Leave performance enhancement to the specialist

When I left Conradie after our interview, this poem by Jan EF Cilliers popped into my mind:

Ek hou van ’n man wat sy man kan staan

Ek hou van ’n arm wat ’n slag kan slaan

’n oog wat nie wyk, wat ’n bars kan kyk

en ’n wil wat so vas soos ’n klipstaan staan.

“I did my apprenticeship with Telkom and worked for them for a number of years before opening my own workshop where we did general maintenance and repairs. But things have changed – technology has changed and with electric- and battery[1]driven cars being the talk of the town of late, I’ve thought of perhaps building one. It is important to note that although driving battery cars may be cleaner, building the batteries is not at all such a clean process,” said Conradie.

“I am a performance engine – small engines, but big power – specialist. This love started during my apprenticeship. We were always working on race cars on the side helping others. I did many courses on electronic engine management systems and how to extract optimum performance from any engine utilising them.

There are standalone and piggyback systems on the market; my preference is the standalone units. Standalone systems are usually used to replace troublesome OEM systems and it is cheaper than replacing them, too.

“The roadster was a lockdown project built from a Daimler carcass which I brought to the plot 21 years ago. Although English cars have the habit of breaking while they stand, the engine, after 20 years, started first time and knew I could use it for my Roadster project. I replaced the V12’s injection system with a standalone fuel injection system with 12 coils and 12 throttle bodies. I replaced all the tensioners with my own boer-maak- ‘n-plan design and she runs as smooth as Swiss chocolate. I changed the exhaust system and the current engine output is about 183kW on the rear wheels. Not too shabby, and yes, she does attract a lot of attention!”

Some important advice: be sure what your intention and eventual goal is before you start with engine and/or performance enhancement.

“A dyna (dynamometer) is a tool; they are not all the same and to be truly valuable, you have to start with the correct benchmark settings for the car you will be testing. Otherwise the settings can be manipulated.”

Being a performance specialist requires access to a dynamometer and fortunately Conradie has one in his workshop on the farm.

“I am an adrenaline junkie – 10 seconds over a quarter mile does it for me. I specialise in converting Toyota Twin cam and Silica engines; they are strong and durable. Mazda also offers strong blocks, but as said earlier you have to know where you want to go with the power enhancement, because this will determine the most appropriate block with which to start.”

There is more to power enhancement than meets the eye. It is about suspensions, diffs, gearboxes, driveshafts and braking systems being able to handle that extra power. It is also about putting that extra power to work on the road – properly and in a useful manner. We decided to take a walk to the workshop. Various “project” cars, among them a Lamborghini Countach, present themselves and then there is the Fiat and Nissan bakkie drag cars, which of course are stories for another day.

He is also a 4×4 specialist (extreme) and a deep sea fisherman, but his first love is performance enhancement. And then he said, “As one becomes older and wiser, one finds so much value and reward in just giving. Giving of your time, your knowledge and, yes, support to those in need.”

And then we say, “If the clutch drops, the bullsh*t stops – your time will tell everything to all.”

Rewarding and substantial – this is what I love about these stories. There is more to come.