First published in the April 2011 issue of Street Machine

I bought the Helmont in 1993 for $2200. It was an ex-RTA van with a factory 253 and Trimatic. It did for daily duties — and for courting my lovely wife — for about 12 months before it cracked an exhaust manifold. That’s where it started; I thought maybe I’d fit a set of extractors.

I ended up purchasing extractors, complete with a 308 and a Saginaw, for $1200. Of course the banjo diff was only going to last two minutes behind that, so I headed off and picked up an original 10-bolt for $400! Remember, this was mid-90s. A mate donated a set of original tramp rods which still do their duty to this day — thanks Ewok!

I drove it around in this guise for a few years and started racing the old girl in the late 90s, with just the occasional trip to the Goulburn eighth.

I soon fitted a Trimatic and Dominator converter and in 2002 I picked up a secondhand OzNos kit — for strip duties only of course! In this form I drove it to WSID in ’04 and reeled off a 12.19@112mph, then drove home again. I thought: “Almost an 11! Surely it can’t be that hard to go just a little bit faster?”

After years of abuse, the old 308 popped a cast piston at the Bodangora eighth-mile in 2005, so it was time for a rebuild, with low 11s in mind. I went for 30thou-over forged SRP pistons, SCAT rods, a COME 355 crank, COME CSBS242 cam, a set of Street Terra roller rockers and some decent pushrods and springs. I kept the HQ heads as they already had L34 valves in them but spent a few hours in the shed massaging them. I also kept the old Rochester — I’ve been tinkering with that for many years and it’s not going anywhere! It raises a few eyebrows at the strip, especially since the factory air cleaner stays on when I’m racing. My bro’ built the exhaust system for free.

I probably spent about $6000 to $7000 putting the motor together — that’s with me doing all the assembly and tuning.

“With the extra grunt I was worried about breaking the now-rare 10-bolt, so I put it on evilBay and sold it for a healthy profit! Keeping the tramp rods, the 10-bolt was replaced with a nine-inch LSD from an HQ for $560 and later fitted with a full spool. The Trimatic was rebuilt with a manual valvebody by a mate, for $600. The converter actually cost me twice what the ’box did but is now a bulletproof nitrous unit from the Converter Shop.

Nothing wasted on bling for this old girl — still has the bench seat and column auto. I have even raced at the Nationals at WSID and rolled the swag out in the back to save a few bucks on accommodation.

The Helmont now runs easy 11.0s with a 100hp shot and 10.79 with a 150hp shot. If the gearbox was up to it, a 10.5-second pass would be there for the taking. I’ll need a rollcage for that too, of course.

Big thanks to my Boppo and Charley who drive up from Canberra to crew for me any time I feel the need to race, to Mick who keeps my Trimatic alive, and to my lovely wife who lets me race whenever I want!

Next project is an FB. I’ve promised the wife it’ll be the cheapest eight-second car out there. This will be a full-chassis deal, powered by a turbo 383 Holden. Eights for less than $25K is the goal!

THE DAMAGE

COSTS (in 2011):

Purchase price: $2200
First driveline: $1200
Trimatics: $1800
10-bolt diff: $400
9in diff, tailshaft, yokes, unis: $2000
Fuel system: $600
Tyres: $800
355 build: $7000
N02 kit and warmer: $400
Time in the shed: Months
Beer drunk: Surprisingly little

CREDITS

Selling the 10-bolt: $2200

TOTAL : $14,200 plus consumables