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Steve Murphy's 377 Chevy V8 Powered Cordia 4WD

This page is proudly sponsored by Kempy's Bitza Mitzy's of New Zealand. Photos by Peter Lee.

  Kempy's Bitza Mitzy's
 
     
 

Specifications

 

Engine

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Engine 377 CHEV (570hp)
Engine and Gearbox turned 180°
Bowtie Block
Brodex Aluminium Heads - Stainless Valves - Roller Rockers and Cam J E Pistons - Steel crank - Dry Sump - 830cfm Nascar Braswell Carburettor
Headers and Megaphone Mufflers are all HPC coated
   
 

Drive System

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Clutch is 7” Treble plate with flexplate – No flywheel – Clutch scattershield is made from multi layer carbon fibre
Gearbox - Close ratio super T10 Dog Box
Front Transfer Case, built with aluminium housing with two gears from a Kenworth Gearbox. A 5” treble clutch adapted to the front of Transfer Case disengages the front drive when handbrake is applied
Rear Transfer Case is a Pajero unit cut in half and adapted to fit rear Diff
Diffs are Mitsubishi GTO Fitted with modified Pajero LSD units.
   
 

Suspension

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McPherson Struts with Bilstein Shocks with horizontal adjustable secondary shock at rear
Air operated rams on top of rear springs operate a weight jacking device to enable quicker acceleration out of turns and therefore faster on the straights. Both rams can also be operated off the start line to enable quicker start times
All bottom suspension arms are made from chrome molly with rose joints
   
 

Body

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Full underside guards are made from High Tensile Alloy
Radiator – Aluminium front mounted, along with a dry cell battery and 24 litre alloy fuel tank filled with anti explosion foam
Both rear wings are fully adjustable
Front air dam is detachable with double side wings which can be added for selected events
 

Steve Murphy’s Mitsubishi Cordia

Steve started racing back in 1979 building a HA Viva with a 3.5 litre Oldsmobile V8 with a close ratio Muncie gearbox and 5 coil suspension. He raced at the Mystery Creek Hamilton Rallycross series against approx 100 cars and won 2 NZ Titles and 2 North Island Titles during the early 1980s.

He then helped Don Hickman convert his V8 Avenger to 4 wheel drive  and double drove with Don for a few years.

The next project was the Hickman V8 Starion double driving with Don in Rallysprints and Hillclimbs, gradually improving the handling and reliability and in the end fitting the 600hp 377 Chevy motor from the Racing Power Boat  E.I.T. Mover. The late Kim Austin made this car famous by winning 3 Ashley Forest Rallysprints and still holds the record.

This prompted me to want to design and build something different which was the V8 Cordia which took 6 years to build. My son Clint and I have won various sprints and hill climbs. Clint competed in the Goldrush Hillclimb at Queenstown 3 years ago. At the end of the first day he had the 4th fastest time for cars and 8th overall with plans to pull out all the stops on the last day as the car was running really well.

At the start of the day the car was only running on 7 cylinders with no obvious reasons, resulting in slower times and major engine damage, but still achieving  2nd in the Unlimited Cars behind Rod Millen. Once home and on further inspection we found that the terminals had been ripped  off 2 of the spark plug leads and the rubber boots placed back on the leads which could only have been done by some asshole during the night.

Last year we competed at the Ashley Forest Rallysprint in Christchurch,  Steve was 4th and Clint Finished 6th in the same car. 

We believed we could do better this year so decided to get serious and made changes to the car to suit this event and thanks to some generous sponsorship we were able to compete again this time with Steve winning the title. Unfortunately Clint was unable to drive due to a broken leg otherwise it may have been both of us on the podium. What a trophy to win with names like Possum Bourne, Rod Millen, Kim Austin, Neal Allport and Trevor Crowe etched on the side. Sadly this may have  been  the last time this Rallysprint was held at Ashley Forest due to redevelopment of this part of the forestry.

The Mitsubishi Cordia 4 Wheel Drive V8 is fitted with a rear engined 377 Chev V8 (570hp) turned 180Ί. The gearbox is a 4 speed close ratio dog-box (same as the V8 touring cars).  Front transfer case is  homemade and is fitted with 2 gears from a Kenworth gearbox  along with a 5” treble clutch to disengage the front drive when hand brake is applied.  The rear transfer case is a chain drive Pajero unit cut in half and bolted to the rear Diff to enable the driveshaft to pass beside the engine. Diffs are modified Pajero plate type LSD units adapted into Mitzi GTO housings.

We have also designed and fitted an air operated weight jacking device to enable quicker acceleration out of corners and both rams can be operated off  the start line for quicker start times.

We have 3 different size sway bars for the rear and only fit a front bar for sealed competitions.  We run Dunlop Tyres and Bilstein shocks.

We run the Cordia last year at Ashley forest but the set up wasn’t quite right so we changed a few things to suit the track. First of all the Front Mitzy GTO viscous Diff wasn’t doing its thing so we modified a Pagero LSD into the housing.  Likewise to the rear Diff (the original rear Diff was locked) this made the car change direction a lot quicker, also a lot easier to handle.  The second change was the Diff ratio.  Last year the engine was revving to 8000 revs going up and down the hill so the ratio change made the engine use its torque and reduce wheel spin. Change number 3 was to soften up the car by changing the valving in the Bilstein shocks which absorbed the bumps and hence more traction.  The front to rear weight bias is 50/50 achieved by fitting the heavy Chevy forward of the rear axle and just behind the driver.  The large Aluminium radiator, fuel tank and the battery are mounted up front. On some tracks we run a full underbelly sump guard with a defuser mounted at the rear fitted at the correct angle.  This device helps to suck the car down to the road and also causes less drag.

One of the most talked about accessory is our home made Tyre Warmer – which is an aluminium box large enough to fit 4 tyres which sit on a bar which is  rotated by a wiper motor while being heated with 2 industrial gas heaters.  A Kiwi invention which really does work in being able to use warm tyres right from the start line, especially valuable in the shorter events.

My co-driver for Ashley was Richard Legae who built Marty Rostenburgs Evo 3 and was also one of the main men who built the Don Hickman – Kim Austin V8 Starion. Richard is employed by the AA and is their expert in fuel injection and electronic ignition etc, so his experience and expertise is invaluable.

Steve would especially like to thank his sons Clint and Dan and the 9 other keen pit crew members who gave up their time to keep the car in top form for the weekend. Most people don’t realize the work and money involved keeping the car in top running order. What a buzz to win the Ashley Forest Rallysprint.

Thanks to my sponsors, your support is important to keeping the car competitive and hopefully they will benefit from their involvement in Motorsport.

 
 
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Kempy's Bitza Mitzy's
 
     
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