THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL PRO STREET ASSOCIATION
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DEPARTMENTS 4
On the Throttle
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Racer’s Library
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ProNography
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COVER TRUCK
SKULLZILLA Rod Bollini’s Dodge Dakota is too much...and that’s just right! by Toby Brooks
CONNECT www.tubbedmagazine.com | 806.781.8482
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FEATURE CAR
STRONG SILENT TYPE
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Randy Watson lets his blown and injected 1966 Chevy Nova do the talking by Toby Brooks
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STAFF
TUBBED LIFE
WHAT CATCHES YOUR EYE?
PUBLICATION
Toby & Christi Brooks....................................Publishers John Bechtel................................................Contributor Matt & Debbie Hay......................................Contributors
Nothing can make or break your ride quite like the paint and graphics. by Michael Scheuren
ART
Toby Brooks.................................................Art Director Brent Groh................................................Photographer John Jackson...........................................Photographer Chris Kays................................................Photographer Ceasar Maragni........................................Photographer
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FROM THE ERA
DANIEL’S FIRST LOVE
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TUBBED represents a new era in automotive print magazines. We are actively growing the brand and eager to help promote business that support the incurable condition of pro street in the blood. Contact Toby at 806-781-8482 today to find out just how affordable new media can be!
Daniel Pagniozzi, Jr.’s 1957 Chevy had his heart from the start by Jerry Gary
ON THE COVER
Pro street Mopars are rare enough, but when they are as wild and over-the-top as Rod Bollini’s insane Dadge Dakota, you know we HAD to take notice. We decided to shoot Rod’s Green Monster in front of the iconic DuQuoin State Fairgrounds grandstand, as it harkens back to the first era of pro street. We hope you enjoy reading about it and everything else we have on tap for this issue!
TUBBED Magazine is published quarterly by Chaplain Publishing, a division of NiTROhype Creative, 3104 CR 7520, L ubbock, Texas, 79423, phone 806.781.8482. Contents may not be reproduced without consent of the copyright owner. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electronically or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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TUBBED Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, articles, photographs, or artwork. To submit information, photos, or stories or for advertising inquiries please contact TUBBED Magazine at 806.781.8482, via email at admin@tubbedmagazine.com, or via the TUBBED Magazine website at www.tubbedmagazine.com.
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812-482-2932
The Original Air Suspension Company...Since1996 Air Ride Technologies president Bret Voelkel’s 1970 Mustang launched the company in 1996. Now as RideTech, we manufacture a complete line of premium coil-overs, control arms, and suspension systems
Throttl
ON THE TOBY
BROOKS
...nothing... and I mean NOTHING compares to the mental, physical, and financial toll that I have paid in trying to build this car.
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tuff around these parts has been crazy lately. And by lately, I mean the past three and half years. Ever since I started trying to build a pro streeter. Now, I hope this doesn’t come across as a sob story. It isn’t meant to be one. But I can honestly say that despite being married for almost 20 years, being a father to two kids, going to college for nine years, and working for some of the most demanding coaches I have ever met, nothing...and I mean NOTHING compares to the mental, physical, and financial toll that I have paid in trying to build this car. And it isn’t even out of primer yet. It started as a simple project in my mind: a tube chassis 2006 Mustang with a $10,000 blown and injected big block Chevy. I figured 8-12 months and $40,000 ought to do it. Now, three and a half years and counting and that 8-12 month timeline looks like a cruel joke. And while it is never polite to talk money, I can tell you that I have spent more than that total budget on the induction system alone. What’s worse, I’ve lost some good friends during the course of this build. More than once either I didn’t communicate my expectations clearly, they didn’t communicate agreements clearly, or sometimes both occured. And while more than once I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding, there has been more than one occasion of an outright attempt to defraud. But the project has taught me several things about myself. First, I am a terrible customer. I’ve been told that it can be done well, fast, or cheap...but never all three. I am picky and demanding, and always looking for a deal. That’s a bad combo for any shop. I’ve also learned that the only way to REALLY get things the way you want is usually to do them yourself. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, but my own pickiness has helped spur me on to develop my own fabrication skills. In hindsight, that was really what I should have been about all along. Project cars are great, but they aren’t so much about the end result as they are about the journey to get there. Just last night,
