First published in the June 2005 issue of Street Machine

Zack Williams doesn’t know it, but the four-year-old’s one lucky little dude. When he blows out the candles at his 21st birthday bash, his dad, Lloyd, will hand over the keys to one cool ute. Mind you, when he gets the FJ it’ll have plenty of kays on the clock — Lloyd and wife Kimberley regularly drive it, and plan to keep on driving it.

Lloyd loves the classic shape of the FJ but wanted a modern power-train to drive like a modern car, and creature comforts like air-con, power windows and remote locking.

On top of that it had to steer, brake and handle, as well as drive without overheating. It was a car that was going to be driven, not trailered to shows.

“I wanted to do everything right so in 16 years’ time it will still be together,” he says.

He knew what was ‘right’ as he’d watched mate Joe Sergi build a series of stunning cars. When he decided to build his dream it happened in a rush, taking just two years from start to finish.

“I’m compulsive,” Lloyd says, “so it had to be done fairly quickly but that also meant it was going to be changing right up to the time it was finished.”

One late change turned out to be fairly major. The ute was almost done when Lloyd realized he needed more space to fit his six-foot, four-inch frame behind the wheel. So he pulled out the rear wall of the cabin and moved it back until it was in line with the rear window, getting him 150mm of extra leg room.

Lloyd did much of the early work himself but then handed it over to Mick and Robbie Schumack at Maroubra Auto Refinishers who massaged the original lines of the FJ back into shape and added the Sandox paint. Maintaining the original shape was important so there are only a few mods, like the flared guards for the wide Simmons alloys.

“It’s like a 1950s classic wrapped around a modern Commodore,” Lloyd says.

Everywhere you look you discover details that set this ute apart, like in the cargo bed.

“The tray’d had more hits than Elvis,” Lloyd says, “and the floor boards were long gone.” Weeks of work saw the ute in better than showroom shape.

The tray has been smoothed, with HQ Statesman tail-lights grafted into the rear, the tailgate fits with perfect panel gaps, and polished jarrah boards line the floor. It’s finished off with a custom hard cover.

As well as looking good, the ute had to be mechanically sound. It might be 50 years old but it had to drive like brand new, so a 5.0-litre VS Commodore V8 was slipped under the bonnet. It’s injected and runs VT SS electronics, dumping 185kW down the toughened drive line.

The cylinders have been bored 30-thou, the heads are ported and polished, there’s a mild Crane cam, the conrods have been closed and honed, and the rod bolts have been upgraded. A custom sump carries the oil, which is sent through the iron lion by a high-volume pump.

That’s impressive but it’s the detailing that overwhelms you as you lift the FJ’s bonnet.

A flood of colour hits you first, the Candy Apple Red motor suspended in a sea of black, with chrome highlights. Details like the air intake piping, which ducts fresh air from the grille back through the left inner-guard, before running down to the throttlebody mounted at the front of the engine, make this FJ a stunning piece of engineering. Check out the VS Commodore radiator and custom fan shroud, which keeps the FJ ice-cool.

“The most important thing to me was that it didn’t run hot,” says Lloyd. “I reckon Holden’s cooling system works pretty well so I modified the front of the FJ to accept the VS radiator.”

Does it work? Lloyd says it was a blisteringly hot 46C when he took the FJ on its first shakedown run and there wasn’t even a hint of overheating.

There’s even more detailing in the exhaust, from the handmade 1¾-inch stainless steel extractors, through to a custom-built 2½-inch stainless system with high-flow cats.

A Getrag five-speed transfers the power from the engine, through a modified heavy-duty Phase III tailshaft, to a nine-inch diff — what else?

Underneath, a Castlemaine Rod Shop chassis kit strengthens the FJ enough to take the grunt of the Holden V8, but Lloyd extended it back to the diff. An HR crossmember was grafted under the front.

Dumped two inches, the FJ runs King springs up front, reset FJ leaf-springs with extra leaves at the rear, and Koni adjustable shocks all ’round.

A supposed expert told Lloyd he wouldn’t be able to run Commodore power rack-and-pinion steering with the Holden V8 in the FJ. That was like waving a red flag at a bull. Take a look under the front and you’ll see the result.

Stopping the extra go is important, so DBA ventilated and cross-drilled rotors were fitted front and back, with VS Commodore calipers. A Tilton NASCAR master cylinder, with bias bar adjustment, completes the package. Gold Simmons wheels and Yokohama tyres fill out the flared wheel arches.

It’s just as sharp inside. VT SS buckets trimmed in grey leather replace the old bench, there’s a custom centre console, matching grey carpet, a Momo leather-wrapped sports wheel, a six-stack CD and a full sweep of Auto Meter gauges.

He never intended to build a trophy winner, but Lloyd collected a bunch of tinware, both at the 2004 NSW All Holden Day and at the Street Machine Supernats 2004, taking out Top Ute and Promoter’s Choice at the latter.

So that’s what Zack’s got to look forward to, though Lloyd says he’ll only finally decide to hand over the keys when the time comes. Better be a good boy, Zack!

FEELIN’ GOOD

It’s amazing what a facelift can do. In Holden’s case it transformed the ugly-duckling 48/215 (later dubbed the FX) into the FJ, one of Australia’s best-loved vehicles. The FJ was only a mild facelift on the FX (grille, stainless trim, chrome tail-fins) but it was enough to dramatically change the looks.

Today, 50 years after it hit the road, the FJ is a head-turner like few other Aussie cars. Whether you remember them when they were new or are encountering them for the first time, a good FJ has the same effect — it makes you smile. Much like the FJ’s grille itself, a great piece of automotive art, which smiles right back at you. Yep, the FJ is a feel-good car. So well-known is the FJ that you could be forgiven for believing it was the first Holden, not the 48/215.

Lloyd Williams
1956 Holden FJ ute