So you want to be a Street Outlaw? Part 3

So, we're beginning week 2 of filming a new season. We have a running, but not 100%, Murder Nova, and a Crow that's in so many pieces, it seems it would take a year to put back together. And for most normal people, it would. The engine bay is the most notable piece of the puzzle that needs work. By work, I mean it needs EVERYTHING.

As most of you know, Big Chief is fresh off a big win at the big no prep race here at our local track. To capture the biggest win of his racing career, he went through some serious competition, including Shawn in the Murder Nova, and faced arguably one of the fastest cars in the type of racing we do, John Doe in the finals to win $20,000 and a badass trophy. Now, what many of you don't know is, that $20k was all but gone before we even lined up for the final round of that race. The little Pontiact motor that could was worn out. It was on life support in between each round of the race and took its final breath during the final round.

So, a call to Butler Performance for some new internals was in order as well as delivering the block and heads to the local machine shop for a clean bill of health. Once everything checked out OK, the 482c.i. Pontiac was slapped back together and Chief set it back where it belongs, in between the framerails of The Crow. Easy enough, right? Hook everything back up the same way it was before, and go racing, right??

Sure, that would work. Then the car would be just as fast as it was before. To many, that would be just fine. I mean, the car is #1 on the list, has lost very few grudge races, and just won a giant stack of money. But, this is what sets these guys apart from the rest of the pack. Never satisfied.

A racecar the caliber of The Crow is already running only the essentials when it comes to what the car is equipped with. However, lighter parts are being developed daily and the weight that can't be reduced, can be moved around on the car to achieve better weight distribution percentages. So, that's exactly what we did. A new set of Weld Racing spindle mount wheels with lightweight Strange brakes replaced the old 17" hub mounted wheels up front, the fuel cell and fuel pump were relocated to the trunk, and lightweight fuel lines were made and ran up to the engine bay.

The last order of business in project shape and tone, was to move the turbos up, and further back in the car. Being in a serious time crunch with a busy film schedule, Big Chief didn't have the time to take on the project himself nor to send the car to a fab shop to complete the work. So, he got on the horn to our good buddy, Jeff Lutz, to see if he could come down and knock this project out for us "real quick". And real quick he did! Check out the timeline this project was completed in in the picture below. In a little less than 33 hours, The Crow went from having no piping under the hood to having a complete turbo system. It was seriously amazing to watch.

At this time, Chief has a few final touches of his own to put on the car before the first fire up, but, atleast its a complete car again and he can breath a small sigh of relief...Until its time to start testing all the changes...