AN OVERPOWERED pre-1948 hot rod may not seem like the most sensible car to take on Street Machine Drag Challenge, but then again, sensible doesn’t have a lot to do with DC! We’ve had a small but growing number of entrants turn up in rods each year, and Mike Rohal’s 1937 Ford pick-up is one of the wildest yet.
Mike, the proprietor of engine shop JH Southcott in Adelaide, got his first taste of Drag Challenge in 2018, running a twin-turbo LS-powered VS ute. The stealthy VS ran a best of 10.6 seconds in the Haltech Radial Blown class, and Mike was hooked.
Five months before the 2019 event, Mike decided to turn his crusty-but-cool 1937 Ford shop truck into a certified Drag Challenge weapon. “I bought the ’37 a few years ago from the late Phil Hart of Special Interest Autos,” Mike says. “Phil had a talent for sniffing out amazing cars, and the ’37 had the most amazing patina I’d ever seen. I put it on the road with an I-beam front end, 283 Chev and nine-inch.
“I like hot rods, and I found that LS turbos are addictive. So I combined the two.”
To get the truck ready for duty, Mike stripped it back to its jocks, boxing and strengthening the original chassis, recessing the firewall and building a new floor. The front end is a Rod-Tech IFS, with coil-overs and a Subaru rack. Outback, Mike knocked up a beefy four-link rear using some Rod-Tech components, Nolathane HQ-style bushes and an Enemies Everywhere anti-roll bar.
This story is from the May 2020 edition of Street Machine Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2020 edition of Street Machine Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
JAPANESE STEEZE MEETS AUSSIE ICONOGRAPHY IN JAY DUCA'S GENRE-HOPPING VL
BIG-BUCK BURNOUTS
SUMMERNATS ANNOUNCES MASSIVE NEW PRIZEMONEY AND A BRAND-NEW BURNOUT SERIES
RETURN OF THE KINGS
WITH SOME OF AUSTRALIA'S MOST ESTEEMED CAR BUILDERS SET TO DEBUT CARS, THIS YEAR'S MEGUIAR'S MOTOREX IS SET TO BE A CRACKER
YACHT ROCK
PRO STREET luxury cars may as well be a religion unto themselves in Victoria.
THE LONG ROAD
A 20-YEAR ODYSSEY SAW JASON MACKENZIE’S CAMARO TRANSFIGURED FROM BURNOUTBRUISER TO SHOWSTOPPING BOULEVARD CRUISER
KICKSTART MY HEART
TWO HEART ATTACKS JOLTED JASON HANNAM TO HOME-BUILD HIS SL/R 5000-STYLE HOTTIE
DOUBLE ACTION
THINK BUILDING AN ELITE CAR IS TOUGH? TRY DOING A 1700RWHP HQ MONARO STREETER AT THE SAME TIME!
Mission BROWN
TWIN BROTHERS YOUNAN AND EDDIE KHAZI SET OUT TO SHOWCASE THEIR TALENTS WITH THIS CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BARRA TURBO XE GHIA BUILD
HELL YEAH
HOW DO YOU IMPROVE ONE OF THE BEST-LOOKING MUSCLE CARS EVER? GIVE IT TO RINGBROTHERS, OF COURSE!
DIY DREAM
MONIQUE O'GARR'S EH WAGON WAS THREE DECADES COMING, BUT AN ELITE HALL DEBUT MADE IT ALL WORTHWHILE