Projects Recreating the jesse lopez coupe

Wow. Understand and respect your desire to steer clear of the drama that would ensue we if knew who Bob is . . . still, the story is what the story is, as you say. And it's a good one. I guess all in good time.

 

AH-HA! I would be lost without the "peeps" and I still need "feelers" and a spotter when trying to parallel park!

This thread is great!!

Dave

 

Joe says that if we aren't going to use the pics he's out. Joe and I started as friends and that is how we leave this experience.

Bob says that he wants to continue to get this right as he always has from the beginning. With all the effort that's been put into this he doesn't want to leave this now. He and I continue over the next months.

Over time I discover that there are two chops being done, mine and the one Bob thinks it should be. He will make a comment like It's where it needs to be and I'm not changing it. I finally ask to see a pic of a tape measure extended from the lower to the upper w/s lip. It shows that we have a 10" opening. I call Bob on his cell and we have a "come to Jesus" moment. I tell him that this is my build, my money and my reputation. If I'm concerned about my reputation then his is also protected. Bob's reply is OK, OK, no problem. I will change everything back.

I think that Bob went out in the shop and did an all nighter with the andrenalin valve and porto-power on overboost. The result is slaughtered A pillars (again). I told Bob that I've never seen anything like this before in my life.

We enter into a period of time that's filled with subtle insults about my ability to really know about this chop top stuff. I've more than once told Bob he can do it, hes got the skills, he's the tech. etc, to keep encouraging him and moving him forward. This now comes back to bite me with him saying you're the one that's telling me I can do it, why don't you just leave me alone and let me?

 

I was afraid of this. When we talked a while back I knew it wasn't going well but it was worse than you made it out. It's making me sick all over again. I hope it is turning out better than what it was before.


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I'm wondering ,why there was not a line drawing with numbers on it , or a computer drawing. It cant be that difficult . Something on paper that Jessie can say it's right. Every one knows what a Carson top looks like . Any kid in 1st year mechanical drawing class can do it. The actual shape of the top doesn't change, Just the wings outside the rear window. The 1/4 windows can be shaped any way you want ,they are a separate project. I've not seen it written that the rear window size was modified in anyway.

 

Gee whiz, I can't imagine all the difficulties in chopping a top, then rebuilding, then chopping again, etc.. It sounds to me like Bob has the skill needed, and if you get the windshield, and flow of the roof where you like it, he should not have any major problems filling in the rest. I feel for all involved, but as I've said before, talent and tenacity will win out in the end.

Watching with great interest,
Dave

 

Bob has moved back to the sail panels and of course we have another crisis. Bob doesn't see how this is all going to work. One of the pics I get shows the lower roof section cut on both sides at that crease (partially) and tipped forward to meet the upper portion of the roof. This is after we've talked continually about the slices that Jesse keeps referring to on both upper and lower panels. He's cut his slices waaay up into the middle of the roof on both sides of the b/glass opening. Jesse said that they didn't go above the b/glass opening. Bob says that this is the only way that the slices can work. The problem that we have is that these slices that once had the contour of the roof are now flat and have a mind of their own.

Bob tells me that there is one of the jobs in the shop that he promised it's owner that he would put one month of undivided attention on. The owner has paid ahead a lot of money and Bob can't hold him off any longer. I sure wanted to have this car home for Christmas, done but, I do understand.

After a week goes by I call Bob and tell him that I'm going to make arrangements to have the car picked up. His reply is, REALLY? ARE YOU SURE? AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH YOUR GOING TO QUIT? The car is a wreck and so is Bob and, of course it's my fault. I don't want to discuss it. The conversation ends with, I'll call him when the arrangements have been made.

 

Shit.....I hope everything works out.

 

Ditto on that Jer !

 

C'mon Jer.....

 

...Don't make me get on a plane...c'mon drop the hatchet...

 

All things in their time,

 

Some time passes and I keep thinking what an impossible situation that Bob has been put in. He has more than once said that he has all these conflicting ideas coming at him and does spend some time yelling at the computer in the evenings. I can only imagine what it's like. I think if Bob had been older and more seasoned he would have made sure that there is one set of instructions and that's where we're going etc. I had no clue that we were going to have this pic conflict. I didn't know that there was a controversy over how chopped Jesse's car was. I thought I was bringing the most valuable thing to this part of the build (Jesse). Well, it just proves that you never know.

I still think if by chance we can reset this thing and start new we might be able to make it work. I'm going to give Bob some time to think about this as he does his other work. Looking at what we have now (roof slices) convinces me that it would be (much) less work to put another roof on the body than try to make what we have work.

I finally approach Bob with the idea and, to say he was happy would be an understatement. I will pay for the new roof. Bob says that there are a few in the neighborhood so that shouldn't be a problem. I ask where they are so that I can get a look at them. I do find them and I'm shocked at what kind of shape they're in. Heavy rust and some big and small dents. I'm feeling sad for my nice car to have to do this.

Bob thinks about things for a while and says that if hes chopping the car twice he should get paid twice. I explain to him that we wouldn't be doing this if he had been following MY instructions and we eventually work things out.

More time passes and Bob is up and excited like when we first started this thing. He starts sending me different chops (in process) that he's found online. One of them is the Brad Masterson Club Coupe chop. I ask him what is the purpose of showing me these things. His reply is to show me the different ways that we could do the top.

