the article

727CI CLUBSPORT STREET CRUISER
BECAUSE
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Story by
Liam
Quirk Pic
s by
Dave Reid
IS THIS WO
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727CI CLUBSPORT STREET CRUISER
ecause I run
Powercruise I
have to come up
with something
great and different every time,”
begins the enigmatic, larger than life and
gruffly spoken father of Australia’s most
high-octane, tyre-smoking car show.
Known for his constant one-upmanship
and bigger is better attitude, it should
come as no surprise that Gup is the man
behind the most talked about E Series
Clubsport in the country – a car that left
punters speechless upon it’s debut at
Queensland Powerplay earlier in 2012,
has sent the internet in to melt down
since and to this day, continues to flout
it’s ‘because I can’ presence by doing
a big, fat 11.9L skid on the line of what
people believe to be legal, sensible or
even possible in the Australian performance aftermarket.
In a metaphorical chicken before the
egg conundrum no one quite knows
which came first – the purchase of the
engine or the purchase of his daily driver
VE Clubsport. In a twist of fate that’s
true hilarity has only now become apparent, both purchases would set the rambunctious Queenslander back roughly
the same, but only one of them had to
be shipped in from the ‘States.
“I was over at PRI, and it was an awesome show. It’s better than SEMA,” says
Gup succinctly with his trademarked
form of brutal honesty. “I turned in to
this aisle. At first I wasn’t going to go in
it but I saw this massive engine sitting
on the floor - the exact same engine I
got. I got to talking about the engine
and I knew I had to have one; I didn’t
“B
even know what car I was going to put it
in!” he explains.
The engine isn’t like anything that’s
been seen in an Australian street car
ever before. As a matter of fact, the
number of Sonny’s Racing Engines in the
country full stop probably numbers less
than ten. To bring you up to speed SRE
are one of the premier competition engine builders in the world and are based
in Virginia, USA. Their engines are a special breed of custom cast blocks, hybrid
cylinder heads and big cubes that come
together for engines that seemingly defy
physics and result in dyno sheets that
look like seismograph readings!
The engine Gup got his hands on is
what the mad scientists at Sonny’s like
to call their ‘street’ engine, and at 727
cubes it’s no baby. Based on a Brodix
big block that has been modified to suit
SRE’s needs, the mayhem is topped with
Hemi-style cylinder heads and a whopping 3,500cfm throttle body. Yet despite
all this, the 1,200hp naturally aspirated
monster lives up to SRE’s claims of
streetability and reliability. It can be
optioned with power steering and air
conditioning; it retains a wet sump and
amazingly, runs on American pump fuel
– 91 octane, for those that know much
about America’s dismal fuel quality.
If the truth be known though, offthe-shelf isn’t good enough for Gup who
demanded that Sonny tinker with the
combo so that the already unbelievable
engine better suited his needs – in short
it’s got a little less attitude in the cam’
department to elongate the life of the
rocker gear, while the compression has
been bumped up to suit Australia’s superior 98 octane Premium Unleaded fuel.
“I flew over to watch it on the dyno,”
admits Gup. “I wanted to fly in, get a hire car,
watch it on the dyno, put it on a crate then
put it in the FedEx truck. He asked why and
I told him of guys that were bringing engines
[to Australia from the States] without pistons
and stuff in them!” Gup explains, however
he’s quick to compliment Sonny’s hospitality.
“Sonny came and got me from the airport.
He took me to some party and he carted me
around for a few days. I had booked a hotel
but he invited me to stay at his house. He
showed me his collection of cars including
his first car a ‘57 Chev’,” continues Gup.
As we touched on, Gup didn’t originally
see the relationship between the SRE
727ci and his daily driver E2 Clubsport.
“The engine was sitting in my garage
I didn’t know what it was going in to. I
already have too many HQs and I drove my
red car in to the garage and got my tape
measure out – 35in rocker cover to rocker
cover on the engine and 36in in the red
car.” Just like that its fate was sealed.
The Brodix block has been recast to
Sonny’s requirements and boasts,
among other structural changes, a
raised cam’ tunnel to suit the whopping great Sonny’s custom bump
stick. A Bryant billet crank and Carillo rods are held in the bottom end
and lob BME pistons in to what we
can only assume are massive bores.
The SRE Hemi-style heads are
truly something else. They dominate
the engine bay, but somehow
manage to aptly fill out the void
between the VE’s strut towers.
The amazing plastic composite
intake manifold supports a 3,500cfm
throttle body, with MSD ignition
used throughout, Magnafuel controlling the fuel and Big Stuff management controlling everything else.
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727CI CLUBSPORT STREET CRUISER
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and all of th been retained
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“I hate going through the car building
process,” admits Gup who, like many, has
suffered at the hands of incompetence
before. As such, he doesn’t mix words
these days, and knocked on the door
of Hi Torque Performance delivering an
ultimatum – “here’s what I want done, this
is when I need it done by. If you can do it,
great. If not, tell me now.” The crew shook
hands, and in three weeks transformed
the bone stock Clubby in to a car that has
already etched it’s name in the record
books as one of the most revolutionary
street cars the country has seen.
