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Giving something with special meaning to our loved ones is a tradition in America, and chances are that most people reading this have something in their house that has been passed down from their family over the years. For Chris Whitaker, it’s his 1971 Chevrolet Nova that his mother and father brought home in 1981 and then passed on to Chris as his first car. How cool is that!
Chris was first drawn to cars and horsepower by helping his father in the shop. As he grew up he would nurture that interest through accompanying him to the track and Super Chevy shows, and once he was old enough to get his license, and the Nova, you can bet that he hit the streets and soon after developed a thirst for drag racing at the strip. During his years in school, Whitaker spent quite a bit of time in the mechanics and auto body classes where he got to work on his own car, and, while he’s owned and modified many vehicles over the years, the Nova has always been his first love.
By 1999 Chris decided it was time for the Nova to receive a makeover, and for the next several years the car was heavily modified and updated to go faster and outfitted with a host of safety items too. “After a long road and several cars in between, the Nova was back together minitubbed, caged and racing by 2007. The quest was always to go faster and we had the car back apart for a cage update and its second mini-tub in 2015,” Whitaker explained.
Body wise, the car is mostly the original GM steel – the rear quarters were replaced due to the usual wheel well rust and of course the hood is an aftermarket piece. The DuPont Chromabase Liquorish black paint has seen better days, but
The Nova’s body is mostly original steel aside from quarter panel work and the fiberglass cowl hood. The DuPont Chromabase Liquorice Black paint is 21 years old, so although it has seen better days, it does the job.
Take notes on this fairly simple budget big block build as it propels almost 3,500 pounds of American muscle to low 5-second ETs in the 1/8th! The Mark IV block is bored and stuffed with a stroker SCAT crankshaft, H-beam rods and JE dome pistons. Promaxx heads with Harland Sharp rockers along with a ported Victor Jr intake and tricked out Dominator 1050 top things off.
for being 21 years old it’s holding its own.
Chassis wise, a roll cage found its way into the interior and has received several updates over the years, eventually getting to the current 8.50 certification. The frame rails remain stock front to rear other than the back rails getting notched for tire clearance. Yep, that’s right, no fancy aftermarket front subframes or rear back-half on this Nova, instead Chris opted to stay as stock as possible in that department. In fact, the car still
runs on stock-style front and rear suspension. Up front stayed mostly stock, aside from Moroso Trick springs with Afco double adjustable shocks, and out back the leaf sprung suspension remains, but with a few additions. Split mono leaf springs are held in place by Caltrac bars, a TRZ anti-roll bar, and a pair of single adjustable shocks.
The Chevy rides on a set of big and littles, appropriate for American muscle. Out front, Chris went with a set of Weld Racing V-series 15x3.5, while
An Induction Solutions Sledgehammer plate system handles the spray while Magnafuel controls the fuelling duties.
Inside the Nova is a throwback to the nineties…that’s because it was redone in 1999! The clean interior boasts Tweed upholstered seats mixed with the factory door panels and factory dash filled with aftermarket gauges. Note how the cage was worked around the stock interior and the back seat is notched for the min tub.
15x10 Billet Specialties Comp 5s occupy the wheelwell space in the rear. Mickey Thompson rubber rides at all four corners and Aerospace brakes provide stopping power up front while Wilwood takes care of rear braking duties. The Nova was equipped with a small block from the factory, but after spending some time modifying various mouse motors, Chris wanted something with more potential, and moved to the big block platform after a broken lifter expired in the latest small block. It was time for Whitaker to enter the wonderful world of big block Chevy power, and from there he would never look back. A Mark IV 454 block grew to 489ci with some over-bore and stroke. The rotating assembly is comprised of a Scat crankshaft, H-beam stroker rods, and domed JE overbore pistons. Kings bearings and Total Seal rings handle all of the sealing while a custom grind nitrous cam by Chris Straub completes the short block. Pro Maxx heads built and flowed by Scott Foxwell were studded in place and boast 3/8 hardened pushrods, Harland Sharp roller rockers and Jomar stud girdles. The Edlebrock Victor Jr intake manifold was also ported by Scott, and since Chris is an old-school kind of guy, he stayed with a carbureted setup, having his Dominator 1050 cfm custom
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The trunk area reflects extensive chassis work completed to enable the car to retain its factory frame and still launch, hook and keep Chris safe. A fuel cell, nitrous bottle and battery box reside here.
The Nova interior screams retro street car...
built by Mark Whitener of Lighting Racing. Most big block guys have one power adder in mind, nitrous – everybody knows that big blocks just love the juice! Chris uses an Induction Solutions Sledgehammer plate capable of supporting one or more sizeable hits of nitrous. Fueling support and regulation comes from Magnaflow, and Jeff Guy custom-built a set of headers specifically for this build.
