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Doug Nguyen’s Twin-Turbo 1957 Chevy Pickup

Gearheads in the United States are spoiled by the bountiful horsepower possibilities the country offers. In other parts of the entire world, higher-overall performance vehicles are hardly ever ever noticed, let by yourself a little something the normal person can personal. Doug Nguyen may possibly not initially be from the United States, but his twin-turbo 1957 Chevy pickup reveals he’s assimilated to our car tradition in magnificent trend.

Doug came to the United States from the state of Vietnam when he was just 15 years aged. It was a substantial lifestyle shock to say the minimum, specifically during the 1980s when so lots of modifications ended up taking place in America. Doug had a great deal to learn about dwelling in a new nation, and the automotive environment of the United States really caught his awareness.

“I wasn’t into automobiles when I lived in Vietnam — there wasn’t a authentic vehicle lifestyle, and it was rare to at any time see a substantial-performance auto. There’s a lot there now, but nothing then. When I came right here and observed the automobile lifestyle it modified me. It was unusual to see a Mustang in Vietnam again in the 1980s, when I came to America they have been on every single corner, I just considered that was incredible. It was a huge shock, but I beloved it. I would go to car or truck reveals and not know what nearly anything was, but I was walking by the displays and just enjoying all the things I noticed,” Doug says.

Considering the fact that Doug was in higher college when he arrived to The us, he resolved to get a task to make some money. His initial job was at a neighborhood system shop exactly where he cleaned the shop, washed automobiles, and figured out how to do depth perform. Although he was doing the job at the shop, he begun to see incredibly hot rods and other cool cars and trucks come in for do the job at that place, he decided he experienced to build his individual amazing trip. Mind you, he still didn’t know considerably about cars and didn’t even have a driver’s license, but that was not going to stop his desire.

Doug’s exposure to the system store perform environment was a huge influence on his career alternative, as well.

“When I started at the store and observed the physique guys repairing panels and pulling frames, I believed to myself, ‘I can do that.’ I commenced to learn it and now I’m a entire entire body technician which is certified in Tesla, Mercedes, Porsche all the significant-conclusion brands. I genuinely needed to make cars my life and I found a way to do that by functioning by means of the body shop method and develop into a certified tech,” Doug describes.

Not everybody who is effective in the automotive marketplace is into racing…they want to depart do the job at do the job and have other hobbies. Doug was fascinated by high-efficiency autos and didn’t have an concern shelling out his cost-free time examining out area vehicle shows or cruise places. Doug experienced never witnessed drag racing in Vietnam, but when he observed it for the first time in the United States he was captivated.

“I bought into drag racing because I noticed it on the Television set, many thanks to Diamond P Sporting activities. I was stunned at how fast the cars and trucks had been. Right after that, I decided I experienced to develop a rapidly car, so I begun hunting about at what was offered to develop. Drag racing just captured every little thing that grabbed my attention about cars and trucks and just included in speed, it just built perception to me to get included,” Doug states.

Doug began his drag racing career by finding a automobile to develop — his first racecar was a 1968 Chevy El Camino with a feisty small-block less than the hood. The El Camino construct was a great deal of enjoyable to do the job on and when it was finished he was ready to head to the monitor with his new ride.

“It’s challenging for me to actually explain what it was like creating a go for the initial time. I actually received a huge thrill from it and required to make extra passes. The very first time I sprayed nitrous with that automobile it basically frightened me a minor little bit when it hit and I allow go of the wheel for a second. The upcoming time I was all set and made a entire move. That was it, that absolutely hooked me and I necessary to go quicker from that position ahead,” Doug claims.

Doug has built and owned a large amount of distinctive cars around the years. Every single of his builds has its own unique touches and story. Doug’s 1957 Chevy pickup was not in fact a create he was doing work on for himself at first, but just like so many other jobs, it grew to become his when circumstances adjusted.

“I received the truck from a buddy who was heading by a rough time with cancer. He needed to sell it to make some money…it was well worth maybe $2,500, but I purchased it for $5,500 to enable him out. The program was to make the truck for my son so he could drive it after he turned 16, but that changed and I finished up keeping it for myself. I meant to just make the truck a actually pleasant driver, but one thing led to an additional, and all of the unexpected the construct bought a little mad,” Doug clarifies.

The truck’s 400 cubic-inch motor, constructed by Steve Morris, is based mostly close to a Dart Tiny M block that’s loaded with a stout Eagle rotating assembly. On leading of the engine, you will uncover a established of CNC-ported cylinder heads and intake from Edelbrock.

LP Racing was tasked with fabricating a personalized turbo system that would not only movement loads of air but also appear great less than the hood of the Chevy pickup. Doug selected a pair of Precision Turbo & Engine 6766 turbos for the establish, along with a pair of 40mm wastegates from Turbosmart, and a ProCharger blowoff valve. A PTC-developed TH400 transmission and ProTorque torque converter make positive all the little-block’s ability reaches the pavement as competently as achievable. This combination will make just about 1,100 horsepower on the dyno.

The front conclusion is from a Mustang II, and Doug grafted it to the Chevy himself. The again 50 % of the chassis is a kit from Chris Alston’s Chassisworks and it holds a Fab-9 rearend that’s also from Chris Alston’s. The Fab-9 is crammed with components from Weird Engineering, and Doug elected to use QA1 shocks at every corner of the truck. He did all of the bodywork and painted it himself as well.

Doug actually ran into a obstacle when he was making an attempt to get the truck functioning: he wanted to come across someone to tune his Holley Dominator EFI method so it would arrive at its comprehensive possible. Right after searching higher and low, he was eventually launched to Las Vegas indigenous Gil Navaras. Luckily, Gil was equipped to get the truck straightened out so Doug could appreciate it.

The truck may possibly glance really aggressive and it does make significant horsepower, but it is significantly from a trailer queen. Doug puts a lot of miles on his Chevy and that is a single of the factors he enjoys most about his trip. He does not like to have to deal with racecar problems, as it usually takes absent from the time he could spend driving the truck all more than Nevada.

“The truck is nonetheless thoroughly avenue legal…I don’t even possess a trailer to tow it with if I had to. It receives driven on the freeway, town streets, it doesn’t subject. This truck is diverse than most items you see on the street and at the monitor. It experienced to have a entire interior and I’m even likely to set air conditioning in it. It just drives so great on the road. At the keep track of this issue is just a blast to drive — it lifts the wheels, throws you again in the seat, and just goes,” Doug claims.

Doug definitely likes the way the truck has turned out so he is not heading to make any important changes anytime soon. He does not have any motivation to attempt and force it substantially more in the horsepower department, considering that he does not want to give up how well the truck drives. Doug isn’t fascinated in course racing either — he is searching ahead to having the truck sorted out to see what its prospective is in its recent form.

“Right now I’m owning a blast just driving it where ever I want to go. Gil is heading to assistance me get it sorted out at the keep track of some far more so we can get started creating complete passes underneath electricity in the upcoming. It will be enjoyable driving the truck out to Midnight Insanity at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to make a handful of hits and then generate dwelling with the air conditioning on. I’ll however go to events like the Avenue Vehicle Super Nationals simply because I like hanging out at the keep track of and check out out all the interesting vehicles,” Doug states.

Doug Nguyen’s story is really amazing when you assume about it — he came to this nation and uncovered one thing he was passionate about, then turned it into his way of everyday living. Doug’s truck is proof that if you place your intellect to a thing you can make it come about no make any difference what varieties of hurdles you deal with. You know he’s having fun with all 1,100 horsepower he has at his command as he cruises the strip in Las Vegas, or is producing a strike at the dragstrip.