From Jim Meyer,
I really enjoy the design, engineering and mechanical side of the builds. I’ll leave the metal work, body and paint along with upholstery to the professionals. I’ve always like the 1967 Chevrolets, I think because when I turned 16 GM was running all the Chevelle, Nova and Camaro commercials on TV. I’m too tall for a Camaro, so I built a very nice 67 Chevelle and then this over the top Nova. I was fortune enough to find a really rust free car here locally, that had be in storage for 20 years. As I stated I like the challenge of designing these cars to be like something GM would have done if they had todays technology back then.
After helping my brother build his 57 Chevy Belair 2 door hard top and getting in the top 5 at the TRI FIVE NATIONALS in Kentucky, I decided (now that my family was grown up) to build something really nice for me. This build was a little different, I retired from the plastic industry and started working on the mechanical side with the Roadster Shop chassis and the GM Performance LS3 and when I took the car to Ron Jones and Ron Jones Garage LLC in Windsor, CO. for the metal work. We had been friends for years and I told him I really don’t like retirement, he offered me a part time job ordering parts at his hot rod shop, so I started part time for a couple weeks then it turns into full time and I love it. So I was able to oversee the total build in all the departments and was able to make design changes and additions on a daily basis.
It was a great experience having a freshly built car go around the Auto Cross track at both Goodguys Columbus OH and Dallas TX, almost with out any issues ( we ran out of fuel on the third lap in Texas) lol.
I like the cars show scene and talking to all the other builders and attendance.
The following is an article from "The Block" by Chevrolet Performance.
Blownaway:
Jim Meyer’s 1967 Nova is an LS-powered Beauty
WORDS: DAN HODGDON
When Jim Meyer turned 16 in September 1966, television ads for the forthcoming 1967
model year Chevrolet vehicles began to appear. As the now iconic versions of the
Camaro, Chevelle and Nova flickered across his screen, he was immediately hooked.
Fast forward several decades and he now owns a gorgeous Glacier Ice Blue ’67 Nova
named “Blownaway.”
The car is powered by a Chevrolet Performance LS376/525 crate
engine* and is topped with a 2.9L Whipple supercharger – both for
added power and to provide a unique look.
The Nova was a finalist in the prestigious Street Machine of the
Year category during the 2023 Goodguys Summit Nationals in
Columbus, Ohio. It also finished in the top 10 in the Pro’s Pick
category at the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky,
and was named a Chevrolet Performance Builder of the Year finalist
in the GM Iron class at the Goodguys Colorado Nationals in
Loveland, Colorado. The Nova also won Best Use of Color at the
Colorado Nationals event.
The car was built by Ron Jones Garage in Windsor, Colorado, just
north of Denver, a place where the car’s owner now works.
“I worked for several large, major corporations and then retired, but
retirement wasn’t for me,” said Meyer, a native of Fort Collins,
Colorado, during the Goodguys Columbus event. “Ron was nice
enough to hire me.”
As a result, the owner of the car was in the shop during much of the
project’s four-and-a-half-year build, offering a unique perspective on
the day-to-day work.
Meyer found the rust-free car near Denver after a father-and-son
duo was unable to finish the project. The Nova had sat in a trailer
covered in primer for a decade when Meyer obtained the car and
began the build in earnest. He bought the LS376/525 as part of
a Connect & Cruise Crate Powertrain System with a Super Magnum
six-speed manual transmission. He also purchased a Roadster Shop
FAST TRACK chassis for improved handling and performance.
Meyer then found Ron Jones Garage, which disassembled the
vehicle and went to work with some custom fabrication. The team
narrowed the chassis’ rear end four inches, and ultimately, turned it
into a bolt-on chassis as opposed to its original weld-on nature. The
shop’s fabricator, Justin, added new sheet metal to the Nova’s body
as well before it was put back on the car.
After adding the supercharger and doing some mechanical work
himself, Meyer brought the car back to the shop and soon started
working there.
“The scope of the project got bigger and bigger and the excitement
got more and more with Ron's help and Justin's help, and a lot of
the people in the shop came up with ideas,” Meyer said.
He selected the LS3-based power plant for multiple reasons, and
sees it as a perfect combination with the Whipple supercharger.
“I wanted the reliability of the [LS376/525], but I wanted a little bit
more horsepower,” Meyer said. “Not that I needed it, it just was a
man thing I guess. And I wanted the sound of the Whipple. But I
wanted the durability and reliability of the GM crate motor.”
