Hi my name is Mario,
I have owned the car for 32 years and it has gone through a lot of changes in that time,
originally a 253 Holden engine, progressed to 327 Chev with Muncie gearbox, then a mild 350 & turbo 400 and finally to the current 350. It also went through the fad of when fitting HZ fronts to HQ's was all the craze, racing at the Mole factory and Pipe Rd was always on agenda. Drag racing at Calder Park Raceway became a regular event with times running a consistant 11.83 @ 116mph, and that was back in 1991. At that time even though the car looked great I had the urge to get the car looking back to original HQ form, on went the hunt for guards, front panels etc until i had everything to put it back to HQ. The car was stripped back to a bare shell ready for the rebuild which took 18 months in total. The car has one various trophies from Top Coupe, best Body and Paint to Top Street Machine judged at Bayside . Following are some specs.
Car is a 1972 HQ GTS Coupe
Engine is a 010 4 Bolt 350 + 0.030, fully deburred and prepped,
decks squared, bored & torque plate honed, zero deck height.
Steel Crank Magnafluxed, Tufftrided and blueprint ground.
292 Turbo Heads, full port, TRW 2.05 & 1.60 Stainless Valves, Cranes 99893 1.5 Diameter Springs, 7/16th ARP studs, Isky retainer and collets, Crower 1.6 stainless steel roller rockers, Crane stud girdle.
Cloyes timing chain, Erson solid cam. 605" lift & 264,268 duration at 0.50"
TRW 11:1 pistons, Sealed power file backrings, Manley pushrods, Mellings High volume oil pump. Fully prepped X rods with SPS rod bolts. High Energy Pan.
Fluid Dampner Harmonic Balancer, Tilton Starter Motor. Whole assembly has been Blueprinted with a final static compression ratio of 10.86. Aluminium Radiator from 1985 Trans Am / Camaro , AU Thermo Fans
Producing 453HP
Currently building a new 383, AFR's, mech roller etc. Should be going by mid Feb 2010
Ran 116MPH in 3608lb car
Induction system consists of port matched Bowtie Victor Jnr Manifold, Holley 830 Annular discharge Carby. Barry Grant 220 Fuel pump with 4 Port Reg
Ignition is a Crane Hi 6 MSD system
PowerMaster 140amp Alternator
Exhaust is 1.75'" Pacemakers leading to dual 2.5" System with Walker Turbo Mufflers
Transmission prepped Turbo 400 with full manual valve body and 4500 rpm Dominator convertor, TCI trans cooler, B&M shifter.
Diff is a shortened 9", LSD, 4.11 Richmond gears fitted with ladder bars.
Body is all HQ painted in Glasurit 2 pak, colour is Volvo Dk Blue, many hours of work there.
Interior is all original with inserts, electric factory tint windows, central locking, Auto Meter gauges, felt headlining
Wheels are Center Lines Auto Drags , 15x 5.5 with 195/60 Dunlops & 15 x 8.5 with Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials 275x 60x15).
Now days the car is used for cruising with the family, but I have been down the track lately with my mates 55 Chev and it maybe time to shake off the cobwebs and make use of the 500+ horsepower.
Regards Mario
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gMyk4DA74s 14.08.09
This is when I was racing it in 1991, same motor is still alive today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSqzRX2EfCU
Above pics with new MT ET Street Drag Radials 275 x 60 x 15 (May 2009 )
Following is a bit of a time line and pics of the build over the years.
This was when I bought it in 1978
During the Eighties customising was the go and I fitted the HZ front and it was painted Red Pepper ( 1981 ). It was fitted with a great 327 Chev with Muncie gearbox. Dragway wheels
Colour was changed to Dk Blue( looks black ) and a 350 was fitted with Turbo 400 transmission. ( somewhere around 1985)
Calder Park and Heathcote Park Raceway was a regular event. If anyone still has a copy the car featured in Street Machine December 1985
I blew the engine at Heathcote and built my current 350.
Pictured is my cousin Ray who was a great help through the build
Car was then running 11.80's over the Qtr at Calder park (1991)
Once I was happy with the times I wanted a change and wanted to get the car back to looking original.
Car as it looked before strip down
Had to have one more squirt as I knew it would be a while till the next drive.
Strip down pics (1992)
Trial fit of front Panels
Hard Yakka Time
Car is ready for the paint booth, mate Anthony did a great job here preparing the body.
In paint Booth
Process was 2 coats of Glasurit paint and 1 coat of clear. car was left for about 3 months blocked back and put back in the booth and recleared. Thanks to Jim for the paint work
Once that was done it blocked with 1400 and 2000 .
Finished paint
Reassembly started
Car completed
Car has won various trophey's , Best Body, Best paint , Top Coupe & Top Street machine .
Featured in Holden Mania magazine No 4
Car still looks great . Had a ball in at CRUZE TIME at Calder Park Raceway .
