Super Nova Part 5

Hey, welcome to the shop.

Uh not the horse power shop. Of course, we're starting the show in Hoosier country. And for good reason,

you see it's the next phase of our project, Supernova. A race car that's in need of some super headers.

A few weeks ago, Chuck and I dropped in our GEO performance sports 572 race motor, the engine fit fine, but we realized that no off the shelf headers would

of course fibbing up our own headers would not only be exhausting but impossible for Hanson and me.

So you're about to see how the experts at dyno

Tech design them, make them and uh hopefully help me install them.

Dyno

Tech has been a major player in the manufacture of headers and exhaust systems for all kinds of racing and high performance applications.

So heading to their plant in Boonville, Indiana for the Novas one off headers was a logical choice.

It starts right here at the cylinder head.

At that point,

our engineering group needs to create a drawing or ac ad file so that we get the laser cutting of the flans done. And what we've done is we use an instrument called AC. Mm.

That actually comes in and

locates

port center lines,

bolt hole locations, the spacing between those two

and then getting our tube location optimized for maximum horsepower and performance.

Next, head engineer Dick Wops

can place a couple of special magnetic blocks on each side of the firewall.

They had three zeroing points on them to tell the computer exactly where the car is.

After establishing some other points with a movable arm.

The computer now knows how the tubes can be routed

and where all the possible constraints might be.

Next step.

A three DC

ad drawing of the new headers, just the way they'll fit inside the Nova's engine compartment. We can actually get a design that we can look at

from any angle we choose to.

And we're able to see that

in fact that all the tubing

uh actually clears uh all the constraints around which they're routed

uh and are of a controlled length

using the computer's information. They can now cut and bend the two and 18 inch tubing to make a prototype.

The operator is using a manual operated man

bender

after the bed tubes are cut to link,

an assembler places them in a jig

where they're tack welded to the fixture stops anywhere there's a splice,

then they're removed and fully welded using this rotary welding.

Now, the welded tubes can be reinstalled in the jig

and the tubes tacked to the header plan.

Here's an important step. The inside of the tubes are placed in this hydraulic expander. Now, this makes for a nice tight fit inside the flange and makes the header stronger.

The flans

can now be tig welded on the exhaust port side. Only

welding on the outside can make the tubes weak and brittle.

Now, after grinding the flans

flat with a crosshatch pattern for good ceiling

they can install and weld the collector U tags.

Of course, the whole thing goes through a test fitting, including both headers and the collector before it's sent out for coding.

And here they are

back from Jet Hot Man. Look at that ceramic coating. They look great.

Let's see if they fit great.

There you go. Bar two.

Uh

The easy one.

I love it.

Well, that was quick and they sure look great. Thanks a lot. Wes, well, time to pack up and head back home after I slap on one of these decals.

I just learned these guys pay contingency bucks to any winner at any track in the country. And you know what

Lenovo and I plan on helping them partner with some of that cash. See you back in the shop right after this

next up, a painless way to wire up your weekend racer with a kit custom made for easy installation.

And later on some of those takes that didn't make the show

until today. That is

this small

thing is

bowed

down in the middle. It's dragging. I couldn't even get the move.

Yeah, I was High Center. Ah, good grief.

Well, hello again, as you can see the Nova and I made it back to the shop and glad you did too. You know, I'm loving these new custom headers, but there's one thing I forgot to mention,

Chuck and I had planned on swapping out that power steering box for a manual box. But the, the guys from dyno

Tech saved us a trip to the junkyard

by designing that two piece hater on the driver's side and it's mighty snug in there but saves us a lot of aggravation. Now for the next phase of our Novo build up this weekend, I'm gonna make my first stab at installing a wiring kit,

but I ain't nervous about this deal because painless has taken all the hard work out of it.

Now, I opted for their pro street kit, which includes circuitry. You gotta have a racing, of course, plus extra circuits for street use for, you know, things like headlights, taillights, turn signals and even horn. Now, in addition to the switch panel, get all the wiring you need terminals and well, even a pile of ties to cinch down all the wiring. Now, the first order of business those to find a place to mount this box that holds the switch panel,

the box comes slotted so it easily attaches to the roll bar with a couple of hose clamps.

Now, when you're racing. Remember you're wearing a safety harness. So make sure you mount it in a place where you can reach all those switches.

Now, before we can install this panel, we gotta route our wiring here. And,

well, we got three choices. There's a hole here, here and here.

