BOUND FOR GLORY
> HARRY HAIG AND FRIENDS ARE GETTING THEIR NOW-LEGENDARY ’69 CHEVELLE READY FOR ANOTHER CRACK AT HOT ROD DRAG WEEK
AS WE go to print, there’s less than three weeks until Hot Rod Drag Week 2016, and Victorian Harry Haig is planning to pull another rabbit out of his hat with the Drag Week Chevelle. You may remember the guys pulling the 1969 Chevelle out of the paddock behind The Car Shop in Independence, Kansas to use on the event last year. Well the team is set to go bigger and better this year, with a twin-turbo big-block engine combo that will test the limits of insanity.
Built by Terry Seng of Paramount Performance and Robby Abbott of Abbott Engine Reconditioning in Queensland, the 560-cube stroker fired a few shots on the dyno before being packaged up and sent to the USA. It’s a Dart Big M block with an Eagle rotating assembly and a heavy-duty Edelbrock top end, complete with Edelbrock/musi Victor CNC heads and a Victor Jr EFI intake. But the real stars are the pair of 72mm hairdryers that will be sitting high and proud through the bonnet. The whole lot is controlled by a Holley ECU tuned by Terry. On 14psi and E85 the motor managed 1300hp without an intercooler.
The guys will be fitting a ’cooler along with the new donk when they get to the US just eight days ahead of Drag Week. At the moment the Chevelle is a bare shell with a rollcage and a nine-inch to replace the temperamental 10-bolt that caused so many problems last year. They’ll need to fit the engine, trans, fuel system and wire it all up when they hit the States. Then there’s Drag Week to finish – it’s not going to be a holiday!
Terry Seng will ride shotgun and tweak the tune for the week-long event, with Shannon ‘Pyro’ Jennings (SM, Aug ’14) opening the beers. The plan is to get the car into the mid-eights for the week, and if there is anything left by the Friday, turn it up.
Other Aussies also returning for 2016 include John Faraone, back for a fifth time with the Charger, Brian and Dianne with their big-block Torana hatch, and the Trapnell brothers back for another crack in the purple HQ Monaro. If you want to follow the day-to-day action, keep a close eye on streetmachine.com.au.