PETER CHRSITOPOULOS
LX TORANA

“Here’s my LX Torana with a built, standard-stroke 350 SBC, solid-roller cam, mechanical fuel pump, 750 Quick Fuel carby, and dual-plane manifold, all built by Con at Pro Race Engines.

“It’s backed by a Turbo 400 transmission with a 5000rpm SDE stall converter, and power makes its way from there to a 9in with 4.3:1 gears. The car has seen 80 passes down the quarter-mile and never missed a beat, and has run best of 11.00@121mph, driven to the track and back home.”

HEATH LLOYD
XY FALCON

“I’ve owned my ’71 XY Falcon for 39 years, and 12 months ago I finished the last resto I’ll ever give it. It’s now running a Dandy Engines injected 434 4V Cleveland, with a custom inlet that I made from a Weiand 4V tunnel ram. Controlling it is a FuelTech FT550 ECU, and backing the engine is a Burko Transmissions fully manualised C4, with a 9in under the bum.

“It uses strut front suspension with a rack-and-pinion steering conversion and disc-brake upgrade, all from RRS, and in the rear, it has a Gazzard Brothers mono-leaf set-up with CalTracs. As things go with a resto, it started as an engine swap from the old 351, but now it’s progressed to have almost twice the horsepower and torque of standard, so I wanted make it stop and steer better as well. While it was apart, a few touch-ups turned into a full bare-metal respray.

“I did all the mechanical work myself in the shed at home, but the paint and panel was all done by JZ Paintworks and Hammond Refinishing. Matt at Rat Race Garage did all the wiring for me, and there was plenty of that with the FuelTech.

“I drive the wheels off it, clocking up nearly 14,000km in the past 12 months. That included a trip to the Cooly Rocks On festival last year, which was 1400km each way, and I headed back there this year, too. She ain’t no trailer queen!”

COREY BELL
VS COMMODORE

“This is my VS Commodore, powered by a turbo 4.0L SOHC Ford Intech six-cylinder. I bought it in 2020 for $400 as a V6 auto, and it was originally destined for an LS1 and T56 combo for a fun street car that could be driven to and from the track.

“However, by the time it got to the chopping block, I seemingly had missed out on the days of reasonably priced LS engine and gearbox combos, so the project got pushed back. Then, a mate’s cammed SOHC engine came up for sale, so why not do something different! It was meant to be a budget build, but that didn’t last long, and there’s always more mods to do. Along with the Crow Cams stick, valves and retainers, it has a Haltech Elite 750 with wideband control.

“The turbo is a Pulsar 3582 with a 50mm wastegate. It has a 3in exhaust, 1000cc injectors, and an intercooler, and makes 280rwkW (375rwhp) at 12psi on pump 98. Behind the engine is a T5 manual ’box, and the diff has 3.9:1 gears with 31-spline billet axles. It has the bigger VZ HSV brake rotors under all corners, with VE calipers up front and VZ calipers in the rear.”

CHRIS FITZHENRY
HQ PREMIER

“I’ve owned this 1972 HQ Premier since 2015, and undertook a full bare-metal restoration in 2021, all built in a shed by myself and a mate. The paint is a custom black pearl that I mixed up myself.

“It’s running an old-school 308 block stroked to a 355, topped with a tunnel ram. Behind it is a TH400 and a shortened 9in diff. It rides on Viking coil-overs, with Wilwood brakes and a United Speed Shop drop tank.

“It’s won a few awards such as Top 20 Street at Rockynats 2023, Top 10 Street at Rockynats 2024 and 2025, and Top 60 Street at Street Machine Summernats earlier this year.”

BEN O’NEILL
1980 TOYOTA CORONA

“My home-built 1980 Corona may not be your traditional street machine, but it kind of fell in my lap and was too cheap to pass up. I picked up the car as a partially painted shell with a stock Starfire, tossed the driveline, and painted all the hanging panels and engine bay at home.

“At the time, a mate was selling a Toyota 3RZ engine, so I jumped on it – it was meant to be. The engine now has forged rods and pistons and makes 510rwhp through a Toyota A340 trans and HiLux diff, all run with a Haltech Elite 1500.

“There is a hell of a lot of custom fabrication under the skin, including a custom fuel cell, intake, air box, exhaust and so on, all done in the shed.

“The only thing not done at home was the long engine, and it was finished just in time for Rockynats.”

CAMERON MOULEN
VE COMMODORE SS-V UTE

“I’ve owned my VE SS-V Ute since 2017, after picking it up cheap needing a replacement engine, and it has evolved significantly since then. It has an HSV-style hard lid, and VF GTS-R-style staggered wheels, which I swap for KOYA custom 17×10 drag wheels for track days. Behind those wheels are AP Racing 365mm front discs with six-piston calipers, and four-piston, 345mm rears.

“It sits lowered on coil-over suspension. The original L98 has been fully rebuilt with forged internals, Higgins heads, a custom Cam Motion camshaft, ARP hardware throughout, and plenty more – too much to list in full. It takes forced induction from a Vortech V-2 JT-trim supercharger, running a custom eight-rib drive system, along with an intercooler set-up using a Plazmaman core and a modified headlight cold-air intake. The E85 fuel system is designed to support 1000rwhp.

“The dinosaur gases are expended through 2in headers into a custom twin 3.5in system, reducing to twin 3in at the diff to help keep noise levels reasonable. Behind the mill is a built,1200hp-rated 6L80E with billet internals and a Powerglide clutch conversion. It also has a billet high-stall converter, and a transmission cooler set-up. Finishing the driveline is a Harrop Truetrac diff with 3.27:1 gears. The ute currently makes 809rwhp on the rollers, and still isn’t quite finished. The next step is fitting a custom MoTeC ECU with full 6L80E control built into the ECU.”

Want your pride and joy featured in the mag? Just send some photos of your car (minimum file size 2MB each) and a few details of what went into the build to readerscars@streetmachine.com.au.