Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Smith.
Josh, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
How did I come up with the name Pickle Performance you ask? Well in 2018 my wife and I were drinking some wine by the fire pit and we started talking about our bucket lists. I mentioned that it would be really cool to make a viral video. She looked at me and said, “Oh yeah, about what?” I looked her dead in the eyes and replied, “Pickles.” After a few glasses of wine, I started talking in a funny voice while naming off all different types of pickles. (Think of Bubba from Forest Gump but with pickles) We sent the video to a few close friends and we were all dying laughing. That’s when the character, Steve Dill, was born. While nothing actually went viral, I did get some pretty good views and lots of good laughs with friends and family.
During the time I was making the Steve Dill videos, I was also building my friend Justin’s, twin-turbo mustang. Once the car finally hit the street, people quickly gained interest. When people asked who built the car, Justin would always say, “It was built by Pickle.” Pickle became my nickname in the car community, once they got ahold of my Steve Dill videos. Soon after, I started getting other people who wanted me to build their cars, so I started taking on 1-2 cars at a time, spending most of my nights and weekends in the garage. That is how Pickle Performance was born.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
When it comes to modifying cars- smooth would be the last word I use to describe it. Each build is unique, so they all present their own challenges. I try to take each challenge as a learning experience, and use it to help me grow. It’s just that much more gratifying when a challenging build finally comes together, and the finished product gets to the customer.
Please tell us more about your work. What do you do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
I build performance cars. Some of the specialties include: installing single pickle choppers (turbo kits), duel pickle choppers (twin-turbo kits), belt-driven pickle choppers (superchargers), oil pump gears, and fuel systems to name a few. I’m known for building fast and reliable streetcars. What sets me apart from others is my customer service and attention to detail. I like to keep my customers constantly updated and will give them a play-by-play of their build as it progresses. I also post my builds on social media so others can follow along as I go. Overall, the support I’ve gotten in the car scene around Dallas has been amazing.
My proudest moment was when we ran a low 9 second quarter-mile in Justin’s car, the first time out on the track. We worked together game planning that builds for months, and to see it all come together was really rewarding.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Hmmm, a lesson that I have learned… a fishing string is my best friend when installing Oil Pump Gears in a Coyote 5.0.
The first time I installed Oil Pump Gears in a Coyote, I spent a solid 3 hours to remove and reinstall ONE bolt on the oil pickup tube. I read on the forums that many had successfully removed the bolt, with the pan still on the engine, so that was my game plan. I removed the front bolt off of the pickup tube without any issues. I thought to myself, “Ha, how hard can the rear bolt be?” After going through my toolbox, I found a wrench that I eventually modified so I could get on the rear bolt. I cracked it loose and slowly started removing the bolt with my fingers. I finally turned the last thread, when the bolt slipped out of my fingers and dropped into the oil pan.
After returning from buying every magnet that Harbor Freight had to offer, I went to “fishing” the bolt out of the oil pan. I finally retrieved the bolt, only to drop it back in the pan a few more times when I was trying to re-install it. The next time I installed oil pump gears I figured out that tying a fishing string to the bolt saves on hours of “fishing” a bolt out of the pan with a magnet.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 469-367-8591
- Email: pickleperformancetx@gmail.com
- Instagram: pickleperformance
- Facebook: pickleperformance
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