WHEN your parents share your passion for cars, the journey is so much sweeter. That’s certainly been the case for Adelaide’s Daniel Lockyer. His dad competed in burnouts and racing, and his mum also spent quality time in the shed supporting their passions.

First published in the December 2021 issue of Street Machine

Daniel is no stranger to burnouts himself, having previously made it into the Burnout Masters in a blown and injected Cortina, but a few years back, when the scene became a game of who-can-spend-the-most-money, he decided to take a break. But his mum always urged him to get back to doing what he loved.

By chance, he came across this stunning, low-kilometre VF Maloo at the auctions. It was a stat write-off but still a mint car, and Daniel could picture it parked in his shed next to his VE GTS. So he snapped it up.

The plan was to build the Maloo into something Daniel could take to events like Summernats and Red CentreNATS and have a bit of fun with. But partway through the build, he was hit with the worst possible news: his mum was gravely ill. Unfortunately, in January this year she passed away, but not before telling him, “Do what you enjoy in life.”

It was all the encouragement Daniel needed to take the car to the next level and honour his mum’s memory. What was going to be a tricked-up and cammed 6.0 litre-powered ride on 22-inch rims would now be stepped up a notch.

Daniel approached Graeme at Horner Performance, who has a long history building super-tough burnout and pro street rigs. “Daniel’s words to me were, ‘Let’s go silly with this build,’” Graeme recalls. “Blower, big-arse hat, mechanical injection, Powerglide – let’s go to town.

“Daniel is a very hands-on type of guy, so he didn’t think twice about cutting up the back of the car for big tyres and taking on lots of fab work himself,” he continues. “He recently started his own business called Northern Performance Parts & Speed Supplies, so it was going to be great to have this car as a business mascot, and it was something his mum would have been right into.”

The engine combination is pretty typical of a modern LS-powered burnout car, comprising a 6.0-litre cast LQ9 block with a stock-stroke Molnar forged crank, Oliver rods and coated CP pistons. “There were a bunch of conrod options available, and while the Callies Compstars are a great rod, I knew Daniel was going to come out swinging for the fences, so we wanted to go with the best-quality steel rod there was,” Graeme says.

The short motor still runs a wet sump, although Graeme has upgraded the oiling system with an external belt-driven oil pump from Savy Motorsport.

Heads are LS3 items, with decent valves, a trunnion upgrade on the rockers and all the usual good bits, sealed with LS9 head gaskets and ARP studs.

The whole shebang is topped by a Teflon-stripped Fisher supercharger and Fisher blower intake.

Twin carbs on a blower just weren’t going to fit the theme of this build; Daniel was set on an in-your-face Enderle Big & Ugly injector hat. “We normally put a couple of pills in these to restrict flow and stop them being such an animal on the first inch of the pedal, but Dan wasn’t going for that – it was going full mental,” Graeme says.

‘Full mental’ also meant a solid fuel system was needed. To that end, a rear-mounted MagnaFuel 750 pushes fuel up to the front header tank, with a belt-drive 110 Enderle pump feeding the mechanical injection.

Headers are a set of custom-built four-into-ones, stepped from 17/8-inch to two-inch, and this thing is loud when they hammer on close to 800rwhp. “At 7600rpm, this thing is cooking,” Graeme says. “Although the blower is only making 7psi of boost, you can hear it howl over the thunderous exhaust note.”

Ignition is courtesy of an MSD box with stock LS coils, and over 6000rpm Graeme knocks the timing back to just 17 degrees to help the motor in the high rev range.

Backing the mighty mill is a pretty basic Powerglide – also built by Graeme – that has all the good bits to support 1200hp, along with a TCE stall converter.

The massive tubs are pretty hard to miss in the rear end, along with a four-link set-up by Daniel and beautiful tinwork by Leepoo Chassis in Adelaide. The attention to detail and quality extends to a custom sheet-metal nine-inch housing and Strange coil-overs, while the rear fuel cell has a bulkhead fitting to allow fuel lines to run forward. It’s all super-clean and simple.

Other modifications include a VE front end and an Astra electric power steering pump, while the dash runs a full Auto Meter gauge cluster.

“It was really great to have a customer come to you, listen to your advice and allow you to build a car that was reflective of years of experience,” Graeme says. “The car is super-nice, and although Daniel says he’s keen to get out and tear it up, I think he will quickly realise it’s too good for that! It’s certainly something his mum would be proud of.”