The Chevrolet Nova is a classic icon of the muscle car era that was produced for five generations that started as the Nova/ Chevy II in 1962. The “II” was dropped for the third design and Chevy enjoyed its golden years from 1968-1971 with the Nova. During those years, you could buy them with various V8s from 327 to 402 big blocks and it was considered the bowtie’s last actual “compact” high pow er muscle car before things got weird in the mid-seventies and eighties.
The Nova was an instant hit among street car enthusiasts and drag racers, and when Billy Betton started on his 1970 Nova back in 1995, he spent many years bracket racing it. After Mark Christ became involved with the program, he swayed Billy into prepping the car for small tire, no time, heads-up racing, which meant a complete overhaul. Rather than farming out the work, Mark and Billy completed almost the entire car on their own, which interestingly led to the birth of MC Fabrications, now Mark’s fulltime occupation.
...this Sasquatch seems pretty laid back, unless provoked that is!
Unlike many high power drag and street/strip cars we see these days, this Nova retains steel OEM style body panels, except for the hood.
With miles-deep Dark Cherry Red metallic paint, the Nova is a real looker! A Harwood fiberglass cowl hood was added along with composite bumpers and a custom MC Racecraft rear wing.
Work begin to transform the Nova in 2019, and for the All-steel All-glass class in heads-up drags, everything (aside from the bumpers and hood) had to remain factory, meaning their Nova is pretty much the way Chevy intended it to be, body wise anyway. A Harwood fiberglass hood and bumper were installed and Mark fabricated the rear wing himself. Once completed, their good friend Mike Gray laid down a Dark Cherry Red skin over the car’s beautiful factory body lines.
Much of the chassis and suspension needed reworking and Mark used his knowledge from the mud racing world to create a solid, tunable foundation. He installed an 8.50 certified cage for safety and strength and replaced the factory rear leaf springs with a ladder bar setup with Santhuff shocks to plant the rear tires. The entire front end got tossed and Mark fabricated a tube front with motor plate to be installed in its place.
TRZ Motorsports upper and lower A-arms were used along with a pair of Santhuff shocks to take care of the bumps up font.
The Nova rides on Keizer wheels, 17x4.5s wrapped in Mickey Thompson front runners and, because this class must run a 275 radial rear tire, a pair of Mickey Thomspon 275s were installed a rather large rear wheel in order to provide a maximum contact patch of rubber with the relatively small tire. The tire is generally a nice fit for a 10inch wide wheel and, while some racers stretch them onto a 12 for more contact, Mark went a step further and beadlocked them to a set of 15x14s! It’s often done in higher levels of radial racing, but Marks is one of a handful we’ve seen at this level; after all, it is street legal. Stopping the all-steel classic is a complete set of aftermarket disc brakes.
The motor choices for this era are often a catalyst for conversation between any group of gearheads – big V8s with significant power (for the time) were the name of the game as the horsepower wars between the Big 3 American automakers was well underway. During a time where sayings like “there’s no replacement for displacement” became popular, they all had big blocks lurking under their hoods, and those
platforms remain rooted in today’s high tech builds in all sorts of motorsports. Billy and Mark decided to follow suit and create a big block 454-based package for the Nova. Roche Racing Engines is responsible for the monster motor, taking the block and machining it .100 over to accept custom spec’d Diamond pistons. GRP rods found their way between the pistons and a 4.250 Callies stroker crank and as a result, the mill comes in at a whopping 505-inches, perfect for a nitrous fed application. A cam spec’d for lots of nitrous from Comp Cams finishes out the short block. Of course, monsters need to breathe well, and
MC Racecraft completed all the suspension work for the ladder bar/coilover setup and a braced 9-inch housing is filled Moser parts.
Dart Pro1 heads can do that, especially in their 355 variation. Manley valves, Jesel rockers, PAC springs, and Comp Cam pushrods were used in conjunction with the Pro 1s. A Profiler Sniper intake manifold and Holley XP 1250 Dominator carburetor complement the top end while a MagnaFuel 500gph pump along with Holley regulators feeds C23 down the throat of the old-school carb. An Induction Solutions Guardian plate system is responsible for the copious amounts of giggle gas being poured into the
big block during a pass, and an MSD Grid was used along with an NLR NMS-1000 nitrous controller while a Holley Pro dash keeps all pertinent information in order. A huge 2.5-inch primary tube set of Lemmons headers merging into 5” collectors takes care of spent gases. Big cubes and nitrous oxide tend to make a recipe for tremendous torque that comes on quick, and if that force connects with the track without spin, well, there best be an excellent driveline, or things will break. Behind the 505
Inside, the Nova retains mostly factory panels and trim. Twin race seats, the passenger modified to hold twin nitrous bottles, are joined by a race shifter and Holley dash. The cage and carbon work were done by MC Racecraft.
sits a capable ATI turbo 400 2-speed with a PTC torque converter built by Vince Fourcade. The braced Moser Ford 9-inch rear housing has all the goodies for nitrous abuse, including a Moser aluminum center section, spool and their gun-drilled 40 spline axles. Not only is Mark a master fabricator, but he’s a wizard with carbon fiber, too. He eliminated all the factory
parts and structure in the rear area to make room for the custom chassis and suspension work, and once that was completed, he hand-laid carbon fiber tubs and panels in the interior. From the twin race seats forward, the interior is mostly factory, including the dash and door panels. While he does have a passenger seat, the “passengers” most preferred for short trips, say an
Don’tturnyourback
Billy Betton and Mark Christs 1970 Big Block Nova Nitrous car makes a killer pass!
