And just what does a Plasma Fission Device really do?

Tom Nelson is keeping that secret tight within the engine assembly room, but he is releasing dyno numbers on another screaming 441ci small-block that will go in a wicked ’58 Buick street car. How does 1,548 horsepower at 6,000 rpm sound? That’s with just over 26 pounds of boost coming from a pair of 72mm mirror-image turbos and going through a custom air-to-water intercooler where the little classified gadget releases its magic.

“That actually is one of our nosepieces for a big-block application,” confesses Nelson. “When we turned it over it looked like Bart Simpson, so we drew a little face on it.”

It’s nice to know that Nelson Racing Engines has a sense of humor because the shop is usually tearing up its dyno, pulling more than 2,000 horsepower or adding a touch of beauty to the beast. This small-block starts with a Dart tall-deck, raised-cam block and is fitted with a Callies crank, Oliver billet rods and JE custom pistons. Larger .904 lifters are used but the rest of the valvetrain is rather standard, according to Nelson. The heads are CNC-machined Brodix 11x models.

“It’s a spread-port design, which allows us to the header bolts on easier,” says Nelson, noting the custom-fabricated headers measure 1 7/8-inch. “It also puts water in the center exhaust port and runs a little cooler there. It’s not crucial to a turbo application but it lives better on the street with a spread port.”

On top is the NRE Alien intake manifold with dual injectors per cylinder. All the fuel rails, throttle linkage and sensors are built into the intake for a clean look. The twin-injector setup allows NRE to add race fuel on demand. So pump gas is used for regular street driving, then a second tank and pump swing into action when the boost level goes up and feeds high-octane fuel into the ports. There’s also a custom nosepiece for the blowoff valves and anteater-style feed line from the intercooler to the intake.

The unusual intercooler design was conceived at the So-Cal Speed Shop in Canada but built at NRE.

“I try to push my customers to keep the intercooler away from the radiator,” adds Nelson. “This one doesn’t need air flowing past it, so they laid it down under the radiator. And it ended up not being the lowest point of the car, which is good.”

The intercooler has its own stand-alone coolant system with heat exchanger, pump and reservoir tank.

At just over 7 pounds of boost the engine pulled nearly 800 horsepower on the dyno, followed by a run of 1,014 horsepower at 13.2 pounds of boost. With 26.5 pounds of boost the engine surpassed 1,500 horsepower at 6,000 rpm with 1,443 lb-ft peak torque at 4,200 rpm.

Even with 18-inch wide rear rubber and a stout 4-link suspension, there should be enough twisting power to b the tires.