Savage Chevy: Tony Basso’s Blown Outlaw 10.5 Nova

BASSOLEAD

When you talk about race cars, it can paint a wide variety of images to different people, depending on what they’re into. A race car at the drag strip, to some, is a classic musclecar with big slicks out back. Others will claim a flame-belching nitro car is a true drag racing machine. Tony Basso will disagree with all of those people, because he built what, in his mind, is a real race car: a savage 1967 Chevy II Nova with a screw blower that rolls on a set of 10.5W tires and makes serious noise every time he fires it up.

_MG_0082Growing up in Canada, Tony always loved being around anything mechanical and car related, so it really is no shock that he constructed a car on this level. Like so many other racers, racing has been a family affair, and Tony’s partner in crime has been his older brother, Len Basso. Together, they began a journey that started off small and has grown into something much bigger.

When Tony was just a bit younger, the local drag strip had a high school racing series and even a nationals-style event. Schools from all over would race each other, and the brothers wanted in on the action.

“We built a nasty 1971 Nova with a 355 cubic inch small-block that was backed by a Turbo 350 transmission. On a nice hit of nitrous it would run deep into the 9.90s all day,” Tony says of his first taste of the single digit racing. This was his first time wheeling a Nova, and it wouldn’t be his last.

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The brothers raced the car from when they built it in 1990 through 1996, when Tony decided he was ready to take the next step in his racing career. In 2001, with heads-up door car racing starting to take off a bit more, Tony jumped from the Nova to the Blue Oval camp and raced a Mustang. “I found a 1986 Mustang to build and went to work on it. I stuck a small-block Chevy in it and ran the Easy Street class with a DOT tire and mufflers, just a step down from 10.5-inch stuff,” Tony explains.

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Racing the Mustang was fun, but Tony says he always had a soft spot the classic Chevy II Nova, and he always had his eye out for one. Then, it happened to show up: a 1967 Nova that belonged to Steve Mclusky, a local racer from Toronto, had come up for sale and it was exactly what Tony wanted. The car had a racing pedigree since it was built, running in the old school Pro Street class, sporting a big cubic inch motor and tons of nitrous oxide.

_MG_9444Tony sold his Easy Street Mustang to purchase the Nova and began acquiring parts, as he was itching to go full blown Outlaw 10.5 racing. Even though the new-to-him Nova had been a race car since the ’90s, it needed a bit of work. “When we started building the car in 2002, it was in rough shape — it had been painted with a wall roller and needed some love,” he explains. Since he always wanted a Chevy II, he was determined to make it work, and the car was a good chassis to start with.

For Tony, a race car has got to make a lot of noise — it’s what defines racing — so going with a turbo car was out of the question. Tony could have gone back to his nitrous oxide roots, but there was a bigger, louder, and angrier powerplant calling his name for the Nova. “I’ve always loved blower motors. I love the noise and the appearance. It makes it look like a race car in my eyes,” Tony says. So, just like that, the choice was made as to what engine combination would go into his Chevy II, and it would take the car from tame to insane in a hurry.

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To make the Nova fit what a race car should be in his mind, Tony contacted Al Billes Race Engines to assemble the bullet. Resting between the framerails is a truly nasty Hemi that measures a healthy 526 cubic inches. Inside is a Bryant crankshaft that rotates a set of MGP connecting rods and custom Diamond pistons. A Pflueger oil pump works with a Moroso oil pan to keep the big blown Hemi nice and lubricated.

Nothing to see here, just a little blower motor.

The top end of the engine features a set of Brad Anderson Engineering Stage VI heads to help the big mill breathe. Inside the heads is a full set of Victory intake and exhaust valves along with a matching set of Brad Anderson rocker arms. The camshaft of choice is from Crower, and is a custom grind that was spec’d out by Billes.

Sitting on top of it all is what makes Tony’s car so badass, and provides the signature and savage sound he loves. A PSI D series screw blower is matched to a BAE magnesium intake and topped off with a CG Composites blower hat. All of that boosted power exits the engine from a custom set of 2 1/2-inch headers and Vibrant race mufflers that barely make a dent in the sweet horsepower noise the engine produces. Keeping the candles lit is a full set of MSD products, including a Promag 44 and MSD Grid unit.

_MG_0104All of these parts combined give Tony a loud and angry 2,800 horsepower to use anytime he mashes the throttle pedal to the firewall. His quickest pass to date in the 1/4-mile is 6.88 at 210 mph, and a 4.26 at over 183 mph in the  1/8-mile with a 1.10 60-foot time.

With that much power on tap an appropriate transmission is required, so Tony went with a Lencodrive unit from Marty and Mike at Dynamic Trans. A billet Meziere flexplate and Neal Chance NXS Full Billet torque converter back the Lencodrive to help put the power down.

A custom chromoly driveshaft sends the power back to an LE Chassis-fabricated 9-inch rearend housing. Inside is a set of set of Richmond gears that rotate Strange Engineering axles and spool.

The rest of the 25.2 certified chassis was also worked over by LE using the best parts available. Up front, Strange Engineering got the call again to supply lower control arms and shocks that wear Eibach springs, and work with the Stiletto steering box. The rear is a four-link setup that LE made in house and utilizes Afco shocks from Menscer Motorsports.

For a wheel and tire package, Tony went with the always-sexy Weld V series wheels up front matched to Goodyear rubber, and some Weld Magnum wheels in the rear to wear the Mickey Thompson 10.5w slicks. When he gets on the binders, Strange Engineering brakes respond in the front, while a set of Wilwood’s get the job done in the rear.

Just as clean inside as it is on the outside, Tony really has an eye for the details.

Inside the car, the stock interior is long gone, replaced with nice powdercoated aluminum panels to save on weight, and an ISP poured seat. Stroud belts keep Tony snug in the car during his trips down the track, and a RacePak dash lets him know all is well with his blown monster.

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What makes Tony’s car really unique is the fact the body is still all steel, including the rockers and roof, and it also has the stock windshield, window trim, and even all of the original gaskets. “Most people don’t realize the car is that original, and even has the stock steel framerails still in it. I really wanted to keep the car as street looking as possible and only put stickers on the back glass to keep that look,” Tony explains.

_MG_0067Tony will, however, be putting some lighter parts in the car to get it closer to weight. Currently, the Nova is a couple of hundred pounds heavy for its combination in Outlaw 10.5, so shedding the extra weight will make it even more competitive at big events.

For 2016, Tony plans to run the Outlaw 10.5 series in his home country of Canada, the PDRA event in Michigan, and of course, the Shakedown at The Summit. He has also been kicking around the idea of bolting on radial tires and running at one of Duck X Productions’ races in the future.

When it comes down to it, we all have our own idea of what a race car should be, and Tony just happened to turn his idea into a real racing machine. Any time this car fires up, it embodies what people love about racing: raw power, vibrant colors, and ear-splitting noise. Tony’s Nova turns heads no matter if it’s sitting in the lanes or screaming down the track laying down low 4-second passes … and that’s just how he wants it.

About the author

Brian Wagner

Spending his childhood at different race tracks around Ohio with his family’s 1967 Nova, Brian developed a true love for drag racing. Brian enjoys anything loud, fast, and fun.
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