JUST GIVE it a few big stabs to pump some smoke out of the guards!” I yell over the thunderous noise emanating from the blown and injected Chev.

“There will be plenty of smoke, mate,” comes the reply.

“Don’t you worry about that.”

This article was first published in the September 2014 issue of Street Machine

The 14-year-old paintwork looked incredible for its age, but Noddy, being the perfectionist that he is, decided it was time for a bit of a birthday

With his family cheering him on, West Australian Noddy Perkins doesn’t need any more encouragement to decimate the tyres on his HQ GTS Monaro. Within seconds the blown Chev roars to life, and the distinctive high-pitched whine of the supercharger cuts through the once-tranquil scene. Thirty seconds later, after the smoke clears, Noddy’s wife Jo, son Ayden and daughter Xaviera set about extinguishing a small tyre fire, changing the wheels and cleaning off the melted rubber. It looks like they have done this a million times before – they probably have.

Noddy’s love affair with blown muscle cars started back when he was a young lad. “I used to spend hours reading magazines. I remember thinking how good it would be to own a tough car like the ones on the covers.”

His dream was sidelined for quite a few years, until a trip to Street Machine Summernats 19, in 2006, re-ignited the flame. “I didn’t know where to look at Summernats – everything had a blower on it! There were tough cars left, right and centre. I couldn’t stand still,” Noddy laughs. “I had a chat with my wife after that, and I said I’ve got to have one of these.

“When I got back to Perth I was having a few drinks with a mate one night, and we got looking at cars on eBay,” he continues. “I really wanted a Camaro, but an HQ Monaro was a close second on the list. I found an HQ GTS Monaro in Sydney, with a supercharged 350 on pump fuel. I picked up the phone and then jumped on a plane with my daughter to go and have a look at it. We drove it around the block a few times and then took it to a servo to get some fuel. After that there was no way I was going home without it!”

Things didn’t quite go to plan once the Monaro was back at home, though. “We took the car to Motorvation as it was, but the motor leaned out, causing a bit of damage. While tearing the engine down, we found four cracked pistons, and it looked like something might have been sucked through the carbies. Being new to blown combos, it was clear I had a bit of learning to do.”

Rather than admit defeat, Noddy called Phil Hardy at Chevpower. “It turned out Phil had a brand-new blown combo sitting on his shelf that was supposed to slot into a speedboat, but the owner changed his mind and went for an N/A combo instead,” Noddy explains.

Polished to within an inch of its life, and with 903hp on tap, the gleaming 406ci blown Chev provides as much ‘go’ as it does ‘show’

The 406ci Chev had a TBS 6/71 street blower and was mechanically injected. “I was able to salvage the cast heads and the valvetrain from the original motor, and we worked out that they would work well with this new motor,” Noddy says. “The price was right, so we struck a deal. The TBS blower was only supposed to be good for 5 to 8psi, but after setting it up to be 27 per cent overdriven it makes about 11psi. The motor made 903hp on the dyno.”

The rest of the driveline consists of a Powerglide gearbox, which sends power south to an obligatory nine-inch rear end packed full of goodies such as 3.0:1 gears, a full spool and 35-spline billet axles.

The interior was all business, with a pair of racing buckets and harnesses fitted to keep Noddy’s ass suitably located when he decided to sink the slipper in. “I got talking to Street Machine journo Boris Viskovic at Gazzanats 2012, and he suggested that a revamped interior would really finish the car off. That got me thinking about what I could do. I wanted to keep the interior looking classic, but also updated and functional.”

Noddy loves shiny stuff, so the billet steering wheel and the polished aluminium inserts on the doors and centre console were added to complement the black leather trim. Modified VY CV8 Monaro front seats with full electrics keep things comfortable, updated and functional, while Auto Meter gauges convey all the vital info

The guys from World Custom Trimming soon took care of that, starting with a set of VY CV8 Monaro seats trimmed in black leather. The rest of the interior was finished in black leather too, with splashes of billet trim thrown around the cabin to satisfy Noddy’s love of all things shiny. And, while the coupe was off the road, it made sense to have Neil Moneypenny from Xclusive FX give the 14-year-old paintwork a bit of a spruce-up.

Now that the HQ is up to scratch, Noddy loves nothing more than enjoying it with his family. “I spend a lot of time away at work, so this is our way of spending quality family time together. We all put in to get it ready for shows and events, and there is nothing better than being able to strap everyone in and go for a few laps.”

Not being one to sit still for too long though, Noddy is currently preparing the HQ to blaze some tyres on some of the nation’s esteemed burnout pads. And when he’s not working on the ’Q, he’s helping his daughter Xaviera and her partner Matt screw together a blown HZ of their own. We can’t wait to see the next big family day out!

NODDY PERKINS
1971 HQ GTS MONARO

Paint: Custom Orange by Xclusive FX

ENGINE
Block: Motown 406ci
Induction: Enderle Bird Catcher
Blower: TBS 6/71 with ‘secret spec’ modifications
Heads: Pro Action 23-degree with Ferrea valve springs and Yella Terra rockers
Cam: Comp Cams solid roller
Crankshaft: Scat 4340 forged
Pistons: JE
Ignition: MSD
Cooling: Brown’s Radiator with twin thermos
Fuel: Methanol
Power: 903hp

TRANS
Gearbox: Powerglide
Converter: 3400rpm high-stall
Tailshaft: 4in
Diff: 9in with Strange carrier and centre, 35-spline Moser axles

SUSPENSION & BRAKES
Front: HQ Statesman discs, 90/10 shocks
Rear: VN disc brakes, 50/50 shocks

ROLLING STOCK
Rims: Weld Draglite; 15×3.5 (f), 15×8.5 (r)
Rubber: Mickey Thompson

THANKS
My family: Jo, Ayden, Xaviera and Matt; Phil & Karen Hardy at Chevpower; Jason & Jeff at Chevpower; Neil & Reece at Xclusive FX; Jason at World Custom Trimming; Ash & Kelvin for all their help