HOLDEN HQ BELMONT

LS1 5.7-litre V8, Kelford SS108-B12 camshaft, Pacaloy beehive valve springs, doublerow timing chain, Melling high-flow oil pump, LS2 intake housing, 92mm throttle body, VCM alloy OTR, stainless drop tank, Aeroflow in-tank EFI fuel pump, Aeroflow -6AN fittings, black-braided PTFE fuel lines, Aeromotive EFI bypass regulator, stock 28-pound injectors, LS3 coils and leads, custom-made four-into-one headers, 17⁄8-inch primary tubes into three-inch collectors, Pro Coat Cermakrome-coated custom 304 stainless-steel dual three-inch exhaust, cross-pipe and twin threeinch stainless Coby Super Turbo mufflers, M&H twin-core alloy radiator, dual 12-inch electric fans, reflashed ECU

GM 4L60E transmission, uprated internals and clutches, stock stall torque converter, Salisbury 10-bolt differential, 28-spline axles, Truetrac diff head, ATL 3.5-inch custom driveshaft, dual 20-row Davies Craig trans oil coolers

Koni gas front shocks, Cobra super low front springs, Munro gas rear shocks, Cobra super low rear springs, Nolathane red bushes throughout, one-inch front sway bar

Stock HQ brake booster, 330mm front rotors, four-pot front calipers, 280mm rear rotors, single-pot WB statesman rear calipers

18x8-inch and 18x9.5-inch DTM Boss 338 wheels, 235/40R18 Dunlop front tyres, 275/35R18 Roadstone rear tyres

Deleted door locks, deleted rear-guard repeater indicators, GTS front guard flutes, Holden Atomic Green paint

HQ GTS front bucket seats, HJ rear seat, remanufactured Winner Products seat-cover set, remanufactured HQ GTS steering wheel, B&M Quicksilver shifter, dual electric five-inch gauges, custom alloy dash fascia, Fusion Marine MS-RA70 head unit, Fusion six-inch component front speakers, Fusion 6x9-inch rear speakers, Fusion 12-inch subwoofer

389hp at the wheels, 356lb·ft torque

and pieces thrown at the heads and fuel- and air-intake upgrades to match, Wayne at Protune in Manukau was able to reflash the stock ECU and squeeze 389hp and 356lb·ft at the wheels out of the 5.7-litre LS1. That’s some fairly astronomical power compared with what the HQ was originally packing, so Mark wisely upgraded the brakes, using four-pot Nissan 300ZX calipers clamping onto 330mm discs up front, and WB Statesman discs and calipers out back.

Inside the car, Mark’s kept things very simple. Initially, he’d fitted a pair of Subaru WRX seats but was convinced to source a set of Monaro GTS buckets instead, which he’s very pleased about — as are we. The classic GTS seats, along with an HJ rear seat, have been retrimmed in green houndstooth to match the rest of the car and look right at home in the HQ. A remanufactured HQ GTS steering wheel, B&M Quicksilver shifter, and dual electric five-inch gauges sitting in custom alloy dash facia complete the living space. With the Holden finally certed, reg’d, and warranted in February 2018 after 11 years in the build, Mark is happy just to spend time driving the modernized machine.

“Because I’ve replaced everything, it handles and stops really well on the street — it feels solid and tight, and it’s definitely fast,” he says. “The cam is pretty aggressive, so it doesn’t make much power until around 3000rpm, but, once it hits that, it’ll easily break loose if you’re not careful.”

In the future, Mark would love to take the Holden