Innehållsförteckning för No 162 November 2018 från NZV8

It makes sense that Ford saved its meanest Mustang Cobra Jet for the model’s 50th anniversary. The recently unveiled 2018 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet continues the model’s tradition as a limited-production strip-only weapon. As a nod to the original Cobra Jet’s 1968 debut, only 68 of these will be manufactured. However, that’s about where the similarities and the nostalgic crap end — this vehicle is an uncompromising badass combining the best of Ford’s current brute-force power with old-school underpinnings capable of withstanding the damage. The quad-cam Coyote V8 is punched out to 5.2 litres, with a huge Whipple blower on top, and, while power figures have taken a back seat, it’s supposed to be good for an eight-second quarter-mile at 150mph. The standard independent rear has been replaced with a…

Within muscle car folklore, there are few cars that can stand with the original ’67 Shelby GT500. Now, one of the original GT500 experimental prototypes has been discovered on a farm in Texas. Thought to have been destroyed in the early 1970s, the 1967 Shelby GT500 EXP, nicknamed ‘Little Red’, paved the way for the iconic Shelby model, featuring restyled body panels and a Paxton-supercharged 428ci FE Cobra Jet. Chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson Craig Jackson, found the car earlier this year, choosing to unveil the automotive artefact at The Henry Ford museum before taking it to Mustang Alley at the huge Woodward Dream Cruise. Jackson could be the best person to bring Little Red back to its former glory, as he also owns the ‘Green Hornet’ — the only…

Texas-based tuning house Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE) has been working its craft for quite a while and, to mark over 10,000 vehicles built and tuned, is releasing a 2019 Hennessey Heritage Edition Mustang. Inspired by the 2018 Ford GT Heritage Edition, the Hennessey Mustang is said to put out 808hp and 677lb·ft, have a 0–60mph time of 3.3 seconds, and have a top speed of more than 200mph. To be produced only in factory Race Red with white graphics, the Mustang will be available with either six-speed manual or 10-speed automatic transmission. It will be offered as a complete, turnkey vehicle, complete with three-year / 100,000km warranty, working hand in hand with the factory Ford warranty. This is not just some US-only special deal; seven right-hand drive versions are to…

The Sunday before this issue hit shelves across the country, the third season of your favourite automotive TV show — Teng Tools Muscle Garage — returned to the screens, in its usual Sunday slot as part of CRC Motorsport on Three. If you missed the first episode — which got up close with Justin Walker’s tubbed, blown, and chopped Ford Galaxie; had a hoon round the track at the Prowear Chrome Expression Session; and found out more about Tikipunga High School’s wicked Model T project — you don’t have to worry, because every episode is uploaded to themotorhood.com after it airs, so you can watch it whenever you like, free! Even better, if you enter the draw, you might win one of 10 weekly prize packs, not to mention the…

As you should be well aware, this year’s Father’s Day Drags went off without a hitch, which means that we have got a pretty massive event wrap-up later on in this issue. The event is also what we’d call New Zealand’s largest dedicated V8 street car shoot-out, so, if you want to stay up to speed with all the big-hitters in the scene, we’ve got just what you need. Visit themotorhood.com and search ‘Quickest Streeters’ to find out more about this country’s quickest street vehicles.…

Wow, that’s a great-looking promo truck, Stu. Surely it’s just a business move and not actually your daily-driver? Thanks, guys; it’s the best of worlds, really. I get to promote my business and enjoy driving a great old truck at the same time. It’s a win-win for me, and my customers love seeing it when I rock up on the job. I’ve also found it to be a very practical vehicle to work from, with a generous flat deck and the pipe racks, etc. What do your customers say when you arrive to a job in it? They love it and want to know everything about it. Often, I tell my wife [that] I’m nipping out for half an hour to drop something off and end up coming back home…

Some people may worry about the digital age killing the Kiwi can-do attitude, but we reckon that it’s alive and well in the car scene, and guys like Raymond Schroder are why. Say hello to his 1930 Model A four-door that’s been bastardized into a two-door sedan. “That little model is what started it all — I knocked that up, and I’ve pretty much been copying that. I’ve been working on it for about three years now. It was meant to be a two-year project, but it spiralled a bit out of control,” Raymond explains. While there isn’t much original Model A left, Raymond actually started by buying an entire, almost-driving, Model A, before deciding to run wild with it. “I completely built the chassis by myself, to my own…

