Projects Recreating the jesse lopez coupe

Jesse says that back in the day you could buy oil and gas in 55 gal drums. A truck would deliver, and you would need a bench that was the right height to slide it onto. They had those gate valves on them. Jesse took notice and the wheels started turning.

Jesse was also Fritz Voight's helper/gopher. He noticed that Fritz had some larger gate valves in his shop and they became a topic of conversation. Jesse mentioned the header dump idea, and the rest is history (as they say).

Fritz was the local racing engine guru, but remember it's THAT neighborhood. So, Jesse had a pretty stout 3/8X3/8 59A stroker with a blower. It wasn't fair, but it still was. Fritz did build em a bit loose for power. Jesse says that he would knurl the pistons. One of the secrets to the power that Jesse made was that he didn't run an idler arm on that blower. It was just straight off the blower to the crank (no middle man with his hand out). Jesse would tip the intake manifold up in the back and set the belts. He would just lower the back of the intake down on the deck and tighten everything up.

Fritz would go on to work with Mickey Thompson and eventually did ALL of Mickey Thompson's engine work on his Pontiac world beaters.

So, what I've got is a stock 59A with the correct (visual) equipment that Jesse would run during the week. Remember Jesse had only one car that ran. He would whip the intake off, put the blower on, leave the hood off, and head for the drive-ins on Fri-Sat nights.

I had Ray Marler do the valves, install all the bolt-on stuff, and slip in an Isky 400 jr cam (audio).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RUJIZSW95No

 

Thanks for the history on the gate valve, neat idea!

Flatty sounds pretty healthy too!

 

It's alive!!!

 

Sounds good Jer!

 

What a moment! Love the sound of a flathead starting up. Body looks really good. By the way, who is that old dude just standing around watching?

 

We're just about ready to lead him off and take away all his tools. Things need to settle down around here.

 

Very nice Jerry.you are surely dedicated to this legendary custom..

 

Love the sound of a flathead starting up ! thanks Jer ! Great Job !

 

Thanks everybody. I've been careful regarding corrosion protection so its time for some hot soap and water.

 

Sounds real good Jerry !!!!

EIther the mufflers aren't on it or my headers leak real bad...

 

This is the easiest way to get at this, and I can also separate it when spraying out the car. This is the base w/out the clear.

 

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Well after 3 days off and on I have gone through the entire thread and subscribed for the rest of the ride . Very impressed to say the least . Can I ask what you use on the body to fender joints once the bridges are welded on . Metal to Metal , Tiger hair or just plain old body filler . Sorry if you had already said somewhere in the thread I must have missed it if so . Thanks for inspiring us all who follow ! Andy..

 

I had to ask the lawn guys for some help.

 

You've got lawn guys? nice!

 

That's a bad son of a bitch!

 

OMG Junior's car is all dusty!!

 

I couldn't help it. I had to paint the hood.

 

Nice.

 

Beautiful!!

 

Yes!!

 

Very nice Jerry!

 

This car is really going to be magnificent

 

AWESOME! Does Jesse approve of the color? I'm guessing that's why you shot it, right?

My '27 T Roadster build:  http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t= 734383

 

That color looks great!
When I first seen the color on the firewall I thought it was too light.
It's going to look awesome!!

 

Love the color ! Nice Jer

 

A picture is worth a thousand words . Looks good !

 

Thanks again (there, I can do it).
Here's a better look at the color. More clear on the jambs.

I have had some recent discussions with David Zivot and he is encouraging me to paint the car in lacquer. I would love to do that but, I wasn't aware that it is available. He gave me info on his source and after discussions his source can supply me with acrylic enamel only. That won't do.

My first experience with any paint was in the mid 60's and it was with nitro lacquer. What a great paint to work with. Very friendly and forgiving. I don't remember any problems with it. Later on when I had my own shop acrylic lacquer came on the scene. I think it was the car manufacturer's that were always pushing the paint co's for a more durable product. What a nightmare until you became familiar with it. You had to really watch out when repairing a fresh acrylic lacquer job. It would want to soften everything up again and wrinkle.

I have found a source for the acrylic lacquer and they are in the process of bench mixing a good quantity that matches the spray out card that I sent them. Although they can mix nitro it won't work for this color. One of the HUGE pluses with lacquer is no sticky overspray. A big deal for me. The masking required is daunting.

I don't think that the K36 primer is going to be a problem. Being a two part product it is now an inert substance. I will strip the hood (too much material). I think I can still use the existing paint on the jambs. It is the latest PPG eurethane. It will be great fun doing this in lacquer and I'm looking forward to it. After application the clock works for me rather than against me. Not so with eurethane the longer you wait to rub it the harder it gets. It is however, BULLET PROOF.

 

Great to hear you are using laquer Jer. I kind of wondered when I read the post about clearcoating the front lower nose panel.
I learned to paint using laquer at a Caddy dealership. Also learned how to rub out a paint job there as well. I miss it but everytime I look at the price per gallon I cringe.
I agree with you on the overspray as well. We used to shoot complete paint jobs in the middle of the shop as we had no booth back then. Never had a problem.
I would love to do Laquer on my current project. But painting is a ways off yet so we will see.
Torchie.