Super Nova Fuel & Wiring

Hey, welcome to the Horsepower shop. And do we have a show for you today? Later on, we're gonna show you Mustang guys some interior tricks on Joe's GT. But right now we're gonna bring back our project Supernova. Now, this popular project got us tons of feedback and, well, here's some highlights of what we've done to it so far.

After finding a decent 69 Nova, we went to work stripping it

and dumped the stock 350 engine.

Then we dropped in a GM performance parts. 572 race motor

backed up by Hughes performance, power glide.

We back half the car with an Art Morrison rear clip,

then added their nine inch housing filled with strange engineering guts

and 457 pro gears.

Later, we added a full roll cage also from Art Morrison

and got to work on the wiring with a kid from painless performance.

Our goals for today are to finish up the wiring, install a new fuel cell and plumb the rest of the fuel system. Plus, if we're lucky, we're even gonna hear this. 572 make some noise later on. Hey, we'll have to keep our toes crossed on that one. Now, before we get down to business, we want you to meet the newest member of our horsepower team back there. Now, this young guy was practically born with a wrench in one hand and the steering wheel of a race car in the other.

Mike Galley grew up in the circle track pits of Florida, helping crew for his dad who races in sportsmen and late model classes.

A

few years ago, he moved to Southern California where he worked as a technician

troubleshooter and R and D specialist for BBK

and Brothers Performance Warehouse.

His work kept him busy both in the shop and on the test track. But he also found time to build and bab

up race cars for the American Iron Road racing Series. He's a bona fide year head through and through.

So when we met Mike a few months ago, we did the only smart thing we could do. We stole him away from California, brought him here to work with us. And hey, there's no turning back now. Not a chance. I've been watching the show since I was that tall. It's a dream come true. I'm really glad to be here. In fact, I got a head start and

fed up these fuel cell brackets and

we're just about ready to put it in

and here's the cell that's going in Lenovo. It's one of Jazz's four gallon vertical fuel cells that we ordered from jegs.

Now it features this tapered sump for maximum fuel feed and a pair of dash eight pickup fittings and this dash six fitting on top for ventilation.

First, we need to find a place to mount it, which will be here between the two frame rails.

If you remember from earlier, this is the bracket I fed up, that'll hold the cell in place.

It'll be bolted to this cross bar for easy removal.

Now, the crossbars are gonna be welded to the two frame rails. So let's get a measurement and go cut them.

Now with the cross bars in place,

this is how it all goes together. This piece bolts to the main bracket which holds the fuel cell securely,

that'll drop down onto the cross bars. We'll drill a couple of holes and she ain't going anywhere

since that fuel cells

drops below the floor pan. The N hr A rule book stipulates that we have to cover the bottom of it with either 24,000 steel or 32,000

aluminum sheet metal. Well, since this aluminum is a lot easier to work with, that's what we're gonna use to make our shield.

Next, we need to connect a ground strap from the filler cap down to the frame,

then attach the shield to the mounting bracket.

Now it's time to mount the fuel pump. It needs to be close to the cell since it's more efficient pushing the fuel than pulling it.

This is the one we're going to use. It's the mallory comp pump that flows up to 250 gallons per hour.

That should be more than enough to feed our 572. But every fuel system needs

a

filter and, well, this is what I found in the mallory parts catalog. It's machine for billet aluminum and uses a replaceable stainless micron element just like this. But here's the coolest part,

it screws right onto the inlet port so it catches the trash before it damages the pump.

We're gonna mount the fuel pump on the bottom of the driver's side frame rail,

then connect the sup to the pump

and wire it into the painless harness

while we're still working back here. Let's go ahead and mount our battery box. Now that's gonna do a couple of things for us. First of all, putting the battery back here is gonna put some extra weight right where it's gonna do the most good. And second of all, it's gonna make hooking up our master power switch a lot easier.

Now, I've already done some work back here. I've welded in a couple of supports here to our cross bars. Now, let me show you how this whole deal is gonna go together,

we attach the box to our support bars using this three, it's hardware here that's mandated by the rule book. Now, this cable will attach to the positive terminal of the battery and then run on over here to our master power switch this long cable.

