EFI

Believe it or not, the world of hot rodding isn't too far removed from the Zoom scene. Sure, the models of vehicle involved are somewhat older than your typical Zoom feature but the lengths that hot rodders will go to in order to make an engine conversion work or to implement new technology into their classicly styled rides knows no bounds. It should be easy to see why the two cars that comprise the cover art of the latest Heavy Duty Hot Rods got us so excited.

Read all about it over the fold.

In 1996 Australia voted in a coalition government of the Liberal and National parties that stayed in power for a decade and Zoom was educating an enthusiast readership used to small-block V8s and carburetor-based fuel systems. Turbochargers were considered ‘cheating’.

Apologies for the quality of the cover image. We don't actually have a copy of the mag so I pulled the image from a PDF and the details below from the backup of the working files (including actual negatives!).

 ZOOM JUNE/JULY 1996

(ISSUE 2)

 Car features

- Ultimate home-built Statesman

 - 4AGZE-powered home-built beach buggy

 - 1983 EFI XD Falcon

Specs: 351 Cleveland MoTeC injection with Edelbrock hi-rise manifold, MoTeC D2 ECU, ported 4V heads, Crane Hydraulic roller cam, TRW forged flat top pistons, Genie extractors, Tremec TR 3550 5-speed, ET Clutches modified McLeod street/strip clutch, Ford 9in diff’ with 3.56:1 ratio LSD

 - Supercharged 500hp Commodore

 - LJ Torana GTR

Specs: 179 Holden Red motor, twin SU carbies with Holley float bowls, Garrett T04 turbo

 Tech Features

- Modifying EFI basics, and by ‘basic’ we mean basic! Such tech wisdom included points like, modifications to the engine will require changes to the EFI. ‘EFI’ was discussed as if it was a single thing rather than a complex system with various parts each of which can be upgraded for different reasons.

 - DIY boost controller on a VL Turbo using a brass needle valve, it made 132rwkW!

 - ‘Chipping’ the Ford XR6 (XG ute) and Mondeo. The ‘chips’ didn’t work that well!

 Events & Lifestyle

- Buying used –Nissan GTS

- Targa Tasmania in the Zoom BMW M3R. Somehow the early editors of Zoom managed to wrangle a sponsorship deal with a Targa Tasmania team in a E36 239kW M3R