Show To Go - Joe Thomas - 1967 Chevy II

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“My father purchased this car in pieces about 12 years ago...” tells Joseph (Joe) Thomas. “We built it with a 355 small block for my mother to drive to car shows, but just as most clean cars do, it sat more than it was driven.” That was all the reason the Thomas family needed to transform their gorgeous 1967 Chevy II into a wicked-quick small tire drag strip warrior, and Joe would get the best seat in the house. Growing up around fast cars, once he was of age and had a ride of his own, Joe street raced every weekend he could in between hitting the Super Chevy Shows with his dad running his

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Tucked rear wheels and tires, a body-color wing and cowl hood along with a killer raked stance give the original bodied Nova SS a longer leaner look. The car just fits into so many categories: street, strip, show and Pro Street.

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No paint or vinyl here! The Thomas family loves their Novas and having them look original is important, so they used as much of the factory trim, lighting and emblems as they could.

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“King Cat” ’67 Nova SS. The Import scene would attract his attention and along with his brother they would setup and tune various combinations and also help their dad transition into the ranks of Pro Mod in a ’66 Nova. The time eventually came to sell off the race

cars and focus on life for a while, that is, until the need for speed returned to the Thomas family. About 6 years ago Joe, now a mechanic by trade, and his dad had some ideas about mom’s Nova. “Seeing a beautiful ’67 hotrod chilling in the garage, we decided it was time for a family project,” Joe explained. “So this was a union of our past, present and future.” And so the Thomas’ “show” Nova, became their “go” Nova! With a cool ride sitting on a decent chassis in the garage and a budget set, the family worked to

These guys went above and beyond... build a slick Pro Street 10.5 drag car. They contacted Eric Dillard at Proline Racing who, over the next several months, working alongside RK Racecraft, installed a freshened tried and true AJPE 481X engine out of the

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Watch the Nova at The American Dorrslammer Challenge

While it might be commonplace today to see a twin turbo mill hidden beneath the hood of a muscle car that still looks like a street car, what is not common is seeing a Proline built AJPE 481X based all-billet bullet between the rails!

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famed EKanoo car. Along with a fresh trans, rearend and a list of other parts needed to support the new turbocharged mill between the rails, the Thomas’s ran the combination for 4 years, clocking a solid best of 4.26 seconds in the eighth. Feeling that there was so much untapped power left on

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the table due to the restrictions of the chassis, they set out to change that by contacting Jason and Justin at JE Customs. “These guys went above and beyond and built a full chassis work of art for this old girl,” Thomas added. And sure enough, they got the car running 4.15s right out the gate on a soft


From left: Lionel Herring (Joe’s uncle), Joe Thomas AKA Nova Joe, Jeff Thomas (Joe’s father).

Pit view walkaround video

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tune that allowed them to get to know the new package. What’s cool about the car itself is that it’s an original 1967 Chevy II SS that maintains the original factory steel body tub and bumpers. Doors, hood and trunk lid have been swapped out for lighter fiber-

glass parts, but they built the Nova so the original hood and trunk could be re-installed if needed. The car is straight and the blue paint is stunning. Oh, and by the way, along with being an original VIN numbered body, yes, the Nova is still a registered and

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Most of the equipment inside the Nova relates to getting from point A to B as quickly and efficiently as possible, however, keeping the original SS dash with gauges, controls and ignition was a cool touch. An FT600 digital dash relays info to the driver, while a large touch screen stereo was installed so Joe could chill on some tunes while waiting in the staging lanes.

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A 25.2 certified chassis built by JE Customs snakes its way through the interior of the Nova. tagged street car…just in case. That new JE Customs chassis is a 25.2 spec. creation with a titanium firewall and carbon fiber most everywhere the eye can see. “I have to say that their (JE Customs) attention to detail is awesome,” Joe said. Suspension wise, they chose to keep the traditional front a-arm configuration up front with custom shocks and

a fabricated 4-link with custom shocks hangs a near-indestructible Hunt fabricated rear differential with Strange 10-inch gear and Strange axles. Like we said, it’s a Proline built AJPE 481X based animal that started its career in EKanoo’s record setting car before it found its way under the hood of the Nova. The

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Watch Joe Thomas take the win light!

