NZ Performance Car – October 2019

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“Drag racing you can probably do two or three meets and

you’ll want to make it faster,” he says. “Unless you’re bettering

yourself in the scene, it starts to get stale for me. The fun part

is improving. On the track, you don’t get that same feeling to go

faster and faster — not as soon, anyway.”

This has resulted in the car’s current form: a 1.5JZ that makes

use of a 2JZ-GE bottom end that has been crammed with the

pistons and oil squirters out of the previous 1JZ, a set of second-

hand 2JZ rods found on Trade Me, and the stock 2JZ crank. Ben

gave the 1JZ head a good porting at home with the help of a

few bourbons and tickled the valves before whacking it all back

together. It’s a package built to battle, but one that Ben isn’t scared

of losing should it go sour again; he admits that he’d rather drive it

like it’s stolen than be too scared to rev it up — it’s a ‘the good bits

are nice, though it’ll make you shed a tear or two when it breaks’

type of deal. Pumping out 380kW at the rears, with a ton of torque

thanks to the capacity increase, that’s hard to argue with.

This old battler has paid its dues and now reaps the rewards

of a lifetime of improvement dialled in through the trial and error of

a young gun who grew up. Ben reckons that when it hits the strip

next, there will be a mid-to-low 10-second pass in it, although he’s

in no rush to get there — there’s plenty of track hacking and street

cruising to be done first.

Despite the 1.5JZ producing northwards of 400kW at the motor, somehow a

W-series five-speed gear-swapper is happy to send it rearwards to the wheels!

DRIVER PROFILE

DRIVER/OWNER: Ben Managh

AGE: 34

LOCATION: Rotorua

OCCUPATION: Fitter turner

BUILD TIME: “Not sure; never ends”

LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: 18 years

THANKS: Brent and Ryan from Dynopower, you guys are the

duck’s nuts; Avon Jones, for all my fabrication work; Cory Abbott,

for the help and guidance back in the day; Aaron Judd from

Telfer Marine, for all my boating needs; Phillip Richards from Stihl

Shop; and High Duty Plastics

PERFORMANCE

POWER: 380kW

BOOST: 25psi

FUEL TYPE: Gull Force 10

TUNER: Brent at Dynopower