Nova Updates - John Heard Racing

Smoothing the Nova’s Firewall

Before I send the Nova off to the body shop to have last years guardrail rash fixed, I wanted to get the firewall all cleaned up. In addition to the heater holes, there are a bunch of small holes - both factory and other holes from things I've added and removed over the last 8 years messing with this ol' car. First thing I did was strip all the wiring out of the car behind the dash, and everything off the firewall that didn't need to be there. I've been doing some wire brushing, sanding, etc. All the factory wiring harness is now out (that stuffs heavy!) and I'll be filling in all the excess holes with patch panels. Next step I'm going to be removing the air boxes on the sides of the firewall to save a little bit of weight. They are no longer needed and hopefully will knock off 10 lbs or more. If possible I'm going to try and find a location for the dry sump tank somewhere behind the left front tire so I can move that weight rearward a little bit.

Ooops That’ll Cost Some Horsepower!

Chris and I pulled the engine last week and I'm getting ready to send the heads and intake off to have some porting work done. Apparently something I forgot to check when I put the intake on last year was the port to head alignment. After looking at the imprint on the gasket I found that the intake is riding .120 high or so above the port which leaves a nice big step in the high flow area of the port. Not good! I have no idea how much air flow this cost, but you can bet it's going to get fixed AND I'll be checking this a lot closer next time...