Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines A bit more power for a stock '76 250

Hello everyone,

I have a mint original 1976 Chevy Nova Hatchback with a 250. (Yeah I know big deal). My father bought it at the local Chevy dealer in October of 1976 (the dealer is a 5 minute walk from his house.)

Anyway, I have the car now and the engine needs a rebuild. I want a little more power (I’m emphasizing "a little"). I do a fair amount of highway driving and acceleration and top speed are poor at best. (If you’re from the mid-east you are probably familiar with route 1. If so, you know why I’m concerned). I want better mpg too. Ideally I'd like to keep the integrated head just because its original and I want it to stay numbers matching.

I've looked into the Carter Weber carburetor swap and that seems to be a good way to go. However, I have a question about the stock intake. I would rather not use an adapter; instead I would like to have the stock intake machined to accept the Carter Weber carburetor directly. I haven’t had the time lately to really look at the engine so I don't know if the intake has enough material to do that. If someone could shed some light on that I would be grateful.

I saw a company called Harland Sharp that makes roller rockers for Chevy inline sixes. Are they worth the $230 dollar price tag?

Finally, if there are any other upgrades that can be done to mildly increase performance, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

The rockers for the Big Block chevys can be used and sometimes can be found cheaper off Ebay. They come in 1.7 1.73 1.75 1.8 1.85s The 1.7 - 1.75 will do the trick.Our L6s are 1.75 for a little more kick. Go with a RV style/Type cam You can run stock springs with That type cam JUST MAKE SURE They are NEW!!

Nothing wrong with a 76 Nova, especially if it is part of the family. As long as you are needing to do an engine overhaul, you might consider going to an earlier cylinder head with a separate intake manifold. The integral head as on your Nova tend to crack and are tough to modify.

With the earlier head, you can go with a Offy intake and easily mount the carb you want. Add headers and a mild cam and you will be set to go.
I would not worry about spending the money on the rockers unless you really want to build a performance (and significantly more expensive) motor.

If the integrated head is as bad as it sounds on this forum, maybe I’ll look for an earlier head.

Regarding the intake, what are the main differences between the Clifford and the Offenhauser? If I wanted to go with a Holley Weber 5200, which Offenhauser intake should I use?

My goals are the following:

Just enough power gain for easier passing and lower RPMs on the highway going 65-75.

At least a few MPG gain.

Smooth idle, (not fair idle, not okay idle, SMOOTH IDLE).

Thanks in advance.

--Kevin Coleman

The Offey intake Offers the over all best STREET performance. Due to it's stock Like design It offers the better Lowend to Mid range power that you are looking for. A Nice RV/Towing style cam will Give you that Nice added power when needed and Give you That SMOOTH IDLE your looking for.And should help your MPGs.

Regarding the Offy 4bbl intake, I have stated before that I would like to use a Holley 5200 or a Weber DGV carb. I've never had the need to research carb adapters so I'm not familiar with what is on the market. I've recently been looking for a 2bbl to Holley 4bbl adapter, but most of the ones I’ve seen place the barrels parallel with the engine. (I’ve been told this is a poor configuration for several reasons). Is there an adapter that will place the barrels perpendicular to the engine? Thanks in advance.

--Kevin

I have ran the carb(4bbl) Both ways little to no diiference at all. The carb you are talking is kinda??? like a 4barrle carb It's a 1 barrel with a secondary. and UNLESS you have your foot in it 24-7 It would be no different then a one barrle setup. But I have been trying to find another offey intake so that I could made a better adapter
for that type carb with out having to stack adapters. So it would just replace the stock 4barrel adapter that comes On the offey to start with. IF someone has this combo I would be More then Happy to make them a FREE adapter Plate if i
could Use their steup.Just so i could make this
Plate. This seems to be a small issue for most who run this type setup.

76 nova !! dude that IS a big deal! please take care of that car!@

i hope you are.... you hurt then it i hurt you

!
lol


id love to find one of those cars again they are impossible to find now there are very few oleft anymore, its just sad!
i practically grew up in a 78 one my grandma owned in my early years, i have pics, and i owned a nice 60k all origina miles 77 baby blue coupe too a few years back that i scored for only 300 bucks in which i freakin sold and have been kicking myself ever since.. cuz now there isnt another one left around here to buy! poof gone!


if you ever opt to sell yours then lemme know.,

if anyone ever knows of a complete or mostly complete '76-78 one, dont want a 75.. or a 79,,

thanks