“We wanted to do it but we questioned whether it could be done. Surely
if anyone could it, it should be us!”
starts Chris from Hi Torque. “We didn’t
know what it would take to make fit and
make it all tie in as factory as it has,”
Chris continues. “For us it was a matter
of size and dimensions and once we
figured that out we went from there.”
The boys were tasked with making
everything work, which as you can see
from the build photos was no easy task.
Everything has been custom made, from
the front and rear engine plates to the
amazing extractors which boast meaty 2
7/8in primaries and whopping great 4.5in
collectors. “We were lucky enough that
Ash had a VE that was stripped and we
could dummy fit it in to there. Initially we
sat it in and if you went close to the factory mounts the rocker covers were going
to sit out of the bonnet!” exclaims Chris.
“Nothing was straight forward; we had
to make everything in house. We had our
fabricator and another separate fabrication
shop that would drop everything to turn
something out for us straight away, and we
had an engineer that did a lot for us too,” ex-
plains Chris touching on several parts key to
the Commodore’s progress – the dropped K
frame, extensively modified steering rack and
extended intermediate shaft, for starters.
The other mammoth task was getting
the motor operating in sync with the
Clubsport as if it were factory fitment
– Gup dictated that it had to start and
drive like a factory car which meant
retaining the ABS, traction control and
use of the factory dash cluster. “The
hardest part was mounting the engine
and then once the fabrication was done
it was a matter of trying to wire it to get
everything to work... Ash had days at it!”
explains Chris of how their wiring whizz
managed to interface the factory Clubsport BCM, PCM and Big Stuff engine
management as supplied by Sonny’s.
Moving backwards, a 2-speed Powerglide got the nod’ for transmitting the
trailer loads of torque rearwards. “It’s
not a million dollar box,” admits Gup. “It’s
designed to be interchangeable with the
HQ, should anything go wrong with either
car at the events,” he highlights of the
practicality of the decision. The stall is a
TCE 2,000rpm lock up converter, which
en reck outs have be
All the factory bla fibre, while the factory
n
rbo
ca
th
wi
placed
ed to suit
en shadow chrom
badges have be
“I got to talking about
the engine and I knew I had
to have one; I didn’t even kn
what car I was going to putow
it in!”
– Michael ‘Gup’ Gilbert
The motor
and
locally-built
Powerglide
go together
The engine
was trial fit
in to a shell
at Hi Torque
so that the
boys could
deduce
clearances
THE BUILD
The K frame
has been
dropped approximately
an inch,
so too has
the factory
steering
With the engine plates
resting on
the rails
those amazing headers
could be
constructed
The
Lamborghini-style
exhaust tip
is a very
Gup touch
The boot
floor was
cut out to fit
the massive
mufflers
needed to
silence the
car
Everything
inside was
sound
deadened
The Strange
9in IRS diff’
isn’t used
widely in Oz,
but we’re
predicting it
will be soon!
With the
ABS relocated and
the firewall
sound deadened the
motor can
be fit for the
final time
Gup explains
that the
entire front
end comes
off and the
motor and
trans can be
removed as
one
727CI CLUBSPORT STREET CRUISER
fter has been
Standard 6-speed shi
peed ‘Glide
retrofitted to the 2-s
NITTY-GRITTY
OWNER:
Michael ‘Gup’ Gilbert
“They see it driving
and working and are
amazed” – gup
CAR CARE TIP:
When we think about caring for
a car
we tend focus on painted surfaces,
but
these days so much of a car is plast
ic;
from the bumpers through to the
dash
and door panels with a bit of cotto
n
and leather thrown in to break it
up.
The Australian sun loves to bake
plastics and rubber, so protecting
exterior and interior plastics is
essential. Mothers Polish has prod
ucts
dedicated to the care, protection
and
appearance of plastics and rubb
er.
NATURALLY BLACK:
Designed for use on exterior rubbe
r and
plastics, Naturally Black not only prote
cts
new plastics but will restore faded
and
dried out rubber. It can be used on
plastic
cowl vents, window and door vents
and
unpainted bumper bars and side moul
dings to maintain a natural new finish.
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TIP 1. For best results apply
Naturally Black with an MLH foam
applicator.
TIP 2. When restoring aged rubb
er
and plastic 3-4 coat s may be requ
ired
initially to be absorbed into the
surface (brilliant when restoring
a car
where replacement window rubb
ers
are not available).
MOTHERS PROTECTANT:
Mothers Protectant is the perfe
ct nongreasy solution for cleaning, resto
ring
and maintaining the dash and inter
ior
plastics natural finish.
Apply protectant with an MLH foam
applicator and clean off the exce
ss
with a Microfibre towel.
Tip 1. Spray Mothers Protectan
t on
to an applicator and avoid getti
ng mist
on the glass and upholster y.
Gup chose so as not to “affect the way
the car drove. It also helps the dyno get a
decent read out,” he divulges.
