Personalization is key in building any vehicle – we all want that distinguishing feature that makes a hot rod truly our own. For Dean Tepen of Jerseyville, Illinois, it’s the Hilborn stack fuel injection that grabs your attention on his 1965 Nova SS.

Those beautiful chrome velocity stacks stand tall at the front of his Chevy, and feed ample oxygen to Dean’s 427ci LS powerplant. Thompson Motorsports of Texas prepared the bottom end and Dean added a set of Frankenstein M311 cylinder heads. The valvetrain is motivated by a Cam Motion stick and those stacks are matched to the correct fuel calibration with a Holley Terminator X EFI system. His all-motor combination is backed by a GM 700R4 overdrive automatic transmission, and out back you’ll find a Chevy 12-bolt.

When we caught up with Dean he was putting the final touches on the tune, so our conversation was quick. He did tell us the classic Chevrolet is fitted with a Church Brothers front suspension and in the rear are stock leaf springs with Calvert Racing Caltracs and shocks

Dean’s ride wears the factory-color white paint (obviously it’s been sprayed over time) and he added Weld Wheels and Mickey Thompson 255/60 Drag Radials to fit in the stock openings. He also employed a combination of Strange and Wilwood brakes to haul the machine from speed.

The interior is super nice, with factory buckets in red, a 6-point roll bar and stock steering wheel. It also has a stock-appearing radio and dash, with the addition of a Holley screen and a few toggle switches for fuel, fan and nitrous.

We did get a chance to hear the LS rumble, as Dean worked on the tune in the pits. It has a rowdy sound, and we can’t wait to see it on track. Thankfully, Holley LS Fest East is just kicking off, so we have three full days to enjoy this and the hundreds of other LS machines on the grounds.