Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Drag Strip results and video - 1974 Chevy Nova 250

It seems like since I got my Nova running, it's been raining here in Sacramento.
It finally cleared up yesterday and I drove the Nova to work. I took off a little early
and went out to the Sacramento Raceway. It was sprinkling
when I arrived but it turned into a fine evening.




During Tech, I popped open the hood
and had some fun, I got a lot of double-takes and people stopping
and commenting and complimenting me on my 250.




For the first pass I figured I would put her in drive and let her shift
herself. Now, I have 3.08 gears and I can only stall her to about 1200 rpms.
and she don't make power till 2500 rpms. so I knew my 60 ft time would be
pretty sad... That being said, I'm pretty happy with how she ran. My first pass
was a 17.898 E.T. at 78.757 mph with a 2.826 - 60ft time.

On the next run I shifted at 5500 and never hit third gear.
I ran my best time of 17.613 at 82.223 mph with a 2.848
60 ft time.

Total weigh of car and driver is about 3700 lbs.

Anybody want to calculate my horsepower? Engine and RWHP?

I made a total of 6 passes and my poor old tranny was
singing the blues. I had a blast!

I was not the only straight six out there!
There was a kid driving an old Dart with a
slant six running 19.20's! Bless his heart...

Here's the link to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3h6mQL8CNY


Many of you may be familiar with my 250,
but those that are not here's a rundown:

250 Inline Six Built by Motor Machine of Carmichael.
Clifford Powder Coated 4 Barrel Intake
Clifford Shorty Split Headers Coated by Cap's
Lopey cam
2-1/4" exhaust with Summit X-pipe and Thrush Mufflers
Holley 390 4 barrel Carb
MrHotRod6 Powder Coated Aluminum Valve Cover
Clifford Powder Coated Side Covers
MSD Pro Billet Distributor, Blaster II Coil
MSD 6A Box and 8.5mm wires
PowerMaster Polished One Wire Alternator
Mr Gasket Wire Loom
Griffin Aluminum Radiator with Bow-Tie Cap
Billet Specialties Air Cleaner
Stainless Steel Braided Fuel line with Nickel AN Fittings
Stainless Steel Braided Oil Gauge Line
Braided Vacuum Lines
Spectre Throttle cable and bracket
Lokar Tranny Kick down cable
Summit Billet Inline Fuel Filter
Taylor Stainless Steel Braided Battery Cables
Billet Breather
Chrome power steering cap
Chrome master cylinder cover
Chrome oil and transmission Dipsticks
K&N Filters
MMS Polished Stainless Steel Hex Head Bolts
250 Inline Six Built by Motor Machine of Carmichael.
Clifford Powder Coated 4 Barrel Intake
Clifford Shorty Split Headers Coated by Cap's
Mild cam
2-1/4" exhaust with Summit X-pipe and Thrush Mufflers
Holley 390 4 barrel Carb
MrHotRod6 Powder Coated Aluminum Valve Cover
Clifford Powder Coated Side Covers
MSD Pro Billet Distributor, Blaster II Coil
MSD 6A Box and 8.5mm wires
PowerMaster Polished One Wire Alternator
Mr Gasket Wire Loom
Griffin Aluminum Radiator with Bow-Tie Cap
Billet Specialties Air Cleaner
Stainless Steel Braided Fuel line with Nickel AN Fittings
Stainless Steel Braided Oil Gauge Line
Braided Vacuum Lines
Spectre Throttle cable and bracket
Lokar Tranny Kick down cable
Summit Billet Inline Fuel Filter
Taylor Stainless Steel Braided Battery Cables
Billet Breather
Chrome power steering cap
Chrome master cylinder cover
Chrome oil and transmission Dipsticks
K&N Filters
MMS Polished Stainless Steel Hex Head Bolts


Thanks again for all your wisdom and kindness.

Glad to hear you ran it @ a track.
Nice looking ride BTW.

What are you plans on improving the 1/4 mile times?

MBHD

Exactly what you suggested in an earlier post.
She needs gears and a torque converter.
I'd also like get the head done one of these days.
I'm just going to enjoy driving her for now.

Awesome car and video!
it is so cool to see a driver nova 6 getting timeslips.
I had to guess your compression at 9.5 and cam at 212-212 duration and .488 .488 lift and then your engine computed out to:
Torq 244 at 3600
Power 209 at 5100
That is gross 60s style rating. Net hp was about 177 calculated and RWHP at 130.

My first guess put your 60ft at 3.01 computed so I then moved compression up to 9.5 [do you know what it realy is?] and guessed the cam a bit smaller at 212-212 [do you know which cam you have?]
However, to then slow your e.t. down I had to fudge in a "bog" somewhere in the 1-2 area, either the trans is shifting really slow, or there is a bog in the middle of 1st or bottom of 2nd gear, or so I would calculate.

