FRANKLY SPEAKING
FRANK Marchese from
Dandy Engines (S M , Oct ’19) is the man responsible for putting Daniel’s biginch motor together and tuning it, and working out the rest of the drivetrain package. You know you’ve built an impressive car when Frank own sets his 6sec, 200mph, Drag Challengewinning XW Falcon to the side so he can crew with you. “If you want to boil it down to its most basic level, Daniel a bought motor and converter off took me and it home and fitted it,” says Frank. “But this car is a next-level build when you dissect it from start to finish.
“I’d never done a 632 with twin 94s on it before Daniel came to me, but we did it because he had all the parts already,” Frank continues. “The rest of the combo is the same as Steve Athans’s and some of the other bigblocks we’ve done. Steve’s nearly car has run 6.60s in the same-weight car on a bigger tyre.
“When we put the HQ on the dyn we had done what we wanted to do within just a couple of hours. The car works effortlessly because the guys had done such a good job putting it together.
“Turbo cars are the best for events like Drag Challenge as you can treat them like an everyday car. There’s heaps of reasons: tight converters, better diff gears so they cruise nicely – the list goes on and on. But power management is everything: power the more you have, the harder it get is to it to hook up on a 275 radial. We can’t run Daniel’s car without traction control. With the Fueltech, he can make the call on the startline between one of our five tunes and change that over while idling.
“The peak of street machining is when amateur guys build killer cars like this in their shed at home with their mates, even if they don’t do it for a living. That’s what makes this car so impressive to me.”
DANIEL SZABOLICS 1971 HOLDEN HQ MONARO
Paint:
Sikkens Metallic Silver
ENGINE
Brand: 632ci Dart Big M bigblock Chev
Induction: Plazmaman billet
ECU: Fueltech FT600
Turbo: Twin Precision
Pro Mod 94mm
Heads: AFR 385cc
Conrods: Oliver
Pistons: Diamond
Crank: Callies billet
Cam: Bullet solid-roller
Oil pump: Peterson R4 belt-driven pump, Moroso Race sump
Fuel system: Billet Atomizer 700lb injectors (x8), Siemens 80lb injectors (x8), Aeromotive in-tank pump (petrol), Bosch 044 primer pump (methanol), Waterman belt-driven pump (methanol)
Cooling: PWR radiator, Spal fans
Exhaust: Custom stainless
Ignition: Fueltech coil packs
TRANSMISSION
Gearbox: M&M TH400 transbraked
Converter: M&M bolt-together Diff: Sheet-metal 9in housing, 35-spline Race Products full-floater axles, Strange Engineering centre, 3.23:1 gears
SUSPENSION & BRAKES
Front: King Springs, Santhuff shocks
Rear: Hypercoils, Santhuff remote-reservoir shocks, heimjointed links, Gazzard Brothers anti-roll bar
Brakes: Wilwood four-pot discs (f), Wilwood discs (r)
Master cylinder: Under-dash RRS booster
WHEELS & TYRES
Rims: Weld V-series; 17in (f), 15x10 double-beadlock (r) Rubber: Moroso DS2 (f), 275/60 Mickey Thompson (r)
THANKS
Rodney Spinks, Brian Jarrott and Dean Soderblom; Matt Snell at Snelly’s Custom Fab; Simon Borella at North East Electrical; Shane Marshall at Marshall Speed Shop; Corey Edwards; Rod Chaplin; Marcus Crisp at Speed Pro; Craig at OC Billet; Gazzard Brothers; Jimmy at Fatal Finish; Shaine Benson at Rapid Performance Hose & Fittings; Nathaniel Ardern; Universal Upholstery; Frank Marchese and the Dandy Engines team; my wife Sandy and kids Mila and Harper for many, many long nights and weekends spent in the shed