JAustin Simpson is not a man who does things by halves. Whether it’s running his incredibly successful Brisbane-based performance tuning company, Horsepower Solutions, or as co-promoter of the successful Kenda 600 Radial series, he gives it his all. So, when he unveiled his stunning 1969 HT Monaro at Street Machine Summernats 34, it’s safe to say it was a showstopper.
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The HT is a fine show car and a hell of a race car. It’s also Justin’s first car, bought when he was just 16 years old. Since then, he has won numerous drag racing competitions in Super Sedan, Super Stock and Nostalgia. It then sat on a limb for six years before being relaunched as a serious no-nonsense contender.
“It’s hard to remember all the combinations in the car,” Justin laughs. on mechanical injection before moving to twin carbs.”
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Justin’s next move with the HT was in a Superstock A/Gas Warfare with twin carbs and nitrous, running in the 8.30s, later added EFI with a Haltech Platinum ECU and wet nitrous kit to run flat 8.00s. has been.
It all went pear-shaped back in 2017 when he pulled out a stick at the Internationals. Justin takes HT back to work and puts him on the hoist.
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“At the point we wrecked it, we had the car in the 7.60s at 178mph with an air-shifted Lenco trans with a Crower slider clutch,” he recalls. “That, of course, was the most fun you had in the car, but work on the clutch – you can’t do that with your team!”
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Fortunately, Justin was already collecting parts for the 615ci combination that had been on the whiteboard since 2016. “In August 2020, I thought it was time to get the car up and running again, so we pulled out the old stick motor. Intended to refresh the engine bay. The plan was basically to pop in the firewall. Getting rid of the riveted aluminum panels and going to a fully welded-in panel, replacing the front struts, and taking the car into the 21st century.
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Although the HT has been a race car for over 30 years, it is still almost all steel, including the roof, quarters, front floor pans and doors. Only the front clip was replaced with fiberglass.
After reinstalling the struts and adding a new midplate, Justin turned his attention to upgrading the inside of the car.
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“The roll cage never fit me, and I knew how fast the car needed to go with the new motor, so we cut the ‘rear hoop cage off, left the main hoop in place and the basic Made a new funny car ‘cage’ in Chrome as Molly that fit me right.
“Dan Swanney, who worked as a popular guy out of my shop, always did my work, and we got into it every day after work. There were a lot of little things to fix, like he The windows that we installed in the Kake Nai Kake Nai were just rubber on the back of the Lexan. They were all taken out and replaced with Tin Soldier flanged window frames that did the trick. were seen
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“When we finally finalized all the fab work, I was just going to touch up the paint, and we know how that’s done.”
Concept Paints’ Paul Butler and Jeremy Platt tagged along on a completely new paint job, removing the old 1980s stickers, perfecting the bodywork and custom-mixing a version of Justin’s Holden’s Hothouse Green. kept on
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“I know it’s a race car, but I wanted the Monaro to look as close to the factory HT GTS styling as possible,” explains Justin. “Painted stripes replaced the stickers, Chris Bool of Kipart Signs did a beautiful job of airbrushing the front grill, and a new badge kit from Rare Spare finished the job.”
Underneath the car, it’s all business, with Strange front struts and Afco rears, re-valved for non-preparation. The rear was upgraded to a Race Products 40-spline floater with a String Ultra case, anti-roll bar, and Weld 15×15 double beadlock rims wrapped in 33×16.50-15 silks.
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A chrome moly driveshaft connects the rear end to a Hughes Pro Mod Powerglide, fitted with a dump valve (though Justin won’t need one) and a Hughes bolt-together converter with spare stators to suit track conditions.
The 615ci Chevy up front is a monster. The Dart block features a Callies steel crank and GRP alloy rods, with Big Duke 18 degree heads and intake with three stages of Induction Solutions dry nitrous. Cam details are unknown, but we’re told there’s more than an inch of lift. The engine will kick out 1200hp naturally, with a further 600hp to come from each nitrous kit.
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Justin says he went to nitrous over turbos because of the extra tunability it allows.
“I had a turbo kit for this car years ago, but nitrous is a dying art. It’s still the fastest for no-prep racing, and it’s nice to be different,” he says.
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“I’m ready for life and I’ve gotten my hands on every ECU known to man,” he continues. “Fitting a Haltech Nexus is a complete no-brainer for both the tuner and the car owner. In my opinion, Haltech offers the best tech support and after sales service of any company in the world. Forget the rest; there is no comparison. Is.”
As for sensors and datalogging, this car has it all – EGT, O2, driveshaft, wheels, shocks, laser ride height – plus the new Haltec dash with keypad.
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“I can’t wait to get behind the wheel,” says Justin, before his work commitments mean he has limited opportunities to test the car. “Gup [Powercruise promoter Michael Gilbert] There’s an event coming up in September, and we can’t wait for the upgrades to finish in Warwick as well. I see it as a new home without preparation.
So how soon will it run?
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“Initially, we’ll hit the track with all three kits loaded with about 400hp each,” says Justin. “That will give us around 2400hp, and we should be hitting sixes at 200mph plus.”
Regardless of what the Monaro is driving, it’s great to see another car being added to Australia’s fleet of unprepared serious cars. The fact that Justin is an all-out turbo tuner and went nitrous instead adds another interesting dimension to this awesome build, and given his build and tuning track record, this thing is too bad. will
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Justin would especially like to thank his wife Lauren. Chiefs of Staff Connor and Liam; PB Automotive; concept paint; performance wholesale; Valpro Racing; Haltec; Hughes Transmissions; horsepower solutions; suspension dynamics; Promotes fabrication; and his companions Sauer, Bood, Grums, Timmy and Clint.