1971 Chevrolet Nova Nitrous and Drag Radials - Wild One!

Actuating the valves is a 1.80/1.75-inch intake/exhaust J2K Jesel shaft-mount system that's been outfitted with nearly every option available, including the MoHawk lightening option to reduce the overall valvetrain mass, which allowed us to increase rpm without having to further increase spring pressure. Each rocker arm is also shot-peened, features a 0.250-inch beam (the center of the rocker) that can withstand up to 400 pounds of seat pressure, and has a 0.250-inch needle-nose roller.

At the heart of the mill, we used an induction-hardened 4.500-inch-stroke 4340 Lunati Pro Series crankshaft. Out of the box, the mains are gun-drilled and the counterweights have a contoured wing design. Even so, we had QMP knife-edge and undercut the counterweights to shed an additional 10 pounds from the total rotating mass.

Jeff Johnston's Billet Fabrication also handled our valve covers, but what you may not have known is that they can recreate any logo and even design one if requested.

That's a whole lot of nitrous plumbing, and we have to credit Mike Nelson, formerly of Nitrous Supply. The two outer stages were constructed with a Nitrous Oxide Systems Pro Race Fogger kit, PN 04462SE, which comes with a soft plume nozzle that's adjustable from a 100- to 650hp shot. While you can't see it in this photo, there is a custom third stage, resting underneath the runners with annular nozzles that are configured for an additional 125hp shot. We've begun testing the second and third stage, so we'll keep you posted.

It's always a good idea to epoxy a screen over the oil drain holes. Should the ugly ever happen-meaning valvetrain breakage-this'll prevent any pieces from falling into the rotating assembly and causing carnage.

We utilized a Moroso's latest 4-vane vacuum pump to promote better ring seal and help relieve crankcase pressure for a few extra horsepower. Each kit includes an adjustable billet bracket and comes with AN-12 inlet and outlet fittings, but you'll also need to purchase a v-belt, a crank, a vacuum pump pulley, and a drive kit that attaches to the crankshaft snout to rotate the pump.

When it came to fuel delivery, we used a pair of Holley 1050 Ultra Dominator HP-series carbs.

Out of the box, the Ultras feature billet metering blocks for a limitless range of tuning and a wide range of engine combinations, with its changeable emulsion jets, idle feed restrictors, and power valve restrictors. At the recommendation of Pro Street racer Kelly Bluebaugh, we sent them to Dale Cubic from Cubic Flow Modifications, who modified the fuel curve to accommodate the high volume of nitrous. CHP

This is what a dedicated high-compression nitrous slug from JE Pistons looks like; this not-so-little gem has a dome height of 0.680 inch, weighs in at 678 g, and generates a wicked 15.8:1 compression. Each piston came with JE's line of premium pins and added features such as vertical gas ports and double pin oilers and was matched with a complete set of rings from Total Seal.

We went with Jesel's beltdrive system and front-mount distributor kit for a number of reasons. For starters, the beltdrive provides accurate timing by maintaining its initial setting when experiencing camshaft twisting from torsion loads, whereas a conventional cam-driven distributor will end up retarding the timing. Then there's the luxury of quick manifold swaps and ease of advancing or retarding the camshaft in seconds. It also reduces crankshaft harmonics.