I think I'll come out on this one

first. Install a grommet from the kit.

They'd go ahead and feed the wiry

and plug up the empty holes with caps from the kit.

Now you can install the panel and secure it with four screws,

route the wires down the roar

and through the firewall.

Hey, I gotta stop and say something to you guys doing this for the first time. Well, like me, don't be intimidated by all these wires unless you're color blind. That is, you see your kit comes with a chart telling you where each and every color coded wire goes. And uh I

think I'm looking for this one next.

Oh, and another thing, make sure you use the right tools when you install your terminals onto the wires.

A loose wire

could just lose you the race

before wiring up the starter and mounting this optional maxi fuse box to protect the whole system

in the unlikely event of a system overload as well as this universal fuse box for the Nova's accessories

down here at the starter. That purple wire is our activation wire.

One of the red wires is coming from the maxi fuse the other. Well, that's the main power wire for ignition box

over here.

The blue wire

connects to our water pumps wiring.

There we go.

The gray wire from the water pump is a ground.

Even though this clip is staying off the nova until we finish some front end work later on,

I could still attack some of the wiring. In fact, I just removed some stock pieces that we're not gonna need anymore. So I can

pre wire the fan.

By the way, did you know that your cars fan on the average pulls about an amp of current per inch of the fan's diameter. Now, you could double that during start ups. So with that in mind, it's a good idea to install one of these optional relay kits

to provide maximum current to your fan and protect the rest of the circuits from overloading.

I'm going to mount the relay base here on the core support along with the ground.

The output wire goes to the fan, of course,

as does another ground.

This trigger wire goes to the switch panel after the cliffs back on

the main power wire goes to the maxi fuse through the circuit breaker.

And that's about all the wiring we can handle today on the cliff until we get back on the car. Of course, by the way, once we mount a battery in the trunk and get a new fuel pump in place, we'll install yet another relay kit to maximize fuel efficiency.

Meanwhile, I'm about wired up for a little break. I'll be back to finish today's wiring workout after these messages.

Our guys sure make high performance television look easy, but a look behind the scenes will bust that theory. We've got bloopers and out takes coming up. So stay tuned.

Hey, I gotta tell you so far, this wiring kit for painless has been just like the name implies. Now during the break, I got this universal fuse box off the firewall for a while so I can access the back of it.

I've been cribbing up some terminals and wires for some of the Nova's accessories, namely headlights, taillights and the horn.

Once again, you gotta use the right tool. In this case, it's a roll crimper and let me show you how it works

after you load the crimper with one of these Packard terminals and cut your wire to length, place the wire in the terminal

just to the edge of the other side.

Squeeze down all the way.

Then the terminal goes into the back of the fuse box and the fuse box goes back on the firewall

from the fuse box. I went through the firewall with some wires that have to be routed to the rear of the Nova

once for the fuel pump, once for the tail lights.

Oh, and there's a third here that comes from the stock brake light switch.

Now the tail lights and brake lights. We're gonna forego the backup lights and those side marker lights. And for good reason,

remember, the Nova is gonna be used mainly for bracket racing and an occasional cruise in. So we'll keep it to a simple two wire set up along with, of course, our white ground,

of course, this yellow wires for our fuel pump. It'll be here and ready for us when we get our pump installed.

The final phase of our wiring workout today is probably the most important when it comes to competition.

A lot of you guys know this is a kill switch or battery disconnect. You gotta have one of these. When you go drag racing,

accidents can happen on the strip and the disconnect switch enables anyone to quickly turn off power from the battery from outside the car

which could prevent an electrical or fuel related fire.

That's why the switch is a requirement at all sanctioned drag racing events.

You wanna have your switch as close to the battery terminals as possible. Our battery is gonna be mounted here to take advantage of the weight. So our switch can be located about here as soon as I drill a mounting hole

first. I'd like to drill a small pilot hole

followed by a three quarter inch hole big enough for the installation.

Once we finally mount our battery, it'll connect to the switch using a pair of standard ring battery terminals.

Well, that's about all the wiring we can do on the Nova for now, but

we got a good head start.