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my son and I spent the better part of four hours fabricating a mount for the brake pedal and master cylinders in the car. Sure, I could have dropped anywhere between $100-$400 at a “pro” shop who would have probably done a better job than we did, but we did it. He learned. I learned. And most importantly, we made a memory together. Here’s what else I’ve learned: not everyone in this hobby is out to get you as the customer. While Taye and I were working, my dear friend Steve Yates was looking at pics we sent, providing feedback, and mentoring me—and indirectly, my 10-year-old son—from over 1,000 miles away via Facebook. Steve once dropped everything to help Rod Bollini (whose killer Dodge appears on this month’s cover) haul my project car more than 500 miles one way to help me get it home. Steve’s never asked for a dime despite my countless impositions on his time. He just wants to help. And he’s far from the only one to do so. So how do I repay such kind gestures from friends who won’t let me pay them back? I pay it forward. I am working nearly every day to develop my skills as a fabricator, and while it is unlikely I will EVER reach Steve’s level of expertise, I will certainly follow his lead and be not only willing to teach and mentor but actively search out opportunities to do so for the next generation of hot rodders and fat tire enthusiasts. So while it may be tempting to bemoan how a one-year, $40k project has dragged on for nearly quadruple that amount of time and an untold multiplier of that budget, I don’t really regret it at all. Because when it is all said and done, I will have attempted and completed the biggest challenge of my life. And with any luck, you’ll get to see it in the flesh in the summer of 2016. Or sometime around there ;)
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RACER’S JOHN
Library
BAECHTEL
PRACTICAL ENGINE AIRFLOW Performance Theory and Applications
T
John Baechtel is former editor of both Hot Rod and Car Craft magazines and currently owns and operates Landspeed Media Group. His newest site, Hot Rod Engine Tech (www. hotrodenginetech.com) is a fantastic source of information for any high performance engine builder. He is a regular contributor to TUBBED Magazine. Check him out at www.johnbaechtel.com or contact him at http://hotrodenginetech.com/ contact/.
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he all new Practical Engine Airflow book by John Baechtel seeks to demystify this complex subject and present the basics of engine airflow in easy to understand terms for the average hot rodder and engine builder. You don’t need to know a lot of mathematics to understand and apply the basic concepts to improve your personal engine projects. The dynamics of airflow in a running engine are quite well understood at this point in time and this new book offers insight and clear explanations of what happens to the air on its journey through an engine and why increasing airflow is the key path to power. The book describes the airflow path from atmospheric pressure entering the engine to atmospheric pressure after exiting the engine and all the various changes that occur in between. The secrets to max power are in the processing of air through the engine and efforts to increase the capacity and conditioning of the air/ fuel mixture as it moves through the engine. The physics of airflow are quite complicated, but this book walks the reader through the process starting with air entering the engine at the air cleaner and following the various velocity, pressure and temperature changes that occur through the carburetor, the plenum, runners and ports, combustion chambers and out through the exhaust flow paths. It relates all of these components to links in a chain that represent an expansion of the four cycle concept with three additional cycles that are actually the key to improving torque and power. For example, if you always thought that the compression stroke is the same length as the crank stroke, you
