EXERCISE IN RESTRAINT
David Galea makes the iconic HT Monaro even better by subtly tweaking the recipe
DAVID Galea saw no need to reinvent the wheel when building this gorgeous HT Monaro. And why would he, given that he’s dealing with one of the most stunning and timeless silhouettes in Aussie motoring? First-generation Monaros are quite simply one of the most visually appealing muscle cars ever built, and with small-block Chevs and Powerglide transmissions riding between the rails from the factory, the mechanical side of the equation ain’t half bad, either.
So David reasoned that there was no sense in modifying the thing to buggery when simply honing, refining and fettling the factory offering could result in a staunch and tasteful street machine.
“70 GTS is not only about what you can see; it’s what you can’t see that makes her so special,” he explains. “Other than the killer stance, the car appears factory, with no holes through the bonnet and GTS stripes.”
Indeed, the car is an exercise in restraint, but that doesn’t mean it’s some boring, rivet-counting factory resto. It still sports a small-block Chev, but it’s a 400-cuber with a Motown block, Brodix heads and a solid-roller cam. It’s good for a healthy 420hp at the treads, but the Edelbrock Super Victor intake has been milled down and the bonnet bracing modified to keep everything under the hood.
The leaf-sprung rear end has been retained, but the rear guards have been mini-tubbed to accommodate 275/50/15 Mickey Thompson ET Streets – big enough to give the car some attitude and help it hook, but
THE CONSOLE LOOKS STOCK BUT TOOK 100 HOURS TO CREATE, INCLUDING THE 3D-PRINTED SHIFTER SURROUND AND CONTROL PANEL FOR THE BLUEWIRE AUTOMOTIVE BUTTONS
not so big that chassis mods, a four-link rear end and stretched guards are required. The interior uses largely factory components and trim, but a select few aftermarket tweaks have been tastefully and discreetly integrated.
You get the picture – everything is done in restomod style, and the modifications are carefully curated so as not to interrupt everything that makes an HT Monaro such a great car in the first place. And we would be remiss not to mention that everything is finished and detailed to the absolute nth degree – after all, it was among the final 10 cars in contention for Grand Champion at Street Machine Summernats 33.
David bought the car sight unseen on ebay – the auction ended smackbang in the middle of the 2009 NRL grand final. “It was a really clean car in the photos, and it looked good in the flesh until we bare-metalled the rear quarters,” he says. “The previous owner had taken to them with a hammer and just welded another set over the top. We had to remove it all and handmake new quarters; Dale Murphy did a great job of that.”
Greg ‘Beach’ Ball at Pro Street Restorations did the mini-tubs and bonnet mods, Fonzy’s Kustoms tackled the engine bay and undercarriage, and Ben Goldie laid down the straight silver duco and black HT GTS stripes.
The interior was dealt with by Stitched Up Custom Trim on the NSW Central Coast, and it uses standard Monaro seats and door cards in factory-style Twilight Blue vinyl, with a factory GTS tiller. Blink and you’d miss the B&M shifter and Auto Meter Classic gauges, housed in a handmade console that looks stock but ate up 100 hours of labour to create, including the 3D-printed shifter surround and control panel to house the Bluewire Automotive buttons. An Hsv-style binnacle has been modifed to position the gauges in a similar spot to that of an HK GTS tacho. The controls for the Vintage Air air-conditioning system look like they could have easily been factory fitment, but actually required two Vintage Air control panels being cut and shut and the system modified to achieve the desired look. There’s also an Autosound audio source unit feeding Hertz speakers and amps too, but good luck spotting them.
Powertrain-wise, the aforementioned 400ci small-block is mated to a suitably toughened Powerglide with an SDE converter, funnelling grunt rearwards to a shortened nine-inch with a 3.7:1-geared Truetrac centre, and 31-spline axles. Brakes are Wilwood discs and calipers front and back,
with a Wilwood master supplying hydraulic force. The car sits beautifully with reset factory leaf springs in the rear and Kings Springs coils up front, with Pedders shocks all ’round.
David hopes to fetch a 10-second pass out of the Monaro when racing resumes POST-COVID, but the car’s maiden outing at Summernats was encouraging – quite literally! It scored the Encouragement Award, plus a spot in the coveted Elite Top 60, and gave Grand Champion a damn good shake – stellar effort!
“Once I worked out the style of car I wanted the end product to be, the main problem was having the patience to follow through with the concept,” David says. “Sometimes you just want it finished, but the wait was worth it in the end.”
He’s now turning his attention to Street Machine Drag Challenge, but quite rightly reckons the Monaro might be a tad too pretty to subject to our week-long torture test. Fortunately he also has a tough Kingswood in the shed that should be the perfect tool for the job. Sounds like he’s living the dream!
IT STILL SPORTS A SMALL-BLOCK CHEV, BUT IT’S A 400-CUBER WITH A MOTOWN BLOCK, BRODIX HEADS AND A SOLID-ROLLER CAM, GOOD FOR 420HP