Don’s Auto Parts - 54 Years of Hot Rodding
By noderel:
Don’s Auto Parts was founded way back in 1961 by Don Jones of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kenosha is a car town where Ramblers were made for many years. With many car-savvy AMC workers for customers and Great Lakes Dragaway just down the road in Union Grove, the company became a successful hot rodding business that has served the sport ever since.
Today, the people who work at Don’s Auto Parts share a lifetime of motorsports activities from sprint cars to dragsters. Don’s customers also include stock car drivers, street rod builders and muscle car restorers.
The unassuming name of the business makes it sound like a local auto parts store, but Don’s Auto Parts is a lot more than that. In fact, Jones encourages his employees to build on their experience by sending them to machinist schools, trade shows and seminars. Many of the workers also get directly involved in racing their own cars.
Hot rodders in the Kenosha area appreciate the fact that Don’s is a full-service machine shop operation. In addition to rebuilding and testing cylinder heads and overhauling and upgrading cylinder blocks, Don’s can resurface intake and exhaust manifolds, grind crankshafts, rebuild starters and alternators and repair and balance drive shafts.
The team working for rodders at Don’s Auto Parts includes engine rebuilder Chris Sucharda, electrical wizard Chuck Diel, ASE certified machinist Jason Holmes and cylinder head machinist Kenny Keepers. Tony Pontillo and Mary Barnes work at Don’s Auto Parts partner, Kenosha Starter & Alternator. Randy Plotz serves as Shop Manager and engine designer. Plotz, who has 30 years of engine building experience, is currently constructing a 1947 Ford sedan delivery with a 415-cid Ford stroker engine.