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need this book. It describes in detail the seven cycles of operation and how they are all closely linked with each cycle setting the stage for the next. The book leads off with an explanation of Patrick Hale’s seven cycles and a look at fundamental properties of air and fuel. Hale of course is the original engineer behind the widely regarded Engine Pro simulation software. Each subsequent chapter describes in detail what happens and why when air moves through a particular flow component such as a carburetor or a cylinder head port. The discussion of valve throat diameter to valve diameter is particularly eye opening and you’ll be glad you read it. The information comes direct from some of the top experts in the field. Flow testing and analysis are also covered with descriptions of various flow tools and techniques. Finally practical applications are presented to illustrate how some builders and designers approach particular flow problems in constructing intake manifolds. There’s very little math, but a lot of detailed explanations and solid well proven information. The book is directed at entry level and advanced engine builders and serves as a road map through the engine with mile markers, road signs and point of interest along the way. You will gain a fundamental understanding of how air is processed through an engine and how those processes convert air and fuel into tire wrenching power. Paperback: 176 pages Publisher: Car Tech Books (2015) Language: English ISBN: 1613251572 Available: https://www.cartechbooks.com/ practical-engine-airflow-performance-theoryand-applications.html
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Nography
PRO
GRAPE ’BU Dennis Kann’s Chevy Malibu is a Street Machine Nationals veteran, once rolling the Fairgrounds driven all the way from Clarksville, Tennessee in the 1990s by original builder Carmine Loverchio. While it sported an erapopular pastel blue color scheme with a huge aero scoop, Kann has updated the sleek and smooth Bowtie with a 1981-1982 front end, subtle cowl hood, and a miles-deep grape paintjob with highly detailed graphics. And while we would have loved to shoot the car for a full feature in an upcoming issue at the 2016 Nats, we got busy and just missed out. However, lucky for you (and us!), John Mitchell snapped these pics out in front of the stables for your viewing pleasure. John Mitchell photos
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Nography
PRO
CAVALIER... TAKE TWO Dana Moline’s cool Chevy Cavalier is no newcomer to the pro street scene, as it was a classic build out of a well known shop back in the 1990s. However, the former front-wheeldrive Chevy’s current motivation sure is a modern twist. Moline is now enjoying fourdigit horsepower thanks to a twin turbo LS powerplant that not only produces an insane amount of ponies, but also does it with modern reliability and fuel efficeincy. Look for a full feature in an upcoming issue of RPM Magazine. Dana Moline photos provided
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P
ro street comes in many flavors. If you think of fat-tired rides like language, then there are plenty of “accents” based in region, based in availability, and based in personal taste. Some opt for sleek and modern, while others opt for the wildest, most over-the-top build they can conjure up. It’s safe to say that Brighton, Illinois native Rod Bollini falls squarely in the latter category. One look at his insane 1991 Dodge Dakota is all it takes to hammer home the idea that if a little is good, a lot must be better. “I started building cars when I was 15,” Bollini said. A Mopar enthusiast from day one, that first car was a 1973 Gold Duster given to him by his grandmother. After it met an untimely demise in an accident, Bollini moved on to a blown pro street 1977 Ramcharger that he still has today. However, the urge was there to build something even more off the beaten path in celebration of pro street’s recent resurgence in popularity. “I always wanted a V-8 Dakota that was totally different. I don’t like cookie-cutter builds,” Bollini remarked. As a result, the funloving Illinoisan acquired the truck in trade, then spent the better part of the next decade to develop what is arguably the wildest, most radical pro street Pentastar pickup the world has ever seen. STEVE SLAMMED IT The Dakota was slick in its debut at the Street Machine Nationals in 2015, but Bollini and friend Steve Yates of Yates Performance Chassis added tons of cool touches for 2016 to set it into the upper echelon of pro street. The air ride front was custom fabricated, as was the rear wing and custom Big-N-Ugly injector hat adapted to fit the Demon carbs.
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SPRING
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TOWER OF POWER Bollini leaned heavily on Indy Cylinder Heads to put the potent Mopar mill together. The polished billet 8/71 Blower Shop huffer sports a pair of boost referenced Demon carbs, a Big-N-Ugly Enderle scoop, and a custom Steve Yates-built billet adapter that incorporates a K&N filter from a Subaru inside. The custom NOS 150-shot fogger system adds cool good looks and an added shot of power in the event that the 900+ ponies aren’t enough.
