Street Machine Australia — June 2017

URBAN WARFARE

MARK ARBLASTER

PHOTOS PETER BATEMAN

I

’M CONSTANTLY amazed at the level of

investment and perfection some people

are prepared to commit to their cars. Race

cars have always stretched the boundaries,

but lately the build quality and engineering

behind everyday street cars is like nothing I

have ever seen.

Late-model cars are halfway there straight

off the showroom floor, with EFI and modern

fuel and ignition systems, but it’s cars like

Tom Trunzo’s Australian-delivered 1959 Ford

Customline that stand out in the crowd.

Tom’s Cusso has had a number of motors.

Initially it was a V8-delivered car that had a

mild Windsor, then a 4V Clevo combination

that pushed the car into the mid-12s over

the quarter.

His long friendship with fellow racer and

engine builder Elvio Gonzales led Tom towards

big-block power, after seeing how well Elvio’s

old big-block Capri went. So when the old

Clevo legged it, it was time to step up.

“Tom really wanted the big-block; something

tough,” Elvio says. “Then there was talk of it

being a family car – something his kids or the

missus could drive – and at that point I wanted

him to reassess things. I steered him towards

a small-block with twin turbos, so that when

he handed it on to the kids we could dial it

back, not worry about noise, heat and fumes,

and still have it as a sensible family car that he

could do the odd wedding in.”

With the high cost of quality components,

it took five years to get it all together. With a

‘do it once, do it right’ attitude, they started

with a Dart Iron Eagle 9.5in-deck-height block,

with a Magnum XL 4.1in-stroke crank, Howard

extreme-duty 1500hp-rated conrods, and flat-

top forged slugs, for a capacity of 445ci.

The cam is a Comp hydraulic-roller with over

.600in lift, while the balancer and flexplate are

from ATI. A big-arse Moroso oil pan keeps

eight litres of oil circulating, and the engine is

topped with 240cc Trickflow high-port heads

with oversized Manley valves (shorter than

standard to suit the hydraulic-roller) with PAC

springs and Harland Sharp shaft-mounted

rockers.

The intake is an Edelbrock four-barrel,

specific to the heads, with a single carb

elbow and an LS2 fly-by-wire throttlebody.

Ignition comes from a set of LS coils with the

distributor replaced by an AEM sensor to index

top dead centre. The valvetrain is completed

FIRING ’LINE

> TOM TRUNZO’S TWIN-TURBO SMALL BLOCK-POWERED CUSTOMLINE IS A CLASSIC CRUISER

WITH A TON OF GRUNT

M