First published in the March 2012 issue of Street Machine

When Wayne Fisher was offered a VK Commodore roller as payment for a debt a few years back, he thought it was a beaut idea. What he didn’t realise was that once his mates got in his ear about putting together a motor, the car would end up costing him far more than the debt was ever worth. Not that he has any regrets though, because he now owns an insanely tough, tyre-torching turbo V8-powered VK.

“I was probably a little naïve because I thought I’d just drop a motor in it and drive the thing,” he says. “But when a group of good mates said they could build me a gun motor for under 20 grand, I thought it was a good opportunity to have a nice-looking car with the power to back it up.

“I decided to go along with it. Then they suggested that it’d probably be a good move to sort the car out with mini-tubs and a ’cage, which got me wondering how much power they were talking about!”

Wayne’s buddy Bejay was of the opinion that a 355ci Holden stroker with a blow-through carby turbo set-up and water/methanol injection could be a good thing, and with input from Holden V8 guru Sam Fenech at Westend Performance he pieced together a killer combo. In many ways it’s pretty standard fare — a VN block with a four-bolt mains conversion and ARP studs, fettled cast-iron VN heads with a top-shelf valvetrain, Harrop manifold, Lunati roller cam of fairly modest specs, and a COME crank, Scat rod and JE piston combo capping static compression at 8.4:1.

What really turns the crank is the hulking great Bullseye Power S480R breathing apparatus, force-feeding compressed air through a C&S Specialties Aerosol 750 blow-through carburettor.

You might notice the absence of the traditional air-to-air intercooler in the inlet tract. This is where the three-nozzle alcohol injection system steps in — it’s activated by a pressure switch at 7psi to keep inlet air temperatures under control.

With the engine assembled and mounted on the Westend dyno, it delivered more than 800hp on 15psi without breaking a sweat. Further fuelling and timing adjustments, along with 3lb more boost, netted an awe-inspiring 964hp at 6500rpm.

“I’m rapt with how the engine performed on the dyno. For an all-cast-iron 308 to make 964hp is fantastic,” Wayne says. “A lot of people contributed to the direction of the engine, and Sam at Westend was an absolute gentleman. I didn’t know him at the start — I just walked in off the street — so to see him jumping around when the engine made the numbers was great. He’s convinced that it isn’t at its limit yet but we decided to play it safe for now.”

It’s a fearsome package but the car it’s wrapped in is every bit as noteworthy. The custom-mixed blue paint was applied by Shane at B&S Customs. It’s reminiscent of the legendary VK Group A SS Formula Blue but unique enough to stand out from the hordes of Blue Meanie replicas. A shaved fuel filler and smoothed engine bay clean things up, while an HDT boot spoiler, front bar, letterbox grille and modified reverse cowl scoop all draw on the model’s proud muscle car heritage.

The ’cage and mini-tubs, along with the final assembly, were handled by Wayne’s buddy Gretchy at Gretchy’s Race Fab. The menacing stance, big and little Weld Magnums, parachute and blow-through carby hat poking through the bonnet leave you in little doubt that this car’s domain is the two-lane blacktop, 1320 feet at a time.

Accordingly, the transmission and rear end were specified to withstand the rigours of frequent quarter-mile abuse. Wayne’s transmission of choice is an ATI Proglide with straight-cut gears, a Turbo input shaft and Dominator 3500rpm stall converter. Like most of the other parts, it was all sourced by his good mate Lukas at Precision International.

A rock-solid 35-spline nine-inch resides out back and carries a Strange alloy centre, 3.5:1 Richmond gears and Wilwood brakes, with 10½x28in Mickey Ts on either end.

Inside the cabin, the HDT influence is again obvious, though the largely Brock interior was given a custom touch of black leather and grey suede by TQ Motor Trimming. Auto Meter gauges and an AMS1000 boost controller are mounted in a custom instrument cluster, while the six-point rollcage and Hurst Quarter Stick shifter are other race-inspired inclusions.

“While I set out to build the car as something I could drive on the street occasionally, things got a little out of hand,” Wayne laughs. “The immediate goal is to run an eight in it and I look forward to having a crack at that soon.”

WAYNE FISHER
1984 HOLDEN VK COMMODORE

THANKS
Sam and the guys at Westend Performance; Shaun at Shaun’s Alloy; Alex for the metal polishing; Chris at Earls; Albie and Boodz for continued support; my great mates Bejay, Gretchy, Nick, Shane, Lukas, Jeremy and all their wives and girlfriends. I am the owner but these guys are the real car builders.