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TWIN BLOWERS SUPERCHARGER STROKED RED MOTOR HOME BUILT Story ben dillon PhotoS nathan duff

LoVE&hAtE
Fixing the damage after the fight is always part of the fun

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street machine

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ONNA, you bitch! Alf Pagano growls as his HD spews green liquid like a Schoolies teenager after too much Midori. His old Holden thats Donna has come a long way from rusty family transport to twin-supercharged showstopper and the road to success has tested his patience many times. People name their cars so they dont feel stupid talking to, and sometimes caressing, a lump of metal but it also helps in moments like these when a temperamental old girl blows her cool. By the growing river of coolant and clouds of steam emanating from the front of the Holden we know something has happened; we just dont know how bad it is because the bonnet release cable has snapped. Thats the problem with making the engine bay clean all the wiring and cables are hidden so you

wayward Datsun. The second build took six weeks, which was a long rebuild. I had to do it cause I T-boned a Datsun on the way home from work one day the bloke just pulled out in front of me. Alf decided to force-feed the stroked 192ci red motor during this build, adding a single Toyota SC14 Roots-type supercharger straddled by a 350cfm Holley. It was his sons suggestion to add the second blower which put Donna under the surgeons knife for the comprehensive third rebuild. And put Alf on the road to mechanical hell. After the second build, the left-hand side of the engine bay looked empty and my son said: Itd look better with another charger there. So I put one in, just to even things up a bit. This third rebuild added the all-white leather interior and stereo/video systems, which Alfs

after they broke on the dyno but then the belts kept snapping, so now Im running a custom carbonTeflon belt. This belt doesnt snap but it can have the teeth stripped if a supercharger locks up. Once the bonnet is open, thats what Alf finds has happened in our overheating episode. So far weve reached 325rwhp on the dyno with just over half throttle but that was before we snapped the supercharger shafts. The blowers force 10psi each into a Holden lump that features a Yella Terra stage 3 head, ceramic-top crowned pistons, Starfire rods, 37/78 cam, a Holley Black fuel pump and high volume oil pump to keep things wet. Most people say: What the fuck! when they see it at shows but its been hard work getting it to this point and to run right, Alf says. On the body side of things, the bonnet scoops

You need sunglasses for the interior, which features stitched X2 logos in the white leather that extends from the seats and rear console to the floor no shoes allowed. The interior work was completed by Alf and his sons Pat and Eddie who travelled from Sydney

interior:

engine bay:

The brake booster and wiper motor live under the dash. All the engine bay wiring has hidden out of sight great until you need to get to it!

the second build took six weeks, which was a long rebuild. I had to do it cause I t-boned a datsun
cant get to them when they break, Alf says as he tries to jimmy the bonnet open. Were gonna need a bigger screwdriver, he adds, red-faced and looking like hes about to boil over too. The story of Donna and the former panel-beater begins with a three-week rebuild Alf doesnt hang around which transformed the HD into a showworthy sedan via a set of jelly-bean mags and some paint and panel work. I never thought the car was good enough for anything like that but my mates in the Queensland HD and HR Club said to enter it at the Club Nationals, so I did and I won my class, the Brisbanebased builder says. This first incarnation didnt last long a second rebuild was called for after Alf crossed paths with a sons helped with. It was also when the dropped suspension on HJ stub axles, discs and calipers went in the front, with a VL four-link rear and 17-inch wheels all around. The second Toyota blower was mounted up on custom brackets, with most of the labour of love done by Alf, in his shed. Some people just pay others to build their cars but to me thats not right. You have to do it yourself, he says. The twin-charger theme looks killer in the engine bay but the set-up has created a multitude of problems that Alf and his mechanic mate Brad Pankhurst who did the engine work are still trying to overcome. I had billet shafts made up for the chargers are from an HG Monaro, and there are custom blinkers and round (instead of square) fog lights on the front valance, all of which Alf crafted. The paint is straight off the gun it hasnt been denibbed or buffed and I did it myself. I got my two boys, Pat and Eddie, to come up from Sydney to help me do the interior and audio system, which has a seven-inch LCD screen in the dash and a 15-inch screen in the boot. The car is pretty much how I want it now so I dont think Ill change it; maybe just the paint. I like cruising and dont have to prove what my car can do, he says, then adds: but I will take it down the strip when its running right just to see what she can do. Its been a rough ride with Donna plenty of heartache and compromise but like all

ALF PAGANo 1965 hoLDEN hD X2

Colour: Sappstone custom blue pearl with white pearl roof

ENGINE

Brand: Holden 186ci red motor stroked to 192ci Inlet: Custom alloy donuts and reducers into 4bbl Holley manifold Blowers: Toyota SC14 with billet shafts x2 Carbs: Holley 350cfm x2 Head: YT stage 3, 1.5:1 roller rockers Camshaft: Watson Race 37/78 Conrods: Starfire shot-peened, balanced and resized, ARP bolts Pistons: ACL with HPC ceramic tops Crank: Stock, knife-edged and balanced Oil pump: High volume Cooling: Holden Blue motor jumbo water pump, triple-core radiator with HR tanks Exhaust: Two-inch ceramic-coated extractors Fuel: Holley Black fuel pump

trANSMISSIoN

Gearbox: Toyota Celica steel case five-speed, brass-button clutch Diff: VL Commodore 3.3:6 ratio LSD

SUSPENSIoN & BrAKES

Front: HJ stub axles Rear: VL four-link, lowered Brakes: HJ discs and calipers (f), VL discs (r)

roLLING StoCK

Rims: Dragway 17x7 (f), 17x8 (r) Rubber: 205/40 (f), 215/40 (r)

thANKS

Brad Pankhurst, Pat and Eddie Pagano

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