Take a good look at your screen - this is our sorta
car! The late ‘80s Mazda 929 is hardly the epitome of high-performance but cram
a boosted Toyota 1JZ under the bonnet and it's only fair to warn the owners of WRXs
and Skylines. When this low-riding Japanese pimp-mobile stalls up alongside,
you’d better be ready for a whoopin!
The idea of dropping late-model Toyota turbo
muscle into the 929 belongs to Queenslander Steve Rauschenbach – the head of
Motion Garage (specialising in fabrication and pipework for more than six
years). Steve has owned a string of Skylines, S13s, rotaries, GT Falcons, an Evo
1 Lancer, Legacy wagon and pretty well any other performance car you can
mention. But a 929 – what tha?! The unique build-up began with the acquisition
of a neat locally-delivered 929 hardtop – a one owner example which was scooped
for just AUD$2500. Not long after came the purchase of a Japanese-spec Soarer
1JZ twin-turbo front-cut with around 80,000km on the odometer. All the
ingredients were at hand.
Steve says the conversion was a relatively easy
one requiring the simplest of radiator bracket mods, a pair of thermo fans,
custom engine and trans mounts, a custom tailshaft and a 2JZ sump (which allowed
the standard cross member to remain intact). The conversion can be credited to
PerFOURmance Motorsport.
With big power numbers in mind, Steve didn’t
bother installing the engine with its factory twin-turbo system. Instead, he
fabricated a custom exhaust manifold to allow fitment of a big Trust TD07
‘charger. This combines with a 50mm Trust external wastegate venting into a
custom 3 ½ inch mandrel stainless steel exhaust. A polished canon muffler is the
perfect encouragement for other drivers to test the car’s mettle...
The TD07 sucks air through a K&N pod filter
mounted on the end of a 4 inch pipe and a ‘garden-variety’ 600 x 300 x 100mm
aftermarket intercooler chills the boosted air temps. Fitment of the big core
required attacking the front bumper. A Trust Type R blow-off valve can be found
before the entry to the throttle.
Internally, the 2.5-litre Toyota straight-six
remains standard but you will find JUN adjustable cam gears and a GReddy oil
cooler and remote filter kit. Steve also whipped up a stainless oil catch can
and power steering reservoir – the power steering and air-conditioning remain
fully operational.
The stock Toyota injectors would’ve been out of
their depth with the big huffer so Steve swapped to a set of Sard 650cc
squirters teamed with a Sard Type R regulator. The opposite end of the fuel
system comprises a Bosch 044 Motorsport fuel pump. Fuel and ignition are
orchestrated by a MoTeC M600 programmable ECU which piggy-backs the factory ECU
(the factory ECU being required to run the electronic-controlled auto
transmission).
Steve was lucky enough to track down a modified
Toyota trans being sold second-hand together with a modified stall converter. A
custom one-piece 3 inch tailshaft joins a Mazda RX-7 diff with the factory viscous
LSD mechanism. Steve says a mechanical 2-way diff is on the cards for the near
future. The standard 929 axles are quite beefy and have no problems coping with
the increased grunt.
With up to 22 psi of boost pressure, Steve’s 1JZ
equipped 929 makes almost four times the factory output. Four-forty
horsepower (328kW) has been seen at the wheels on Advanced Performance Centre’s
Dyno Dynamics chassis dyno and with the pressure currently eased to 20 psi you
can count on around 410 horses (306kW). With grunt like that it’s no wonder
Steve reckons the car has the potential to run well into the 11s – given enough
traction.
The normally sludgy suspension has departed the
scene to make way for JIC coil-overs intended for the RX-7. Steve says these
were pretty easy to fit into the 929, the only hurdle being custom top plates
which also allow camber adjustment. Ride height has been slammed about 3 – 4
inches. For now, the brake set-up gets by with PBR slotted discs and Bendix
pads.
The ‘Japanese limo’ styling of the 929 has been
complemented by dark window tint, colour-coded lower panels (the car was
originally white-over-grey) and suitably styled Japanese-market Luce 15 inch
alloys – perfect for the sleeper look!
Inside, Steve has kept the 929 trim in all its
plushness. There’s wall-to-wall velour, plenty of woodgrain and all the
equipment you’d expect in a top-line vehicle of the late ‘80s. The factory
electric sunroof is the perfect finishing touch. The only changes are a Pioneer CD
system and hidden HKS boost gauge.
And would Steve be willing to sell his one-off
creation? Well, he did consider when we asked it but it didn’t take long for him
to knock the idea on the head. And who could blame him? When you’ve got a ride
that’s as creative, comfortable and so unexpectedly quick, why on earth would
you want to let it go? We wouldn’t!
Contacts:
Motion Garage 0407 672 023
PerFOURmance Motorsport +61 7 3808 4244
http://www.pms.net.au/
Advanced Performance Centre (APC) +61 7
3341 7223
http://www.apc-racing.com/
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