IT SPAT OUT A CONVINCING 722HP ON ITS THIRD
PULL ON THE ENGINE DYNO. THAT’S SIX TIMES MORE
GRUNT THAN A 179, SO IT OUGHT TO DO THE JOB
6/71 blower, twin 650cfm Holleys and a delightfully old-
fashioned finned alloy scoop. It runs a Scat crank and rods,
forged pistons and alloy heads, and spat out a convincing
722hp on its third pull on the engine dyno. That’s six times
more grunt than a 179 offered up back in the day, so it ought
to do the job.
The transmission is a manualised Turbo 350 with a 3200rpm
torque converter, and the diff is a fabricated, full-floating nine-
inch with a Truetrac centre and street-friendly 3.25:1 final
drive gears.
All up, Shane spent four years transforming the ute from a
well-worn paddock basher into a stunning showpiece with
an optimal blend of toughness and class. He’s now owned it
28 years and counting, and we get the feeling that he’s not
looking to move it on anytime soon.
“It made the Top 60 and won a Rare Spares Encouragement
Award at Summernats 31,” says Shane. “It was also in the 18
cars that qualified to compete for Grand Champion, and was
one of 10 invited to attend Red CentreNATS in August. Owen
Webb said that it was his favourite car in the Elite Hall too,
which was pretty flattering.
“I want to show the car for a while and then cruise it. I like
going to the Bright Rod Run and Queenscliff Rod Run and
that type of thing; I like laidback weekends with the car.”
In between laidback weekends with the EH, Shane intends
to busy himself by restoring an FJ ute as well as an HT sedan
for his missus, because old Holdens never die! sThe tray is no longer suitable for
carting pig food around the farm,
but it sure is pretty. A custom fuel
cell is countersunk into the floor,
and a Holley Black fuel pump
delivers premium unleaded to the
blown small-block up frontStocked Up
SHANE has an impressive shed. The
blue EH Prem was his first car and
he’s owned it for about six months
longer than he has the ute; so in other
words, 28 and a half years! It still
runs a 179, backed by a five-speed
Celica cog-swapper. The custom EH
convertible is a beaut-looking thing
that’s been on the scene for 20 years
and cut many a lap of the Summernats
cruise route. The panel van was a
big project; Shane purchased it froma mate for just $350 and gave it a
ground-up rebuild, treating it to a 350
Chev, Turbo 350 trans and a nine-inch
diff. The FJ is a ridgy-didge original
old tilly that’s in great shape, with
only 22,000 miles on the dial. It’ll be
Shane’s next project, and he plans
on restoring it to as-new condition.
If you reckon he needs an EH wagon
to complete the box-set of EH body
styles, don’t worry – he has one, it’s
just in his other shed!