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engine sports 572 inches of billet madness and was freshened before for use in the Nova. Rotating inside the block is a set of custom Carrillo aluminum rods and Bill Miller reverse dome custom pistons with Trend pins and Total Seal custom rings. Heads are AJPE 481X with Victory titanium valves, PAC dual springs, ti-

tanium retainers and Smith Bros. pushrods. The twins are Precision Pro Mod 94mm units with custom piping and manifolds, and Turbosmart wastegates and blow-off valves. “We chose turbocharging because it’s something I knew growing up in the Import era that has made its way into all aspects of racing, and it clearly

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Aside from big carbon wheeltubs to accommodate most any tire size, twin fire system bottles fill the bulk of the trunk space. Although they run a fiberglass trunk lid, hood and doors for weight savings, the car was designed to allow originals to be reinstalled.

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The Thomas Family Outlaw 10.5 1967 Nova SS Chassis Type & Mods:

25.2 chassis built by Jason and Justin at JE Customs with titanium firewall and carbon fiber.

Suspension:

A-arm front, 4-link/coilover rear. Menscer custom design shocks front and rear.

Body & Paint:

Factory steel original body and bumpers with fiberglass doors, hood and trunk. Set up so the steel units can always be put back on.

Engine:

Proline built AJPE 481X Stage 2 572ci full billet engine originally from EKanoo race team. Carrillo aluminum rods and Bill Miller reverse dome custom pistons with Trend pins and Total Seal custom rings. Heads are AJPE 481X with Victory titanium valves, PAC dual springs, titanium retainers and Smith Bros. pushrods.

Rear Differential:

Strange 10 inch gear in a Dave Hunt custom housing.

Other Information about the Vehicle:

This is a true SS VIN matching registered street car with working touchscreen radio so I can listen to music in staging lanes.

Vehicle Owner/Driver Info:

Owned by Jeff Thomas (father) and Heidi Thomas (mother), driver is Joseph Thomas (son).

Best ET & MPH:

4.15 at 189 this last race on the new chassis .

How Many Years Racing:

4 with Imports and 4 with this car. Nova is the first ever V8 I raced.

Division/Class Run: Outlaw 10.5 / Pro Street

Thanks to:

Induction & Fuel Delivery:

Waterman mechanical pump with a 255 Walbro primer pump pushing M1 to 16 Atomizer 700lb injectors.

Power Adder:

Twin 94mm Pro Mod Precision turbos with customs piping and manifolds and Turbosmart wastegates and blowoff valves.

Electronics:

Fueltech FT600 wired by Homier Fab at RK Racecraft and partially altered at JE Customs.

• Jeff and Heidi Thomas, my father and mother for teaching me a great work ethic that transfers into all aspects of my life. • The Proline staff for taking the time to teach and help the average guy, much blessings. • Lionel herring, my uncle and crew member who like no other is always up for the challenge. • My wife Natalie Thomas and my kids for allowing me the chance to prove limits are in your head. • JE Customs for the fast and show car quality work they do. • My brother and sister for always backing me and the Lord for giving me the chance.

Transmission & Converter:

M&M custom gearing 2 speed 400 with Reid case and Pro Torque EV1 bolt-together converter.

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The custom JE 4-link/ coilover rear suspension setup hangs a beefy Dave Hunt-built custom housing with Strange Engineering guts.

makes power,” added Joe. An M&M custom geared 2-speed TH400 transmission with Reid case and Pro Torque EV1 bolt-together converter transfer the boosted power rearward to that fabbed rearend mentioned earlier. Tucked well up into the rear wheelwells, providing the hook out back are a set of Mickey Thompson ET Drag 10.5 slicks beadlocked to a pair of Sander billet wheels. The interior of the Super Sport is a mix of mostly drag race equipment

with a splash of OEM in the form of the original dash complete with factory gauges, ignition and glovebox. Aside from that, a maze of bars to meet the chassis specification are accented by carbon fiber overlay. The transmission rides along uncovered beside Joe and an air actuated PPP shifter controls the single gear change during a run. An FT600 system with interactive column-mounted dash panel controls everything, and wiring was initially completed at RK Racecraft and par-

tially altered following changes by JE Customs. The Thomas family has no plans of slowing down with the Nova anytime soon as they will not only be running Outlaw 10.5 this year, but have added the PDRA Pro Street class to their schedule. And, while the Nova may have made a transition from show to go, make no mistake, it can run with the top of the pack at both! RPM

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