W
HILE hipster Millennials are snacking
on smashed avo bruschetta and
bitching about the property market,
23-year-old Nick Andreula is
sticking his hard-earned cash into
a top-level automotive investment –
this staunch, low-10-second HG Premier.
“I grew up around Fords,” Nick says. “I had an
XW as my first old-school car because Uncle
Donato and Uncle Phil both had one; Dad isn’t
really into cars.”
But as teenage Nick began to hone his taste,
his heart became firmly set on the clean lines
of Holden’s HG Premier. “I like the class and
elegance of the early H-series Holdens, which
is why I changed teams and bought one.”
The then-18-year-old apprentice hunted for a
year before locating a tidy example in Victoria.
“I got as many pics as I could from the owner,
before my uncle Donato and I went for a look
that weekend, bringing the car back with us,”
he says.
And while the Prem was already a neat driver,
well equipped with a 383ci small-block Chev,
Powerglide and nine-inch, Nick wanted more.
“I upped the ante with a bigger motor, bigger
axles, bigger everything,” he smiles. “I wanted a
tough street cruiser, and, as I’m pretty fussy, I
knew that the build would escalate. I had a good
starting point.”
Over the next four years, Nick poured his
wages into the black beast. And for him, it was
all about sliding in a stout carby-fed 434ci Chev
up front.
Dino Cecere was entrusted to whip up
the Prem’s new powerplant. Inside the Dart
Sportsman block, Dino’s packed a Scat crank
and rods, forged Wiseco pistons and a custom
roller cam. Up top is a pair of modified AFR
227cc heads, with a port-matched Super
Victor manifold and Quick Fuel 950 carb. A
Holley pump feeds the PULP forward from the
boot-mounted CDS fuel cell, while sparking
the lot is an MSD Pro-Billet dizzy and ignition.
Spent gasses zoom through 0.75-inch
Pacemaker extractors down a three-inch
stainless system and out. A Meziere electric
water pump, plumbed to a Ron Davis radiator
and fanned by a pair of 10-inch Ron Davis
thermos, cools the whole shebang.
“Dino built me a stinker motor, exactly how I
wanted it,” Nick says of the proven 670rwhp,
605ft-lb small-block.
Behind it, Nick’s kept the trusty Powerglide,
adding a 4800 TCE stall. “Having only
two gears is a lot of fun, and the boxes are
bulletproof!” he says.
Out back, Carmine and Dino from CDS
Engineering & Body Repairs reworked
everything to suit the 10-inch Center Line Auto
Drags by lengthening the wheel arches and
shortening the nine-inch. The diff is packed
with a Strange centre, Truetrac, 4.3 gears and
31-spline axles.
Externally, Tom and the team from Pro Paint
N Panel straightened and repaired the body
before laying on the shiny black PPG coating.
“The car had a few blisters and blemishes toTRIP TO CALAIS
WHEN Nick was building the HG motor,
everyone was telling him to go LS turbo
because it’s cheap power. “But there was no
way I’d put a turbo in a car like the Prem; for
me it’s not correct for that era,” he asserts.
“Yet after I’d been in a few turbo cars, I knew
I wanted that rush. I didn’t want a Japanese
car, so the only other car in my eyes was a
VL Calais turbo.”
The exterior paint and body was already done,
and Nick painted the engine bay.
“I’m doing more of this build myself,” he says.
It’ll run an RB30, with forged pistons, cam,
and strong internals to handle boost from the
Garrett 3582R turbo. Behind is an R33 RB25
manual ’box with a shortened BorgWarner diff,
Harrop centre and 31-spline Strange axles.
“The motor has just been finished, and
hopefully I’ll have it in soon, get the wiring
done and then she’s good to go racing.”NICK’S PREM