Pushing towards the rear is another
first on Australian shores (the engineering
and innovation beneath the skin are memorable of their own accord) is a Strange 9in
IRS diff’. “I stressed to Kent that this car
can’t fail, and that nothing was too expensive. I asked what the first thing to break
would be and he said the diff’,” so before
the conversation could come to an end
the boys were shipping in a Strange rear
end from the States. It’s mated with super
meaty driveshafts and a complement of
BMR rear suspension upgrades, all aimed
at helping the factory-style rear end cope
with the enormous strain from the torquey
727 cuber.
“I thought, at the end of the day
Powercruise is more muscle car-oriented,”
Gup says of the mantra behind the build. “I
wanted to appeal to the Commodore guys
because they’re a different breed,” he says
of a car that we can solidly say has struck
a chord with our community – within
hours of it’s debut it had lit up the Street
Commodores forum, and as Gup explains
the feedback on the day was overwhelmingly positive; “a lot more people stood in
front of the red car [compared to the HQ]
and said ‘holy f*ck!’ They see it driving and
working and are amazed,” he explains.
But how does the pump fuel terror
compare to his world famous power
skidding HQ? “It’s awesome. It turns,
it brakes, it has power steering and air
con’... it does all the things I’m not used
to!” he laughs. “The green car is phenomenally more powerful,” Gup admits,
but as a street car the Clubby can’t be
topped. “I looked at buying another one
because I really liked it as a standard
thing,” Gup says of his urge to get back
in to an E Series for a daily.
For now the Clubby is resigned to
weekend duties. “I’ll take it to some dyno
days and the HSV Nationals, but it’s not
something I’ll keep forever,” he admits.
He has expressed an interest in racing it,
though, “it revs to 8,200rpm, with torque
from 5,800rpm, and it makes power all the
way,” he says. “I haven’t done the calculations. I thought with all the body deadener
and heavy wheels the whole thing would
have to weigh 2-tonne. I don’t know what
that would cover over the quarter with
1,265hp, but I figure I can run a mid to low9sec,” he says barely batting an eye lid.
As the Queenslander is most famous
for saying, we’ll catch him and his E
Series cruising.
MODEL:
HSV E2 Clubsport
BODYWORK:
Factory blackouts replaced with carbon
fibre, factory badges shadow chromed,
bonnet relieved, customised Walkinshaw
bonnet scoop, rear bar modified for custom exhaust tip
COLOUR:
Factory red
ENGINE:
Sonny’s Racing Components SAR 727
BLOCK:
Sonny’s/Brodix
ENGINE MODS:
Bryant billet crank, Carillo billet rods, BME
Endurance pistons, Total Seal rings, 11:1
compression ratio, CNC-machined and
ported billet Hemi-style cylinder heads,
Manley titanium intake valves, Manley
Inconel exhaust valves, PSI valve springs,
CNC billet rock covers, 6mm engine plate
front and rear, ‘Sonny’s special’ camshaft,
Isky keyed 1.062in roller lifters, Manton
0.5in pushrods, SAR/T&D rockers, Jesel
cam’ belt drive, ATI balancer, Moroso
external oil pump, Moroso wet sump,
Meziere electric water pump, alloy radiator,
world first Sonny’s plastic intake manifold,
single 3,500cfm throttle body, MSD crank
trigger ignition system, Moroso distributor,
MSD HVC II coil, MSD Power Grid ignition
controller, 8.5mm MSD leads, Big Stuff
management, Maganfuel fuel pump, 2-port
Magnafuel regulator, braided fuel lines, RC
SL4-650 injectors, factory fuel pump and
in-tank pump, 15L surge tank
EXHAUST:
Custom Hi Torque headers, 2 7/8in primaries in to 4.5in collector, twin 4in exhaust,
900mm muffler, twin 3.5in Varex mufflers,
custom Lamborghini-style exhaust tip
GEARBOX:
2-speed Powerglide, TCE 2,000rpm lock
up converter, V8 Supercar-style tailshaft
DIFF:
Strange 9in IRS diff’, 3.25:1 gears, custom
driveshafts
BRAKES:
HSV (front and rear)
SUSPENSION:
Pedders coilovers (front and rear), K
frame dropped 40mm, factory steering modified to suit, steering column
extended 40mm to meet rack
WHEELS/TYRES:
Lexani LX12 22x9in wheels, Nexen N3000
265/30ZR22 tyres (street), VE GTS 20x8in
wheels, Nitto 245/35ZR20 (front), VE
GTS 20x9.5in wheels, Mickey Thompson
305/35R20 ET Street semi slicks (rear)
INTERIOR:
E3 GTS seat foams, custom trimmed
in red leather with black suede, carbon fibre inserts on interior plastics,
dash and door trims colour coded to
suit, Autometer Phantom gauges in
custom binnacle above factory dials,
HSV 727 embroidery, B&M shifter
under factory console with 6-speed
shifter integrated
OTHER MODS:
Factory spare wheel well cut out to fit
surge tank and clear mufflers
STEREO:
Standard
BUILD PERIOD:
Five weeks
COST:
Do the math
CONTACTS AND THANKS:
Kent and the boys at Hi Torque for putting
in 150%, Andrew at Rapid Fab, Louis for
stepping up, Ash for making the computers work, Stevie for the fab’ work
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