OK this Sprinter mightn't kick like a turbo car, have stand-out
paint or a mega sound system, but what it does have is good. Bloody
good. Matter of fact, it's a mechanical marvel and an absolute
credit to its owner builder, Steve Vasic.
Now that you'd know it at first, second or even third glance.
No. The Sprinter is exceptionally understated regardless of its
imported Japanese Corolla GT front, neat black TSW rims and raspy
exhaust note.
There's nothing initially inspiring about sitting in the imported
Sprinter passenger seat either - except perhaps for the slightly
bumpy ride. But this changes once Steve breathes on the loud pedal.
Watching the tacho reveals steady progress up to around 4000 rpm
before the momentum increases and the engine takes on a very different
complexion in both feel and sound.
Steve grabs for the shifter as the tacho rises above 7500 rpm,
pulls second and we continue our leap forward at a pace not expected
of a normally boring Sprinter. And even though it's a quick car,
straight line grunt was never meant to be its forte. No, built
it to club race but now believes the finished product is too good
to subject to the track.
Mind you, Steve recently ran the car over Calder Park's quarter
mile. On the day he pushed the Sprinter to just one pass, an abysmal
launch giving a 15.22 at 89 mph.
So what is it that makes the car so quick, so nimble and so mechanically
marvellous? Man, you're not going to believe what you're about
to read.
Steve's no spring chicken, in fact he's knocking on the door
of the big four zero but hey, here's a guy who's been-there-and-done-that
with all things automotive. He's pretty much stuck with Toyota
and Subaru product, having performed some really interesting conversions
along the way. Trick stuff like dropping a 1988 model Subaru Touring
wagon over a complete - that's the works - RS Liberty 4WD turbo
drive line! Yeah, we know that it's supposed to be an impossible
swap - but Steve has done it...
Over four Years ago (and prior to it becoming popular) he swapped
a Holden EFI V8 into a Landcruiser, even ensuring the 'check engine'
light was operational. Then there's been at least three '74 Corollas
running a 2TG hybrid or 3TG turbo engines and, well, the list
goes on an on.
There's been a couple of Sprinter too, with this one making its
entrance three years ago, soon after Steve received a telephone
call from EKW's Andrew Perrera about a front damaged 1983 Sprinter.
"I'd been thinking about another Sprinter for a while, so
I went and had a look to find it was a one owner and meticulously
cared for", Steve said.
A rebuild was in order simply because the car needed a new front
anyway, so Steve looked at what was required to transform it into
a competitive club level road and race car. A 1G-G twin turbo
2.0-litre six was first cab off the rank, however it proved to
be quite heavy and its size meant that the car would be in the
over two litre class. "I wanted to stick with a Toyota engine,
and about the only high-tech two litre in the range was the second
generation MR2 3S-GE. I knew that by virtue of it being a transverse
engine it'd make for a difficult conversion, but I like a challenge".
And what a challenge it was! Mods required to make 118kW (158bhp)
engine work in harmony with the Sprinter were many - too many
to mention here. For a start, the normally slant-mounted engine
had to sit upright. This meant that Steve had to drill three holes
(one front and two rear) in the cylinder head for oil delivery
via high pressure fittings. External lines lead to just above
the sump line in the block casting, allowing the oil to run back
into the sump.
The inlet manifold also had to be radically altered due to the
original transverse configuration. It starts with 35mm of the
original manifold (match ported) to which 15mm sections of an
18RG twin Solex manifold were welded, with the internals incorporating
trumpet style inners. Flange mounted to the already radical manifolds
is an owner-made allow plenum designed to accept the factory throttle
body. Also, in the event that Steve decides to revert to a complete
MoTeC injection package (neatly stored in the home shed), he has
simply to remove the fabricated manifold and bolt on 45mm MoTeC
throttle bodies.
Next the water inlet pipe had to be cut and shut and turned in
the opposite direction to run along the underside of the inlet
manifold to the front of the engine. A similar situation was faced
with the dizzy, however the fix wasn't so simple. Steve relocated
the rotor button and cap to the front of the engine and sealed
the rear dizzy. An adaptor plate turns the exhaust camshaft into
a new dizzy drive!
Necessary were custom made 4-2-1 extractors meeting in a 2.25-inch
pipe. This runs to a high-flow cat, into a small resonator and
then finally through a stainless Genie muffler. The extractors
aid power output, as does a fully sealed cold air intake mounted
fore of a Subaru RX turbo air box and drawing air from behind
the grille.
Engine accommodation was also a significant exercise with Steve
placing and AE82 Corolla twin cam air conditioning fan in front
of the stock radiator on a fabricated bracket, employing Corona
2S engine mounts sitting on a modified cross-member and placing
a 4A-GE Sprinter washer bottle on the left hand inner guard -
not on the stock right hand side. The radiator overflow has also
been relocated to a possy between the grille and radiator.
Choosing the trans type was made easier thanks to Steve discovering
a reasonably priced 4.3 LSD Sprinter rear end, which meant that
a tall first and second geared W58 Supra five-speed was just perfect.
It sits in front of a fabricated light-weight flywheel and slightly
second hand 1G-G clutch, is backed with a modified 2-piece tailshaft
and sits on a spaced imported Corollo auto crossmember.
Suspension bump and rebound have been attended to through the
addition of adjustable Koni shocks on the rear with 1.5-inch lowered
King springs. The front sits on custom shortened adjustable spring
height Lesle coil-overs and there's a bunch of Nolathane bushes.
Braking is more than adequate thanks to current model Cressida
rotors (owner cross-drilled and grooved and new RX-7 Series 4
alloy calipers. Rolling stock consists of TSW Racing rims and
Pirelli rubber.
Turning to the interior about the only changes are a Momo steeting
wheel, electric mirrors and retrimmed imported Sprinter bucket
seats. Outside it's a similar story except of course for the complete
Corolla GT front sheet metal, pop-up headlights and grille. Finishing
off the look is a rear spoiler, Calibra roof-mount aerial and
two-tone Glasurit paint job.
Unseen modifications are also in force, most small yet significant.
One is the Corolla GT fuel tank and in-tank pump, oversize line
runs from front to back, and a spare tire that has been displaced
in favour of 15 inch (needed to accomodate the larger brakes)
Nissan 300ZX 'space saver'.
An incredible amount of work you'd have to say, all achieved
in an amazingly short five months! Yep, Steve performed almost
everything himself including parts sourcing and most fabrication.
What's more the car is fully read legal. It's great lesson in
high quality engineering.