<\/span>Those cheap thrills gave Steven a lifelong unquenchable yearning for speed. But, funnily enough, it was self-preservation that led to the creation you see on these pages. Steven used to race motocross, but it isn\u2019t the safest sport around and injuries are pretty common. After starting his own business, getting married and having kids, Steven thought a street and strip monster would be a safer way to get his kicks.<\/p>\nWith 590hp at the treads via a blown LSA motor, Brock could never have imagined a VK Blue Meanie quite like this<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":11283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1308],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/holden-vk-commodore-hdt-brock-blue-meanie-lsa-13-nw.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11282"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.streetmachine.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/span>While the old chook-cookers were fun, Steven always pined for bigger cubes. \u201cEver since I was a kid I\u2019ve always wanted a blue meanie,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I thought I\u2019d build a tribute and go silly.\u201d Silly indeed \u2013 to the tune of 440 rear-wheel kilowatts and mid-nine-second ETs at around 150 mph!<\/p>\n
<\/span>When he first started looking around for a project, Steven got pretty lucky and came across this VK V8 \u2013 freshly painted, with the correct body kit and stickers. He jumped on the phone straight away. \u201cI called the owner and he said he had three blokes looking at it the next day,\u201d Steven says. \u201cSo I went straight over and bought it there and then.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>The car turned out to be better than he could have hoped. \u201cIt was mint,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen we did the interior and stripped it, it was the real deal \u2013 one-owner; still had all the plastic underneath.\u201d Steven kept an eye out and started collecting bits and pieces as they became available to make it match his vision. \u201cI got some good Scheel seats and herringbone trim on \u2018evilbay\u2019, and had Kon at Creative Auto Interiors do a full Group 3 re-trim,\u201d Steven explains.<\/p>\n
<\/span>The process of giving the VK enough go to match the show was one of trial and error. The first engine build didn\u2019t turn out real well. It cost a lot and the results were less than impressive. The second effort was better and netted a 600hp 355 stroker that, according to Steven, \u201cwent good and sounded mental\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/span>But then a fateful joyride in a supercharged late model Commodore changed his tastes forever. He was bitten hard by the high-tech forced induction bug, and over the next few months did some research and realised that it was a feasible conversion.<\/p>\n
<\/span>\u201cI started seeing LSA crate engines coming up for sale cheap,\u201d Steven says. \u201cI\u2019m a builder, and one of my mates who\u2019s a mechanic said to me, \u2018You build houses for a living \u2013 it\u2019s not that hard!\u2019 So I just did heaps of research and [the mechanical work] seemed pretty straightforward. So with the help of some good mates we sourced parts and put in the LSA in my garage at home.\u201d According to Steven the conversion was pretty easy. \u201cThese days with a VK, everything is just a mouse-click away,\u201d Steven says. \u201cIt\u2019s all off-the-shelf, there\u2019s not too much custom stuff needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>The engine mounts and the starter motor relocation kit are from Castlemaine Rod Shop and the stock fly-by-wire was replaced with a 92mm Edelbrock cable throttlebody. According to Steven, they\u2019re a great replacement because they have a bleed screw and the LS engines are renowned for idle problems when you start to modify them.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Steven also bought a brand new LS1 loom and computer from Holden and had good mate, Scott McCafferty from Custom Ignition Leads, wire it up. The fuel system is based on a boot-mounted Aeromotive stealth cell. \u201cIt\u2019s got an in-built pump and surge tank and it\u2019s designed for E85 fuel,\u201d Steven says.<\/p>\n
<\/span>The pipes are off-the-shelf 15\/8-inch Pacemaker tri-Ys, but Steven had another mate, Matt Galvin, modify them slightly, changing the secondaries from two-inch to 21\/4-inch. \u201cMatt also did all the fab work,\u201d Steven says, \u201cmaking the header tank, heat exchanger and inlet pipe, which came up a treat.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>That alone would have been enough of an improvement for many, but Steven wanted more. He did more research on who would be best placed to make the new donk perform, and decided to partner with APS in Frankston. They treated the 6.2-litre LSA to a Howards cam and springs, 12psi boost pulley and E85 fuel-system upgrade. Steven was understandably happy with the results.<\/p>\n
<\/span>\u201cIt was an animal. On the dyno it made 415 rear-wheel kilowatts with 1300Nm,\u201d Steven says. \u201cAfter a few test and tunes we got a 9.9-second ET at 140mph on a hot summer day. Then, in the last couple of cooler months, we put a bit more of an aggressive tune in her and after getting used to the car, we managed to run a 9.58-second ET at 148mph with a soft 1.50-second 60-foot.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>The high-tech mill is backed by an old-school Powerglide built by Grant Hobday at Bayswater Automatics. The two-speed slushbox runs a TCE 3500 stall converter and feeds power through a custom two-piece tailshaft to the 3.5:1 ratio nine-inch out back. In line with Steven\u2019s street and strip tendencies, the VK runs a set of Weld Magnum Pro rims \u2013 17×4.5 inches at the front and 15×8 inches out back. They\u2019re wrapped in a set of super sticky Mickey Thompsons to ensure maximum grip off the line.<\/p>\n
<\/span>So where to from here? \u201cWe\u2019re playing with suspension at the moment to try and get the 60-foot down,\u201d Steven says. \u201cIn the last couple of cooler months, we put a bit more of an aggressive tune in her and after getting used to the car, we managed to run a 9.58-second ET at 148mph with a soft 1.50-second 60-foot.\u201d The current best ET for the car is 9.49. “Eventually I want to give it a little shot of gas and see what happens.\u201d He laughs as he says this, knowing full well how much ridiculous fun that is going to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"