Nowra’s Mark Andriske had a problem: his blown LS-powered HK wagon ran mid-nines, but he wanted more. As fate would have it, after receiving a generous purchase offer from a fan of the HK, Mark was able to clear the decks and put his plan into action, which is how he ended up with this sweet VH wagon he calls ‘Code Brown’.

First published in the November 2024 issue of Street Machine

“The HK was such a good, tough streeter that I didn’t want to pull it apart to put a ’cage in,” Mark explains. “I got a great offer on it, so I sold it off and then found this car for sale in Geelong.”

The early-Commodore community is full of supportive, like-minded folk, so Mark reached out to Drag Challenge veteran and all-round legend Todd Foley for some assistance. “Todd went and looked at it for me, and it was in awesome condition,” says Mark. “It was only $3500, which was cheap even back then at the start of COVID. We didn’t have to do any rust or anything; it’s only had a buff and the Vacationer stickers put back on it.”

With the starting point in such good nick, Mark could concentrate on adding horsepower. Troy Worsley from Warspeed Industries built the blown LS in Mark’s HK, so he was once again called upon to handle the long motor for Code Brown.

“It’s a GM LY6 iron six-litre with a factory L98 crank in it, Callies rods, CP Diamond 10.2:1 pistons, a Warspeed WASP #19 hydraulic-roller cam, and Higgins LS3 heads,” says Mark. “The turbo is a Proboost 8896 T6, which I mounted on an entry-level four-into-one kit from Darcy at KillaBoost. I used the KillaBoost kit and Tuff Mounts engine mounts, and it all just bolted in with no massaging or fiddling around!”

With twin 525 in-tank pumps added to the stock VH wagon fuel tank, a set of 2200cc squirters in the rails, and a Holley Terminator ECU controlling the whole set-up, Mark was gunning for an eight-second ET with Code Brown. To that end, he wisely added a Reid-case Powerglide from DTM Automatics, coupled to a 3500rpm Shotgun converter, along with a sheet-metal nine-inch from Gazzard Brothers packed with all the good fruit.

“On 24psi and E85, Ricky Fenwick made 1108rwhp on the dyno, which was over 200rwhp more than what the guy who sold me the turbo thought it would make,” Mark laughs.

While the car makes plenty of steam, Mark did have to creep up on that eight-second pass. After rolling the dice and getting kicked out of Sydney Dragway on a 10.0-second pass, he set about getting the snoozy five-door tech-approved. HBR Race Cages in Toowoomba supplied the required ’cage, which Mark says worked a treat. “It went straight in – no mess and no fuss.”

He’s since raced the car as far away as Lakeside, north of Brisbane, and on only his fifth full-power quarter-mile pass, he was handed a 8.90@153mph timeslip.

“I built it in two years,” Mark says. “I drove it into my shed as a 202/Trimatic combo, and it drove out with a base map to go to the dyno. Everything else, apart from the gearbox and engine, was built in the shed, so I have to thank Troy for the engine and Ricky Fenwick for the tune.”

Code Brown’s street manners are key for Mark, as he regularly uses it for ice cream runs with the kids, as well as other jaunts. It’s fun to run race-car numbers, but Mark much prefers to drive his cars with the family on board. “It has to be a street car first and foremost,” he says.

“If there was a compromise on this build, it was to make it good on the street first. We did 200km of driving last weekend to check the fuel economy on E85.”

That trip was part of Mark’s preparation for the Hardass 1000 drag-and-drive, where Code Brown finished third outright!

MARK ANDRISKE
1983 HOLDEN VH VACATIONER

Got a car that looks mild but goes wild? Email pics, car details and contact details to [email protected].