Brendon Day wasn’t going to settle for a cruiser, building an engine for boost and adding Harrop’s latest 2650 supercharger to create a demon of a ute

Words: Rixsta Sammons Photos: Glen McNamara

We thought we’d heard the last of the Covid builds, but there are a couple more out there. Brendon Day is one of those with a unique ride that goes from mild to wild in a dramatic way. Sourcing his 2010 SSV Holden Commodore Ute to have some fun with and build up to become a car he could take to the forever-growing car events around New Zealand.

With the pandemic putting a halt to the country and a four-week lockdown, Brendon took the opportunity to start bouncing ideas around with his friends. The first plan was to make the stock-looking ute his own by personalising it. The idea of paint versus wrapping came up, and choosing a colour for your car is usually a difficult decision, so with a lot of “yeh, nah, maybes”, Brendon went outside the box and opted to do a half wrap decal of some of his favourite DC Comics characters he enjoyed in his youth.

It’s a unique touch — but it works. With the lockdown finished, it was time for Brendon to consider some engine modifications to the stock 6.0-litre LS2. A camshaft is one of the most common mods that rewards power to the dollar value, therefore it was number one on Brendon’s list. Nothing beats the sound of a choppy cam and the power band they produce at higher RPMs, which was enough to keep him entertained for a little — but Brendon wanted more. Hungry for power, a set of 3.45:1 gears were installed in the diff, not a power gain as such, but it will get you off the line quickly and have a quicker acceleration feel to it, especially when compared with the standard 2.92:1 set from the factory.

Brendon was again kept at bay for a hot minute by these new changes, but after a few track days, the itch was back. And it didn’t take long before more power was demanded. While deciding what was needed to feed his hunger for power, Cadillac’s CTS-V superchargers were a common item that popped up on Amazon and eBay, and at the time they were producing good power gains at a reasonable cost.

With the help of his friends, Brendon was able to source one and put it on the 6.0-litre LS2 engine. With the engine now supercharged and the modifications to support it all fitted, it was time to dial it all in on the dyno, but things took an unexpected turn — the bottom end said no more and ran a bearing.

A bad day at the office is an understatement. Brendon was disheartened after losing a battle that day. The dyno machine does not discriminate, and if your engine lacks the gear to handle what you’re throwing at it, it will chew you up and spit you out, but all he could think was, “Let’s just build it stronger”. Jason from Performance Industry was tasked with rebuilding the engine to make it bigger and better. With the LS2 pulled from the engine bay and stripped down to its raw alloy, a plan was made to rebuild it to handle a mountain of boost.

The engine was bored and honed, and a set of Diamond pistons and Nitro rings were fitted and matched with Eagle-forged rods. The factory LS engines have 6-bolt main caps and a crankshaft suitable for a bit of punishment, so with a quick polish and balance, it allowed the stock crankshaft to be reused.

Now, the rotating assembly was finished, and Brendon had learned a few lessons about not doing things by halves, a set of GM 821 CNC (LSX Spec) ported and polished heads were installed, along with MLS head gaskets and ARP head studs. Mallory high-flow oil pump along with Manley triple-valve springs, and a new custom-ground VCM camshaft were added, which were a few critical upgrades overlooked the first time around but had now been completed.

The CTS-V supercharger was reinstalled and, with it all checked out by the engine builder, it was now ready to handle the boost. Back out on the tracks, having fun with his rebuilt and boosted ute, the dreaded itch was back once more. If you have a built car that you take to the track for fun days, an automatic transmission can get pretty boring after a while. Tremec makes a fantastic box called the TR-6060, which is a six-speed manual transmission, and when paired with a Mantic 9000 series triple-ceramic-plate clutch, it makes for a great gearbox that will take everything you throw at it and then some.

After sourcing one for the ute and a phone call to the boys to help out, an auto-to-manual swap was done, along with a few brewskis over the weekend.

Brendon was now dealing with a manual and hectic blown ute, which is the right party combination for track day fun. The CTV-S supercharger only held Brendon’s attention for a short time before the power bug bit him again, and while looking into new ideas for bigger power gains Harrop released its latest and greatest 2650 supercharger. It wasn’t long before one was in the shopping cart and on its way home to be mated to the fully built LS2. A sneaky Yella Terra billet throttle-body was added for good measure as well. Knowing the new supercharger would have higher demands for fuel, a Street Fighter 1500hp fuel pump was installed, which does a great job of keeping up with Brendon’s right foot throttle orders.

Keeping ahead of the game and preventing the itch from returning, another set of diff gears were installed, going from 2.92:1 to 3.45:1 and now to a set of absolute party animal 4.11:1 diff gears. The ute was well on its way. With the latest upgrades, it was time for another dyno tune, and after Brendan’s previous attempt, it must have been a nerve-racking time. However, by putting his trust in engine builder Jason, he knew it was sound and ready to rumble with the dyno. Its first run on the dyno showed who was boss, and shut it down at 755hp with 1002Nm at the wheels.

All that torque came with a few drawbacks; despite its newfound power, it required just a few more upgrades to keep it from breaking parts. Holden/GM laid the groundwork for creating an absolute powerhouse of an engine, but a weak point with the vehicles is the independent rear suspension. Unsatisfied with the chilard of torque it now had to get to the ground, a new set of rear axles were installed capable of handling 1500hp, and a new Driveshaft New Zealand custom-made 1500hp capable drive shaft was also fitted for good measure.

The new stable engine and driveline was now at a point where it was handling all Brendon was throwing at it, but was lacking in the braking department, now being used at a lot of track days. A listing on Trade Me for a set of 4-Pot Brembo brakes from a 2010 SS Camaro turned out to be a direct bolt on, so they were purchased, alongside a set of K-Sport coilovers for the front and rear. This was enough to keep the car under control in the corners and stop it safely on the track.

Brendon was back out there at most track days having an absolute blast and giving his rivals in his new favourite event activity of roll racing a good run for their money. What started out as a slammed and cammed cruiser that spiralled a little out of control from ideas during a Covid lockdown has now become one of New Zealand’s toughest utes. Only time will tell how long it will be before that bug is back to demand more power. Even though the hunger for power is the car builder’s curse, it certainly has made for some wild rides in our NZV8 family.