Words: Harrison Wade Photos: Sam Parsons
Ben Marsh is someone who isn’t afraid to tell us that he’s an ideas man, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing on paper. But when you combine that mindset with access to websites like Facebook Marketplace and TradeMe, you’ve suddenly got yourself a pretty dangerous recipe. That is for your wallet, at least. However, that didn’t stop Ben from setting out in search of his next project — an HQ Kingswood — a car that had been his dream to own since he first laid eyes on one as a kid. So when he saw one pop up at the top of his saved searches, he knew he had to have it, subsequently turning it into one of New Zealand’s toughest street machines over the next few years.
The seed was planted long before Ben ever saw this particular car. Growing up, one of his mates’ older brothers had an HQ, which turned out to be the coolest thing he had seen on four wheels at the time. “It was my dream car as a kid,” he says. Fast-forward a couple of decades, and Ben had chalked up an impressive roster of machinery — RX-2s, RX-3s, RX-7s, a series of Skyline GT-Rs, Soarers, and a ’65 SS Impala — but he had never really managed to shake that childhood dream of owning an HQ. We don’t blame him one bit.
The car he ended up with was in fairly rough shape, having sat in a shed for the better part of a decade — complete with old birds’ nests in the back seat. However, what drew him to this particular one was the fact that someone had already had a go at tubbing it to fit a set of fat rear wheels. It was the perfect starting point as far as he was concerned. “I thought I could take it to the next level,” he explains. “When I bought it, I hadn’t seen many fully tubbed cars that were street-legal in New Zealand.” With that, the idea of building something genuinely different for the local scene was enough for him to strike a deal.
Of course, what Ben actually had on his hands was a problem, not a project — at least initially. The previous owner’s half-finished tubbing attempt was pretty rough, so much so that Ben seriously considered relisting the car. It was at this point that fabricator Steven Broad entered the picture, convincing Ben to let him cut out the old work and start fresh with a blank canvas. “The best idea was to just leave Steven to it and trust he knew what he was talking about.” Broad by trade builds outdoor fireplaces, but has plenty of experience with welding sheet metal and building suspension setups, thanks to his past personal project cars, which consisted mostly of 4WDs. With that, he stripped out the previous owner’s attempt at tubbing and fabbed up a new setup from scratch, while leaving enough room to reinstall the factory rear seat. Steve also worked his magic on the boot floor, transmission tunnel, and dashboard, as well as a new four-link suspension setup in the rear with a C-notch in the chassis — a transformation that arrived in monthly photo updates, each one raising the bar a little higher in Ben’s mind.
With the rear end sorted, Ben originally planned to chuck a motor in it, bog up the rust holes, and give it a coat of paint. After getting in touch with several local shops across Canterbury, most places wouldn’t touch the car due to it being too big a job. That was until he came across Daniel Drummond on social media, owner of Dan’s Rust and Resto in Rangiora. Like a true craftsman, Dan appreciated the work Steve had done with the tubbing and suspension and agreed to take on the mammoth task. When he first saw the car, he told us it looked like it had been in a demolition derby, as it was riddled with dents and didn’t have a single straight panel on it. What followed was hours of painstaking panel and paint work, stripping the car to bare metal, patching every rust hole, and then stretching and shrinking each panel to ensure the body was straighter than how it left the factory. The amazing part about all of this is that Dan took on the job while his workshop was still under construction, meaning the work started in his garage at home — a true testament to his skills. As for paint, the whole car was finished in gloss black. Ben couldn’t have been happier with the result, describing the car as “maybe the straightest HQ in New Zealand”.
While Dan was working his magic on the body shell, Ben turned his attention to finding a motor capable of spinning the massive tyres that would inevitably fill the rear tubs. Back on TradeMe, Ben came across a forged 454ci big-block Chev engine that had been bored 40 thou over and fitted with JE forged pistons and Eagle H-beam rods. Up top was a set of Merlin square-port heads that were fitted with roller rockers and upgraded valve springs. A mild cam, ARP fasteners, and a beefed-up oil pump round out the internals, keeping things reliable under the TBS 8-71 supercharger up top. Fuel delivery is handled by a FiTech EFI system rated between 600 and 1,200 horsepower — numbers that give a pretty clear indication of where things could go if Ben ever decides to wind the current 10psi boost pressure up. Ignition duties fall to an Aeroflow distributor running MSD leads and an MSD 6AL box, while a 60-litre drop tank with an internal 1,000-horsepower fuel pump keeps the beast fed. The headers are Pacemaker units, feeding a three-inch stainless X-pipe and a pair of three-inch AdrenalinR mufflers with a dump pipe before the diff — a combination that, Ben says, his kids aren’t too fond of due to the noise.
With the engine ready to go in and Dan putting the finishing touches on the body, the build was coming together nicely at this point. The car was then sent to Tinwald Canvas and Upholstery with a simple brief: keep everything period-correct without sacrificing any creature comforts. The team worked their magic on the front and rear bench seats by reupholstering them in their original style, with the addition of an embossed bowtie as a subtle hint to what’s under — and out of — the bonnet. To help preserve the character of the HQ, Ben kept the original GTS steering wheel, as well as the dashboard, which features a neatly integrated boost gauge so Ben can make sure the heads stay connected to the block. Sam’s Auto Electrical handled all of the wiring and fuel lines, tidying up years of accumulated changes and ensuring everything ticks as it should.