The Chevrolet Performance LS376/525 crate engine is based on the
standard 6.2L LS3 crate offering* from the Bowtie, but features an
aggressive ASA camshaft to help make 525 horsepower and 486
lb.-ft. of torque.
The team at Ron Jones Garage added some custom touches to the
power plant as well, most notably, 3D printing and pouring urethane
boots to hide all of the fuel injectors. They also designed and
poured a mold of the throttle body designed to hide a variety of
connectors and wires. In addition, the engine sports custom valve
covers with “Blownaway” in billet aluminum script. The name is
partly a nod to the supercharged engine, and also appears on the
trunk and dashboard.
For Ron Jones Garage, adding the Connect & Cruise package was
fairly easy,
“We do a lot of Connect & Cruise, the majority of the stuff in our
shop are LS-based Connect & Cruise [packages],” Jones said. “We
love that concept. We like the looks, we know we can modify it, we
know we can fire it up, we know we can run it. You can’t beat that.”
The team changed the location of the engine, however, and also
added a modified two-inch cowl-induction hood for improved
fitment.
“We did move this one back four inches and down two inches to
give us more hood clearance,” Meyer said. “So it would probably
make somebody a great track car because the center of gravity is at
a lower depth.”
He was able to put that concept to good use in Columbus, where
autocross is part of the Street Machine of the Year program.
“Drivability-wise it’s just hard to beat,” Jones said.
The car sits on Michelin Super Sport tires measuring 345/35/19 in
the rear and 245/35/18 up front. They are wrapped around bronze
Curtis Speed Equipment wheels; Meyer has known owner Mike
Curtis’ father since they went to school together.
The wheels complement both the bronze accents under the hood
and the Nova’s blue paint, a custom version of Meyer’s favorite
color. Other exterior modifications include flush-mount glass and
the deletion of the vent windows.
JJ’s Upholstery in Denver was responsible for the interior, which
maintains the bronze-and-blue look. The leather seats feature a
bronze square-checker pattern that matches the checkers on the
grill and rear of the car. The interior also includes a one-off dash
and a one-off console inspired by a C8 Corvette.
Ron Jones Garage has been in business since 2009 and now counts
17 employees. Among its other current projects are a 1969
Chevrolet K10 4x4 featuring an LT5 crate engine*, a 1958 Corvette
and a 1966 Pontiac GTO each powered by the LS376/525, and a
1959 Chevrolet Apache set to utilize LS power.
The team has won multiple awards, and despite the distance to
many major events in the eastern portion of the United States, can
often be found showing its vehicles at them.
The owner of the Nova also working as an employee added a
unique element to this project.
“It’s really difficult to build a car with the customer there every day,
“Jones joked. “He sees everything. Everything that goes well and
everything that doesn't go well.
“There are so many details and it's nice that at our shop a lot of
guys have a lot of creative minds and we just kind of bounce ideas
off of each other and then we have a final product.”
Meyer is also proud of the team’s accomplishments, of which he is
now a major part.
“It’s been a long-term labor of love with ups and downs, thrashing,
and then making decisions and backing up and doing some things
over again just to get it right,” Meyer said. “Ron is very particular
with the fine details. I don't really see them until I see them, he sees
them immediately. So, with his help and guidance and everybody
else that helped, they built a wonderful car. We’re very happy with
it.”
2023-2024 Awards 1967 Nova SS
Owner Jim Meyer
Builder Ron Jones Garage
Top Ten - Battle of the Builders SEMA 2023 - NV
2023 Finalist - Muscle Machine – Goodguys TX
2023 Finalist - GM Iron Builder of the Year – Goodguys CO
2023 Best Use of Colors – Goodguys CO
Top - Ten Pros Pick NSRA Nationals – KY
2023 Street Machine of the Year Finalist – Goodguys OH
2024 Omaha NE. World of Wheels -1 st Place Pro Turing
2024 Omaha NE. World of Wheels -Best Street Machine
2024 Salt Lake City UT. World of Wheels -1 st Place Pro Turing
2024 Salt Lake City UT World of Wheels -Best Street Machine
I want to send a special Thank You to Jim Meyer for taking the time to send in his AMAZING Nova to share with everyone! Fantastic car and even Greater people! Like I have always said, It's the cars that bring the people together!
Want your car featured here like Jim's? All you have to do is send your photos, info and stories to me at : streetmachinecentral@gmail.com
And we will get it done for you so you can show the World your pride and joy!!
Photos Supplied by Jim Meyer and Street Machine Central
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