Jake Kajewski
WB Holden ute

“My dad got me hooked on all things street machine pretty early on in life. I remember telling him that one day I’d have one, and him telling me it’s not for the faint of heart.

“But I saved up for a few months and went hunting, and it didn’t take me long to find this 1982 WB ute on Marketplace, so I roped Dad into coming for a look.

“As soon as I saw it, I knew it was coming home with me. Since then, it’s been a full rotisserie restoration. I rebuilt the 202 and threw in a mild cam.

“I originally wanted a tough-looking cruiser, but now I’ve caught the bug proper and I’m looking for more power.

“My plans are to put on a nine-port Yella Terra head and a two-barrel Weber carby to give that extra boost.The dream is a set of triples.

“I want to show people that you can get some power out of these six-bangers, and I plan to have most of this completed before April so I can show it off at Rockynats 06.”

Stephen Downey
1966 Cadillac DeVille

“Here’s my 1966 Cadillac Coupe DeVille! I bought it a few years ago as a little bit of a project.

“It already had the interior and airbags done and the 454 fatty in it; it just needed some rust fixed and a paintjob, and that was the first thing I did!

“I gave it a fresh coat of straight black, and a rub and polish. Not long after that, the original Caddy diff died, so I had a custom nine-inch made with a Truetrac centre.

“I’ve painted up some sheet metal to tidy up the engine bay, and added fresh satin black two-pack on the intake and carby.

“I’ve still got some more things to finish off in the engine bay, so I’m slowly chipping away at it. The 454 is pretty grumpy, with a twin three-inch dumped at the diff, so it lets you know about it, too!

“It’s got a thumping-big stereo consisting of three amps, three subs and three sets of splits.”

Conrad Maeke
Ford XF Fairmont

“Three years ago, I managed to get an ’85 XF Fairmont with a 302 Cleveland and a C4 auto.

“I thought it would be fine as it was, but, as with most cars, you want to tweak some parts and one thing leads to another. It was decided to replace the 302 with a rebuilt 351 Cleveland. There were some irritating issues with the 351, which I put up with and continued driving it.

“The car came with 14-inch Trident wheels, which were great, but I always wanted Simmons, and I was lucky enough to find a clean set of 19-inch FR1s, with staggered 235 and 275 tyres.

“I found a custom dash for sale on Marketplace and set about collecting Auto Meter gauges and set it up similar to the XD/XE Ghia dash.

“Then began a nine-month rebuild, both of the panel and paint, as well as a top-end overhaul of the engine.

“Fortunately, I have good mates that know what they’re doing and have the tools and facilities to make this happen.

“I went from silver XF to the same Charcoal Grey as the XE ESPs, and also ran the orange side trim kit from GlobalTrim.

“The 351 now has a bigger cam with ported 2V heads, and stronger valve springs and roller rockers, with a rebuilt Holley 600. The car is back on the road, ready for some summer cruising!”