Can you post all your numbers for that best run?
The ones I computed were:
2.84 60ft
7.69 330ft
11.60 at 63.9 1/8 mile
17.61 at 82.1 1/4 mile

I am surprised and happy that the big Clifford 4v launched as well as it did, since I have one I'm about to use.

Just for fun I computed your car with a bone stock 250/155hp, it was actually .05 quicker to 60ft, but over a second and 10mph slower in the 1/4 mile.

Thanks for the post, if you know compression/carb and the rest of the timeslip I'd appreciate it.

Great & Sweet ride you have there.I would like to add Your Video
to my web site if you wouldn't mind getting me a copy some how.

You have a nice looking Nova there, sir!!

sounds like you had alot of fun. that is great to hear. i enjoyed the video. great exhaust note too! with a rear gear change to 3.55 or 3.73 and some stall it will wake up. adding a shift kit will make the trans live alot longer. the th350 is a pretty tough trans.

according to TCI's website. you have 160 hp. engine that is

IIRC a safe bolt-in for the TH350 is the Vega converter, will add a few hundred stall.
Before you spend any more money on the trans consider a 200-4R.
If you haven't already done this: you should drop at least 5° from your advance curve and add it to your initial spark setting - this will pick up your response in 1st a lot, and raise your stall speed slightly. Listen for pinging, add more if OK.
Have you tried advancing the cam 4°?

Thanks to all of you.

Wow! Deuce! nice reply!

My best run:
2.848
7.799
11.63
(mph 64.723)
14.87
17.613
82.223 mph


You said:

2.84 60ft
7.69 330ft
11.60 at 63.9 1/8 mile
17.61 at 82.1 1/4 mile
Pretty Close!

You were correct on the 1-2 shift. It takes forever.

This all got started with a few bolt on's for the original 250.
I never had a six and I thought I would just get some headers, a manifold and carb and then I came across this site. Well, one thing led to another and I ran across this freshly rebuilt but rather ugly 250 with all the MSD stuff and an Older Offy manifold, some rusty headers and one of those huge aluminum twin Holley air cleaners. It was in a 40's Chevy truck and the new owner wanted a sbc. I bought it for 700.00 cash. I ebayed the Offy, headers, air cleaner and some other parts. I knew the kids name who got it rebuilt by a local shop. I called them up and they looked it up. All they would tell me was "Yep, rebuilt with an RV cam" and the rebuild date. I'll pay them a visit and try to get more info. I saw the 250 run before I bought it and it sounded good! That old truck had a stick in it and I bet it ran pretty good with a 4 speed. Stupid new owner. Good for me!

On the Holley 390 I switched to a .035 pump discharge nozzle (#121-35) (I got a spare if you need it) and I changed the pump cam. That helped a lot. I still have a little flat spot just about 2000 rpms but not bad. Considering switching to a 50 cc pump.

I'm still using the original tranny which might have over 100K miles on it. I changed the fluid, filter and the torque converter bolts last weekend after two torque converter bolts came off and the last one was loose. It scared the daylights out of me! Man, what a racket! That old tranny is tired, used and abused.

Larry! Thank You!

I would be honored to have my video on your website. Just embed direct from youtube or I could send you a cd. PM me anytime!

6,TLOWE & panic,

Thanks again and yes! I need some gears. That's next on the list. I would also like to get a posi unit but right now traction is not an issue. I do want to take this to the local dyno shop and recurve the distributor and play with the carb as well.

I'm really liking the 2004R idea but for now I'll just use what I got and keep an eye out for a deal on a good TH350 and the right converter. I think I can buy it cheaper than build it nowadays. I'll just put off any long freeway drives for the time being.


I can't resist playing with the photobucket editing tools.





Before:







After:






Lots more pictures.
http://photobucket.com/74nova

I remember I ran my moms 4 door 73 Nova @ a track 3000 ft alt.

Stock 250,308 gears w/a powerglide.

IIRC it ran 19.1-19.4 range w/a speed of 65-70..

Even w/5 people in it,it really did not slow down,maybe 1/2 a tenth.


MBHD

Sounds like fun Novaguy!

Chris, Do you have a part number foor the Mr. Gasket wire looms? They look like what I need, very neat. Also where do they fasten to the head,block, whatever. thanks Herb #3241

Thanks, Flyer. It's a lot of fun.

Hi Herb,
They're actually Spectre Industries 18483
I had bought the Mr Gasket set but I saw these and liked them better. They slide back and forth for easy attachment to your valve cover bolts. Here's a link with pictures.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SPE-18483&N=700+115&autoview=sku