For many moons, this and many other magazines have taken the Commodore and Falcon head to head. From the most basic repmobiles right up to the most powerful HSVs and FPVs and homebuilt monsters known to the Antipodes. But, with the demise of the Aussie manufacturing industry, the great Aussie battlers have had to look elsewhere for development. This means that we’re now looking down the barrel of four-cylinder, German-built Commodores based on the Opel Insignia. Don’t get me wrong, this is about as bad as it gets. And even if you opt for the 3.6-litre V6 engine, you’ll probably not be too disappointed by the 315hp engine and all-wheel-drive (AWD) drivetrain, but it ain’t going to blow your socks off. Ford is taking a different approach to the winding…

What’s brown and sticks like shit to a blanket? Well, besides the obvious, it’s a good way to sum up Damien ‘Damo’ Crook’s Camaro. While it may not have huge-byeven-huger wheels or a ride height that scrapes up ants, the car has been built with one purpose in mind: performance handling. Sure, Damo’s sacrificed a few internet cool points by opting for something that’s actually drivable and for which the tyres are affordable, but that suits his plan perfectly — that plan being to get out and clock up as many miles as he can all around the country, wife and young daughter in tow, carving up as many corners as he can find along the way. It was Bruce Kett’s Cambridge-insignia’d Central Muscle Cars (CMC) Camaro that drew Damo…

You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone, and it sure was good to be at the Petrolhead Father’s Day Drags this year! After last year’s event was relentlessly rained out, the American Muscle Car Club decided that this year would be different — the event would go ahead, come hell or high water; if that meant rain date after rain date, so be it. After a shaky start, with the original date canned by rain, the rain date of 16 September was good to go, and did it ever go! For most, the annual event represents the beginning of the drag racing calendar after a long off season, and the excitement in the Meremere air was as good as tangible. That excitement was clearly evident before you even…

Petrolheads @ Porirua, hosted annually by the Western Bays Street Rodders, may be a hit with hot rodders from around the lower North Island, but there’s a whole lot more to it than that. While the most hardcore of hot rod and street rod enthusiasts firmly cement the event as the best — if not the only — indoor show that the capital city has to offer, the not-so-hardcore get blown away by the variety of cars that the capital seems to offer up. If you’re not familiar with the Wellington region, Porirua City, essentially the equivalent of Auckland’s Manukau City, is around half an hour or so from the CBD, with a mix of commercial areas and residential suburbs. The New Zealand Kennel Club Events Centre can be found…

Good article on bump steer, as most older American cars are fairly diabolical right from the factory. There is one vital thing to note, and that’s the shape of your graph. In bump or compression, you must have toe in and not toe out. It’s virtually impossible to have zero bump steer, and a wee bit is actually not a bad thing, as it gives the driver some feel and feedback; that’s something Colin Chapman noted decades back. If you have toe out occurring in bump/compression, then you can get some fairly radical understeer happening if you’re not careful, and it’s too late to make geometry changes as you’re sledging in the very first corner. There are some nice suspension software programmes out there, but [for them] to be of…

In response to the ever-increasing number of unsafe aftermarket components hitting the market, the Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association (LVVTA) has developed a purpose-built cyclic test rig. The rig, for which the major fabrication work was donated by Wellington metal fabrication business Metcon, was unveiled to the public at CRC Speedshow, where it was configured to replicate light driving forces on an aftermarket tilt-adjustable steering column — although this is just one of many uses that the LVVTA has in mind for it. The desire to build the cyclic test rig came about as a result of the catastrophic failure of an aftermarket tilt-adjustable steering column in 2013. This failure was traced back to a small plastic component within the tilt mechanism of the column. From this failure, the LVVTA…

