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B
arry Smith’s tough HT Holden ute was yet
to turn a tyre in anger when we pointed our
camera at it for the feature in the previous issue,
but since then it has gone on to reward the team
behind the build for all their hard work. The ute’s
first outing was at the BurgerFuel Port Road Drags,
where, despite the less than perfect surface, the
car ran arrow straight. While getting seat time was
the aim of the day, the team came home with a
car that sounded crisp and ran hard.
This obvious performance potential was given
a numerical value at the recent NZDRA Central
Nationals, where the team ran the ute on a
prepped drag strip for the first time, achieving an
impressive 9.37 at 141.66mph — a sure indicator
of things to come!
In our article on the car, we incorrectly stated that
Barry’s previously campaigned Camaro was the
Robin Silk–built ’86 Chev Camaro more recently
campaigned by the Pirtek Taranaki team. In fact,
that car was actually built by Barry and his mate,
Adrian Kramer, at Adrian’s Napier-based Kramer
Engineering. We apologize to Barry and Adrian for
the error.
D
unedin’s Taylor Peterson is giving his 1977 Ford
Capri Mk2 the works, transforming it from a
tough streeter to ... well, an even tougher streeter!
Originally powered by a two-litre four-banger, the
Capri soon found itself with a 302, and then a 347ci
stroker, pushing the Capri to an 11.3 at 122mph.
“The body basically started falling apart, and I got a
bit carried away with the grinder,” Taylor explained of
the car’s current guise.
The chassis has now been back-halved, with a
10-point chromoly roll cage, chromoly four-bar rear,
and tubs over the 15x12-inch Billet Specialties wheels.
Further forward, the firewall has been recessed by
200mm, allowing the engine to be mounted lower
and rearwards, in order to get it through LVVTA
certification visibility requirements. While Taylor
intends to run his old 347 initially to get used to
the new chassis, he is planning on a dry-sumped
363ci Windsor topped with an 8-71 blower and
Joe Blo Speed Shop electronic-fuel-injection (EFI)
set-up, using a low-profile PSI injector hat. The
combo will be backed by a Rossler Terminator 6
Powerglide transmission and a nine-inch diff with
Strange Engineering alloy centre, 35-spline axles,
and Strange Engineering moly floaters.
However, for all the trick gear underneath, the body
is set to remain reasonably stock, albeit coated in
candy paint once the engineering work has been
completed. We’re sure looking forward to seeing
this complete!
Taylor thanks Dave Rosewarne at Cylinder Head
Specialists for supplying the transmission, dry-sump
parts, and all of the diff components.
STRAIGHT LINING
TOUGH FORD
ANNIVERSARY
FOR MMP
31ST DECEMBER 2017
SUMMER NATIONALS
- TAUPO
20TH JANUARY 2018
SOUTHERN NATIONALS
- MOTUEKA
COMING EVENTS
/NZDRAL
ittle did the enthusiastic bunch of
people who gained permission to run
occasional drag races on Masterton’s
airfield know what they’d create. Now,
20 years on, the airfield strip is a thing
of the past, and the passion for racing is
greater than ever.
From those humble beginnings, thanks to
plenty of hard work and determination, a
dedicated strip would be created — a strip
that has now established itself as being the
best place in New Zealand to race. With this
season being the 20th, a special bumper-
sized Dragstalgia and 20th anniversary
event is set to take place on January 6
and 7. The two-day event will see a full
range of classes, ranging from some of the
quickest cars in the country right through to
street cars.
Entry is $20 on the gate (under 14s free),
with gates opening at 9am on both days
and racing starting at 10am on Saturday and
9am on Sunday. For more information, visit
mastertonmotorplex.co.nz.