Projects A late introduction-Junior Conway coupe build

I was at Glin's glass shop yesterday picking up some glass for a 59 Ford I'm painting and got to check out your ride. Man you did a bang up job on it.. nice work! My dad and Glin have been hot rod buds for EVER...

 

Ok, everyone agree's, it's a nice car but, this is ridiculous and just wrong on so many levels. Oh wait... it's Evel taking some pics for his Mad Fabricaters Society DVD series.

 

More Evel.

 

Now let's see the teaser Evel!

 

Hahahaha good times!! Teaser soon I promis!!

 

Last of the pics from Evel's shoot. Afterwards we went careening through the neighborhood using both lanes of traffic. I was a little ahead of him as he was shooting out of his rolled down window.

The neighbors used to think it was fun seeing that car, now, the kids are quickly shooed inside and the curtains are drawn when it comes out of the shop (just in the driveway).

Thank you, Mr. Evel.

 

Well done Jer ! I would love to see it in The Rodders Journal ! Bought the Kustom Illustrated and I want to see more. It deserves it.

 

I would like to thank you for this thread. This has to be one of the best build threads on the board. We are lucky to have you share it with us.

 

Here we are at Glenn's (cutterglenn) glass shop to get the w/s replaced. His assesement of the reason that it cracked was because of the heat that the trouble light put on the glass. The doors had been open during the r&r and we needed a jump.

I need to add that I drove there. A good long way.

 

I need to add that I drove there. A good long way.[/QUOTE]

Alright!!!...You're gonna get hooked Jerry! .....Drivin' 'em is what it's about....

 

This made me very happy!!

 

The mail man is at it again.

 

Heres one of the driving shots.. Camera was mounted on the rear bumper..

 

Looks more like the front bumper to me.

BB

 

Hahahaha Back bumper facing the front. Its a small video camera that has a suction mount and mounts on the rear bumper..

 

Oh I get it now, I thought you meant that this picture was taken by the bumper mounted camera. My Bad.

BB

 

As I stated earlier about the Dallas show - there were definite benefits being placed where I was. I was asked about driving the car to various places and stated that I would never drive this car on the freeway, it has 3.7's.This was during the move in (thurs nite). Tim Pogue (Junior Stock) overheard that exchange, introduced himself and mentioned that he had 3.2's that he would be willing to swap with me. We continued talking and I took his phone #. After the trip to Glenn's for the glass I was reminded of that interaction after listening to my 8BA protesting. I called Tim last week and that has resulted in the pics you see here. We spent some time together and both agreed that the H.A.M.B. has struck again. Thanks Tim.

This will let me do some more fine tuning in this area on the car.

 

Nice work Piero!

 

Piero is my........errr.........hero

 

This is going to let me be able to deal with some things that have been "buggin'" me.

 

The lower these cars are the more complicated life becomes. Sometimes I think this thread needs to be renamed MY LIFE AS THE OWNER OF THE JUNIOR CONWAY COUPE. It's cool to read about and to think, Ah yes, if I had a car like that I'd...Every things is fun/cool when it's theory. Real life is usually a little (a lot) different.

When we were discussing the lowering issue awhile back, we (I) learned that for this car to be correct it needed 5" lowering blocks along with dearched rear springs to get to the right level. The blocks had to be made. There are no 5" blocks, just 3", 4" and 6". 4" wasn't enough, 6" was too much.

Juniors contribution to the conversation was owning a car like this was a sonofabitch but, it's what you did back then. I asked Jr about access to the rear wheels/tires. His response was forget it.

Well now I know what he was talking about. Theory has crashed head on into stark reality. After jacking up the rear to get it to working height for this differential change I was amazed at just how far up there the wheels/tires are. Randy (RDR) mentioned that he removed his shocks at the lower attachment points and that gave him a couple more inches downward movement on the assembly in the wheel opening. After (gladly) taking his advice I could see that I still wasn't going to get those things outa there. I deflated the tires completely and was finally able to force them out of the wheel openings by forcing the assembly downward again with a duck bill attachment to my porta-power set.

OK, now there out and I can at least get after the differential issue. What am I going to do when it comes time to put everything together? Wheelbarrow wheels/tires (with painted on white walls of course)? They would be pretty much hidden by the skirts (there goes the gear ratio). Get rid of the skirts and radius the wheel wells?

This might be the difference between living la dolce vita, and the sonofabitch that Jr was referring to. Stay tuned.

 

Been following this from the beginning, and I can't add any complimentary statements that would add to this extraordinary recreation.

One thought on rear tire/wheel access.

If you pull the lower shock attachments, and pull the rear leaf spring shack bolts out, the entire rear end should just stay on the ground, pivoting on the front leaf spring hangers.

Once you have the body adequately clear of the tire/wheel, just jack up the differential enough to put it on stands.

This process is far easier with a lift (IMHO), but it's doable on the ground...still a "sonofabitch", but I can't imagine it would be worse than getting a portapower into those tight quarters...

Just my thoughts...

Again, thanks for sharing the build, with associated trials...

 

I think I'm getting an understanding about what the hassle's of owning and driving (dailey) these cars were. That would start to explain why they met the inglorious end that they did. We have to realize also the stunning impact that the new cars of the late 50s had on how these cars came to be regarded. Slugs compared to space ships. At the GNRS then and now building the cars were arraigned in such a way that you could see how the 30s, 40s and 50s cars gave way to 59-60 cars and the stark difference.

Rik Hoving has a thread that shows what Barris Kustom (Lynwood) looked like when you drove by after Jr sold this car. There sits an almost stock 55 coupe de ville (with door handles) that was Jr's replacement for his 50 cpe.

There might be some that would say that this info devalues these classic custom era cars. I disagree. I think it reveals how unique they were and the culture within that little window of time. I think it helps to understand why these cars were disposed of for next to nothing.

Here I am getting about ¼; per side from the wheel lips.

 

The biggest thing that's been buggin me lately is the skirts. The long rods (brackets) that extend past the rockers to the frame keep being the real weak link in this configuration. When trying to enter garage's and the trailer they keep getting hung up on stuff. Glenn (cutter Glenn) told me he saw the skirts jump, when the car was coming into his shop. As I was modifying the trailer to accept this car the bolts that fastened the skirt brackets to the frame kept hanging up on the ramps as the car would go in and out.

My goal is to make the unloading/loading as friendly as possible. In-out, zip zip without taking the car apart and having to assemble it again (skirts/ lakers).

These rods (brackets) are supposed to be straight.

 

The fix for the skirts is to shorten up the brackets and mount them to the rockers instead of the frame. Can we keep this quiet?

 

Ok it's a secret ! I won't tell !

 

You guys have been there for everything else. i know I can count on ya'.

 

Because of this hassle of dealing with anything in this area of the car I want to replace the bearings on the axle's. Getting them doesn't seem to be a problem but, the retainers no longer come with the bearings. More fun. A good thing wer'e not going anywhere in a hurry.

 

Well, I got the retainers from Antique Auto Supply here in Arlington. I think we're on our way.

 

There, now thats going to make things easier. There is one more confidentiality that I'm going to ask you for.