Zoom Magazine                                       Story by Ashley Mackay

It might just look like a '72 LJ Torana, but the under bonnet scenery certainly belies that! Tractable and street driven, but with 10 second quarter mile performance - electronic engine management, and turbo power sure does wondrous things. The RB30 Holden/Nissan straight six wears a Nizpro intake manifold plenum, stainless steel extractor-type exhaust manifold, T03/4 turbo and MoTeC management.

Mind you, the streets are filled with quality examples, which means that for one to stand out it has to contain some very special ingredients, which Grant Ward's amazing LJ has in abundance.

In conjunction with Melbourne based turbo gurus, Nizpro, he has developed a street and strip combo that has turned many a head, in particular those of the push-rod V8 persuasion. And that's even though the car's still in its development phase.

In a nutshell, the car relies on a small six cylinder engine, tiny three speed auto trans and relatively small rims and rubber. And yet it's capable of incredibly quick quarter mile times.

The process began a little over two years ago with a now famous Nissan RB30 (VL Commodore turbo engine) being introduced to the engine bay. Out of the box these engines produce 200 horsepower, but bolt on a bigger turbo and increase the boost and the sky's the limit. In fact we only have to Look as far as the Twin turbo RB30 powering the Sammut brothers Nissan 300ZX drag Car which we're advised is good for in excess of 900 horsepower.

Having played with turbochargers for ten years, Grant embarked on his current project after spotting the Torana over a friend's fence. The original owner had lost interest after stripping the vehicle, so Grant bought it intent on securing between the frame rails a twin turbo 265 Hemi -which he did in his Drouin Diffs workshop. Mods included a narrowed nine inch diff with 3.7 gears and mini spool, beefed rear suspension with relocated mounting points and boxed trailing arms, 90/10 Pedders front shocks, Leyland P76 discs, WB Statesman calipers and remote-mounted VH40L booster.

The body had only to be bare-metalled, one small dent knocked out and the guard lips rolled for it to come up to scratch, with re-assembly incorporating LC tail lights. Paint is factory LC GTR Indy Orange of the Dulux acrylic variety, while the 15 x 5 and 7-inch Weld Glidden rims accommodate 165 Michelin and the rears initially hosted G60 McCreary rubber. The turbo'd Hemi engine made excellent power but fell a little short in the reliability stakes, "I only ran it over the quarter once when something came adrift at the half way mark, so I buttoned off to a 13.5 at 79 mph. And while I knew it could do much better, after reading an advertisement for a twin turbo multi cam V6 engine, I arranged to have a look at it."

The seller was Nizpro's Simon Gishus. "Simon asked what car I wanted the engine for, and when I told him it was an LJ he advised that the V6 was too wide. During the discussion I mentioned I had an RB30 gathering dust in the garage, which is when his ears pricked up and he suggested we modify it."

The Torana's firewall and trans tunnel had already been recessed to accommodate the Hemi, which meant that all Grant had to do was alter the mounts and operate the throttle with a modified VL Cable.
Coinciding with what proved to be a fairly simple install, Grant backed the turbo RB30 with a mandrel-bent 3-inch exhaust system, topped it with MoTeC M4 management and added a modified Nissan Patrol sump.

The entire install was performed by Grant including the MoTeC unit as supplied by Nizpro. A quick chassis dyno tune followed and Grant was off to Calder.

The stock combination netted a best of 12.6 at 110 mph and Grant was as happy as a pig in mud. "I was rapt, but I wanted to go faster - doesn't everybody!" The engine was removed over the 1994 winter break and a host of goodies ordered from Nizpro. "I told Simon what I wanted and he came back with a list of facts, figures and recommendations."

Eventually a package arrived at Grant's door and the rush was on to ready the car for the next Calder street meet.

The package included a camshaft, adjustable timing gear, a Nizpro inlet manifold/plenum chamber, 65mm Nizpro throttle body, Nissan GTR injectors and heavily modified T3/T4 turbo. Grant also look the opportunity to remove the cylinder head, which was then machined for oversize heavy duty valve springs, the runners cleaned and the bowls blended.

Once back together, Grant fabricated a stainless steel tuned length "spaghetti" turbo manifold while securing a mammoth truck intercooler fore of the radiator. Cooling consists of nothing more than the radiator; there's no fan at all.

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