Celebrating 20 years, Big Boys Toys is back on November 16–18 at ASB Showgrounds, Auckland, packed to the brim with fresh doses of innovation and entertainment to mark the occasion. Encompassing an amazing range of things automotive and lifestyle, including consumer electronics, the event will see six halls of radness. The Driven Hall promises the country’s premier automotive brands and products, while the 2018 Supercar showcase has the kind of steel you only dream of touching. Electric Avenue takes a look at the EV scene on the come-up, and the Mammoth Action Arena brings together some of the world’s top-tier extreme sport athletes, including BMX legend, Jed Mildon, who will drop in from the eight-metre high Mammoth Mega Ramp. The Jack Daniels BBQ Alley will see 30 competitive BBQ teams…

We’ve been talking to Steve Gooch a fair bit lately, not only to find out what his Thunderbird has been up to — it was featured a whole decade ago, in Issue No. 42 — but also to tee up an impromptu tech article for a future issue. Anyway, since we were on the subject of that car — which you can see a bit more of in our Father’s Day Drags coverage — we decided we’d get the article online for you to read in its entirety. Just search ‘Steve Gooch’ to check out the beast!…

Jock Hinton is a man who knows how to build a car. So, while he’s chipping away at his latest personal project, it also makes sense that he’s doing a bit of customer work as well. That lucky customer is Keith Hunter, whose ’34 Ford coupe is in for the Hinton touch and is progressing beautifully. Jock is handling all the fabrication work in his workshop, with frequent help from Keith. Based around an Osborne fibreglass body, the hot rod is built on American Stamping Corporation (ASC) rails, to which Jock has added a custom-fabricated X-member and cross members. It’s had a Rods by Reid premium front end worked in, with a Currie Enterprises nine-inch diff at the back and Wilwood brakes all round, assisted by an underdash Hydrovac booster…

EMAIL YOUR INFO TO: EDITOR@V8.CO.NZ ▶ 13 OCTOBER HELENSVILLE BURNOUTS — LAST EVER Having run religiously over the last eight years, the bell has tolled for the Kaipara Classic Car Club’s iconic Helensville Burnouts. Urban development of Helensville means it is no longer viable to run the event, and the club is sending it off with a bang, in what is sure to be the biggest and best one yet. It will run as it always has, with V8, six-cylinder, four-cylinder, and ladies’ classes, and competitors are allowed as many runs as they can get in the most low-pressure event on the calendar. Located at the Swale Earthmovers yard on 103 Mill Road, Helensville, entry is $25 for competitors and $10 for spectators, with kids under 12 free — just…

The old ‘work hard, play harder’ adage is one that Igor Sutich knows all too well. A savvy businessman by day, Igor’s had a passion for custom and classic cars for as long as he can remember. However, when people ask him what he’s owned over the years, there’s a bit of a surprise in store. That’s not because he’s not owned anything of interest — far from it — but because, as the one-time owner of iconic Auckland car yard Hollywood Cars, he’s had at least one of almost everything. Hollywood Cars was the go-to place for those with a passion for cars out of the ordinary, and Igor clearly also got to sample some of the good. Fast forward to around 2010, and, by now in the property…

It doesn’t matter at what end of the automotive spectrum your loyalties lie, we’re sure all of us can agree that there are few engines that sound as good as a hot Holden V8 with a minimal number of Flowmaster mufflers. As Rodney Heads manoeuvres this Torana into position for its photo shoot, the fire-and-brimstone exhaust note is overlaid with the harsh mechanical noises of a Jerico dogbox clanking into gear, the whine of its straight-cut gear set, and an unhappy banging and clunking from the Detroit Locker rear end. While the Torana tolerates being driven at a nana’s pace in an urban car park, this is quite obviously a car that was built to be driven at ten-tenths — seemingly at odds with its warrant of fitness, rego, and…

When looking around this great country of ours, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of fantastic man caves and sheds stacked to the rafters with all manner of car-related and collectable memorabilia. If you speak to the owners, many of them will be able to recount the day, and even the item purchased, that started them down the road of collecting. Barry and Liz Carmichael of Dunedin are one such couple. Attending a farm auction south of Balclutha some 30 years ago, Barry’s plan was to purchase a compressor that he was interested in, but, as is usually the case at auctions, Barry got a bit sidetracked looking at an old petrol pump. “I actually missed the auction for the compressor,” Barry mentions. “I was too busy lugging the petrol…