First, the low-slung stance with big-nlittles took more than one attempt to meet Bollini’s expectations, but the end result is dead-on perfect. Out back, Bollini installed a mild steel Chassis Engineering backhalf and cage himself using 1 5/8-inch DOM tubing. A custom 4-link was partnered with Strange singleadjustable coil overs to suspend the shortened Dana 60 housing. The rearend was set up by Vance Miller, and was stuffed with Strange 35-spline axles and Richmond 4:10 gears. A pair of 15x15inch double beadlocked Billet Specialties Street Lites
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have been shod with 33x21.5-15 Mickey Thompson Sportsman SR steamrollers in back, while matching 15x4 Street Lites roll up front. Strange disc brakes have been mounted on each corner and plumbed with custom stainless hard lines to help the Dodge stop as quikly as it starts. Up front, Bollini initially debuted the truck with the deepest static drop he could find, but opted to redo the front suspension over the winter of
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2015 to get it even lower. Steve Yates of Yates Performance Chassis modified the stock frame rails to fit a custom Mustang II setup with Air Lift bags and Bell Tech shocks to get the Green Monster waaaay down in the weeds. In order to tuck the tires, Yates had to modify and narrow the stock front track width by five inches, but the end result is clearly worth the effort. The towering pile of polished aluminum wretched excess reaching skyward from the hoodless engine bay is no more or less subtle than the rest of the build. Bollini started with a 440 scavenged from an RV, only to discover that he couldn’t equip it with a 500 ci stroker kit after the initial machine work had been done. Undeterred, Bollini called up Indy Cylinder Head, who were ready, willing, and able to help him see his vision through to reality. First, an iron Chrysler block was equipped with 9.5:1 compression Ross pistons swinging from Eagle 6.76-inch rods on an Eagle 4.150inch stroke crankshaft. A customground Indy Street Blower spec solid roller cam by COMP works in unison with the aluminum Indy SR310 cylinder heads that have been equipped with Indy adjustable roller rockers. Topping the whole glorious concoction is an Indy blower intake with a Blower Shop 8/71 billet huffer sporting dual 750 cfm Demon blower carbs and a polished converted Enderle BigN-Ugly injector hat. The hat has been modified to accept a K&N filter from a 2009 Subaru. As if that weren’t enough, Steve Yates also bent up a cool 150-shot NOS Cheater nitrous system on a custom plate.
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DANA, LOOOOK OWWT! The narrowed Dana 60 rearend has been equipped with Strange 35-spline axles and Richmond 4.10 gears. The Strange shocks smooth the bumps on the custom 4-link setup.
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An 8-quart Milodon pan houses an Indy custom high output oil pump with swinging pickup to keep the internals adequately lubricated. An MSD 6 BTM ignition and Pro Billet distributor handle sparking chores, while the remains of spent gases are routed rearward through custom ownerfabbed and Nitro-plated 2 1/8-inch collector headers. The 3.5-inch exhaust and Flow Master Hush Power mufflers dump just ahead of the rear wheel openings. A Vintage Air Maxi-Cool system was also installed to keep occupants comfy on longer cruises.
Once complete, the combo was good for more than 900 horses and almost 850 ft.-lbs. of torque. “When Russ at Indy Cylinder Head faxed me the dyno sheet showing that the engine did 916 hp at 6,400 rpm on pump gas, I was blown away,” Bollini said. Backing the potent mill is a beefed-up Chrysler 727 3-speed transmission assembled by Coan. A Mopar Performance 8-bolt flexplate has been affixed to a Coan 2,800 rpm stall converter. A custom shortened 3-inch driveshaft then couples power from the tail shaft to the rear housing.
SKULLS AND SUEDE The SkullZilla theme carries inside via a smoothed and painted dash with more cool graphics by Daniel Deren. Bollini had pro street legends and friends autograph the dash for an added personal touch. Elsewhere in the interior, the clean cage features swing out sidebars, while the complimentary charcoal grey color adorns the headliner, door panels, and custom wrapped factory bench seat, room enough for Bollini and gal pal Beth Bramley to ride at one of many events you’re likely to see the wild Dodge at across the Midwest most summers.
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Given Bollini’s the-crazierthe-better approach to pro street, paint and body on the Dakota are necessarily wild and over the top, too. Body mods include shaved door handles and a smooth tailgate skin along with a Carriage Works billet grille. Additionally, fabricator extraordinaire Steve Yates again came to the rescue, whipping up a custom front spoiler, rear wing, and nitrous bottle mounts. James Tucker and Tony Weber performed the initial prep work before handing off to Daniel Deren for the Synergy Green/House of Kolor Kandy Green pain and insane airbrushed graphics. The 34 skulls are so detailed that you can actually see them sweating, and the effort was good enough to walk away with a 2015 Street Machine Nationals Legends of Pro Street Best Paint award.
