Hidden Ford Nitrous Oxide System - The Street Racer's Special - Tech

Warning: What you are about to read can be labeled as cheating. This article is for entertain-ment purposes (and for the less fortunate who need a little help taking down the neighborhood bully). It may also give you an edge in grudge racing at the local racetrack. For those who might attempt running this setup in your class-legal racer-beware, many tech officials read this magazine!

Ed. Note: We threw caution to the wind with this installation by disregarding the NOS-supplied instruction manual. Holley-NOS has designed this system to work correctly when it is properly installed. Our installation/usage was successful despite not following the instructions step-by-step. But that's not to say there isn't some sort of risk involved when deviating from the NOS installation manual. Not installing this system properly as designed can cause failures and/or other problems.

A secret nitrous system is a time-honored tradition on the most hard-core grudge-racing scenes. When winning is everything and your morals are thrown out the window, follow these steps and you'll have a nitrous system that is virtually undetectable to most would-be competitors. We know there are bullies around your neighborhood and at grudge night at the track. Hiding a nitrous kit just might be the solution to your problems, and the best part is that your competitors won't have the slightest clue that your car is jugged.

There's nothing new about hiding a nitrous system. For as long as nitrous has been a known commodity in the racing world, there have been those willing to conceal its usage. MM&FF performed a test many years ago using a nitrous bottle hidden in a gym bag. After that story hit, street racers across the country started mimicking the installation. We are here today to offer a crazier, more devious way to hide your juice kit. It raised more than a few eyebrows at MM&FF Command Central, and we think it's the most detailed hidden-nitrous install in the history of automotive enthusiast magazines.

Orchestrating our installation was Justin Burcham of JPC Racing (Glen Burnie, Maryland) and his crew. They spent the better part of the day tearing into a virtually stock Mustang (headers, x pipe system, after-cat exhaust, and pullies). The coupe spent many years in the NMRA Factory Stock class with Justin's wife, Melanie, behind the wheel. It was recently sold, and a bone-stock engine (from the junkyard) was installed along with a stock AOD transmission.

By sundown, the go-fast juice was adapted (read: hidden) inside the vacuum system of this Mustang, all done under a veil of secrecy. Even casual shop visitors were baffled when we asked them to find the nitrous. The first place these bystanders checked was the area around the air filter. Over the years, the airbox area has become the common location to shoot the nitrous, so naturally we chose a different place to get the sauce into the engine. The second spot most people checked was under the manifold-another easy-to-install location where the injection point is a nozzle (usually painted black) that is drilled into the main runner on the underside of the upper intake manifold. The drawback is that the nozzle is easily detectable, especially when the people checking the car have a flashlight. Our entry point was under the manifold, but it was undetectable.

Burcham's ideas for this installation were great. The concept was to mount a 5-pound bottle and the nitrous solenoids inside the door, and to use one wire to power both small solenoids. We used the defroster switch as our on/off arming switch. We then ran two nylon lines (like the ones used for gauges) through the door via the wiring duct. One nylon tube carries nitrous to the manifold and the other tube was connected to the fuel pressure gauge. The nylon tubes/lines are rated at high pressures, upwards of 2,000 psi, making them safe for use with nitrous since the system runs optimally at a bottle pressure of 900 psi.