For more than half a decade Jeff Dellow has helped thousands of car owners across the world enhance their cars performance with innovative conversions. He and his inventive products have become legendary in the automotive industry. We thought we’d ask Jeff and his family to allow us all a little peek behind the scenes to find out how it all began and what fuels a person to work passionately at the same thing for over 60+ years.
Image courtesy of Just Cars
Previously these stories have been reserved for Jeff’s family and close friends, but we think they need to be heard and celebrated more widely. This is a story of passion, innovation, and sheer hard work.
Innovation begins with a problem
It was 1964 and Jeff Dellow was busy rebuilding a 1932 Ford Roadster in his parent’s garage when a friend approached him with a mechanical problem. General Motors Holden had just released a brand new vehicle called the EH and there was a lot of excitement and buzz about the streets. The EH was sleek and more streamlined than it’s predecessor, but most of the excitement was focussed on its revolutionary new engine. It was the first Holden to replace the grey 138 engine with the new 179 cubic inch red motor. It doesn’t sound like much by today’s standards, but at the time it was a big step forward with a 53% increase in power. Dellow’s friend had recently bought one of these new 179 motors and wanted help fitting it into his old FJ Holden. Jeff had read plenty of American car magazines where engine swapping was common and it inspired him to give it a go. So in his parent’s garage Jeff planned out the engine conversion on a notepad. He drafted and made the brackets for the mountings and the arms for the clutch mechanism. He then designed and made the bracket to hold the engine firm in place. This was an important part of the design because the fan ran very close to the radiator and if the car was to stop suddenly the engine rubbers would flex and the fan would score and eventually damage the radiator. After a very busy weekend the car was street-ready and Jeff Dellow’s friend had one of the first FJs fitted with a 179 86 kW engine. Everyone who went for a ride in that newly retrofitted FJ wanted one of those ‘red’ motors in their own car.
Conversion kits for everyone
So in his parent’s garage with borrowed tools, Jeff Dellow began making conversion kits for his friends, and their friends, and for anyone else who happened to hear about it. Dellow reflects on the time,
“There was no advertising, no marketing, just my friends telling their friends and on an on it went. Word of mouth was all we needed.”
The word spread quickly and not long after Jeff Dellow received a phone call that changed the direction of his life. The call was from Sydney Speed Shop who wanted to place an order for a number of these new conversion kits. The orders started to roll in from esteemed speed shops around the country such as Eddie Thomas and Norm Beechy in Melbourne.
Jeff in the 60s with one of the Dellow kits
Soon Dellow was selling 50 kits per week, all designed and fabricated in his parent’s garage at night after he finished his day job as an electrician. One year later, in 1965 Dellow bought new machinery to speed up the manufacturing process. But it was still not enough to keep up with demand, so longtime friend Kevin McIntyre (K-Mac Suspension) allowed Dellow to use his machines to make rear gearbox cross members and a list of other parts designed for a growing range of conversion kits. Dellow Conversions was established as a business and grew steadily throughout the late sixties.
Europe and America
In 1973 Jeff and his wife Gail headed off to Europe and America to research the latest products and build relationships with some of the leaders in the industry. They purchased a Chevy station wagon in California and zig zagged their way across the country. While travelling through Arkansas Jeff noticed an old run down Ford in a paddock. He tracked down the owner and made him an offer. After haggling for a little while they settled on a price. In Jeff's mind he knew it was a bargain as the car was a 1932 Ford Victoria, one of the smallest car runs Ford ever made. Jeff shipped the car back to Australia, made a few phone calls and had a buyer before it hit the docks in Sydney. It sold for more than 50 times the original price. The car is still around today, now owned by one of Jeff’s friends who recently bought it from the guy who purchased it back in 1973. Jeff and Gail spent 6 months overseas building their network which they believe was a great way to build a local company with global connections. To this day Dellow have a large overseas customer base and export their parts all over the world.
Jeff with his 1932 Ford Victoria
The big break
A big break came in the mid 1970’s when GMH asked Jeff to produce the A9X Torana housings. Remembering the time Jeff said:
“I can’t recall how many castings we made for the A9X but it was a lot. There were so many that I think GMH made more money selling the bellhousings to people who wanted to make their regular Torana into an A9X.”
The demand increased for innovative conversion kits and in response Dellow designed and added one new product every week to their growing repertoire of automotive parts. Dellow quickly became known as one of the key innovators in the industry and in order to keep up with demand they needed to move out of the backyard workshop. Dellow found a factory in the Sydney suburb of Arncliffe and increased their production capacity. From the new Arncliffe factory Dellow began manufacturing four wheel drive conversions. At first the most common four wheel drive was a Land Rover, but when the Theis Brothers began importing Toyotas into Australia everything changed. People wanted more power from their Toyotas and so Dellow went to work. He noticed small block Chevy V8s were being used in speedboats and hot rods, but Dellow found a new use and started producing V8 four wheel drive conversion kits for the Chevy. They sold like hotcakes. Dellow quickly added Ford and Holden V8 kits to their product list. They were flooded with phone calls about what could be done to Nissan Patrols, Jeeps, International Scouts, and Range Rovers. And when Toyota introduced the Hilux, Dellow responded in kind and designed kits for the Holden 253 & 308 along with the V6 Chevy. The kits sold as quickly as they could be made. In the early 1980s Dellow moved again to a larger factory down the road in Revesby. This is where Dellow continues to design and manufacture their large range of kits and parts. Today Dellow have a specialised team designing and manufacturing industry-leading kits and parts for a wide range of street cars, muscle cars, and four wheel drives. They produce over 3000 components with more than 500 casting patterns catering for small cars to large trucks. Everyday their state of the art CNC machines produce steel billet flywheels along with bellhousing related components including crossmembers and engine mounts. Although a new era has dawned Dellow says they can supply 95% of the replacement parts for all their kits sold since they started back in 1964.
The secret to success
Looking back over the years Jeff says his family has been the secret to his success. In the early days it was the support, generosity and advice from his parents. Then it was his family support that was his backbone. And last but certainly not least, his three wonderful children and grandchildren who have all worked in the business as adults. Passion, determination and an innovative spirit surely played a key role in Jeff Dellow’s success, but the fuel for the long journey has been his remarkable and supportive family. Jeff Dellow still works a few days a week and if he's not on the factory floor designing a new part with the machinists, he answers the phone to deal with customer enquiries. So if you're lucky you might just get him on the other end of the phone.
