“THIS is my RN85R HiLux. I purchased the ute as a painter’s workhorse when we lived in Tassie. I quickly pulled the 22R donk and five-speed, as it was always my plan to drop in a 289 Windsor and C10 with a brake upgrade – BA Falcon rotors and R32 four-spot calipers.

This article on Richard’s HiLux was first published in the May 2019 issue of Street Machine

“The engine came out of my mate’s TF Cortina drag car. Back then it ran a carby and dizzy, but then we moved to Victoria, requiring the fitment of EFI in order to meet the Victorian rules. I run an EB GT ECU with a QuarterHorse chip from the USA.

We removed the torsion bars and fitted QA1 coil-overs and top control arms. Then came the triangulated four-link and QA1 coil-overs from McDonald Bros Racing. Still not happy, I decided a new motor was on the cards, so we got a Dart SHP block with a Scat bottom end; it now sees 370ci.

“It also has a custom tilt-tray and a massive drop tank out back. My good friend John has helped with most of the custom fabrication work at home in my shed.

“With the mechanicals now sorted, it is time to start on the replacement shell on the rotisserie in the shed. It will have flattened and smoothed everything. A good winter project! Stay tuned.”