Taming the big
block is a stock-cased Glide with JW bellhousing, trans-brake, a PTC custom-built torque converter, and Chris shifts through a B&M Pro Stick shifter. A beefy shortened and braced Ford 9-inch rearend replaces the original weaker GM unit and a Moser center section, Moser axles and 4.11 gears fill it.
Refinished 20 years ago, the Nova interior screams retro street car with black tweed covered stock type
A unique feature is the fuel gauge on the outside of the car, hidden in the cowl hood. In the eighties and nineties this was the go-to before the fuel gauge isolator came into the industry.
Chris Whitaker’s 1971 Street/Strip Chevy Nova
Body & Paint:
Quarter panel rust repairs but the rest of the car is factory GM steel, except for Harwood fiberglass hood. It`s color is DuPont Chromabase Liquorish black and paint is 21 years old.
Chassis & Suspension:
Stock type suspension, stock frame rails front to rear. The rear frame rails have been notched for tire clearance. It has an 8.50 cert cage installed to fit around the stock interior. Rear suspension is Caltrac bars with split mono leaf springs, TRZ anti roll bar, SA shocks. Front is stock with Moroso trick springs and Afco DA shocks. Custom grind nitrous cam by Chris Struab and custom built stainless headers by Jeff Guy.
Engine: 1990 model Mark IV 454 block, bored and stroked to 489 cubic inches. Rotating Assembly consists of SCAT crankshaft and H-beam rods, JE dome pistons, King bearings and Total Seal rings.
Cylinder Heads:
Promaxx cylinder heads built and flowed by Scott Foxwell. 3/8 pushrods, Harland Sharp roller rocker and Jomar stud girdles.
Induction & Fuel Delivery:
1050 Dominator custom built by Mark Whitener at Lightning Racing Carburetors. Edelbrock Victor JR intake, cleaned up and port matched by Scott Foxwell. Magnafuel fuel pump and regulator.
Power Adder: Nitrous oxide - Induction Solutions Sledgehammer Plate.
Transmission:
Stock case Glide with JW bellhousing and trans brake. PTC custom built torque converter.
Rearend: Factory 9-inch housing cut down and braced. Moser Center section, 4.11 gears with spool and Moser axles.
Brakes: Wilwood Dynalite rear and Aerospace fronts.
Tires & Wheels:
Fronts are 15 x3.5 Weld V-Series, rears are 15x10 Billet Specialties Comp 5.
Interior:
The interior was all replaced and redone when the car was restored 20 years ago. Black tweed covered stock type seats, with the back seat notched and trimmed to fit over tubs. Stock dash and door panels. Grant steering wheel with quick release, B&M Pro Stick shifter that’s been in the car since 1994, Autometer tach and gauges in custom built dash panel.
ET & MPH:
With the only fiberglass being the hood, it weighs 3340 pounds with driver. Right now the car is on a conservative tune and I`m only spraying a little over half the nitrous the engine was built for. We are still working on dialing the suspension in before we put anymore power to it. It has been deep into the 5`s on its current tune.
Even though cars have gone sixes in the quarter with them, it’s getting rare to see stock style leaf spring suspensions, but thanks to companies like Calvert, Moroso, Afco and TRZ (all parts used on this car), they work!
seats, the stock dash and door panels and a grant steering wheel with quick release replacing the factory unit. An Auto Meter tach and gauges sit inside a custom dash panel. The back seat is notched and trimmed to fit the mini tubs and the cage was worked around the factory interior to
maintain street use and comfort.
At 3340 pounds with driver, the car runs solid given the simplicity and relatively low cost of the combination, “Right now the car is on a conservative tune and I`m only spraying a little over half the nitrous the engine was
built for,” said Whitaker. “We are still working on dialing the suspension in before we put any more power to it, but it has been deep into the 5-second zone on its current setup.”
It’s not uncommon to see Chris wheelie on a no-prep track, which is impressive to say the least, given the fact that this is a small tire nitrous big block combination. Hooking, as opposed to spinning off the launch is paramount, so the power has to be brought in gradually and getting to a max hit of nitrous with the massive torque of the big block is a slow steady process, but Whitaker has faith in their family efforts. They’ve built memories together with the Nova including 2 appearances on the TV show Pinks and running in multiple stock block shootouts, and more recently running no-prep events. “We have been building and changing things on this car for most of my life. It seems like this car has just always been around. There was never an ‘I think I`m going to build the Nova moment’, it was just always there and what we were doing. The changes and updates seem to be never-ending and I have a shelf full of parts and a list of changes that are coming soon,” Chris added.
RPM
The Nova launches and runs out well on the small tire using just half of the available nitrous. The trick from here is to slowly apply more and not blow the tires off at the hit.
Chris Whitaker with his memory making 1971 Nova.
