In Our Garage with Rod Christensen's 1974 Holden LH Torana

Rod Christensen has been working on his 1974 LH Torana since he bought it as a rolling shell around nine years ago.

By Morgan Everett

What condition was the car in when you first got it?

When I first bought the car, I bought it as a rolling shell, there was no motor or gearbox in there.

The paint work did not look too bad but then when I got it all sandblasted, I took it back to the bare metal and it was just full of bog and rust and all that sort of thing.

So, it ended up being a bigger job than what I expected.

How long has it taken you to make the modifications?

I have probably had the vehicle about eight or nine years, and it's taken me that long to finish it up.

What type of work have you done on the car?

Well, the motor in it is an LS1 motor.

The transmission is a two-speed power glide like out of the older Holdens.

They use them mainly in drag cars at the moment.

The diff in it is a forward nine inch.

So, it is probably one of the better diffs I find that are around that, even though it is a Ford, I'll put it into a Holden.

How much time have you put into working on the car?

All the mechanical stuff I have sort of done myself and the motor was rebuilt myself, but the transmission that was sent away and done.

The diff I bought off another person.

It has got a custom dash in it.

It is all 3D printed but pulling it all apart and putting it all back together, it is hundreds and hundreds of hours, you know, it was a big, big, big job.