Uh It goes from the other side of that master power switch on up to the front of the engine compartment. Now, once we get the car in the air, we can go ahead and run the cable and our fuel lines,

our fuel lines and battery cable are both headed to the same place. So we're gonna run them in a parallel direction here.

Now to keep them from

chafing one another though, we're using these insulated clamps to keep them separated.

You also wanna make sure you get plenty of clearance around any moving suspension parts, rotating objects and of course, keep it away from excessive heat as well.

You'll notice we're running two fuel lines under here. And by the way, these are Russell lines and fittings we're using on the Nova, one of those lines is a return that runs from the regulator back to the fuel cell. And what that does is give excess fuel an escape path,

keeps the fuel pump cooler and helps it last longer when you keep your cool. Keep your seat, there's more project Nova ahead

thinking about a quick inside makeover for your ride.

Well, we've got you covered with a slick way to cover your seats later here in the show.

Ok. We're back with more of our project supernova and I want you to check out the way we've routed our fuel lines and battery cable up to the front of the car brings to mind an important safety tip. You see the separation here for a good reason.

Otherwise this rough braided steel could chafe against the battery cable cause a spark and well, you guessed it a big nasty fuel fire. Now, that's what I call a hot tip. Of course, while we've got the nova here in the air, we're still gonna take care of another piece of unfinished business. We're gonna measure for the drive shaft. Now, most shops prefer this method, take the tape and we measure from the back of the tail shaft housing

all the way there to the center line of the yoke on the rear end. What you got there, Mike looks like about 55.5 inches.

Ok? I'll call that in while you guys get the car down on the ground. Now, here's one thing to remember. Not all drive shaft shops use this method of measurement. So before you order one, call your shop and see which way they prefer.

Well, we finally get to do some work up in the engine compartment of our supernova. And we're gonna start with this billet fuel regulator that we got from Mallory. Now, check this out. It's a five port design.

So it'll work with multiple carb setups and it's even got a bypass down here in case we decide to go with fuel injection later on. Now, up here is a fuel adjustment and

the pressure is adjustable from 5 to 18 P si and believe it or not, this thing is capable of flowing up to 500 gallons per

power, which makes it a perfect match for our pump. Now, here's something else that you guys with turbos and superchargers are gonna like. This little port right here is a vacuum boost compensation port. And what it does is allow this thing to provide a full flow of fuel even at wide open throttle. Hey, what do you think about that? That is a trick piece. And I found just the place to mount it. I think right here on this forward strut tube. Now, all I have to do is reshape this mounting bracket to follow the contour of the tube here and say a

boat right up.

Of course, you want to mount it as close to the carburetor as possible, but away from header heat,

then connect the fuel pump line to the inlet port of the regulator.

Then we'll use the bypass for it for our return line.

And from the two outlet ports, we go up to the carburetor.

Well, with the fuel system completed, we can go ahead and turn our attention right back here to the electrical system again. Now, if you recall this main red cable runs all the way from the master power switch to the main terminal on the starter. Plus I've added this ground cable here that attaches down here to the frame. Now, with all that work done, I guess we're ready for the battery. We're gonna use a 16 volt turbo start battery from Newcastle. Now with 16 volts, our ignition is gonna have a lot of pop and our other accessories like the starter and cooling fans are gonna run a lot more efficiently too.

Now, we're just gonna drop this thing in here

like that.

The battery is held in place with this retainer bar.

Then we install some grommets on the cables and slide them into place.

After connecting the cables to the battery,

we can go ahead and drop the lid on

and secure it with some wing nuts.

Finally, we're gonna attach this vent hose to the fitting that's on the side of the box

and of course, you wanna route that hose outside the trunk. So those battery vapors escape into the atmosphere and not inside the car. Well, we made some major progress today, but that's all the time we've allotted for our Nova. Stay tuned for some serious seat surgery on our project nightmare.

Well, we're back in the horsepower shop and while Mike continues working on the Nova over there, I wanna move on to our next order of business project nightmare. You know, we've done a lot to pump up the performance and appearance of this 96 GT.

But as with any car with a drop top and leather seats, this one's got a problem. In fact, my seats have got more cracks than you'd find at a plumber's convention. And well, even a hole or two. So, what are the options? Factory replacement seats? Uh, kind of pricey and kind of boring.

What about custom upholstery work now? Well, now you're talking really big bucks, but

I got a better idea.

