EVERY CLAMP, NUT, AND BOLT HAS BEEN TURNED TO LOOK AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE
Every clamp, nut, and bolt has been turned to look as good as possible, although the engine modifications weren’t limited to cosmetic ones. For example, the Kooks stainlesssteel headers required modification for ground clearance, to account for the suspension now dropping lower than previously. On the driveline side of things, a B&M Street and Strip Turbo 350 trans replaced the old one to ensure that all of the power found its way to the rear end.
Sadly, even with the help of some of the best people in the business, things can, and do, go wrong, as Matt and friends found out. The first of these incidents came about due to an issue with a batch of paint not quite matching the original blend. You can imagine the disappointment of all involved, including painter Willy Johnstone from High Impact Auto Painters, when the whole tray needed to be repainted, as matching the candy paint was hard enough to start with. The result is amazing, though, with the tangerine colour changing shades and depth depending on where you stand.
There is also a story that Matt would rather not tell about the new Fesler Inc. flush windscreen, which he’d waited eight months for, sliding off the truck in front of his eyes, and the replacement arriving as a box of broken glass fragments. Thankfully, the third screen arrived intact and remained that way when installed by Ross and Roy at Novus Mount Maunganui. The flush front screen
was matched with a similar one-piece rear screen that replaced the original three-piece version. In similar fashion, the quarter windows were removed from the doors and One Piece Products side glass fitted. If you look through the glass, you’ll see a custom bench seat fabricated by Shawn at Action Canvas and Upholstery along with a custom dimple-die-stamped panel that incorporates an almost-hidden air–fuel ratio meter. Cory worked a bit of magic in this area too, 3D printing a mount for the AccuAir controller that started all of this madness. As he runs Low Fast Famous, a blog site and socialmedia presence that focuses on the hottest trends and cars being built abroad, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Matt was keen to try out a few different coatings and finishes that had previously been unseen on this side of the globe. This dare-to-be-different approach is seen on the intake piping and, most obviously, on the front bumper — understandably, Matt’s not giving away too many details on the exact process that Willy used. He did let slip that it involved custom paint finishes, Scotch-Brite, and a few separate steps between base coat and completion to get the exact finish he was after. All this
In the previous build, the smooth radiator cover panel was interrupted by the radiator cap. This time around, that original panel was modified to keep the radiator cap flush with the panel itself. Even this seemingly small modification required plenty of planning to ensure that it would not just look good but remain functional