AFTER Matt Stuart acquired his neighbour’s HG Holden Kingswood, he set about rebuilding it at home in his shed.

“I TURNED my ’71 HG Kingswood from a rusty relic into a cool custom cruiser. I’ve owned it for seven years now; prior to that it belonged to my old neighbour Max Peatzold. He unfortunately passed away from cancer and his family gave me the car. It was in very ordinary condition, and after I stripped it down I found some very ugly hidden repairs.

“I cut all the rust out and did the rest of the body repairs, then epoxyed the whole car. I then painted it blood orange in my shed. I did everything at home, except for the interior by Classic Motor Trimmers in Ringwood, and the engine which was out of my friend’s Torana.

“It’s a 400ci small-block Chev with an Eagle rotating assembly, H-beam rods with SRP forged flat-top pistons, a solid-roller cam and AFR 210 heads. The ignition is an MSD Pro Billet dizzy with a 6AL control box, and it runs Pacemaker four-into-one pipes.

“A TCI Super Street Fighter Turbo 350 with a 4500rpm stall converter feeds the power down to a VL Turbo BorgWarner 28-spline spooled rear end. The car doesn’t get driven much, but I will be getting it out a lot more to take my wife and daughter out for some fun.”