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Jeff Jones and Denny Paynic teamed up on the fresh interior that is clean and straightforward. The smoothed dash has been painted to match the exterior and is now adorned with the signatures of many of Bollini’s childhood heroes, the Legends of Pro Street. Leatherwrapped seats have been partnered with 5-way harnesses for style, comfort, and safety, while a dash full of AutoMeter relays all the important data. A billet steering wheel provides a highly polished finishing touch. Subtle, it ain’t. But Rod’s thrilled with the end result, for the attention the truck has garnered, and most importantly for the new friendships he has formed as a result of the build. And like spoken accents, everyone is a bit different and some might even say the SkullZilla is just too much. And that’s just right!
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TUBBED
Life
WHAT CATCHES YOUR EYE...PART II
story and photos by MICHAEL
A
WILD VETTE Rod Saboury’s incredible street-driven twin turbo Vette set new standards of performance with its insane 2,000+ horsepower Moran small block. However, the clean build was also no slouch when it came to fit and finish, either. The multi-hued graphics featured a series of marbelized insets in gray and charcoal with pink and orange scallops adorning the deep candy red basecoat.
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lright gear jammers, here’s the next little article in the series of “What catches your eye at a car show”? On deck is the finish of your street machine: the almighty paint job! The paint job on your little piece of heaven is probably one of the hardest parts of the build, in both choice and execution. Picking the right color, finish, and most importantly, the painter for your obsession can be a make it or break it deal on the overall look and attitude of your baby
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SCHUEREN
you’ve worked so long on to get to this point. Yes, all the panel replacements, body modifications, getting the gaps perfect, putting it together and taking it apart again to make sure it’s all just the way you want it, sanding, primering, sanding again (and again) all add into the equation—BUT the color choice will either help to draw them to check the rest of the car out or cause them to walk on by. Today, the only limitations are your imagination and the body shop/painter’s abilities. There are so many paint companies offering
THE BIRD Matt & Debbie Hay’s legendary Thunderbird set new standards when it came to retina-searing neon hues and flawless finish with the Matt-designed graphics, all applied by Squeeg’s Customs in Phoenix, Arizona. If you think custom paint was expensive back in the day, it is off the charts these days, as Matt said the restoration paint job he had done last year nearly cost more than the entire build did back in 1988. The neon pink hue is so bright that it actually begins fading the moment it comes out of the gun.
THE WIZ Scott Sullivan’s unsurpassed 1955 Chevy proved that even colors like Cheese Wiz Orange can look incredible when applied correctly with tons of subtle body mods. The car set trends still seen now, nearly 30 years after it initially debuted and was sprayed in a two car garage. Perhaps most incredibly, Sullivan was and is widely acknowledged for his incredible airbrush and graphics skills, but the 55 featured few few graphics. In typical Sullivan fashion, what’s there is awesome and worth studying for hours.
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just about any type of finish you can imagine, from candies and pearls to matte finishes. You also have flakes and countless effects packages to create your own one- of-a-kind color and finish. We have come a long way from the laquer paint jobs, as now even waterbased paints are becoming all the rage. BUT, no matter what color or finish you choose, it’s gotta be laid down by a quality painter. Nothing is worse than spending all the money (and it’s a lot) to buy the paint and having someone just throw your money away by not being able to do the proper body prep and laying that color down smoothly. Props to all the guys out there that can properly get a car ready for paint and lay down a killer paint job. I know when I go to the shows, I could spend all day in the House of Kolor and PPG booths just looking at all the different colors with my jaw on the floor. It can truly be overwhelming to have all those great options to choose from in one place. In the past, the most popular colors were always the reds, blues, yellows, and black. However, today it seems the greys and earth-tones are the current trend. You still see a lot of the other colors, but there are more and more builds coming out with the latter combinations. For me, I like the in-your-face colors, and the brighter the better! Something you can see from a mile away, and it just draws you in like a tractor beam is what I especially enjoy. I absolutely love the candies, pearlescent, and flaked-out paint jobs out there. Sure, I like the earth tones and the red, black, blue etc. paint jobs as well as the next guy, but there’s just something about a candy or pearl paint job that burns the image of that car into my mind! I also like how some painters are mixing the finishes up, painting most of the car in one finish and adding
OPTIONS A-PLENTY There have never been more options for cool finishes, from textures, to colors, to graphics. The only limitation is your imagination, your paint and body shop’s abilities...and of course your wallet. These sample tank shapes show but a few of the end results possible.
