PAUL Mulcahy had planned to front up to Drag Challenge 2017
with the same twin-turbo, supercharged, V6-powered Austin
Lancer he campaigned last year, but when his mate Matt wanted
to tag along with him and his co-pilot Marcus, that all changed.
“The Austin is only registered to carry two people because of
the ’cage, so I said: ‘We have three weeks, so let’s go up the
back and pick out a Commodore, throw a motor in it and get it
going,’” Paul said.
That’s downplaying things a bit, because the motor in
question is a turbocharged 408ci LS that required plenty of
work to fit. But Paul is a goer, and no sooner had he dragged
the wagon out of the paddock, got it running, washed it and
threw some rego on it, he promptly pulled it apart and got stuck
into the conversion.
The motor is based on a 6.0-litre LS, and the turbo is a
Chinese jobby that Paul was given by his son. The car was
cobbled together with a Turbo 350 and nine-inch rear end, and
despite frying the converter on the dyno the Friday before Drag
Challenge, Paul replaced it with a stocker, jumped in it with his
mates, and drove it from Bendigo to Adelaide. How cool is that!
As you’d expect of a three-week build, there were some
teething problems, and the stock converter hampered the car’s
progress out of the hole, but the VH will have plenty of potential
once Paul gets on top of it.
“We’ve had a ball!” Paul enthused in Adelaide on Day Five.
“It’s rained and it’s been that hot – but you meet so many nice
people. I’m 52 years old but I still feel like I’m 18!”
BOOSTED with what owner – and Drag Challenge first-
timer – Shaun Peatt describes as a “big shiny hairdryer,”
this 1993 VQ Series II Holden Statesman was one of about
eleventeen GM/Holden LS-something transplants at Drag
Challenge this year.
Ballarat local Shaun bought the car 14 years ago and the
LS transplant went in around four years ago. The now stroker
383-cube LS1 was built by Ballarat’s Jason Clark Automotive.
The important engine hardware includes forged internals
and a billet Turbonetics 76mm breathing into a tall Edelbrock
manifold. The engine uses a tuned factory LS management
system and has developed 811hp at the treads in the past,
but Shaun says his Drag Challenge set-up was around 720hp
on 18psi.
The trans is a built TH400 three-speed auto fronted by a
TCE 3600rpm converter. Surprisingly, the big Stato carries
its factory-spec 3.07 diff, independent rear suspension
and driveshafts. “I haven’t broken a driveshaft yet!” says a
somewhat surprised Shaun. “But I carried spares!”
Like many, Shaun suffered in the heat on Monday. Worse
than that, boost problems lingered all week.
“I could only get about 12 pounds out of it,” he says. “The
boost controller didn’t want to play. When we got home, I
found a loose wire and now it seems to be working again!”
Elsewhere, the Statesman has laid down a best of
9.5@156mph, but Shaun’s quickest DC17 result was a flat-
10 at 137mph.PAUL Mulcahy had planned to front up to Drag Challenge 2017
with the same twin-turbo, supercharged, V6-powered Austin
Lancer he campaigned last year, but when his mate Matt wanted
to tag along with him and his co-pilot Marcus, that all changed.
“The Austin is only registered to carry two people because of
the ’cage, so I said: ‘We have three weeks, so let’s go up the
back and pick out a Commodore, throw a motor in it and get it
going,’” Paul said.
That’s downplaying things a bit, because the motor in
question is a turbocharged 408ci LS that required plenty of
work to fit. But Paul is a goer, and no sooner had he dragged
the wagon out of the paddock, got it running, washed it and
threw some rego on it, he promptly pulled it apart and got stuck
into the conversion.
The motor is based on a 6.0-litre LS, and the turbo is a
Chinese jobby that Paul was given by his son. The car was
cobbled together with a Turbo 350 and nine-inch rear end, and
despite frying the converter on the dyno the Friday before Drag
Challenge, Paul replaced it with a stocker, jumped in it with his
mates, and drove it from Bendigo to Adelaide. How cool is that!
As you’d expect of a three-week build, there were some
teething problems, and the stock converter hampered the car’s
progress out of the hole, but the VH will have plenty of potential
once Paul gets on top of it.
“We’ve had a ball!” Paul enthused in Adelaide on Day Five.
“It’s rained and it’s been that hot – but you meet so many nice
people. I’m 52 years old but I still feel like I’m 18!”
BOOSTED with what owner – and Drag Challenge first-
timer – Shaun Peatt describes as a “big shiny hairdryer,”
this 1993 VQ Series II Holden Statesman was one of about
eleventeen GM/Holden LS-something transplants at Drag
Challenge this year.
Ballarat local Shaun bought the car 14 years ago and the
LS transplant went in around four years ago. The now stroker
383-cube LS1 was built by Ballarat’s Jason Clark Automotive.
The important engine hardware includes forged internals
and a billet Turbonetics 76mm breathing into a tall Edelbrock
manifold. The engine uses a tuned factory LS management
system and has developed 811 hp at the treads in the past,
but Shaun says his Drag Challenge set-up was around 720hp
on 18psi.
The trans is a built TH400 three-speed auto fronted bya
TCE 3600rpm converter. Surprisingly, the big Stato carries
its factory-spec 3.07 diff, independent rear suspension
and driveshafts. “I haven’t broken a driveshaft yet!” says a
somewhat surprised Shaun. “But I carried spares!”
Like many, Shaun suffered in the heat on Monday. Worse
than that, boost problems lingered all week.
“I could only get about 12 pounds out of it,” he says. “The
boost controller didn’t want to play. When we got home, I
found a loose wire and now it seems to be working again!”
Elsewhere, the Statesman has laid down a best of
9.5@156mph, but Shaun’s quickest DC17 result was a flat-
10 at 137mph.d
kT