition leads, 3” custom made exhaust with electric cut outs, Aussie desert cooler burnout king alloy radiator with a 16” electric fan and external oil cooler

TRANSMISSION: GM TH400, 2500rpm stall convertor, shift kitted

DIFF DETAILS: Ford 9” diff, Trac-Lok LSD head, 3.5:1 ratio, 28-spline axles, custom driveshaft

SUSPENSION: Narrowed (150mm) XJ6 Jaguar front end

BRAKES: Standard Jaguar disc brakes on the front, Commodore disc with internal drum style handbrake

WHEELS: Weld Draglite wheels 15 X 6 and 15 X 12 with Hoosier rear tyres

INTERIOR: Custom made interior with hidden roll cage, suicide doors, Custom made dash with Sport-Comp Autometer gauges, custom made centre console with B&M shifter fitted. Flaming River steering column with a flamed billet steering wheel, custom L300 bench seat

STEREO: Sony CD player, 2 X 6”front component speakers, 2 X 6X9 rear speakers, 2 X 12” subwoofers and 4 channel amp

OTHER MODS: Heaps! Shifting the gears and moving that power through is via a TH400 automatic, shift kitted and kicked in with a 2500rpm stall converter, so she’s actually a pretty cruisy rod to drive until you want it to shove you back in the seat. The paint work on this is what it’s all about with Willys. Custom flames flowing over the front guards and down that huge bonnet to the bug catcher poking out definitely takes you back to them old hot rod movies we all love. These are such an iconic automobile, they were not officially designed as a drag car of the day, more for the gentleman with a hat he could still wear while driving his car, but it only takes one hoodlum to start the ball rolling I guess. Turns out Craigs fits into that realm quite well, as along with this parked in the shed is his pretty cool looking T bucket he’s had for around twenty years. Not to mention a series of other coupes he’s owned until finally cranking into his dream build here. It’s definitely one to check out if you get the chance.

What else are you into Craig? Hot Rods, Fishing, keeping fit, socialising and having fun

So how long have you owned the car? 5-6 years

Where did you find it, import or around NZ? Bought the body from Palmy and the rest we made up.

What made you pick this car? Always wanted a 1941 Willys Coupe

What would be your favourite car to have? A steel bodied 1941 Willys coupe

What car would you like to test drive? Lambo

Any other cool cars in the shed? 1923 T Bucket, running a 355 chev which I have owned for about 20 years

What other cool cars have you owned? 1934 Ford 3 window coupe with a 383 Chevy, 1932 Ford 5 window with a 302 Winsor and a 1932 3 window coupe with a 302 Cleveland

Any you wish you still owned? Yeah the 1934 coupe, lots of fun times in that car.

What cars are on the wish list? Maybe a Mopar

Favourite style of car: Coupe

What do you love about the car scene the most? Going to different events and catching up with people and the socialising over a few Bourbons

Favourite car movie? American Graffiti

So what’s on the stereo right now? Green Day

Favourite band / singer to go cruising with on the stereo? Something loud

Are you involved in any car clubs ? Sopranos Hot Rod Club which is based in Palmy North.

How long was the build time for this project? 4 years, It was just a body with a few parts

Anyone you would you like to thank for helping with the car? Shane “Chucky” from Tauranga Sandblasters, Steve Forest from Exil Speed and Customs for the awesome body work and custom paint job, Reece, John Ellis, Pom, Ted, Jodie, Frog, Ma & Pa Griffin, Ryan, Pete, friends and family and also Denys Taylor for sticking with me through some stressful times