In The Build: 2JZ Powered 'SupraRu' Brumby

It takes a particular kind of person to own a Subaru Brumby, let alone commit to building one into a tough street car! But that’s exactly what Dan Theopapadoplous from Wog Boy Media has gone and done with his 2JZ-powered Brumby street car project.

“Everyone is doing Datsun utes and Corollas with engine swaps, but I hadn’t seen a Brumby done to this extent. I ended up finding the shell around the corner from my house - someone had started a resto’ on it so we bought it and drove it straight to see Derek from DJZ to begin measuring and fabrication,” begins Dan.

The Toyota six cylinder has been mounted in the bay and dressed with a slick Plazmaman intake manifold, as well as a custom exhaust manifold that supports the GTX4508 turbo.

“We went with the older GTX style turbo rather than something like a G42 because we wanted the large frame turbo, and that real wow factor when you pop the bonnet,” Dan explains. “The challenge it presents though is that we don’t want to use nitrous to help spool the turbo - we don’t like gas because we want to be able to race the car at any track or on any kind of surface prep just as we drive it on the street,” he adds.

Out the back, the tray has been modified to accept the larger wheel and tyre combo, with the extensive chassis work also visible - coilover suspension, a Borg Warner diff conversion and anti-roll bar suggests that the crew are hoping for a decent bit of steam out of the venerable Toyota six banger.

“Everyone is making 1,000hp these days!,” laughs Dan as we probe him about his expectations on power output. “The Brumby should weigh 1,200kg once it’s done with me in it, so I’d like to make 1,200hp. That’s fairly realistic with our combo’,” he states.

“We’ve tubbed it to suit 325s, but we’ll end up racing in a 235 or similar class,” explains Dan. “We figured we’d go as big as we can with the tubs because we can always fit a smaller tyre, but once they’re in and done we could never go to a larger tyre if we needed to,” he explains. The Brumby will wear 15x12.5in Billet Specialties wheels at the track and 17x12in wheels with ample dish on the street.

Astonighly, it’s not Dan’s first flirtation with a 2JZ swapped tough street car. His previous toy was a Toyota-powered Mazda RX7 that made a lively 700hp! “The RX7 was just so reliable, and it really pissed off the pursist!” he laughs. “We used an A340 box in that and ended up blowing up three or four - we should have just fitted a Powerglide to that car from the start so that’s what we’ve done from the outset with the Brumby,” he concedes.

Follow the build of Dan’s new Brumby and check out his coverage of the Queensland street scene on his Facebook page, Wog Boy Media.