Think K&N air filter, and you’ll probably think of a big 14-inch chrome air-cleaner assembly sitting on top of a four-barrel carb. Some of you might think of a red-tinted pod filter. A handful of you might even think of a complete bolt-in-and-go factory replacement intake set-up, the likes of which are becoming more common these days. Having seen a number of local performance retailers advertising these replacement kits, we decided to take a look and find out more. The kit of choice is for a Chrysler 6.4-litre Hemi, or, more specifically, one found in a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 manufactured from 2012 to now. The skinny of it all basically comes down to efficiency. Not only does the mandrel-bent aluminium intake pipe offer no restriction, but also the high-flow…

Following the launch of both the Colorado SportsCat and the Chevrolet Silverado, Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) has now confirmed pricing for its new Chevrolet Camaro 2SS. HSV will be re-engineering and remanufacturing the current Chevrolet Camaro for the Australian and New Zealand markets — the first manufacturer to do so with full volume compliance. The driving force behind the Camaro 2SS is the 6.2-litre LT1 V8, featuring direct injection, variable valve timing, and active fuel management — combining efficiency with power. Speaking of which, it’s good for 455hp and 455lb·ft, and will be available only with GM’s new eight-speed automatic transmission. “This project has been over three years in the making and involved millions of dollars of investment in product development, testing, and validation. We set out with the goal…

Hi Todd, Could you forward my details to the owner of the Monaro in your last issue. I think this is my old car. A long time ago I purchased an HT six-cylinder Monaro on the North Shore. It was tired, with minor accident damage to the right-hand rear quarter panel. I bought the last new right-hand rear quarter in New Zealand from Davie Motors in Otahuhu. Somebody had replaced the 186 engine with a 202. I sold that and refitted a period-correct 350 (300hp) Chev and four-speed Muncie. I repainted the Vehicle in ‘Strike Me Pink’ — a factory XU1 colour — and fitted period-correct Globe Bathurst alloys. I sold the vehicle to a guy in Hastings, who spent a fortune on modifications for drag racing. The license plate…

We doubt that any of you lot are going to be complaining as the days get warmer and longer, and, for many, that can only mean one thing — it’s that time of year again! Yep, Western Springs Speedway is about to kick-start the 2018–’19 season in the most extravagant way possible! Not only will the Guy Fawkes celebrations be welcomed back on opening night, but the speedway will be hosting a world-first event the following weekend — the $1 Million Sprint Car Shoot-Out, at which $1M — yes, one million dollars! — will be put on the line! However, as the Auckland Council recently confirmed that the venue has two years left, it will be relocating to Colin Dale Motorsport Park near the International Airport. There are thousands of…

Darren Selwyn’s A/FX Dodge Coronet, aka ‘Pandemonium’, is one mean machine. Built back in the UK, it came with him when he emigrated to New Zealand. It’s not just some slapped-together heap of shit — it’s been built and engineered the way that the factory teams built their altered-wheelbase experimental cars back in the ’60s. Oh, and then there’s the injected 493ci big block — yeah, it’s pretty badass. Hop onto themotorhood.com and search ‘Darren Selwyn’ to have a read.…

WINNER! $100 RARE SPARES VOUCHER Craig Tomalin has been building a ’70 Challenger. It is nearing completion and is having its upholstery taken care of at the moment. As Craig says, though, “You gotta have two builds going on, so that when one stalls, you can go on to the next one.” His other build is definitely one that’s been keeping him busy — a ’48 Ford cab-over that is being built unlike any we’ve seen locally. Craig has fabricated a complete chassis of his own design, and has made loads of progress, with just a bit more thought to put into the front-end design before any welding is done there. The rear is finished, though, with a straightforward parallel four-bar suspension set-up. As low as the Ford looks at…

As Terry MacRae’s suburban garage door rolls up on its electric motor, the sunlight glides over the chrome bumpers and perfect paint of a car that can’t be mistaken for anything other than a ’55 Chev. The starter motor coughs against a high-compression big block, and the engine fires into an uneven earthquake of an idle. Disturbing the peace down the main streets of Tauranga, the silky-smooth Chev stands out as an anomaly among the hordes of plastic bumpers and LED lights — something better suited to a world of neon and chrome depicted on the big screen. “I’ve loved the two-door ’55 Chev sedan since seeing it in American Graffiti when I was a teenager,” Terry reminisces. “I bet you can guess what my favourite movie is!” However, as…

