All exterior trim was shaved...
All exterior trim was shaved save for the grille, bumpers, headlight rings, and the door handles. Front wheel openings were raised and reshaped with a new radius as were the rear openings, though to a lesser degree. Starting with PPG’s DCC 9300 black paint, PVW applied two coats of black base, three coats of 50/50 black and clear mix, followed by three coats of DCU 2002 Integrated Clear, then lots of wet sanding and buffing to get the black so deep you wouldn’t want to swim in it.
Hushmat was used everywhere it could stick inside the car before the tan cut pile carpet was laid down. Air conditioning ducts run from the Vintage Air Gen IV system under the dash to not only the driver and passenger, but through the custom center console to the rear seating area, too. The appearance of the dash is stock, but everything related to it has been updated, including the gauges from Redline Gauge Works, who screened the owner’s name to the bottom of each gauge face. A Flaming River Waterfall steering wheel fits to an ididit column, and a Secret Audio System (with a Pioneer-based 10-disc CD changer) allows the music to flow through Pioneer speakers in the doors and rear package tray, though Don might prefer the motor’s music to anything else. And with all of the car’s electrical requirements (from the infamous reworking of a GM wiring harness, seemingly incompatible fuel management systems, construction, and concept changes, all while trying to keep everything out of sight) somebody ought to give Vic Maguire, the guy from Nine 81 who did all the wiring in the car, a medal of some sort for getting it all figured out. Once feeling everything was in place, Simonson took the car to Alvin Anderson at PCM For Less in Mooresville, North Carolina. PCM For Less are the go-to guys when special tuning is needed and they also have a chassis dyno available for accurate rear-wheel horsepower readings. Initial dyno pulls with this car were so impressive, they had to dial back the boost to a moderate 10 pounds, which generated 600 hp and 560 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheel—a respectable amount in anyone’s book. But if they were to increase the boost to 22 pounds, the math says this configuration would develop 1,000 hp!
The car debuted last year at the NSRA’s Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky, and it was also at the Goodguys Charlotte event a month later where it won a STREET RODDER Top 100 award, as well as a Builder’s Choice award. But, amazing as the car is, what is probably the most amazing thing about the build is the relationship between the owner and builder. During the entire build process, from when the car was dropped off to when it was finished, Simonson and Don never met face to face. Simonson would send photos of the process every week, but the first time Don saw his car done is when PVW’s McKichan and Simonson delivered it to him and backed it out of the trailer. Now that’s trust in your builder! And though a picture may be worth a thousand words, Don Jackson was just speechless when he saw his new ride for the first time, and we can bet it’s the same feeling most folks get when they see it.