Billy Garforth
Holden WB ute

“I’m building this Kingswood ute with my dad. I bought it about a year ago for $3000. It started life as a WB and had been used as a work ute until a few years ago, but I decided to swap the clip and tail-lights for the HJ look.

Dad tackled the front, doing the plenum, while I’ve been giving panel beating a go in the tub and rear wall. Inspired by seeing Tim Sullivan’s turbo BBC-powered HJ at Supernats 2023, the ute will wear bigs ’n’ littles and be dropped on its guts.

I managed to fit a 275 under the rear myself, and I was stoked with that. Down the road, we’ll fit a 350 or 400 – whatever I can get my hands on. There’s still a lot to do, but it’s gonna get done. I know it’s nothing rare or expensive, but I’m a 16-year-old working with a McDonald’s budget, with a quarter of the knowledge of most, so I’m just trying to learn the ways.

The goal is to have it on the road with fresh paint and interior in six months to a year, although the two extra cylinders will have to wait until we find a small-block Chev for cheap. It’s not intended to be a show car – she’ll get loved and used.”

Lachlan Coote
Ford XW Falcon

“This is my 12-year-old son Lachlan’s first build, a 1969 XW Falcon 500 in factory Silver Fox. I purchased it 20 years ago and stored it, but Jason Mansweto’s Summernats 34 Grand Champion-winning XW (SM, Jan ’22) inspired me to blow the dust off it two years ago.

It will run a 408 Cleveland, 4800rpm-stall C4 and 4.56:1 LSD, and retain the Silver Fox paint and Falcon 500 trim. Lachlan was clear about his build goals: “As long as it sounds like a cranky Summernats car, Dad! Oh, and maybe Drag Challenge when I am old enough to race it – as long as it has a red NOS button for fun!”

The ET goal is 9.99. Lachlan’s put 1500 hours into the car so far, and there’s no signs of slowing down.” Words: Paul Coote

Simon Wallace
Ford XE Fairmont

“I’ve been building this 1983 XE Fairmont Ghia for the past 3.5 years – it’s one of only three Ghias in Citrus Yellow. I cut out every bit of rust I could find and replaced the affected areas myself, and the factory seats were cleaned up, new carpet and rooflining was installed, and all the seals and badges were renewed.

It was a factory six-cylinder car, but I’m happy to say it’s just been licensed with a 600hp, 408 Clevo in the engine bay, backed by a worked C10 and an EB Falcon LSD with 3.45:1 gears. The last piece of the puzzle is to install some heads I’ve been waiting on, and once that’s done, she’s ready for action!”

Shannon Ryan
Holden HT Premier

“I bought my HT last December, turn-key, but after I started fixing an oil leak issue, things have blown out to half a complete rebuild, including a full engine rebuild, which my mates still laugh about!

It came with a 434ci tall-deck Iron Eagle mill with all the fruit such as 15-degree CFE heads and the like, backed by a Reid-cased Powerglide and 9in, so I figured that if I got Zoran at Competition Engines to sort the oil leak, fit a vacuum pump and give it a dyno, off we go.

Wishful thinking, as everything was wrong! The lifters were no good, the valve stem seals leaked, the intake spacer plates were too thin, the distributor gear was chewed out, and the bearings had seen better days.

So, as it turned out, I’ve had plenty of time to improve the car while I wait for an engine! I redid the engine bay and undercarriage, sent the diff to get checked, and rebuilt the front end with Wilwood brakes and Gazzard Brothers shocks.

Then, another sad day – turned out the diff had a bent housing, a crooked housing end, and a knock-off Truetrac, so that was rectified with a genuine Eaton Truetrac, some straightening and a new housing end. When it’s finally all back together, the car should run a 9.6 to 9.8 naturally aspirated, in full street trim.”

Heath Dike
1942 Chevy pick-up

“I would like to introduce you to my 1942 Chev pick-up, which I initially finished building back in 2016 – one day before sailing from my home in Tassie to the mainland for the Lake Mulwala Rod Run.

It runs a rebuilt 350 Chev backed by a Turbo 350 trans and a Salisbury diff, and there’s been numerous makes and models of parts in between to make her what she is. In fact, I’m now in the midst of rebuild #3, following a fairly decent accident when a tourist turned right in front of me during the 2022 ASRF Nationals in Ulverstone – the car had only been back on the road for just under two days!

I had given her a new coat of black two-pack primer, and my good mate Stu and I put the last bolt in her at 11:30 on the Wednesday night before the Nats; by 5pm Friday, I was stuck on the side of the road, waiting for a mate and police to come sort out the situation!

Fortunately, my mates managed to talk me into staying for the rest of the event – thanks to Chris and Barrie for getting me about. So, the Chev is now pulled to pieces and I’m currently working on getting the old girl back on the road again! Third time lucky, I hope.”

Got a sweet ride that’s currently in the build and want to share it with our readers? Email photos of it (2MB+ each) along with some details on the build to [email protected].