The Beast

Quick Specs:
Driveline:
Engine: 5 Litre V8 Pushrod.
Carby: 4 Barrel Rochester.
Gearbox: 4 speed M21 Close Ratio.
Diff: 10 Bolt Salsbury LSD Centre.
Power: Approx. 290 HP.

Bodywork:
Standard Ute Body with Fibreglass VK Commodore Nose Piece.
Wheels: 5 Spoke Dragway, Steel Outer & Alloy Centre.
Paint: Holden Marenello Red with Blue Pearl Overlay.

Interior:
Tan Velour HZ Stateman Bucket Seats.
Tan HZ Velour and Vinyl Door Trims.
Electric Windows.
Holden HZ GTS Dash with Custom Whiteface Gauges.
Alpine Radio Cassette with 12 Disk CD Changer.
Pioneer 6 x 9 3-way Speakers in Custom Door Pods.

The Beast -
My 1978 Holden Kingswood V8 Ute

These pix are all I have of the old girl, the quality is not really good as they were scanned in from some old photos.
The ute pretty much looked like this the whole time I owned it, exept it originally had a huuuge Bob Jane Racing rear wing hanging off the back. I removed it when I had the car repaired after I was rear-ended.

The Engines:
The ute originally had a 4.2 Litre V8 and a 3 speed auto when I got it, but after a year or so I blew the crap out of 2nd. I went halves in a $500 HZ wagon with a mate; I got the 4.2 litre and a Turbo 350 automatic and he got the rest. I decided to swap both engine a gearbox as it is much easier.
This lasted a while, but then the whole engine let go. When I drove it, there was enough smoke to rival the Bat-Mobile smoke screen,, and it actually spat raw oil out of the exhaust pipe.
So one day while working I spotted another $500 car, this time a VB Commodore with a 5 Litre V8 and a 4 speed manual. I purchased the car and swapped engine and gearbox again with lots of help from a mate (thanx to Matt Condello, couldn't have done it without you). The difference in power and the way the car drove was phenomenal! I had to get the engine numbers changed over at an engineers inspection station where a quick check on numbers revealed that the engine was from an old Sandman Panel Van (apparently these motors were slightly up spec) and the gearbox was a close ratio box from an SLR-5000 Torana. What a find!