It’s hard to believe, but this year’s was the eighth running of the Kaikoura Hop, held over 13–16 September. From humble beginnings, the Kaikoura Hop has now cemented its place as a must-do event on the New Zealand car-scene calendar. The past couple of years haven’t been easy for the organizers, with not only a huge change of venue but also the upheaval that Mother Nature caused with the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the region just after midnight on 14 November 2016. Last year, the organizers faced uncertainty with the loss of so much of the town’s accommodation, not only through the damage caused by quakes but also because much of it was occupied by the hundreds of workers who had moved to the town to help with the rebuilding…

The team at The Krysler Shop have built some of the toughest diffs around, as used in many local drag cars, but they’re currently cooking up a complete car of their own. Their ’65 Falcon is pure gasser, but is being built on a budget, predominantly from parts found lying around the workshop. While the Falcon’ll likely hit the track with nitrous to begin with, the real plan is to run a blower on it. As you’d expect, the rear end is a solid one, built around a Strange nine-inch housing and 35-spline Pro Race axles. Being a gasser, it’s meant to be scary, so 11-inch Currie drum brakes have been fitted, while Calvert Racing springs and CalTrac bars hold it all in place. The front end is a Speedway…

HEROPRINTS.CO.NZ This month’s cover-car owner has fulfilled his dream by completing the Mustang you’ve seen earlier in this issue. He’s vowed there are no more crazy concepts lurking in his mind. However, Justin Hansen, who usually comments on the concept car from an LVVTA point of view, has a concept that he’s itching to see turned into reality. That concept is based around one of the coolest, and rarest, long roofs of the 1950s — a 1956 Pontiac Safari. These cars were based on the Chev Nomad platform but with the added appeal of Pontiac front and rear sheet metal. The reality is that the cars were almost custom looking from the factory, so there’s no need at all to get carried away with wild body mods. In fact, Justin…

COPPER-COATED LOCKING NUTS Perfect for applications such as manifolds, these are top locking with an ovaled thread. Copper-coated steel ensures that they do not seize, which is a common occurrence with uncoated steel nuts. These nuts are available in sizes M6–M10 and are often used in conjunction with a grade-nine washer on a screw-in stud for exhaust manifolds. SHANKED BOLTS These are used in high-stress applications such as suspension. The strength of shanked bolts lies in the shanked unthreaded part of the bolt, and your local cert man will require at least 80 per cent shank through the bush or joint. It’s worth noting that at least three full threads will need to show past the nut. BRASS MANIFOLD NUTS Although these are not locking nuts, the brass is able…

TORANARAMA The team at Heads Racing Supplies swear that they don’t only build Toranas, but when their Toranas are that damn good, it’s easy to see why they’ve become the go-to workshop for the Aussie workhorses. Heads is currently putting the finishing touches on yet another tough one, this time an LX hatch. The car is being built for a current Central Muscle Cars (CMC) competitor, with all fab work taken care of in-house by the team. The 393ci engine in the car has been looked after by Ray Neilson, and features a Dart LSX NEXT block packed with forged JE pistons, Oliver rods, and a Callies crankshaft. The heads are CNC-ported Air Flow Research (AFR) alloy units that run Jesel rockers and PAC valve springs and retainers. This is…

WHO’S THE QUICKEST The annual Petrolhead Father’s Day Drags is known as the best street car shoot-out of the year. However, with the event taking place before summer rolls around and the track gets any real heat into it, it’s not necessarily where the cars run their best ETs. The record-setting runs normally take place at larger comp meets throughout the season, which feature fully prepped tracks, so getting a real indicator of the street cars’ performances is tricky. Lucky for you, we’ve done the hard work, and created the NZ’s Quickest Streeters list, which you can find elsewhere in this magazine. For the full info on each car though, you’ll need to jump online to themotorhood.com and search ‘quickest streeters’. Here you’ll find all the specs behind the country’s…