What’s been going on over the last 6 years…
For multiple reasons I decided it’s time to get this old website up and going again, I hadn’t realized it’s been 6 years I’ve let it stagnate. Wow… So, going to get this blog sorta caught up here, and I’m going to resume posting Hot Rod and other BS just for shits n’ giggles. So what they heck have I been doing since then?
2021 through 2023 I raced Titan’s of 10.5 Outlaw 10.5 class and did ok, typically on a good weekend ran in the top part of the field with a few lucky wins / runner ups here and there. However the writing was on the wall, the class with basically no rules was getting quicker really fast. That’s pretty much a sure thing when you have no limits on anything but the tire. Also X275 was pretty much dead in this area, so the choice was either spend a lot of money and keep chasing Titan’s or find a new direction that I enjoyed. I really didn’t like the idea of running a class where you have to replace rods / pistons every few races.
Additionally, there was another huge change in my life, Chris & I got divorced. This hit me hard and was a significant change in not only my life, but also affected racing in multiple ways. I ran a few races in 2023, asking buddies for help to run the car and I did get some help, but it wasn’t something I could do consistently. Titan’s was getting crazy, I could tell it was gonna be a 4.00 or quicker class very soon. So it was time to take a break, get my head squared away and figure out a new plan for the Nova.
In the meantime, I hauled my old 72 C10 out of the backyard, got it running again and decided it needed a big block. I had a few tall deck 427 blocks laying around, so thanks to Scott @ Neil & Parks racing, we got one of the ol “Junk Yard” blocks are squared away, stuck a heavily ported set of 781 oval ports on it, a AFR dual plane, hyd roller and one of Mark Whitner’s twin blade 1200cfm holleys on it. Flip build me a TH400, and Marty got me squared away with a bolt together converter. I’ve been daily driving the ol truck, affectionally nicknamed by my granddaughters “Greenie” and enjoying the hell out of it. It still desperately needs a posi/locker/axles, once I get that done, we’ll take it to the track and see what it runs. I’m guessing it’ll run a low 11 maybe if it hooks, I’m dying to find out. Hopefully it won’t dump too much rust on the starting line!
Back to the Nova
I took the Nova to a couple car shows in 2024 and won trophy’s at both, it was fun and got to connect with a lot of local friends I hadn’t seen in quite a while. About the same time, I heard my friend Devin Vanderhoof comment on how much time is spent on a race car, and how little actual seat time you get, and that sunk in. I decided to change ol’ Blue back to a “Street/Strip” aka “Drag n’ Drive” Hot Rod. At the very least, I wanted to be able to race it by myself, drive it to the lanes and back, and not run it so hard I’d have to do rings/pistons every time I turned around. It will definitely be a “get in where you fit in” car, not built for a specific class. Ideally, at some point I might compete in stuff like Sick Week and similar events, and if on a whim I want to go on a cruise night, it could do it without much issue.
In 2026, I finally dusted off the Nova and got started on the changes. I added turn signals and got that stuff working again, and since it didn’t have a cooling system at all, with the help of Kurt Riffle, we modified a Champion dual pass radiator with a built in Meziere 55 gpm pump. Kurt added some bungs so I had a way of holding it in place, and I had the fun job of plumbing it with -20 and -16 AN lines. What’s ironic is this radiator & pump setup isn’t much heavier than all the lead I had on the front of the car. It does pain me after working so hard to get weight out of the car to be putting it back on, but oh well.
Next, since it didn’t have an charging system, I had to add an alternator. With all the electronics, fans, water pump, fuel pump, solenoids, etc. it adds up to a big appetite for power. So I got a Mechman 270 amp alternator, which I hope can keep things up with all the bells and whistles on, and yeah, Mike Peters has told me it’s too heavy!
Per Murphy’s law, adding an alternator required a complete redesign of all the pulleys, crank mandrel, etc on the front of the engine. After screwing around with several different alternator mount ideas, I finally found one I liked a lot from Jones Racing and I finally got it all the drive system configured. I’m real happy with the mount, it seems very stable and should do the trick.
So at this point in early October, the next step big step is the fuel system. It’ll be a dual fuel system, pump gas/race gas, with the fuel tanks in the trunk again, but the exact setup is still getting figured out. I also have a lot of wiring to do adding all this stuff and switching from 16v to 12v. But I’ll get it figured out and hopefully have her back running in 2027 if all goes well. Check back once in a while if you’re interested, I’ll make more of an effort keeping this blog up to date.