So the thing is about looking good, incorporating all the elements of style in a simple but potent statement. Red is blood. What does that red stir deep in Kyle's psyche? Of course, his aim is to sound good, just like the aim of any hot rodder worthy of his grits. To run strong is another matter altogether. But Kyle covered that too, in a very conventional and practical manner: Build a bullet. Add spray. Always be happy. Pretend it's the '60s. Don't lug the motor down with too many accessories. Maybe power steering, maybe power brakes, but no artificially cooled air. This is about presentation and a form proper to a certain stratum of blacktop cruisers.
That dragstrip business wasn't part of the grand scheme, either. We asked Kyle what the secret was to setting up the chassis for this type of activity. Potential wheelhop is spoiled by adjustable traction bars, but there is no coil or leaf spring left. "There are two dots on the [airbag] compressor gauge. What I do is line the dots up, then I know the ride height and the damping will be right." He doesn't worry about side-to-side balance, for instance. He gives the chassis no extra attention, save for slipping some Mickey ET Streets up the wheelwells, torquing up the motor, and letting fly.
What of the dreadful Nova habit now? The old man's doing a '64 Nova racer, while Kyle is rubbing up against a '67 Nova wagon... "So you could say we're just a Nova family." Yeah, something like that.
Motor/Drive
Kyle and his pop began with a 383 (4.030x3.75 bore/stroke), bumping heads over the assembly, doing the love labor. They took their parts to South West Engines (San Bernardino, California) for machining. Most of the budget was lavished on the top of the engine, while the bottom end stayed stock but balanced. To be able to accommodate pump gas at all times, they built it with a 10:1 compression ratio. The Comp hydraulic roller bumpstick enables a 0.501 inch lift and 244 degrees of duration at 0.050 inch on both sides. Kyle put it in the block with a real piece of nostalgia. Nothing like the whine of a "quiet" geardrive to make even the most jaded street rats stand at attention. The most important part of breathing apparatus, the Dart 200 cylinder heads, were hand-ported and polished, fitted with Comp springs and pushrods, Milodon valves, and Harland Sharp rocker arms. MSD supplies the lightning at a total of 34 degrees. Fuel and air dispersion is the responsibility of a Victor Jr intake manifold and a Holley 830-cfm carb. It wouldn't be a real Cali car without genuine Doug's headers, in this case 151/48-inch primaries bending into a 211/42-inch collector, thence to Dynomax mufflers. Wow, nothing here that could be construed as hard-core, but what of those nasty-gas solenoids standing vigil by the Holley? Yo, Kyle's Blue Devil lives in a big NOS bottle with a 150hp fuse. Torque transferal begins at the Howard's 3,500-stall 8-inch converter and mixes it up with a Turbo 350 automatic equipped with a transbrake before heading down the stock driveshaft to the Posi-traction differential and 3.55:1 gears in that wizened 10-bolt.