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TO GRAPHIC... OR NOT TO GRAPHIC Sometimes a wild solid color like the bright yellow or the hot pink pearl like you see on a pair of my old Novas is plenty to capture the eye and draw attention. At the same time, solid colors also have the added benefit of being more timeless and less trendy than many graphics treatment. However, it is hard to argue that a bold in-yourface style like this wild Cuda or flamed multi-hued street rod don’t possess an allure all their own.
a matte finish to another part of the job. Add in the ability to custom mix your own colors, you can now set your ride apart from the rest! Now as much as I try not to talk about it, there’s a lot of interest (why, I do not know) in the “patina” or “barn find” look over the last few years. Now, I am absolutely the last person that will say something isn’t cool...but unless you actually found your car in a barn or field and it’s an all original RARE car, why would you want to spend all the time and money to make it look worn out and ready for the junk yard? Especially with all the options that are available out there today, www.facebook.com/tubbedmagazine
there’s no way I would spend thousands of dollars on body work, chassis, wheels, interior, etc. to make it look like it’s been in a field for 40+ years. That’s just my opinion but if that’s what gets you fired up about your project or dream car, GO FOR IT! Remember, there are NO rules for this hobby of ours, just do what makes YOU happy and want to get out there and enjoy your street machine! |
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Era
FROM THE
DANIEL’S FIRST LOVE
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Jerry Gary, Jr. is a lifelong gearhead and the founder and administrator of the Pro Street Era Facebook Group. Each issue Jerry will be spotlighting a member of the group. Follow the group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ groups/623079954426407/
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hen Daniel Pagniozzi, Jr. was just 13, his father received a telephone call from his Aunt Ann. She had just purchased a brand new car and since she had no need for her originally owned 1957 Chevy, she was inquiring whether he wanted it or should she take it to the local junk yard. Being in a “gearhead” family, his father offered the car to Daniel, and he gladly accepted. At the time, Daniel was living in New Jersey and he and his father would frequent Englishtown Raceway. With a fascination for racecars, his first endeavor with his new love was to yank the engine and transmission. Without a garage, rebellious against his father’s wishes, and in the backyard, Daniel replaced the original engine with a hopped-up angle-plug-headed 327, a solid lifter camshaft, and an Offenhauser intake with dual AFB’s. At the age of 15, Daniel began delivering newspapers and working at a local carwash. He saved up enough money to purchase a 12-bolt posi rear and a Muncie 4-speed transmission. By the time he turned 17, he and the car were ready for the road. In 1985, he started working as a full-time auto technician and dating a very special girl. That same year, Chevrolet came out with the iconic Iroc Z and infamous Iroc blue paint. It wasn’t long after that Daniel decided to paint the ’57 with that same color and added flip-flop white pearl to |
by JERRY
GARY, JR. photos provided
the roof. This would also be the year that he took his soon-to-be wife to the prom. Two years later, the couple was married. In 1989, Daniel and his new bride decided to move to Kentucky, where the car sat garaged until 1992. That year, there was a local car show and Pagniozzi decided it was time to pull out the ’57 and dust it off. In only his first show, he took third place. With boosted confidence in his car, he began attending other events and local cruise-ins. While participating in those was a lot of fun, he felt that there was still something missing. Like a lot of us, Daniel loved looking through magazines and admired the Pro Street look, and within another year, he decided to tub it! He purchased an old 9:90 drag car, which he used mostly for parts, to begin to fulfill his dream. He got started with moving the rear frame rails inward and installed Competition Engineering ladder bars and a Monroe coilover setup. The rear end was narrowed and he installed Moser axles and 3.23 gears, perfect for street use. Next, he replaced the 327 with a built four-bolt 350. The engine was jampacked with high performance parts, including 12.5:1 high compression pistons, a highlift COMP cam, 202 ported and polished heads, and an Edelbrock Victor Junior intake with a 750 double pumper carburetor. While Daniel was swapping out the engines, he decided that it was also time for an upgrade on both the suspension and
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SAVED FROM THE SCRAPPER It might have taken Pagniozzi a few years, but he eventually transformed his Aunt Ann’s old Bel Air into a respectable street machine...and eventually an eraperfect Iroc Blue-hued pro street beast!
