Aussie Built



 
 Ilias Katsapouikidis is from Adelaide, Australia and bought this 71 VG Valiant Coupe 2 years ago. At that time it was a painted rolling shell.
Obviously, a few upgrades were done since then...

 

Man and Machine - Life is Good.
These overseas cars typically have a few unheard-of parts in them, and this Valiant is no exception. When Ilias bought the car, a Toyota Hilux rear was installed. He decided to keep the rear, and it turned out to be a great piece. The stock springs were moved inboard, along with the wheelwells. 
Traction bars and CE adjustable shocks keep control over the aforementioned rear, which holds 4.30 gears and rides along on 28.5 x 11.5 slicks, or M&H racemasters during street cruises.

Further up, the 727 contains a Cheetah body and an 8" 4500 stall converter.


 

Dont you just love the nose on the Aussie cars?
Anyway, the business end consists of an 11:1, .030 over 383 with TRW pistons swinging stock rods and a steel crank.
Ported 906's provide warm shelter for the 2.14/1.81 valves, and a Mopar 557" solid cam keeps them in shape. The whole thing is fed through a Torker intake with a 2" open spacer and a 750 HP Holley. Spark is administered by a Mallory dual point, while exhaust is handled 1 7/8" primary headers with 3.5" collectors.
Best performance to date was a recent 9.99 @ 134mph, using a 250 hit of nitrous. Ilias dorve the car to and from the track that day with no problems.
A more radical combination is planned for the future, but Ilias is having too much fun with it right now.
He says -  "in its current form I couldn't have asked for more, as it drives very civilized, doesn't overheat, and just about blows everything else away on the street."

 
HOME
LINKS
E-MAIL