THERE are few people who got more bang for their bucks
from this year’s Drag Challenge than Nathan Clarke.
Starting with a time-warp pop-spec HG Holden Belmont,
he did an LS1 transplant and turbocharger conversion
in less than three months with his mate Dominic Pelle in
Dom’s shed. Top work! But the real head-shake here is the
fact the engine was a junker with water in the sump when
Nathan dragged it from a backyard!
After spraying some WD40 into the sparkplug holes,
he began working the crank pulley with a breaker bar. “I
thought: ‘What the hell am I doing?’” Nathan laughs. But
for $300 he had nothing to lose after he blew his first LS1
transplant engine due to a dodgy wastegate spring.
The turbo conversion is something the lads whipped up
at home – a Chinese GT45-copy turbo fed from turned-
around VE manifolds with some backyard-built plumbing
pressuring to 10psi. The management is a tuned Holden
LS1 and the engine has had stiffer valve springs fitted.
The TH350 ’box is the first Nathan has ever built and
it takes the twist from a 2800rpm Dominator converter
bought second-hand for a box of beer. The rear end is a
nine-inch hung on reset leaf springs and a set of $200
shockies.
Nathan drove the car from Sydney, ran a string of 10s
- the last a 10.1@137mph from some octane booster in
the tank and a lift in boost from 10 to 15psi – and drove
home again, laughing the whole way.
NATHAN
CLARKE
“AS JAMIE Farmers ‘Dirty Bird’ Falcon ute
wasn’t going to return from the US Drag Week
in time, we took his spot on Drag Challenge,”
says 22-year-old Dylan McGavigan, a DC
first-timer. “So I decided to put an LS in the
’76 Cortina I’d been building, based off of
Jamie’s conversion. I picked up a stock VY
LS1 for $1500 then added a big cam, took a
little off of the heads then pretty much slipped
it straight in. It’s all naturally aspirated EFI
with the standard manifold. The throttlebodyis too close to the radiator so it’s drawing in
hot air and that let us down a little bit with
power, making 350rwhp.”
Not only was this Dylan’s first Drag
Challenge, it was his first drag experience,
ever. “I’d never raced before, so my first pass
was a 14.0,” he says. “Then as the week went
on I got a feel for the car and got it down to
12.3@111mph.
“Overall we drove a 5000km round trip
from Sydney to Adelaide. We finished itthe day beforehand and I took it for a short
test-drive before we left on Friday night. We
drove straight through and the Cortina never
missed a beat; we didn’t have to do a thing.”
His debut DC sojourn done and dusted,
Dylan’s already looking towards 2018.
“For next year’s DC I’m already getting
another combo shipped over from the
States,” he says. “It’s a 418ci LS, which
should make 525rwhp and get me low 10s
or even high nines.”DYLAN McGAVIGAN
THERE are few people who got more bang for their bucks
from this year’s Drag Challenge than Nathan Clarke.
Starting with a time-warp pop-spec HG Holden Belmont,
he did an LS1 transplant and turbocharger conversion
in less than three months with his mate Dominic Pelle in
Dom’s shed. Top work! But the real head-shake here is the
fact the engine was a junker with water in the sump when
Nathan dragged it from a backyard!
After spraying some WD40 into the sparkplug holes,
he began working the crank pulley with a breaker bar. “I
thought: ‘What the hell am I doing?’” Nathan laughs. But
for $300 he had nothing to lose after he blew his first LS1
transplant engine due to a dodgy wastegate spring.
The turbo conversion is something the lads whipped up
at home – a Chinese GT45-copy turbo fed from turned-
around VE manifolds with some backyard-built plumbing
pressuring to 10psi. The management is a tuned Holden
LS1 and the engine has had stiffer valve springs fitted.
The TH350 ’box isthe first Nathan hasever built and
it takes the twist from a 2800rpm Dominator converter
bought second-hand for a box of beer. The rear end is a
nine-inch hung on reset leaf springs and a set of $200
shockies.
Nathan drove the car from Sydney, ran a string of 10s
- the last a 10.1@137mph from some octane booster in
the tank and a lift in boost from 10 to 15psi – and drove
home again, laughing the whole way.
“AS JAMIE Farmers ‘Dirty Bird’ Falcon ute
wasn’tgoing to return from the US DragWeek
in time, we took his spot on Drag Challenge,”
says 22-year-old Dylan McGavigan, a DC
first-timer. “So I decided to put an LS in the
’76 Cortina I’d been building, based off of
Jamie’s conversion. I picked up a stock VY
LS1 for $1500 then added a big cam, took a
little off of the heads then pretty much slipped
it straight in. It’s all naturally aspirated EFI
with the standard manifold. The throttlebodyis too close to the radiator so it’s drawing in
hot air and that let us down a little bit with
power, making 350rwhp.”
Not only was this Dylan’s first Drag
Challenge, it was his first drag experience,
ever. “I’d never raced before, so my first pass
was a 14.0,” he says. “Then as the week went
on Igot a feel for the car and got it down to
12.3@111mph.
“Overall we drove a 5000km round trip
from Sydney to Adelaide. We finished itthe day beforehand and I took it for a short
test-drive before we left on Friday night. We
drove straight through and the Cortina never
missed a beat; we didn’t have to do a thing.”
His debut DC sojourn done and dusted,
Dylan’s already looking towards 2018.
“For next year’s DC I’m already getting
another combo shipped over from the
States,” he says. “It’s a 418ci LS, which
should make 525rwhp and get me low 10s
or even high nines.”