After getting the car back from its cosmetic makeover inside and out, Ben shoehorned the big-block into the engine bay and hooked it up to a GM TH400 automatic gearbox fitted with a B&M Shift Kit. Drive reaches the rear wheels through a 3.5-inch, one-piece, strengthened driveshaft that sends power to a shortened nine-inch filled with 35-spline axles. Inside it is a Detroit Locker with 4.11:1 ratio. Up front, the suspension has been refreshed with lowering springs and all-new bushes throughout, with QA1 shocks and springs keeping both ends of the car propped up. Stopping power is courtesy of a full Wilwood brake package — 330mm discs up front and 270mm discs at the rear — all sorted by Les Hunter Automotive.
At long last, it finally came time to fill the vast expanse of rear arch with some serious rubber, with a pair of 15×13-inch D-Window wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson 335/50R15 drag radials doing just that. It’s a staggered stance that leans heavily into the pro-street aesthetic Ben was after, achieved by a pair of 17×8-inch D-Window wheels up front wearing 225/45R17 rubber.
With the car now running but not road-legal, Ben decided to transport it up to the Kaikōura Hop, where it turned heads and made plenty of noise. However, if you thought everything was going too smoothly up to this point, you’d be right, with the first major issue rearing its head. And it was a biggie. After noticing a vibration in the motor, Ben decided to drop the oil, only to find metal shavings. This was a pretty big kick in the guts after three years of hard graft by all involved, and Ben decided to put things on hold for a while to prioritise other life projects, like moving house and building a GT-R.
After settling down, Ben had the motor sent to Car Aid in Christchurch, who pulled it apart and discovered the clearances were out of spec. Following a hefty rebuild, the engine was put back into the car for what was hopefully the last time and taken to be certified at Two Six Fabrication.
Ben says the HQ has now been on the road for the better part of six months, with the teething problems that come with any build like this ironed out for the most part. In that time, the car made its debut at various shows like the 4 & Rotary South Island Champs, where it won the Premier Event’s Choice award, and Muscle Car Madness, taking home the Best Holden and Best Day Entry accolades. More recently, it took home an award for Best Classic Holden at Car Wars in Rangiora, as well as the Public Choice trophy at the Caroline Bay Rock & Hop in Timaru. Well deserved if you ask us. Mostly, though, it serves as a weekend cruiser and something to take to the odd car show. If he were to do it all over again, Ben reckons he’d go with an LS to save him the hassle of building up a big block. Deep down, though, he knows the struggle was well and truly worth it.
OWNER Q&A
DRIVER: Ben Marsh
AGE: 36
OCCUPATION: Builder
PREVIOUSLY OWNED CARS: RX-2, RX-3, RX-7, R32, R33, R34 Skyline GT-R, Soarers, ’65 SS Impala, and more
DREAM CAR: Tubbed XA Coupe
WHY THE HQ? I bought the car with the diff and wheels and thought it would be something different for the NZ car scene, as no one’s really doing pro street builds
BUILD TIME: Six years
LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: Six years
THIS CAR’S HISTORY: Barn-find off Trade Me
BEN THANKS: Daniel Drummond at Dan’s Rust and Resto for the panel and paint, Steven Broad for the tubbing and custom four-link suspension, Les Hunter Auto for the brakes, Car Aid Christchurch for the engine build, Rare Spares for bolt-on parts, Tinwald Canvas and Upholstery for the interior, Sam’s Auto Electrical for the wiring and fuel lines, Two Six Fabrication for the certification work, and family and friends for their patience throughout the build
SPEC LIST
VEHICLE: 1974 Holden Kingswood HQ
ENGINE: 454ci big-block Chevrolet, bored 0.040” over, Eagle H-beam rods, JE forged pistons, mild cam, ARP fasteners, upgraded oil pump, Merlin square-port heads (ported), roller rockers, upgraded valve springs, 8.5:1 compression, TBS 8-71 Supercharger with Teflon-coated three-lobe billet rotors, FiTech EFI, Aeroflow distributor, MSD 6AL, MSD leads, Pacemaker headers, three-inch stainless X-pipe, AdrenalinR mufflers with dump pipe, 60L drop tank, internal 1000hp fuel pump, factory V8 radiator with oil cooler
DRIVELINE: TH400 automatic transmission, B&M Shift Kit, 3.5-inch one-piece driveshaft, shortened nine-inch diff, Detroit Locker, 4.11:1 gearing, 35-spline axles
SUSPENSION: Front lowering springs, custom four-link, QA1 coilovers, QA1 springs
BRAKES: Wilwood callipers, 330mm front discs, 270mm rear discs
WHEELS/TYRES: 17×8-inch and 15×13-inch D-Window wheels, 225/45R17 and 335/50R15 Mickey Thompson tyres
EXTERIOR: Super gloss black paint
CHASSIS: C-notched
INTERIOR: Custom retrim, factory GTS steering wheel, boost gauge
PERFORMANCE: Untested
