Fighting fires by day and building drag cars by night. The mans name is Kelly Lowes, and this is his bad ass 1972 Chevy Nova.
DODOlogic contributors Jason G and myself were invited to hang out while Kelly and friends finished up on his “real car”, as they jokingly called it. It is true, imports have been the main focus to most people in my generation. But that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate a classic, especially one packed with this many ponies! As they finished putting the new heads on and assembling everything, I walked around taking pictures and asking questions, trying my best to make a good impression with the drag racing O.G.’s.
The first thing I noticed when looking in the bay, was the attention to detail. Everything clean, organized, shiny and of course aftermarket. The motor is a 454 V8 big block stroked to a 496. The bottom end is fully forged, good to 1000hp. Also inside there is a Herbert cam with a 680 lift, accompanied by 2 brand new aluminum heads. The fuel and air is mixed with a Holley 4150 style 1000cfm carb and the spark is generated with a full MSD ignition system. The exhaust is pushed out through a set of 2 and 1/4 inch Hooker Super Comp headers. Kelly has not been able to get it dyno’d, but with the current set up it should be sitting somewhere in the 675 to 700 hp.
Here is the Holley 1000cfm Carburetor
The motor is cooled with an aluminum rad and this electric water pump. Definitely a necessity for a car that goes full out and then patiently awaits its turn to go again.
At the back of the car sits a beefy Fab 9 differential with 433 Strange gears and Strange axles. You can also spot the 250gph Mallery fuel pump, as well as the conversion to Coilover suspension.
Up on top you will find the RCI fuel cell, the battery, and some of the most beautiful aluminum tub work I have ever seen. I apologize for the shot being a little dark.
Under those tubs sits a set of 15×12 Center Lines which are wrapped with 315/60 Mickey Thompson ET Streets.
Kelly wanted to be able to street drive the car sometimes. So as result the car runs the semi slick tires and still has its interior, all the original glass, working headlights, taillights, ect. Not too mention a good looking layer of paint!
We definitely can’t wait to take some pictures of this hell raiser outside of the garage and in action. I took a video of the start up but obviously a V8 with a 4-foot exhaust in a garage screaming into an SLR mic, turned the sound quality into complete white noise. I am surprised the mic even survived, my ears barely did. So if you want to hear this thing you will just have to make your way out to a local drag strip.
Ill end it with a shot of the guy who supports Kelly the most, his right hand man at almost every event kelly has attended… His dog, Bently the drag Shitzu. Who seemed to get along swimmingly with Jason. Thanks to Kelly Lowes and Scott McMillan for inviting us to the garage. Good times with awesome dudes!
That thing is a monster! Nice to see Dodo stepping outside of the import side here and there. Something you rarely see coming from domestic enthusiasts. But car looks great cant wait to hear/see it run.
Very cool looking Nove