Chevy Nova EFI Kit - Lean, Mean, And Green

Trick of the Trade: With the '68-72 Nova, you can prop up the hood to vertical by taking out the front hood bolt on each side, loosening the back and pushing it back. This makes life so much easier when working under the hood. The only other option is taking the hood completely off when installing a kit such as this.

Next came the intake manifold. After disconnecting all the wires, throttle linkage, radiator hose, and distributor, the eight intake bolts can be removed. Most manifolds require some persuasion as the silicon creates a tight bond. A quick wedge with a flat-head screwdriver and out she comes.

The intake surface must be cleaned and prepared to ensure a good seal with the new intake manifold. At this point, we let the 5-point-slow loser of the bunch jump in and do the dirty work.

After a bead of silicone across the front and back of the block where it meets the manifold, and a set of Fel-Pro intake gaskets from the local parts store, the intake was set in place. Make sure all the bolt holes line up and begin installing them. We replaced the original rusted intake manifold bolts with new ones to ensure the "new" look.

Next, we dropped in the new Mallory electronic distributor, as this would be difficult to do after the wires are hooked up and in the way. We also wanted to make sure that we had enough clearance between the firewall and the rear of the intake. It fit like a glove.

Now is the perfect time to organize all the wires. Using the very helpful directions that come with the kit (also available at www.edelbrock.com), we maneuvered the wires into their approximate location upon completion.

This also helped when we attached the new coil to the firewall using sheetmetal screws. You don't want tension in the electrical lines, but also don't want to be wading through wires.

Trick of the Trade #2: While installing the new thermostat, we drilled a hole through the base ensuring that air does not get trapped in the manifold, leading to a problem with circulation. The hole ensures that the manifold is filled with water at all times. We cleaned and painted the thermostat housing off the original manifold and reused it.

Next, we mated the engine bay wiring harness with the cockpit wiring harness. The instructions ask that you drill a 1 1/2-inch hole in the firewall to do so. We tapped into a previously made hole that was once used for an air conditioning system.

We then made and ran the fuel line and return. The kit comes with 20-feet of flexible fuel hose as well as all the ends and instructions on how to attach them. You can either create a new return line to the tank or reuse the original fuel supply line as the return. We decided to make a new line and ultimately had to order ten more feet of line to finish the job.

The O2 sensor needs to read the oxygen content in the exhaust system and thus must be mounted on the exhaust pipe. The hole was drilled, and the bung was welding into place.