Luckily, JJ’s been kind enough to save most people from embarrassment by dawning custom “R26” number plates which I think give a fairly obvious ‘warning’ or ‘danger’ sign to those pulling up from behind the car at the lights. Not that it needs much justification to put an RB26 into any car, this particular S14 and setup was something that JJ has worked towards starting from an early age obsession.

He says his obsession started off as a result of his brother’s close friend buying, restoring and selling damaged S14’s from auctions. From time to time, his brother would help out by storing his friend’s in progress repair jobs at the family home where JJ would occasionally help out and as they say, the rest was history.

JJ’s first S14 he bought some years later gave him a foundational understanding of the car and its ins and outs, it’s good sides, bad sides and eventually its limits. The car was modified over some time and was able to pull a very respectable 460hp from the stock bottom end SR20 however the solution for more power came through a bit of coincidence and sheer luck. While looking through one of Facebook’s many car groups, JJ stumbled across a package for an R34 RB26 motor, 6 boost manifold and 5 speed RB25 gearbox.

JJ got in contact with the seller and made a lowball offer not expecting to strike a deal but to his surprise the seller replied “if you come tomorrow with the money you can take it”. If you don’t buy the ticket, you can’t win the lottery as they say! The next day, armed with a Camry and some pretty wild assumptions, he drove 2 hours to pick up the drivetrain.

JJ now reflects that another car would’ve made for a much easier pickup as after conceding there was no chance of fitting it into the boot without disassembly, he made the decision to drive back with the motor hanging out of the boot.

Knowing that the body for this new motor had to be an S14, he set himself the goal of creating the best street driven S14 in Australia. Not wanting to tear down his original legacy, the hunt was on for another body to transplant the motor into. A running, stock Cobalt green S14 was sourced in Melbourne not long after the motor purchase.

The car was trailered to JJ and it was driven for two weeks before the stripping process started. The SR20 was taken out and the car was sent to 2SUS for a new look on life. JJ chose to go with a custom grey similar to the highly popular Nardo Grey you see on the European hot hatches like the Audi RS3. For the body, JJ decided to keep a mostly OEM style to the car to keep it as low profile as possible while cruising on the streets.

A set of Evo Brembo’s were sourced for the car and while at the painters also received a touch up in an eye catching bright green which gives the car a Porsche GT-esque colour combination. Completing the exterior is the always classic, always appreciated TE37 SL Pressed Double Blacks (18×9.5 +15 and 18×10.5 +15). With the car hoping to see plenty of the drag strip, JJ knew he had to have some beefy tyres on the rear to keep the power down; 265’s to be exact.

Catering for this wide setup meant that rear guards had to be pumped considerably, he says 2SUS were fantastic in making the setup functional but still able to maintain the factory lines of the S14.

Whilst the custom grey paint was mixed and applied to the car, JJ was at home doing the final checks and tidy ups on the motor so that by the time the car was back, it was a matter of assembly. The guys at Croydon Racing Developments did an amazing job to get the car up and running. Time was spent on the fabrication, wiring and tune to make a whopping 700hp!

Wasting no time at all, JJ took the car straight to the proving grounds where he cracked a 10.7 @ 138mph. Fast right? For most yes, but for JJ, absolutely not; talk about high standards. But this desire to go faster only makes this story more interesting as for the next three years, JJ plotted and contemplated the mad decision he was about to make and how he was going to execute the next phas.

Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. JJ knew that to meet his power goals, a big change had to happen and so he decided to strip the car back and begin assembling a new motor.

Starting off as an RB26 rebuild with rods, pistons and a new Garret turbo, JJ had a pretty clear plan in mind for how his car was going to turn out. However, after some ‘convincing’ by mates that a Nitto 2.8L rebuild was the better way to go, JJ scrapped the original build plans and got to figuring out how best to assemble a drag purpose stroker engine.

Complementing the new larger block were an assortment of high quality parts including; a full race port CRD head (capable of revving to 11,000rpm), a custom 8L sump and Nitto oil pump, Hypertune manifold, an array of Turbosmart parts and finally a Precision 7675; a turbo big enough for a boat. The parts weren’t assembled in haste by any means and the careful arrangement and custom fabricated covers, pipes and hoses pay off in a big way when you get a chance to look under the hood of JJ’s car.

A Samsonas 6 speed sequential gearbox was also added into the remake list to allow for those critically timed shifts to be made down the quarter mile. Through a custom two-piece tall shaft, power is sent to an OS Giken rear differential and billet drive shafts that allow the power to be delivered as efficiently as possible to the rear tyres.

A drag purpose suspension setup sees MCA coilovers and an assortment of Hardrace arms, bushes and sway bars. Lastly, the brains of the car is managed by a complete Motec setup including; M150 ECU, oil, fuel, boost and lambda sensors, a Motec dash and 4 port boost solenoid.

All these changes culminated in the car’s final output of over 1000hp at the wheels making it easily one of Australia’s fastest street driven S14’s.

Being street driven, the car was never intended to be built in a way that made it impractical. If you take a look at the interior of JJ’s car and other than the Samsonas shifter and Motec cluster, there isn’t much to give away what the car is really capable of.

The car maintains all the standard trimmings and luxuries like aircon, radio, door panels and even a dash mat! Nothing quite beats the convenience of driving home in the same car you just sent down the quarter mile.

Thanks to the digital cluster, you won’t find intrusive gauges in the cabin as all the vital readouts can be displayed at the click of a button. Some tidy upholstery changes in black velour around the car paired with the Recaro SR5’s cap off the interior mods. One surprising interior upgrade not found in JJ’s car is a roll cage which he says he has no intention of installing in the near future.

Since the car made four digits it’s yet to make its return to Western Sydney International Dragway. Given the strict guidelines around sub 10 second cars running without a chute or roll cage, JJ has all but one chance to really smash his previous 10 second pass and make 4 years of effort just that much more satisfying.

JJ would like to thank all the vendors and workshops that helped piece together his dream setup including Kosta and Omar from CRD, Westside Mechanics, Concept Garage, Heasmans Steering, 2SUS custom resprays, Hypertune, Performance Coatings, Make Me Go Fast, Hamza, Salim and lastly his wife for her unquestionable patience and support throughout the entire build.