02/08/2026
Through a shared passion of modifying cars and like minded interests Ive had the pleasure of meeting some really interesting people over the years. From chatting at car meets, the comradery of the highs and lows when racing, to sharing ideas and problem solving for weird and wonderful engine conversions.
One such person Im now blessed to to call a good friend is David Van Der Haas, aka Roman Dave, aka DaveScienceTM. If there's a wizard of coming up with a left field idea then putting the time and effort of working things out and actually making it happen its DaveScience. He doesn't just read what the internet says and replicate - he gets all the parts and figures it out one way or another (often with the odd failure which are just another part of the learning curve). You may have seen many of his posts around the usual social media pages in NZ - or one of his builds like his 13sec 9000+rpm Toyota Echo which gained notoriety a couple of years ago.
Anyway, Ive had the pleasure of helping DaveScience out from time to time with some machining etc so here's a pic dump of a few things he's dreamed up and we've made together for the latest iteration of his 1983 AA60 Toyota Carina, now fitted with a 2500cc V6 4GR and singing upwards of 9000rpm. From the custom sump adapter made from a 23kg block of ali machined down to mate a Beams sump to the 4GR, or the custom bellhousing for the J160, or various plates for his individual e-throttle bodies and intake.
Make sure you follow his progress on https://www.instagram.com/davidcarstuff/ or via many of his posts on Race Cars In Sheds etc etc.