I now realize that this is over. I haven't come this far to compromise my standards now. I explain to Bob that he's somehow misread me and my resolve. It's going to be Jesse's way (as much as I can make it) or no way. There is no way that I can put one of those rusty tops on that car. I tell him that I have found one in Oklahoma that has paint on it and I'm going up to get it shortly. When I tell him that I'm going to make arrangements to pick up the car this time, he knows it's the real deal.

And so we say goodbye to a mean 'ol mother and, leave this part of the story with everybody (hopefully) involved in it a little wiser. Some are definitely poorer.

 

Jer, Texas is not that far from Missouri......Don't stand for this. At least I know who Winfield, Barris, & Dick Dean are..... and how this this car is "supposed" to be. Come on.

I'm sorry to hear about your problems with the build. Give me a call if you need to talk.

 

Good luck with everything Jer


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Bummer. You have tremendous dedication and resolve to this enterprise Jerry, and the customs world will be the beneficiary.

 

Jer......very sorry to hear about this.It sounds like you might need to call the son of the Sultan Of Chop..(Dick Dean).....Keith Dean at Southend Kustom.He can definitely chop a gorgeous roof and has sliced many well known Sleds and hasn't gotten all the credit he deserves but thats ok. Pm me if you might be interested.

 

Thanks to every one for the PM's and interest. After getting the car back, I've chopped it myself, just like Jesse said, very easy. That's comin' up. Step by step. Up to now I'm showing what can (and has in this case) happen with stuff like this. Its all good.

 

If I can ask.... Why not chop it yourself in the first place? You have done great work up till now. You obviously have the talent.

 

Many of us knew that ,,,

 

Its a journey when you try to tackle a "clone" or "tribute" car.especially when going by pictures or recollections...been there...all worth it though.

 

Hopefully things work out the way YOU want it to. Still following this thread with great anticipation. Go for it!

 

Glad to hear this. I'm sure it was easier to do the chop with the skills and information you have, than to try and explain what you wanted to someone else no matter how talented they might be. Lessons learned on many levels I'm sure!

Back on track - I'm even more excited to see progress pics again!

-Dave

 

I need to tie up some loose ends of the Bob/Joe/Jesse part of this story . When the issue of Jesse's memory was being questioned I asked Jesse to tell me what the elements were when he was a kid that impressed him about this 8' windshield deal. He said that he first saw the 8' w/s's at Bell Auto parts on the T's, A's and Duece roadsters. I have to interject here and say that my first exposure to this stuff has never left me and those first elements have influenced me all my life Just like it has you (and Jesse).

So we have the early teenage Jesse on his bike with his nose pushed flat against the windows of Bell Auto looking at all the fascinating things that were on display. During the day the place was busy and you might have been underfoot. At night you had everything all to yourself. I see it. You know what these things are and how they work because you also are a helper to the hot rod engine guy Vritz Voight that lives in the neighborhood. Remember, it's THAT neighborhood.

At Bell High School you had the cars of your buddies Al Andril, Dick Carter and Johnny Zaro sitting out in the parking lot that you rode in every time you got the chance. Jesse did say that looking out of the windshield of Johnny Zaros car influenced him a lot.

The thought eventually occurred to me that the Johnny Zaro car does still exist. I rememberd hearing that Kurt Mc cormick restored that car and still has it. I did call Kurt and told him what I was doing. He was excited and said that he would be looking forward to seeing it. I asked him about the idea of using original pics to do these cars. His comment was absolutely not, you have to just get the car to look right. I told him about my problem and asked him to get me a measurement on that windshield. Just the glass, at the divider bar. He went out and did that as I waited on the phone. He comes back and tells me that its 8 ¾. I thank him and call Jesse. His response to this info is, YEEEEAAAAH! It made me feel very good as I was chuckling to myself.

After some time passes Joe calls and asks how it's going. I tell him that Bob never recovered from the first weeks of being exposed to the pics and the back and forth around them.

I need to say here that both Joe and Bob are good guys. They weren't trying to sabotage this in any way. They wanted to do the right thing. They got caught in the power that surrounds all this stuff. It's the power that sucked me in when I was a teenager and that has come back and caught me again. It HAS to be managed and handled with care. It can and will get you into all kinds of serious trouble. BUT, you guys already know this, all too well.

PHOTOS OF ZARO CAR- RIK HOVING

 

You're tenacious Jer, I like that! Way to stick to your guns!

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This is an amazing story! Thank you for sharing all aspects of the technical and creative efforts and the dogged determination to get it done right.

 

That ain't a lot of w/s.

 

Just a word about this power thing with the old cars and the history etc. I can understand how difficult it is when you grow up (into this hobby) with all this stuff in your head. You put that together with all the pics about these cars. You add the embellishments, guess's, myths, exaggerations and flat out lies from the writers of the articles. This started right from the get go back when the first mags started being published.

The first mag that had Jr's car on the cover said that the car had a 12' TV in it, under the dash. I was sweatin bullets thinking well, that's something that I'm going to just have to find, etc. To say I was relieved to find out that the writer was looking at a chromed heater box in a picture as he assembled all this data (instead of a TV) would be an understatement. WHEW! The next writer picked that up and away we go into the history books.

This chop data on these cars is all over the map. Why, I don't know. Lazy, careless ramblings. No wonder it was such a battle. I think after a while these writers start to believe this incorrect stuff. Every car couldn't have been channeled.

NO!, WE CAN'T ACCEPT THAT BECAUSE... In their minds it is legit.

OK, I'M DONE. TOMORROW WE GET THE NEW TOP.

 

Feel's good to get back into the sunshine!