Powertrain
KT ran a squeezed 580-inch engine for years, but its compression ratio wouldn't abide pump gas. A street demon to the core, Thompson could no longer abide the price of race gas. In hopes of equaling past performance, he punched his trusty Donovan 500 to 4.600 inches (along with a 4.500-inch stroke) to realize 598 ci, though static compression is now 11:1 and quite amenable to pump gas. After Thompson finished his blueprints, Tom Murdock at BB&T in Southaven, Mississippi, did the machine work and balancing. KT assembled the big bullet at his Hot Rod Solutions shop in Memphis with a Lunati crankshaft, aluminum connecting rods, and Venolia pistons. He capped the bottom end with a Titan oil pump and Billet Fabrication aluminum 7-quart sump. A big Comp solid roller (specs secret) pokes Manton pushrods and a T&D shaft rocker-arm system. KT stuck it all together with a Jesel belt timing gear.
The top end is matching Brodix stuff: CNC-ported Big Duke cylinder heads (Brodix valves, Comp springs) and a Big Duke intake manifold hosting a Full Throttle Performance 2,000-cfm air door. An MSD 7AL-3 box and Pro Coil send spark (32 degrees); the KT-built 231/48-inch primary pipe headers become a 4-inch system routed through an X-pipe and nasty DNA mufflers. Though the motor is scary enough on nuts, N2O is KT's avatar and his seal. As yet untried, the Chevelle features a Nitrous Express dry fogger system fed by a pair of composite-construction bottles, complete with remote switch-on. KT means to equalize internal pressure with a Moroso 4-vane vacuum pump. The electronic fuel injection is controlled by a FAST XFI module.
With roughly 1,000 lb-ft of torque, the car could easily pull just one gear, but for the sake of expediency, KT enjoys a lightweight Second gear as per a JW Performance Ultra-Glide (1.76, 1.00:1). A Precision Industries 9-inch converter heads up the torque posse and kicks it out with a 4,200 stall speed. Tranny fluid is cooled through a Moroso heat exchanger. A Mark Williams 4130 steel driveshaft twists the gaff to the Moser 9-inch aluminum center section fitted with a M-W pinion support, 3.60:1 gears on a M-W lightweight spool, and Moser gun-drilled 35-spline axle shafts.
Wheels & Brakes
Thompson lopped off about 100 pounds of unsprung steel when he switched (oh, it wasn't without a fight, though) to flyweight Weld Alumastar 15x4 (Goodyear 28x4.5) and 15x10 forgings (M/T ET Street 315/60R Drag Radial and 29.0x10.5W on a 15x12). Now he's seen the error of his way. He gave the 'Bu better brakes too. Strictly drag-race oriented, the Aerospace Components disc brake package puts a 1011/44-inch disc and a four-piston caliper at front and an 1131/48-inch disc and four-pot caliper on the back. They work perfectly during normal street driving.
Inside
The really neat thing about this car is the bald-faced-lie interior. There's not a hint of hink anywhere. Look, there's nothing to see: skinny-steering SS steering wheel, no tach, no shift light, no ratchet shifter, no driver wearing a backwards baseball cap. Stealth prep to the max: There are a lot of fibs hiding behind the glovebox door (Auto Meter tach, gauges, and various control boxes) and even more haunting the heater controls (transbrake, Line-Loc, cooling, data logger, parking brake, and bottle heaters). The only things out of the ordinary are the JAZ buckets that McCutchen upholstered in Sandalwood. A Spartan to the end.