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Polishing The Fire-Turd
Nitrous Turned Our 16-Second Pontiac Into A Mid-14-Second Car, But At Least Its Faster Than A Honda
February, 2009
By Tony Nausieda
Photography by Henry De Los Santos, Tony Nausieda
 |  We installed the all-important...  We installed the all-important nitrous plate first. Remove the air-intake duct at the front of the throttle inlet and disconnect the three cable linkages. Then you can remove the four 10mm bolts, as shown, and pull the throttle body forward. Before you install the plate, its a good idea to secure the supplied gaskets to both sides of the plate with an adhesive. Pull the throttle body forward and slip the plate into the gap, making sure the line outlets are on top, and on the passenger side. We had to bend the line bracket slightly upward to clear one of the intake runners. Nitrous Works includes four extra-long bolts to reattach the throttle body in order to accommodate the extra thickness of the plate. Thread em in and snug em down to seal the gaskets. |  Youre probably wondering...  Youre probably wondering how the cables reattach, since the plate moves the throttle arm farther forward. Nitrous Works addressed that issue by including this slick bracket (arrow) that moves the cables forward the necessary 3/4 inch. It mounts to the plenum with three countersunk screws, and you can reuse the stock 10mm bolts to attach the cable bracket. Be sure to add two washers under each bolt head, otherwise theyll be too long and will bottom out before the bracket is bolted tight. Reinstall the cables after youre finished. |  Remove the two T-40 Torx Screws...  Remove the two T-40 Torx Screws on the center of the passenger-side intake runner. Fasten the solenoids to the supplied bracket, making sure the nitrous solenoid is located above the fuel solenoid. Install the assembly with the extra-long socket-head bolts and aluminum spacers found in the kit. We added a few extra washers to shim the bracket outward enough to clear the intake. |  This kit uses the factory...  This kit uses the factory service port on the fuel rail to supply a steady flow of enrichment fuel to the plate. Locate the port near the rear of the passenger-side fuel rail (arrow). Unscrew the cap, and remove the schrader valve guts with a valve-stem removal tool. We got ours from Auto Zone for $1.49. Have a rag handy to soak up the fuel that may escape when the valve is removed. |  Install the proper-sized jets...  Install the proper-sized jets in the plate fittings as shown. We wanted to begin with a modest dose of spray, so in went the 0.039-inch nitrous jet and the 0.024-inch fuel jet for an 80hp squeeze. Next, install the fuel supply line from the outlet on the fuel solenoid to the inner fitting on the nitrous plate (the one closest to the intake). The nitrous supply line has blue 7/16-inch fittings and connects the outlet on the nitrous solenoid to the outer fitting on the nitrous plate. |  Next, find a good place for...  Next, find a good place for the big yellow bottle. On our F-body, we chose to mount it on the floor of the rearmost storage compartment. Positioning the brackets is easiest if you assemble them to the bottle and measure where to drill the holes. If you trust our work, save yourself some time by using our dimensions. Dimension A is 31/8 inches, and dimension B is 63/4 inches, measured from the inner edges of the brackets. We placed them in position on the floor, marked the holes with a permanent marker, and drilled the eight holes. The brackets mount with the supplied nuts, bolts, and washers. We sure hope Hot Rod TV producer Kevin Oeste doesnt notice that we borrowed his drill. |  The bottle installs with the...  The bottle installs with the band clamps supplied in the kit. Be sure to position the bottle so its top (valve side) is raised higher than the bottom of the bottle. That ensures the siphon tube is pointed downward, so it stays immersed in liquid nitrous. |  Nitrous Works recommends that...  Nitrous Works recommends that the bottle supply line be routed under the carpet or safely underneath the car (i.e. inside the framerail, where its less susceptible to damage). We chose the former recommendation, because we didnt have access to a lift at the time. Review your line routing to make sure it isnt kinked or susceptible to heat or chafing. Its a good idea to use zip-ties or cushioned clamps to keep the line from flopping around. |  Nitrous Works includes a microswitch...  Nitrous Works includes a microswitch to activate the spray at full throttle. Unfortunately, they didnt include any hardware to fasten it to the tapped holes in the nitrous plate, so we hit up the hardware store for a couple of M5 screws and lock washers. Youll have to play with the bracket a little to ensure that it activates the N2O only at full throttle. We ended up bending the switch bracket slightly outward to get it perfectly fitted. The switch contacts this cam (arrow) when the pedal is floored. |  We mounted the on/off switch...  We mounted the on/off switch by drilling a hole in this factory block-off plate on the dash. Note the custom silk-screened switch plate
no, wait, thats masking tape. Every expense was spared on custom touches. |  Track time! We drove out to...  Track time! We drove out to the desert oasis of Palmdale to make a few passes at L.A. County Raceway. Keep in mind that this track is at approximately 3,000 feet above sea level, so the times are a little off from what you can expect to see unless you live in Denver. First thing on the agenda was swapping the righteous Edelbrock 17s with Yokohamas for a pair of sticky M/T ET Street tires. After we purged the air out of the nitrous system, it was time for tire-smoking, full-throttle madness! Check the sidebar to find out how we did. |
We have a confession to make. Even after freshening our 88 Firebird with new paint and interior and a trick set of wheels, the car still made for a rather mundane driving experience. The 350 TPI motor was a competent performer in its day, but 13 years later were lucky to pull a fender-length on a new Maxima. We needed horsepower, and were partial to cheap and easy installations, so we chose to inject a healthy dose of N2O via Nitrous Works 125hp plate kit. We spent a long afternoon installing the system, proving theres no simpler way to corral 125 extra horses. Of course, we made a few passes at the track to validate our efforts. The cars performance surpassed our optimistic expectationsbut youll have to read on to see just how well we did. OK, well just tell you the nitrous knocked a full 1½ seconds off the e.t. But its still a mid14-second car. At least thats faster than a Honda.
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