REBEL YELL —
REBEL ROUND UP
Thankfully, a deal was done that saw that happen, and the wreck was delivered back to him. On a mission not to let it sit around, he got stuck into the rebuild. Not much more than 12 months later, the car was back on the road, looking better than it ever had. The panel work was sorted out, thanks to various replacement panels from Chucks Restoration Supplies and the magic touch of Tony McAuley in getting the remainder straight before Kurt at Gateway Autobody ensured the gaps were right. The task of colouring the whole lot was handed over to local paint legend Reon Madden at Supreme Auto Refinishers. While the car was originally gold, this time around, the latest Holden colour, called ‘Light My Fire’, was used — a fitting name for a colour on a car of this nature! Obviously, the motor needed repairs, too, having been shunted around in the hit, and items such as the intercooler and radiator were replaced with shiny new items, the latter coming from Petone Radiators. Although it was not a necessity, Brent had Steve at Price Auto Trim redo the interior of the car, keeping the subtle look, albeit in a different colour from the original. A retro stereo now hides in plain sight in the dash, while a hoard of Auto Meter gauges keeps an eye on the engine’s vital stats. With Carl Jensen in charge of tuning, the car turned the rollers at C&M to the tune of 650hp at the wheels — so, as you can imagine, Brent’s not all that precious when it comes to choosing rear tyres, as they don’t seem to last all that long. Now that the rebuild is complete, Brent’s thrown around the idea of putting the Bel Air down the drag strip, but that’s not really what the build was about. Sure, he knows it’d likely run into the 10s, having run a soft 11.2 previously, but having fun on the road and fulfilling the dream of owning the car he’d long admired was really what the build was about. Let’s just hope that this time around everyone else takes as much care around it as Brent does!