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SUBTLE UPDATE In 2016, Pagniozzi swapped his classic Centerlines for a set of Weld Racing Drag Star wheels. Otherwise, the car remains largely unchanged from when he originally built it save for the number on the odometer, as the classic Chevy regularly sees street miles.
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transmission. He rebuilt the entire front suspension and upgraded the braking system with a dual master cylinder and disk brake setup for added stopping power. Wheels were his next big decision. His decided on satin Center Line Auto Drags. For the front, he chose 15x3.5 skinnys and for the rear, a whopping 15x15. These wheels remained on the car up until this year when he decided
to update to the Weld Drag Stars. Daniel loves the new look, but, just in case he wants to go old school for a day, he kept his original Center Lines. The car is basically the same today as it was when he tubbed it in 1993. And who knows what the future will bring for the ’57? One thing that we do know is that after 39 years of ownership, this will always be Daniel’s first true love!
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or the uninitiated, getting your car featured in a magazine can be a real daunting experience. Here at TUBBED, we pretty much rely on two sources of feature content: either the owner contacts us, we agree to write the article, and they source the photos from a local photographer, friend, or even shoot the car themselves or we spot a car we’d like to feature at a major event and handle the pics ourselves. Either way, the owner ends up with a multi-page blank tech sheet that CLASSIC IRON, NEW TECH There isn’t much finer than the clean lines of a 1966-1967 Chevy II hardtop, and the classic bodystyle looks great with massive meats out back. Watson took the build to all new levels by selecting new-school massive wheels and an electronic fuel injection setup for a modern twist.
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serves as the jumping off point for our article. When we spied Omaha, Nebraska, auto repair shop owner Randy Watson’s slippery 1966 Chevy Nova at the 2015 Street Machine Nationals in DuQuoin, we gave it a quick look-over and asked Watson if he was interested in a feature. He gladly obliged and we scheduled a time to complete the shoot. We handed him a tech sheet, assigned him with the arduous task of filling it out as thoroughly as possible, and agreed to meet up the next day. We met as arranged and spent the better part of an hour taking as many photos as we could while trying to pump Watson for info. The friendly Corn Husker would politely nod in agreement, answering our questions in his friendly but muted tone. We finished up the last few shots, he handed over his tech sheet, hopped in and fired his Bowtie to life, and respectfully rumbled down the cruise route behind the fairgrounds. It was one of eight cars we shot that day. When we got back to the hotel, we pulled out the crumpled pile of nearly a dozen tech sheets we had 4CE FED The blown small block barely pokes through the front flip hood thanks to the low profile BDS EFI injection setup. Unlike the old school mechanical setups that utilze the same bug catcher scoop, the computer controlled fuel delivery system helps the car fire right up regardless of the temperature, humidity, or even fuel quality.
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amassed over the course of the weekend. When we got to Watson’s we soon noticed a difference. Much of it was blank. It wasn’t that the car didn’t have a history, or that the build hadn’t encountered its share of hiccups—unless it was some rare miracle, it most certainly had. It was just that Watson would rather just stick to the details and ultimately let the reader decide for his or herself what they think of the car. What we DO know is this: Watson built the well-dressed 350 Chevy engine himself in his own shop. The factory 4-bolt block was bored 0.300 over, pushing displacement to 355 cubes before a stock-stroke forged GM crankshaft was lowered into position. Stock steel connecting rods were mated with TRW 7.5:1 blower pistons to ensure the combo was boost friendly and adequately satisfied with standard fare pump gas. A Crower hydraulic roller bumpstick is spun via a double roller timing chain, WELL DRESSED MOUSE The 355 ci Chevy was built by Watson and features a forged steel crank and rods with 7.5:1 TRW forged blower pistons and a Crower cam. Outise, the big polished huffer has been partnered with a number of other polished aluminum goodies and tasteful paint work to tie the engine bay all together. Note the same tear-away graphics found on the car’s exterior carried through to the tinwork located beneath the Buick LeSabre-hinged front flip hood.
