Jim Downing is a Texas Chapter SVOOA member from Dallas. He has several SVOs and offered his ranch in Mellissa as the site for the Chapter's North Texas mini-gathering this past June (see North Texas Area Gathering). Jim attended the Ninth Annual Yellow Rose Classic in Ft. Worth in August, showing two SVOs and setting up an SVO display. Jim has his own shop, Performance Auto & A/C Repair, and agreed to do this two-part series on installing nitrous.
The first thing required when installing nitrous is the maintenance that might have been overlooked until now. I think the most important things about this are the timing belt, also the catalytic converter, and the general condition of the sensors and computer system, and the condition of the engine itself at the time of making a "nitrous decision."
Don't get me wrong if I sound like a nitrous critic. On the contrary, I think nitrous is the best bang for the buck out there. You just have to consider these things I have mentioned. Nitrous is great; it not only gives the engine more power, it also acts like an intercooler by decreasing the temperature of the incoming air. This in turn makes the air charge more dense and assists in the combustion process.
In my opinion, the best type of nitrous setup for the SVO is the wet type that injects fuel and nitrous. The two are sprayed through each other in the intake manifold which causes increased atomization. This means the fuel mixture will burn more even--a more clean, thorough burn. This equates to more power and torque.
In my experience, the best nitrous setting for a stock SVO is 40-50 horsepower; however, a highly modified engine, I am sure, can handle 100 horsepower quite easily. This setting, however, requires engine upgrades to the likes of rods, pistons, and o-ring deck with aggressive porting.
On my car, I have a nitrous system and I also install them on cars for other people. The brand I recommend is N.O.S. They make a special kit for the SVO but it must be custom ordered from the technical department. Just remember, it's great to use as long as your car is already running within specifications; so check your car with a code scanner or have it checked by a pro before making what could be a fatal error for the engine.
I would also upgrade the ignition by installing an MSD Boost Timing Master. This allows you to unplug the knock sensor and custom tailor your ignition timing from inside the passenger compartment. This is good for your engine and for some extra ponies, sometimes up to 15.