Unless you’ve spent the last year or two in a cave, we’re sure you have heard of the television show Street Outlaws, and most definitely of the blacked-out 1969 Nova known as Murder Nova. The Murder Nova has arguably become one of the most recognizable cars in the country, and is powered by a big-block Chevy engine built by Proline Racing in Ball Ground, Georgia.

As is often the case of any “reality” show, the forums are constantly buzzing with people going back and forth about the actual validity of the show being “real.” No matter what your take on the weekly television show, there is no denying that the cars are unbelievably quick, and the guys do themselves work on them, as evidenced in this video taken at the Lights Out 7 event at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Georgia.

When cars are built like these cars on the television show, normal maintenance is a lot more involved than just an occasional oil change. When engines are built to develop the kind of horsepower that these guys are making, they even require major maintenance between one round of racing and the next. That being said, sometimes an unscheduled “wrench fest” is required, and as we’re sure that Shawn Ellington can attest, it’s great to have friends that are willing to spend a sleepless night helping you do some major rebuilding or overhauling.

There is a lot of stuff in the way that needs removed before you can get to the head gaskets.

After a round of racing, Shawn noticed the Nova not running right, and pulled it back to the trailer for some diagnosis. The video of the repair starts after the top end of the engine has already been removed, so we’re going out on a limb and saying it was probably a head gasket issue. You can hear the guys talking near the end the video that they got head gaskets, and started work around 11:00 p.m. We tried to get a hold of the guys at Midwest Street Cars, but as you guessed it, they were all busy racing and and unavailable to talk.

Anyway, check out this video that shows Shawn and the guys handling business as they reassemble and fire the engine in Murder Nova.