Black Label Coatings: Custom Powder Coating, Color Matching & Show-Quality Work(with Victor Pate)

Black Label Coatings: Custom Powder Coating, Color Matching & Show-Quality Work(with Victor Pate)

In this Hotrods and Hijinks episode filmed at LilyJack Customs in downtown Greeneville, the hosts talk with Victor Pate of Black Label Coatings about his one-man powder coating shop and how he focuses on difficult, high-detail work other shops avoid. Victor explains his background in paint, the lack of touch-ups in powder, and his process from chemical stripping and outgassing to blasting, curing, and multi-stage finishes, including powder-only graphics and artwork inspired by tattoo flash. He discusses developing custom powders (signature satin black, murderous gloss black, and clear), launching blacklabelpowders.com [http://blacklabelpowders.com] during COVID, and why he scaled back production. Victor also covers wheel refinishing with in-house mounting and balancing, equipment and air management upgrades, maintenance tips, warranty, and standout projects like Patrick-from-SpongeBob wheels, plus his long-term 1975 C10 build.

Chats and Greene County Real Estate Update w/ Tom Willett (Greeneville & Co.) | Hot Rods & Hijinks

At LilyJack Customs in downtown Greeneville, the Hot Rods & Hijinks podcast welcomes Tom Willett of TRC Logistics and Greeneville & Co. Realty to talk about growing up across Greene County and how that local knowledge helps in real estate. Willett explains why Chuckey is currently the county’s most desirable area, discusses land and home pricing differences by location, and shares market numbers showing active listings are flat year-over-year while land listings are down. He describes his approach to pricing, flipping vs. rehabbing and renting, FHA anti-flip rules, and how barndominiums and newer manufactured homes compare to stick-built houses. The group also discusses out-of-town buyers (many from Florida), local growth, zoning and development challenges, affordable housing, tiny homes/containers, and frustrations with Zillow estimates and panhandling.

From Minivan Mods to NOPI Nationals: Mike Cooper’s Wild Car Scene Stories & the On the Stax Journey

From Minivan Mods to NOPI Nationals: Mike Cooper’s Wild Car Scene Stories & the On the Stax Journey Mike Cooper, owner of On the Stax, joins the podcast to reminisce about early-2000s East Tennessee car culture, car clubs, and cruising scenes, from minivan and mini-truck mods to imports, big wheels, and air ride. He recounts building a heavily modified Mazda 5 daily driver with air ride, carbon fiber parts, an elaborate Sound Decision stereo setup with many TVs, and the costs and tire wear that eventually led him to trade it in after winning at NOPI Nationals, where class winners had to make major changes to return. The group swaps stories about major shows like Slammed Enough and Lebanon, discusses how trends evolve (including electric cars and new engine tech), and shares Mike’s infamous Gatlinburg arrests tied to car-show antics. Mike also explains how he quit drinking, found Friday Night Magic, and opened On the Stax nearly four years ago as a Pokémon/Magic buy-sell-trade tabletop shop serving mostly adults, with Pokémon demand driving big business.

Dale Kyker: 46 Years in the Car Business, Oldsmobile Stories, Netflix's Swap Shop Behind the Scenes & Building Guy Fieri’s Camaro Clone

Recording at LilyJack Customs in downtown Greeneville, the Hot Rods and Hijinks podcast welcomes Dale Kyker of Kyker's Extreme Automotive, a 46-year veteran of the car business and cast member of Netflix’s Swap Shop. Dale discusses the ’84 Oldsmobile 98 Regency he drove in (27,000 miles, first time in rain), his farm upbringing and work ethic, and how he started at Captain D’s and then with Kent Bewley in tobacco warehouses before rising from detail rack to technician and becoming the youngest service manager in the Atlanta zone. He shares memories of Oldsmobile history, 1980s tech and emissions quirks, diesel engine failures, and shop-rate changes, plus launching his own shop, running multiple dealerships, and the realities of TV production. Dale also describes building a highly accurate Guy Fieri Camaro clone for a Myrtle Beach Flavortown restaurant and highlights upcoming Greene County Fair events.

Hot Rods & Hijinks: LilyJack Shop Updates, Car Shows & the “Man Horse” Prank

In this episode of Hot Rods and Hijinks at LillyJack Customs in downtown Greeneville, Tennessee, Reed and Tommy Bennett sit down to talk shop updates, recent events, and small-town mischief. They recap hosting an NSRA shop tour, a pre-party with The Vertical Birds, and a downtown car show with about 400 cars, with plans to do it again in October and hopes for a future soapbox derby return. Reed shares what’s happening in the shop—staffing, parts delays, and projects including a flamethrower truck nearing completion, a Lincoln transmission, multiple Camaros, Jeeps, a CJ light restoration, and a big dually build with semi wheels that needs a name. The conversation drifts into food stories, local happenings, cruises, and pranks, highlighted by the “man horse” rooftop statue story and a movie-theater call that led to a shutdown for deep cleaning.