Start-line Sprinter
Nick Burling of Windsor Toyota (NSW) obviously loves his 1983 Toyota Sprinter. And with good reason. One of only around 4000 imported to Australia, Nick bought the car from his brother in 1992 and has been stuck into modifying it ever since.
The engine has been one of the main focal points. Gone is the factory 4A SOHC carby engine and in the first round of mods, his brother had replaced it with an injected 4A-GE (as most Japanese-spec Sprinters came equipped). A 2-inch exhaust with a set of Group A extractors, a Fueltronics chip and a K&N filter was also part of the deal. A lowered suspension and a set of Cheviot rims were fitted when it first came into Nick's hands.
That engine was good for 115kW - but that still wasn't enough for Nick. The answer was a 3T-GTEU twin cam turbo from an '83 model Japanese Celica. Far from standard, it now features a 2.0 swept capacity (up from 1.8), forged pistons, Ford Sierra RS500 Group A Cosworth spec cams and about 17 psi boost. And, of course, the engine bay has been detailed to match the car's colour scheme.
It's hard to believe, but that juicy red paintwork is still factory original! But the body looks a lot hornier thanks to a custom bodykit comprising Group A front and rear spoilers. A Toyota "bull's horns" badge is now located on the grille as well. More touches to add cred' are d-a-r-k tinted windows and a tricky number plate that lets it be known this ain't a mere stock Sprinter.
A lower stance is the product of 3 inch dumped Lovells springs mated with Koni adjustable shocks, while the guards are filled by classy 15 inch Simmons V4s wearing Yokohama A509s. And the girls love it!
Open the Spinter's long doors and inside you'll see that the front seats are replaced by Liberty RS turbo seats, a Momo Corse wheel and a full re-trim in black and houndstooth velour. A high-tech looking digital dash from a Japanese model is also installed into the dash. As Nick says, it's "one of the most original 4 cylinder cars on the modified car scene". And a great streetcar too!
See the Sprinter and Nick's cool RAV4 at http://www.wintoy.com.au/Nick.html
Z28 Zeal
You can't help bad luck. Jay Hill of the US owned this white '96 Camaro, which he'd got to pull a lot harder. That is, until one frightful day in March '98 when it was struck by a little old lady in a Lincoln Towncar... The Camaro was a total loss. But to keep Jay's Camaro love satisfied, he replaced it with a red '93 model Z28 only one week after.
The car "had a very colourful racing history" and came factory equipped with a 4-speed auto, 2.73 diff and power everything. He then improved the thing with a Moroso cold air kit, TPIS throttle body air foil, Borla exhaust kit and a set of BFG drag radials. And having recorded a 13.7 at 101.39 mph (on the BFGs) Jay had reached his goal of a 13 second car that could be driven 100-plus miles to races and be competitive in the DOT tyre class.
The fully optioned replacement car came with a 4-speed auto, 3.23 rear end, T-tops and a factory Bose sound system. This car too has a Moroso cold air kit, throttle boy air foil, and a 160 degree Hypertech powerstat. However, additional parts waiting to be fitted are a B&M shift kit, NOS and a Flowmaster muffler. The "future modifications" list includes a 2500 rpm convertor, Global West rear suspension components and Lakewood adjustable front shocks. To date, its best time is a 14.1 at 97.21 mph.
The goal is to "run deep in the 12s with my daily driver without sacrificing reliability".
Jay's driving philosophy for Camaros - "Drive it like you hate it"...
See both cars at http://home.txcr.net/~jhill1/index.html
Smoke on the Horizon
Environmentalists hate it, but Erik Versendaal's 1973 Buick Riviera has bucket loads of character - not to mention grunt! Having rolled off the production line in Michigan USA powered by a monster 455ci (7.5 litre) big block, it was later exported to the Netherlands in 1990. The car originally went to a fellow car enthusiast up the North coast of Holland where it was completely stripped ready for a full restoration. After body preps, the original dark brown colour was forgotten about and replaced with a contemporary blue and a white vinyl roof combo.
Mechanically, the stock 455ci engine was pulled down and re-assembled with a 40 thou overbore, oversize TRW pistons with moly rings, new bearings, steel rods, hardened pushrods, a GS (GranSport) camshaft and the heads were improved with bigger valves, a porting and a 3 angle valve job. A re-jetted Rochester 800 cfm carb gives the right air-fuels and - naughty naughty - all the emission gear is hauled off for maximum power.
Backing the big block is a T400 3-speed auto plump with an aftermarket shift kit, and a stock 2.96:1 ratio diff at the other end. Apparently, shorter gears didn't help because with such a huge amount of torque, the car would just burn up its tyres! Inside this monster are even power windows, power drivers' seat and an ol' 8 track audio system that still works!
As you might guess, the cost of owning such a car in Holland is pretty steep. Road tax used to be the equivalent of around US$1300 pa and fuel costs about US$1.30 per litre! So Erik's cleverly converted the car to run on LPG (and from a 126 litre tank it drives about 310km!).And despite its 2346kg weight, the Riviera (aka boattail) reputedly sails off to 0-100s in 6.3 seconds and has a top end of 248 km/h!
These pics were taken at the 1996 Isle of Man cruise for American cars, where Erik tells us he blew a tyre after a mammoth 23 second standing burnout! Cloud up your screen at http://www.geocities.com/MOTORCITY/LANE/4797/p155.html
Japanese Jaw Breaker
A big, muscular RWD Japanese turbocar is hard to go past isn't it? And the Toyota Supra is a prime example - those long, flowing lines (of the current shape especially!) seem to go on for ever. Graham Talkes (aka Talksey) shares this common love of Supras too - like the many other members of the UK Supra Owners Group. Graham's dreamt of a Supra ever since 1985, but it wasn't until 1998 that he got what he wanted.
He tracked down a (Mark 3) 1992 7M-GTE powered car with all the Toyota trimmings (including leather) and the challenge of a manual 5-speed (Graham says the manuals are known to be a bit notchy). However, it was when he started moving in the circles of other Supra fans of the UK Supra Owners Group when he started to develop a real taste for the Mark 4 - the twin-turbo Big Gun!
So by September '99, he'd again started searching under 'T' and 'S' in the classifieds. Not knowing whether or not to go for an auto of manual, he turned to the resources of the Club and was allowed a drive of an automatic Supra TT - which immediately "hooked" him. "I had never felt such awesome acceleration and grip, aided by the almost undetectable gear changes," he enthuses. Luckily enough, it wasn't long before another member of the Club advertised his slightly modified twin-turbo automatic - and it became Graham's. Sure, he was sad to see the Mk3 make way in October 1999 but, damn, that Mk4 looks wicked!
Under the skin it features double wishbone suspension at each end (with maximum camber dialled in, together with more castor), powerful vented discs all 'round, traction control and, last but not least, one of Toyota's very best engines - the 2JZ-GTE.
In Toyota language, 2JZ-GTE means an powerplant of 3 litres, DOHC, 24 valve and air-to-air intercooled sequential twin turbos. In factory guise, Graham lists it good for 320hp at 5600 rpm and 315ft-lb at 4000 on the stock 11 psi boost setting. But the current engine mods extend to a one-off down pipe off the turbos (that removes the restrictive cat convertors), a GReddy boost cut controller to allow 16 psi and an Aquamist water injection system. With these mods, we'd guess he'd now be getting pretty close to the 400hp mark - with barely a whisker out of place! All bow to the all-mighty twin turbo Supra!
See more of Graham's car and read up on Supras in general at http://www.talkes.demon.co.uk/index.htm - and while you're there, visit http://www.supras.co.uk/. 'On ya.
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