Anyway, as I told you earlier, our painless wiring kit is for racing with some street use. However, they've got applications for anything you can name all out racing, street riding, even off roading

things to remember with any wiring job is you don't wanna do it. But one time,

so follow directions, be patient and allow plenty of time for the project. The last thing you wanna do is get in a hurry.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm in a hurry to get this Nova out of the shop and onto the drag strip. But we got quite a list left before we can do that. We need a fuel cell in this thing. A drive shaft, some serious suspension work, not to mention getting the clip back on and finishing up the wiring. Plus we gotta get it dialed in. Well, you stay dialed into horsepower TV. We're gonna have some hot fun when we come back.

Coming up, you asked for it. More horsepower bloopers, including the agony of victory on the eight mile drag strip.

Horsepower TV. S hot parts is brought to you by jags. One call. Gets it all one click. Gets it quick.

Since we've been on a roll with race cars this weekend. Here's something for you guys with stick shifts to keep you from rolling out of the staging lanes until you're ready. To launch.

It's a roll control kit from hurst that features this billet steel main body,

an indicator like

off on switch and with all the wiring and hardware, you need to set this thing up. Now. It's been vibration tested at 30 G's without a mechanical failure and it's easily serviceable right in the field. It kind of takes away one less thing to worry

about while you're in the staging lanes.

You just gotta worry about coming up with 100 10 bucks to get one.

Well, X marks the spot for you. Race minded Honda and Ara guys. This is El Brock's Victor X manifold for turbo and all motor applications. This thing has been optimized for maximum power in the 7 to 10,000 RPM range.

It's made 700 horsepower on a chassis

dyno with a turbo charge 1.8 L engine. Now it's got extra bosses for nitrous or added fuel injector.

We 7.5 pounds less than stock and will only lighten your pocketbook 330 bucks and up

our final hot part is so hot. This thing is still warm from the foundry. In fact, this is the first time it's ever been seen.

It's flow masters hush power to muffler made from 304 stainless steel on the outside, 409 stainless on the inside to really take the heat.

Now, it also has a thermal barrier inside the skin to reduce outside surface temperatures. And avoid discoloration.

It blows just as well as their 40 series mufflers. And the unique shape lends itself to a ton of applications. You can get them in 22 and a quarter and 2.5 inch sizes and expect to pay about 180 for the unpolished version 240 for this beautiful polished piece. Well, you know, by now, my partner Chuck Hanson is not here in person this weekend,

but thanks to the magic of videotape and our horsepower bloopers.

Here's some of the best of our worst. Hope you enjoy it and see it next week

and it's gonna cost you a couple of grand and up, but it's gonna be worth it the first time. You mash the gas,

pass some po

pass some gas

you get on your own plant, the power,

this will make the Nova full frame card, provide mounting points for the road cage we'll install in a few weeks. Now, these are two by two.

There was one good thing about that rin we removed and it's go

ahead.

Yeah,

this

thing is bowed

down in the middle. It's dragging. I can't even get the food.

It was high centered. Ah, good grief.

22.

Well, how you doing?

Great timing.

I was just getting this old shift out of the way there. It is.

Hey, let's swap.

Hey, nice wood you got there. Thank you.

There's another one.

Very good, sir.

So

I thought you said There you go. Chuck and I started walking in. But,

well,

well, well,

what,

I don't know what's

going on.

I just swing in.

Check all your wood. Well, my wood's doing fine. Here it is right now.

Oh, you mean this,

now, check this out Crager designed the spokes here. So they'll clear the calipers of most big break systems.

And with that 4.5 inch bolt circle, we specked out

that

won't fit on there.

Plus with that 4.5 inch back space that we spec

that

went right on there.

The box comes slotted so it easily attaches to your robot.

Ok.

Oh,

first install a gromit.

Then go ahead and feed the wiring.

Oh,

which

comes

out with the grout

if you're not careful.

Plus it's easy to cut to length.

Yeah,

for

that,

man, they cut easy before. Yeah, he did. I remember that.

All right there. It is bolted down and looking good. So what

we've got bolt ourselves, we got to take a little bit of a break. You're right there. But when we come back, we're gonna take you to. What was it? A brand new, uh, brand new picnic party,

picnic

performance party.

We'll take you to a brand new

power party. Power party down in Florida. Stay tuned.

Is that ok?

Finally, a quiz

did last week's Barstool races prove that a two grown gearheads will try anything in the name of fun and friendly competition.

Or B two grown gearheads can look pretty silly having fun and friendly competition

or c

even when your opponent, red lights don't take your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the track.

Ok. Here it is. Again, in slow motion and kids, if you don't believe in wearing a helmet, this should be a heads up

or heads down as the case may be.