What Happens After We Do The Custom Paint Job?
Here's A Couple of Our Customers Doing What THEY Do Best!
Good Morning and Happy Easter to all of our readers!
I was working in the office yesterday morning and catching up on some seriously overdue paperwork when the phone rang. "Well hello there stranger, how the heck are ya?" was the answer to my greeting. The voice sounded sooooo familiar, but, I guess age really is catching up with me because, embarrassed that I couldn't put a face to the voice, I answered, "I'm fine, who's this?" A belly low, but obviously very real belly laugh was the response along with, "Well, I guess it didn't take long for you to forget your favorite customer! This is Hollis! I was just thinking about you guys and thought I'd call and wish you a Happy Easter!" "Hollis Jones!", I replied with an enormous smile on my face that immediately took over for the previously confused look I must have had. "It's great to hear from you! Happy Easter and what's new with you?" His answer and the conversation that followed got me thinking and reminiscing about all the wonderful people we've worked with in the past and led to the writing of this article.
Larry and I have been in this great business for over 37 years now and we have met and had the opportunity to work with thousands of people. Many of those people have gone on to fame and fortune with the cars, trucks, and motorcycles that Larry has painted or worked on and we're very proud of all of them and the work we've done to help them along the way. So, I've decided to look up some of those great people and share their accomplishments with you here and since his phone call was my inspiration to do this, the first one I will tell you about is none other than Hollis Jones!
Hollis, a long time friend of mine and Larry's and one of our very first customers loves cars and racing. His love of cars and racing led him to start his business, City Suburban Auto Parts in Joliet, IL, some 30 odd years ago and turn it into one of the largest used auto parts suppliers in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. In our recent conversation, he told me he had since sold the business and was now dedicating his time to his real passion, drag racing. He went on to tell me that he has taken the 1966 SS Nova, that was one of the first custom paint jobs to come out of our shop, from a backyard project to a low 6 second semi-pro nationals winner! Yes, at 63 years young, Hollis is living his dream and driving that same vehicle at speeds around 250 mph and loving every minute of it!
I jumped for joy when he told me I could find some videos of that very same car on YouTube and gave me permission to include them in this article! Hollis Jones' 1966 SS Nova is an ongoing "labor of love" that we're sure, with his determination and skill, will bring him straight to the top! When we first had the car in the shop back in the '80's, Hollis had just begun her transformation from an original '66 SS Nova with very minor modifications to the semi-pro Nationals winning car she is now. And it all started with a "pure white pearlized" paint job that is still on the car today! Of course, Larry had repainted the car a few times, but, always the same "pure white pearl" that has become Hollis's trademark with everything he owns. Not a complex paint job, to say the least, but, perfect in every way. Both Larry and Hollis's wife tried to get him to add some "color" to the car, but, Hollis stuck to his guns and insisted that it remain pure as the driven snow and as you can see in the videos, he still hasn't changed his mind!
What HAS changed on the car is the engine! We've watched Hollis and his love for the 1/4 mile track go from 8 second passes in the 1980's to the unbelievably low 6 seconds and 250 mph passes she makes now! So, without further ado, here's some video footage of this great car.
Here she is as we last saw the car. Shown here in a bye run that took only 7 seconds!Wow, sounding great and looking even better! Now, Hollis Jones loves to go fast. Back around that time, while he was tuning and working on the performance of this great car, I can remember the "promises" to his wife and his family, that once he reached 7 seconds in the quarter mile, he would hang up his fire suit and that would be that! Hmmm, I guess that wasn't the case......in this next video, I think you'll see a few differences in the car! The huge, stainless steel blower hanging out of the hood is one of those differences! LOLSpeaking of blowers, check out Vivid Racing's great prices on everything "race ready"! The below link will take you to a page chock full of blowers and blower accessories at some dynamite prices! AND, you can speak live to a customer representative right here! to find out more about exactly what you'll need to improve YOUR car's performance. Just click on the "Chat Live Now" link to speak directly to one of Vivid Racing's professional technicians.
Back in the '80's, when Larry first started working on Hollis's car, I can remember the two of them enjoying a cold one while trying to figure out how to fit the car for the huge racing slicks that were necessesary to keep him "glued" to the pavement! Larry is quite the magician when it comes to modification of these cars and after some thought and "Blackman" engineering, he tubbed the quarters and they modified the chassis to hold the slicks. It was a job that Larry is proud of to this day. As anyone who has seen a '66 Nova knows, the body lines are beautiful, but, very intricate. The line that travels down the lower portion of the body of the vhicle is a double indentation with a raised point above and below the indent. In asking Larry how he managed to duplicate that line in the portion of the quarter that he had to fabricate, his answer was....."I found somethin that worked....". We also fabricated from scratch, the hood scoop to house the huge blower that then took up residence above the engine block. That particular 1966 Nova had become one of the first "Larry Blackman originals"! As usual, Larry's experience and engineering skills paid off and the rear slicks fit perfectly and the hood modifications were flawless.
Once again the vehicle was repainted, but, this time, the car was stripped down to bare metal and an absolutely flawless, pure white, pearlized paint job was put on the car. Hollis Jones is one of the only people that Larry has allowed to help out with the paint job. Larry's almost fanatical obsession with perfection usually does not allow for any type of assistance. But, Hollis insisted and Larry agreed and the two set out as a team to produce one of the finest paint jobs ever to speed down the 1/4 mile strip. Hollis Jones' car is just one of many that we have on the drag strip or circle track. Check back often for more success stories!
Larry Blackman painted this beautiful 1966 Nova years ago and she still looks great today! Shown in the video with the original motor, she has since gone through some major engine upgrades. But, this was the motor that took Hollis to the top and ensured his success in the drag lanes! The new motor is shown here in the pic to the left! Some major upgrades there!
