FRONT SUSPENSION
The front crossmember is a Rod Shop
speciality. Although the company sells ‘off-
the-shelf’ adjustable coil-over suspension
assemblies with tubular arms and rack-
and-pinion steering, it also offers a custom-
building service for car crafters who require
something more bespoke, such as this.
Airbag suspension helps to achieve the
ground-hugging stance that is one of the
car’s biggest talking points
INTERIOR
The dashboard might look standard to the
casual observer, but Torana fans will notice
that it’s missing the traditional LC dash
pad. Instead, the top half of the dash has
been fabricated in steel to mimic the lines
of the factory padding. This meant that
the standard instrument cluster, glovebox
and even the ashtray could be retained,
alongside the iconic GTR steering wheelBODY
It’s been a big rebuild – the only remaining
panels from the shed-find two-door are
the roof and half of the driver’s-side
rear quarter. Heath spent plenty of time
massaging donor panels, but the door skins
are brand new, made in-house by The Rod
Shop – yes, you can buy them, too. You’ll
notice that the rear wheelarches haven’t
been stretched, unlike the vast majority of
early Toranas running big wheel and tyre
combos. “I wanted it to look as much like
a standard Torana body as possible, and
that meant tucking the rear wheels right in
so we didn’t have to stretch the guards,”
Heath says
THE ’MAINE GAME
HEATH and Marc’s father, Kelvin
Waddington, kicked off his modified
car career in the mid-1970s when
he established a hot rod shop,
Waddington Street Rod & Restoration
Centre, in Castlemaine.
“I think he was 12 when he joined the
local hot rod club!” Heath laughs. “As
the business grew, he extended things- it got bigger and bigger.”
In late 2012, Waddington bought
the legendary Castlemaine Rod
Shop. Since then, The Rod Shop has
cemented its reputation as a provider
of staunch parts for street machines,
especially with the wave of interest in
pro-standard burnout cars in the past
few years.
“You’ve gotta keep putting in,” Heath
says, who starts his 12-hour work day
at 6am. “We’ve given The Rod Shop a
bit of a birthday and gotten some fresh
technologies happening. We’ve ‘gone
with the times’.
“We typically turn out a nine-inch diff
every day and we have our off-the-rack
and custom-built front ends. We sell
three-to-five early-Commodore LS
conversion kits a day and we’re the
biggest supplier of Wilwood brakes in
the country.”