Life is looking pretty sweet for 49-year-old Sydneysider Bernie Makhraz. Having recently given up working on the tools and retired, he’s just started developing his twin-turbo small-block Chev-powered LX Torana into a bottom-seven-second weapon. That goal should be easily achievable, as the car ran sevens with its previous owner.

First published in the November 2024 issue of Street Machine

As its new custodian, Bernie treated the LX sedan to a two-year overhaul that saw it stripped down to its birthday suit and rebuilt in his back shed. In addition to fabrication work and new paint, Bernie also redid the interior, including fitting a new dash, and rewired the entire car himself to suit the Haltech 2500 platform.

While a long and involved process, the build was made easier thanks to the staunch driveline the Torana already had.

Up front is a monster of a small-block Chev. Weighing in at 447ci, it’s based around a Dart block filled with a Scat 4.15-inch crank, Oliver conrods and JE pistons. The block has been fire-ringed to seal compression, and when mated to the Brodix 230cc heads with copper head gaskets, it yields 10:1 static compression. The bulletproof valvetrain comprises a Crower solid-roller cam and lifters, topped off with T&D rockers.

The Holley intake manifold runs 2400cc Deka injectors, fed by a brushless, 10-gallon Aeromotive fuel pump. A large bar-and-plate front-mount intercooler feeds a 109mm fly-by-wire Holley throttlebody.

Other key induction components include a pair of 82/85 Precision turbochargers anchored to steampipe manifolds with twin 50mm wastegates.

Despite buzzing to over 7400rpm, the small-block still retains a wet-sump oiling system.

The Chev’s grunt is sent rearwards via a Reid-cased Powerglide containing a straight-cut, 1.8:1 gearset and 10-clutch drum, mated to a 10-inch, spragless, bolt-together Coan converter. A Ford nine-inch rear end gets the power to the ground through a Strange nodular centre with 3.2:1 gears and 35-spline axles.

The car still runs factory-style control arms in the stock location. They’ve been braced but are non-adjustable. The old shocks have been swapped out for Strange double-adjustable coil-overs with the springs removed.

The car now has a sensor for almost everything, but it was a hell of a job for Bernie to get his head around it all for the first time. There are eight EGTs, and sensors for coolant pressure, wheel speed, oil temperature and pressure, and dual-channel wideband O2, along with many others.

When the car was ready for action, Bernie took it to Tyson Munro at Autotech Engineering in Sydney for tuning. The same combination had previously made 1540hp on 30psi of boost, but Tyson was able to knock out 1570rwhp on just 25psi, leaving another five pounds in the tank for a rainy day.

On its drag-strip debut at a recent Sydney test day, the renewed LX immediately showed promise, running 8.7@167mph on its first full pass! It was a great start to the car’s racing exploits, but further progress was curtailed, as right before the finish line, the bearing in the bottom of the distributor seized.

Unfortunately, bearing material had made its way throughout the motor, so the SBC was pulled out and fully rebuilt.

“We have now pulled all the old technology out of the car and modernised it,” Bernie says. “We had a bit of an issue with the distributor first time out, but it’s now all sorted with a Holley crank trigger.

“We’ve also added a laser ride-height sensor, as the car has needed wheelie bars in the past. We’ve ditched those, and we want to try some technology to keep the nose down.”

The car is all steel and glass, and in race trim with driver onboard, it comes in at just 1400kg. Based on the numbers, Bernie is confident of getting the car into the low sevens. “I’d like to think it’ll go a 7.1 or better,” he says. “I think the car probably has a high six in it, but it will require a fair bit of R&D, which we will be happy to do.

“It’s been an interesting journey to date,” Bernie continues. “The wiring has probably been my biggest challenge with the car to get it going, but I’m really looking forward to its development and running numbers.”

So are we, Bernie!