First published in Street Machine Hot Rod #18, August 2017

Jason Lowry wanted a hot rod. “But I’m a Holden man, so there was no way I was going to build a Ford,” he says.

His passion for rods was ignited by the famous Eliminator ’33 Ford coupe from ZZ Top’s Legs video, while his GM roots extend back to his first car – a Torana hatch into which he and his brother Darren transplanted a tough 400ci Chev and TH350.

“It also had to be injected,” Jason says of his rod. “I saw Wayne Pagel’s Crower-injected HJ ute at Summernats back in ’88 and decided there and then that one day I’d have injection on my car.”

So what do you get when you combine these two must-haves? CYCO CHEV, a ferocious ’34 Chev coupe with a blown, injected big-cube Chev donk up front.

The 18 months of preplanning kicked off in 2006, with Jason studying up on injection. With its reputation and good looks, a Kinsler system was an easy decision. The hard part was deciding whether to go trumpets or butterflies. Free lifetime subscription to everyone who figures out what won – or maybe not. Kinsler was not only responsible for the Enderle Bug Catcher (converted to EFI) but also supplied the entire injection system – lines, pumps, filters, fittings, Accel ECU, Accel ignition and wiring.

To hold the hat up, an order was placed with Shafiroff Racing for one of its mega-tough big-inch blown small-blocks.

“Somewhere along the line our wires got crossed, and they sent me a big-block,” Jason says. “It was only a few extra dollars so I decided to keep it. Especially considering it made over 1000hp and 900ft-lb on their dyno with twin-fours on top, which they removed before shipping.”

While Jason loves the insane horsepower and ridiculous torque, choosing to keep the big-block caused no end of grief. But before we go into the what, where, why and how of this, we need to backtrack to the body and chassis.

Fibre Chev got the nod to build the three-inch chopped ’34 Chev body. Jason optioned it up with shaved door and boot handles, hidden hinges and electric windows. Fibre Chev also extended the body to smooth off the area normally covered by the hood sides.

“I never wanted hood sides, I like the look of the hood by itself,” Jason says. “Extending the body right up to the firewall creates a nice square opening to view the engine.”

With Jason based in WA and Fibre Chev in Wangaratta, he thought it best to go with a Victorian-based chassis builder. That way it would be easier to ship the chassis to Fibre Chev, who would get it all fitting perfectly. Unfortunately, the chassis shop he chose ran way overtime, and ended up shutting shop before fully completing the job – as well as owing parts that had been paid for.

Luckily there was enough for Fibre Chev to work with – which brings us back to that longer, taller, wider big-block. It was immediately obvious it wasn’t going to fit.

After much head-scratching and contemplating numerous solutions (which at one stage included relocating the crossmember for the double A-arm front end), Fibre Chev worked out a way of pushing the radiator and grille two inches further forward – which also meant extending the fibreglass bonnet.

“Craig from Fibre Chev was really good,” Jason says. “I got him to do a heap of things while the body sat around for months waiting for the chassis.”

Step two of the shoehorning process necessitated dropping the engine two inches, to provide a clear sight line. Later on, Dave from Fiddy Customs had to rework the steering geometry and fit a drop-box to connect column to rack. Even the block-hugger headers required cut-outs to clear. And the biggest bugger of all, the air-con system had to be canned, as there was physically no room to mount the compressor.

The body was pretty good, and it didn’t take Dave from RD Motorcycle & Custom Paint long to get it all spot-on. He then backed up with a great job of laying on that striking Nightshade Green.

Gunmetal Grey was the early hue of choice but was scrapped when a mate of Jason’s decided to use that colour. “I was watching a Mecum auction and a 1968 Pontiac GTO in Nightshade Green came on and I said: ‘That’s the colour I want!’”

Jason is stoked with the result, and it fitted perfectly with his goal of building something totally different to everyone else.

CYCO CHEV was 90 per cent built in in Jason’s shed, with a bunch of help from family and friends. His brother Darren was the mechanic on the project, trekking from miles away many times. Others included James at Proshine (buffing and polishing); Neil from Just Trailers who was always around, quite often with a trailer; and another Neil at Street Rods & Customs, who pitched in plenty and was invaluable when working through TAC. However Jason’s biggest thanks goes to wife Jo and daughter Aria for all their patience, love and support. Oh yes, and the band Steel Panther for being awesome.

Opening the ’34’s door reveals a sensational leather interior. This was a joint effort between Jason and Andy and Dan from Mandurah Canvas.

Dean from Mufflers R Us bent up the 2.5-inch exhaust system. It features four mufflers to keep the noise meter happy, but includes cut-outs if Jason wants to get loud.

Rounding out the driveline is a bulletproof Strange Pro nine-inch and TCI 6X – a big, burly 4L80E that TCI internally modifies to create a six-speed. To help driveability, the 6X is fitted with a TCI Breakaway converter, which features a 2400-2600rpm flash stall, so it’ll launch hard off the line at full throttle, yet still be efficient at part-throttle and on the highway. Not that Jason is enjoying too many hard launches.

“I have to putter off the line,” he says. “As sticky as the 12-inch-wide ET Streets are, if I give it any kind of throttle, it just hazes the tyres.”

Kinsler supplied a basic start-up tune, with Sasha from Kwinana Performance tasked with dialling it in. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long on the chassis dyno for issues to arise – the overly restrictive headers melted a couple of leads that had been routed too close in the name of neatness.

But Kwinana Performance and Jason are confident they’ll get on top of it and unleash every one of those 1000-plus ponies. At which point, after a long six-and-a-half-year build, the intention is for CYCO CHEV to head to Perth Motorplex for a few passes – which should be a sight to behold. We can’t wait!

PLIABLE POWER

That’s 900lb-ft of torque and 1000hp you’re looking at – sort of. When Shafiroff Racing dynoed the solid-roller engine it made those numbers on 9lb of boost. Jason swapped the lower pulley to drop the boost to 4lb. “I don’t want to break it just yet,” he says. “I want to get used to what it does when you put the boot in. Once I’ve learnt how to drive it, I’ll put the big pulley back on and give it a run at the track.”

Jason also admits to stuffing up with the overly restrictive block-hugger headers. On the chassis dyno, with the EFI dialled in, it was no problem getting the pipes to glow a fearsome red; future plans include a proper set of pipes.

Jason Lowry
1934 Chev Coupe