trying to get a race with a nova around here

2 of my friends think I should race him

not sure of the year but I think mid 70's early 80'a nova with the 350

only mod is an 850 holley carb that he wants to jet up so it would run faster


I know when I raced my friends 79 firebird with the 301 I was able to pull on him
and the nova is supposed to be a little faster then that...


but I donno

what do you guys think?

 

You really cant compare the pontiac 301 to any other GM production V8. Most newer small V6's are making more power and torque than this engine ever did.

A nova with a 350 is kind of hard to estimate. A bone stock 350 with stock gearing and tranny isnt going to do much. Even with an aftermarket carb sitting on top. When you start talking about bone stock motors that are over 10 years old with X number of miles, you never know.

Theres only one way to find out

Run him!

(and port your motor!!)

-Doug

 

If the car has low miles and by chance a shift kit hes gonna kill you unless you have your turbo on it. I know this because my friend has one with a low miles 350 and a shift kit and he hangs right behind me most of the time.

 

the late 70's nova aren't they smog era cars?

and no his car is not really low milage on it
as far as a shift kit I doubt it
wouldn't a 850cfm carb on a stock 350 slow it down if anything and even more so since he jetted it up

what would this thing run on a guess?
and yeah I know the 301 is a pile of crap but from what I was hearing this nova is just about as fast


and no I'm not porting my motor
saving up for turbo

still have a long way to go though

 

They produced the 4th gen Nova til 78 when they replaced it with the Citation. My Dad had a real nice 4th gen 77 Nova SS for awhile. Definitely not fast having 170hp and 270tq. If you over carb it, it's goin to lose some torque I'm sure.

 

wernt the 80's "novas" v4? And yes some nova's look cool but most are very slow. But you do have the pontiac 301 which is not the greates motor either.

 

I don't have a 301

that is my friends car

I have a 1.3L or around 79-80cid

 

my bad, misread. Well if it is your car than you should be able to take or at least stay even with him.

 

850 cfm on a stock 350

 

its that bad!

 

I think the 301 in the pontiacs is an olds motor??? And there are sooooo slow.... I can't think of any company that has whored more engines for other departments in one company. Pontiacs has had the following brands in them:

pontiac
olds
buick
chevy

these days if a pontiac has a V8 it's a chevy v8

 

Those didn't come into play until 86. In between 79-85 the X car was the Citation....

 

if everything is running right I should be pulling around a 16.05 to a 16.4

but then again that was with some ****ty launches also. best 60 was a 2.358 with a et of 16.415 but that was last year spinning all through first

things are doing better there

 

You should probibly win. late 70's nova's were slow, and with and 850, on a stock engine will bog like hell. If he has no other mods you can probibly take him.