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CLASSY CHASSIS The narrowed 9-inch Ford rearend features an open rearend with shortened factory axles and Mickey Thompson Sportsman SRs on ginormous 20x15 Boyd Coddington hoops, as Watson built the Nova for cruising rather than thrashing at the track. The entire undercarriage has been smoothed and painted body color with a heavy dose of chrome fasteners throughout. The car idles peacefully through the owner-fabricated dual exhaust, but whines to life when Watson mashes the go pedal. Even the Mustang II rack and pinion has been fully detailed. Note the low mount chrome alternator to allow room for the big 3-inch blower drive, too.
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and a Melling high volume oil pump resides within a 6-quart deep sump pan to keep things slippery inside. A pair of SR Torquer heads were added next, followed by some billet two piece valve covers and a Cragar aluminum blower intake. Topping the whole thing is a big polished 6/71 GMC huffer that has been crowned with a very street friendly BDS EFI system with bug catcher scoop, making the combo purr like a kitten as Watson idled around the grounds. An MSD Pro Billet distributor and MSD box have been entrusted with ignition duties, while a Webster aluminum radiator serves to keep everything nice and cool and an Aeromotive electric fuel pump keeps the fossilized dinosaur remains flowing to the thirsty BDS system. A pair of Sanderson 2 ½-inch ceramic coated headers route the exhaust fumes rearward into an owner-fabricated dual exhaust system. Backing the blown Mouse is a relatively unconventional Richmond 6-speed transmission. A Hays 11-inch clutch has been
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partnered with a Hays pressure plate and a Denny’s Driveline mild steel driveshaft sends the power back to the rearend. Speaking of the rearend, the Nova runs a narrowed Ford 9-inch open differential with shortened factory axles. A Richmond 3.89 gearset ensures easy interstate cruising whenever Watson feels the urge. Accommodating the narrowed rear diff is a full mild steel frame fabricated and installed by Watson. A custom 4-link with coil overs rides out back while an Art Morrison Mustang II clip has been installed up front to do away with the atrocious factory Nova suspension—notorious for requiring an odd-ball oil pan (among other drawbacks). A set of Wilwood disc brakes has been installed on each corner along with a Wilwood aluminum master cylinder under the hood. Rolling stock is decidedly new-school-huge, with 18x6 Boyd Coddington wheels rolling up front along with matching 20x15 hoops out back. Mickey Thompson Sportsman SR tires of undisclosed dimensions round out the rolling stock. Body mods are copious on the ride, all of which were handled by Watson himself. Although he didn’t tell us directly, from what we can gather the car has been treated to an aerated and smoothed factory steel hood that was reverse-mounted using a chromed 80-something Buick LeSabre hinge. Suicide doors, shaved handles and SCULPTED TWEED Interior in the little Duece was adaptly handled by Tracy Weaver of the Recovery Room in Omaha, Nebraska. The suicide doors reveal sculpted tweed door panels and headliner along with a pair of Tea’s Design low back buckets, while the dash has been painted body color and filler with Auto Meter instumentation.
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moldings, body color headlight and taillight trim, stretched rear wheel openings, and a custom one-off grille are apparent on a casual glance. Smoothed and painted bumpers, a smoothed firewall with slick underhood-tinwork, round out the tricks. Watson applied the PPG two-stage Electric Currant Red hue along with the unique 3-D painted splatter graphic along the flanks and carried under the hood of the classic Chevy. “That 3-D effect wasn’t on purpose. It was supposed to be totally smooth,” Watson admitted. “However, after I saw the way it turned out, I thought it was really unique so I decided to keep it,” he added. The interior of the Deuce is clean and not fussy, but Watson has plans for a redo in the near future. A modest 4-point roll bar has been surrounded with acres of gray tweed and plush carpet by Tracy Weaver at Recovery Room interiors in Omaha. Weaver upholstered the street rod-style Tea’s Design low back buckets along with the custom door panels and head liner. AutoMeter gauges fill the dash, while a Billet Specialties steering wheel provides a cool touch from the driver’s seat, as does a Long shifter that Watson uses to row the gears. So that’s it. Other than the fact the build took Watson around six years to complete, that’s literally all we know. Other than the fact Randy Watson’s Nova is a cool mix of modern and traditional pro street cool. But you didn’t hear that from him.
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