A company called Cat Scan uses high tech automation to create leather seat covers for just about any popular ride on the road.

In fact, you can choose from about 74 different colors and about 10,000 different combinations. Let me show you what we came up with for the mustang

black. Of course, check out this carbon fiber leather insert.

Now here's another nice touch red stitching all the way around,

but the crowning glory has to be our project nightmare logo with a full moon and contour of the car. This is gonna be cool.

Of course, as always, the first step is to remove all the bolts,

disconnect the electrical hook up

and

remove the seat.

Now, a lot of you might have an upholstery shop do this work for you particularly if you have a 93 through 97 Mustang because these are kind of tricky, but

with a little patience, a little time, you can't pull it off.

After separating the back and the seat bottom,

remove the mounting bracket and track,

then remove the four plastic fasteners holding the cover to the core.

Now comes the fun part pulling the stock covers off what you wanna do carefully

and corners first.

Now you're probably gonna pull some foam up along the way, which is ok.

You can always add some more later if you need to.

The back seat covers come off even easier.

That is after you remove the hog rings that hold them in place.

Now, with all the seats bare, we can lay down some of this high temp contact cement and make sure you get down into all these seams here and let it dry for a couple of minutes.

And now with the new seat cover turned inside out and some contact cement on it too,

we can pull it down over the phone

and after you get the seats on, make sure you work in these seams. Really? Well,

what you want is a nice smooth tight dent.

Mhm.

Now check this out, these newcomers have these plastic fasteners that attach to the core just like the stock ones did. In fact, this whole installation is pretty much a reversal of removing the stock covers.

Well, I never dreamed a nightmare could look this good.

No more cracks. And man, what a statement,

by the way, a basic catkin kit's gonna set you back about 700 bucks and take you about four hours to install if it's your first time. Well, we've got time for more horsepower right after the break. Stay with us.

Horsepower T V's Quick Tech is brought to you by

Wyotech.

This work in progress is the latest project of my friend Matt Harris who's got great plans for this thing. But

I got two questions for you. What is this land yacht? And what are you doing to it today? Actually, it's a 1960 Buick Invicta. But there's one big problem, those door handles. You're right. They do kind of mess up the contours of this car. I think. I know what's coming. That's right. We're gonna shave them. In fact, by the end of the day, we're gonna be down to bare metal, ready for primer and paint. But first things first, we gotta get rid of some of this old hardware

with the handles out of the way I use the D A to remove the primer around the handle mounting holes.

Then I used the plasma cutter to cut away the old mounting surface of the handle.

After that, I need to remove the slag with a dye grinder using a carbide bit.

Now we're going to take a few pieces of 20 gauge cold rolled steel start forming into the contour of the body. The only real specialty tools I'm going to use are my bare hands.

After getting the shape I want, I cut off the excess with the Beverly Sheer

Joe while you hold that in place from the backside, I'm going to scribe a nice accurate line around here so we can get a good fit

and obviously a nice tight.

But when we go to t we,

I use the Beverly she again

to get a rough cut within about an eighth of an inch of our scribe line.

Then a pair of hand shears to cut light on the scribe line.

I

like to use a piece of masking tape to keep the panel from falling.

That keeps it align while I tech weld it in place.

Next, I complete the weld about an inch at a time to keep the metal from distorting too much.

Matthew. You are the man. You've already got both sides finished.

You work fast. I don't know, Joe. I think you just take awfully long coffee breaks.

What do you think? Oh, I think it looks perfect. I mean, it's all smooth and

ready for primer and paint,

but you're not finished. You got to show us now how you plan to get inside this big bad buick. I don't know Joe. I think it's time for my coffee break now,

but I will show you

and you how it's done next week.

Well, you Mustang guys will want to check out the first aftermarket valve covers for your late models V6 and V8 Mustangs. They come from BBK and they're cast from lightweight aluminum

and available in either this Titanium powder code version or hand polished chrome. Of course, they come in a kit with gaskets and all the hardware. You need to install them all you need to get them is well 250 for this version. 350 for the chrome. Hey Mike. Good job on your first weekend with horsepower. Thanks Joe. But you guys ain't seen nothing yet. We've got some cool projects for you down the road. We'll see you next week.