It’s not uncommon to see an early Commodore with a turbo LS at Drag Challenge – it’s just such a potent combination!

However, the lads at All GM Automotive in Altona, Melbourne, are set to push that recipe a fair bit further with their VN Commodore wagon build. What’ll make this build different to most is the use of a Noonan billet LS-based combo, rather than a factory GM or aftermarket Dart-block LS.

The workshop recently uploaded a video to its YouTube channel, featuring business and car owner Terry O’Keefe and his offsider Sean Livingstone taking us through the build in its early phases.

“Terry has a tendency of going over the top,” says Sean Livingstone in the video. “It ended up going from ‘let’s just paint the engine bay’ to ‘I’m not happy with the bay’, to ‘now it’s a full tube car’.”

While it looks wild, the tubular conversion still retains the factory VN Commodore suspension geometry. In place of the original struts are AFCO double-adjustable dampers, with a dummy-fit iron-block LS solid mounted in the middle with a modified Tuff Mounts plate. The lads worked with Toby Lawson at Chimera Development on the tubular front end and rollcage.

“The goal is to run sixes all week at Drag Challenge, so we’ll see if we get there,” says Sean. “The aim is to make north of 3000hp.”

Terry admits that the build is going to be a mission to get done before the start of DC at the end of October: “The engine’s almost finished, the gearbox is ready to go; we’re just waiting on a lot of parts.”

At the time of writing, the car has made significant progress since the video above. It’s back on the ground as a roller; the majority of the front end is back together; and as you can see, the Pulsar GXR turbos now have their placement.

Other notables at this stage of the build include a removable trans tunnel. Psidup Fabrications did the rear end set-up with the nine-inch, and like so many Drag Challenge machines, it’ll be attempting to get all of that 3000hp down through 275-wide radial rubber.

The VN will run methanol on the track and 98 on the street, with eight injectors for each fuel set-up.

“I’m confident we’ll get the car together, but I don’t know if we’ll make a good hit before [Drag Challenge], but time will tell,” says Terry.

Obviously, the build is still in its early stages, but we’ll be watching the All GM Automotive YouTube channel and keeping an eye on their progress!