Bruce Christian’s 1973 Toyota FJ Land Cruiser at Drag Challenge 2019

Rocking a wicked drag rake, Bruce Christian’s NOS-fed, 383ci Chev-powered 1973 FJ40 Land Cruiser belted out its first Street Machine Drag Challenge in square-bodied style

Share
Photographers: Luke Hunter, Shaun Tanner, Chris Thorogood


SLOTTED into the K&N Dial Your Own class, Bruce’s Cruiser ran stout 11sec passes and towed a trailer throughout the four seasons of DC 2019.

Underneath, the FJ sports a bunch of late-model 70-series parts, as well as a TH400 with 4000rpm stall and 4.11 diff gears.

The true challenge began for Bruce on Day Two in dusty Mildura. Bruce ran a squirrelly first pass, which subsequently slowed further runs in a bid to avoid a repeat of facing the wall in the deep end. “I also fried the clutch in the LSD,” Bruce said. “So I bought a $400 second-hand diff in Mildura, in case we broke it completely.”

The TH400 was not enjoying the punishment either. “The trans sat at 215°C while towing in the heat, so I rigged up the thermo fan to permanently stay on for the trans cooler,” Bruce explained. “Basically I nursed it to the finish and got through without a burnout or NOS on the last run at Calder – it was hard not to hit the button!

“I’ll be back next year, and I might add a supercharger. I already have the body off, diff out and stripped and the trans out to get rid of the transfer case.”

1973 FJ TOYOTA LAND CRUISER
Class: K&N Dial Your Own

SPECS
Engine: 383ci Chev
Nitrous: 150hp shot
Transmission: TH400
Converter: 4000rpm
Diff: LSD, 4.11:1 gears
Power: 415rwhp
Previous PB: 11.5@112mph
Best DC 2019 Pass: 11.25@116mph

Comments