This article on Corey’s HQ ute was originally published in the November 2018 issue of Street Machine

“THIS is my 1972 HQ ute. We found it on a farm in Inverell, NSW. Once we dragged it home to Toowoomba, we pulled the poor old 173 red six-banger, three-speed manual and banjo rear out to make way for the Mick Moylan-built 496-cube big-block Chev that’s fed pump 98 from a 76-litre polished alloy fuel cell and breathes out via a twin 3½-inch exhaust.

Tricky’s Transmissions put together the fully manualised T400 with a 4200 stally, and down the back I’m using a sheet-metal Truetrac nineinch sitting on Gazzard Brothers suspension.

Being a boilermaker by trade, I cut out the mountain of rust that came with the ute and replaced it all, then sent it off to Shaun McCarthy at Resident Restorations for a coat of Belle Ile metallic blue. She rolls on 15×10 Weld RTs with 295 meats at the rear, and 17×4.5 Weld AlumaStar frontrunners, and stops on Wilwood brakes.

I’m yet to put it down the quarter-mile but can’t wait to see what’s in her. I had the lads from Trimtastic put together the complete custom interior for me and she’s a comfortable ride to local shows and cruise nights.”