SP Rides: The Fire-Breathing Dadvan
BY MICHAEL KITCHENS
Year, Make, Model: 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer SS
Owner: Justin Wolcott
Age: 34
Occupation: Mechanic
Hobbies: Building cars
Color: House of Kolor Lapis Blue with Pearl
Engine: Gen4 ly6 iron 6.0 block (bored and stroked to 408ci), K1 4-inch stroke forged crack, K1 forged rods with 2000 arp bolts, custom spec Wiseco pistons with full armor coat 8cc, Tool steel wrist pins, All ARP studs in mains and heads, ported and polished LSA heads heads with BTR 660 springs and titanium retainers, shaft mount comp cam rockers, LJMS stage 4 turbo cam, Johnson tie bar lifters, Holley high ram manifold, 2300cc Bosch injectors, S485 T6 Turbo with 85mm inducer and 100mm turbine wheel 1.58 ar housing, hot side turbo kit built by Oscar, cold side turbo kit is built by owner with Treadstone intercooler,Tial wastegate and blowoff valve, all-braided line -10 feed and -8 return, Dual Walbro 450 hi psi pumps, Flex senso, Magna fuel pressure regulator, Holley Dominator EFI (Stock ecu/tcm are piggybacked to make all stock gauges and functions of the truck work as if it was stock), onboard air for boost control
Transmission: 4l80e HD2 kit, billet triple disc converter with 3800 stall, slap ratchet shifter, custom paddle shifters
Suspension: KEBB front coilover shocks, Strange rear shocks (single adjustable), Qa1 rear springs, Massive rear 4-link arms and panhard bar color matched and coated blue pearl, adjustable 4-link mounts
Wheels and tires: Weld S77 wheels — fronts 17-by-5, rear 15-by-10 rear, Mickey Thompson Pro’s rear 315/60R15, Mickey Thompson front runners 28 tall, Stoptech brakes all around.
It’s not often that you see a fire-snorting, pavement melting 1,000-plus wheel horsepower (WHP) street car roaming the mean streets of Oahu. It’s even rarer when the ride in question happens to be a van. But that’s what Justin “nothing stays stock” Wolcott has built with this 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer SS. He calls it the Dadvan.
He doesn’t have any kids besides his two dogs, but the name fits. He’s always been a mechanic — since the age of 8 he was building go karts. By the time he was 14 he had eight of his own cars. The man leaves nothing alone. “Stock is boring,” Wolcott said.
Originally, he traded in a G35 twin turbo because he just needed some room. He didn’t know a thing about the vehicle, just that it was nice and spacious. But one thing led to another. First were some headers and a cam and some nitrous. That was okay for a while. But eventually it just wasn’t enough. He needed more power. So he sold the engine and built a new iron block from a 2012 Chevy Express 2500. He then did rods, pistons, crank, bored over and stroked. His mod list is too extensive to get into. The man went crazy.
The turbo is absolutely massive. It’s a T6 S485 custom build with a 100mm turbine wheel by Forced Inductions and it’s one of the biggest I’ve ever seen on a street car. It starts spooling at 2500 rpm and makes power up to the 7,000 rpm redline. It’s a giant turbo that you’d find on a Caterpillar D9. Combined with the Holley Dominator EFI this baby can roll at stock settings for great gas mileage or you can go blazing fast with the push of a button.
How else do you explain the horsepower this ride is capable of putting down? With the proper fuel mix and tune settings, this ride can do 1,300 to 1, 400 horsepower on the current setup. What’s it feel like to go full out? “You just go. You can’t move. If you’re a passenger, you’re holding on for dear life. I’ve rode passenger in this thing and I don’t like it at all,” Wolcott said.
What’s even crazier is that his current setup features paddle shifters! This is a custom install that allows Wolcott to change gears with the flick of a paddle or slap it on the floor with a ratchet shifter. Everything in this is built around the idea of a drag car with full A/C and the ability to haul stuff like flooring tiles.
Along with the insane motor build, the ride has been given a gorgeous repaint featuring House of Kolor’s Lapis Blue with Pearl FX that is stunning to look at. The external look is clean and when paired with the setup of Weld S77 wheels and Mickey Thompson drag tires, this thing not only looks incredible, it lays the rubber like no other. The suspension hasn’t been ignored either and features every doodad you can get, including the drag coilover setup and the solid rear axle.
This “van” can stomp supercars. That’s part of the pleasure of the build.
“Don’t worry about what other people want. Build your dream,” Wolcott said. He has some wild dreams, obviously.
