Projects Recreating the jesse lopez coupe

Very nice, looks great

 

While the paint is cureing I've got to get ready for the electrician. Before the car goes, the dash has to be installed. That means that I've got to get the radio bezel fabbed up and installed to cover this hole.

I discovered that the car came with a non genuine radio. So, I don't have to duplicate this bezel. That's not all that bad.

Straight lines again on the new bezel.

These sticks will become the knobs.

 

Body is beautiful.

 

This should be interesting.

 

Gettin' there. The ends of the sticks have to be beveled (rounded) and polished.

 

As I get this car ready to go to the electrician we're going to have to jump around a bit. Everything that needs to be operational needs to be on the car.

We'll need the dash/steering column installed so that the instrument cluster and ignition switch can be part of the wiring harness. The taillights will need to be there so the rear bumper also needs to be there. I think I'll rub out the area around the bumper and install it for good.

I asked Jesse about the mounting of the rear license plate. It looked like it was on some sort of a bracket. He replied that he didn't want it attached to the bumper because of the angle that it would have. He wanted it to stand up straight. He made a bracket that would attach at the bottom of the license plate and go up and over the bumper. He welded bolts on the inside of the bumper that this bracket would attach to. So, you had to notch the rear gravel deflector for this bracket, right, I asked? His reply was, yup.

Oh great.

 

Your dedication to accuracy is amazing Jer.
The details is a huge part of what makes this build stand out.
Keep up the great work.
Torchie.

 

One step forward ..couple'a small steps back..

Lovin' the progress Jer; and the colour looks great! Did you notice these in the pic? Did Jesse run a club plaque at some point, or are these part of the licence mounting he was describing? Or am I throwing another fly in the ointment?



Dave

 

One small bump in the road. Jer , would love to see some pictures during the wiring. Will this be original style wiring? Wait, your a detail guy. I bet it will be.

 

Jesse has a great memory but, sometimes he's not up on specifics. This is one of those times. I want to make this clean and still capture that spirit. So, we use 1/8" strap and mold it to the bumper. This is startin' to look like Ryan's money clip.

 

Hmmm. By way of answering my own question..



Dave

 

I should have shown this one before the "money clip" one. Checking the angle on the vice.

 

(Hehe!)

 

Checking the angle with the bumper on the car. With the bumper already chromed I'll have son Dan take the bumper and the bracket to work and glue it on using the structural adhesive that they glue cars together with. Here's the notch in the gravel shield and, another look at the color. It's still in the shop.

 

If we're doin' the license plate bracket, we gotta' do the license plate light also. Jesse says that he bent up some metal on the bench and put some ends on it. Well, I don't know about that except to say, this has to look right. I think I can use some of the bracing I used on the chop.

 

with alot of modern vehicle ( aluminum ) cleaners and adhesives... special riveting equipment and the rivets. The adhesives they make now is crazy to bond panels together...

 

amazing dedication in really accurate cloning ! congrats Jer

 

Hey!

 

Damn, what a great color. Looks wet...

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

I've gotta' make that "window" for the lights and braze up the ends.

 

WOW...that color looks soooo much better out in the sunlight!!
LOOK'N GOOOOD Jer...........

 

With all the young GI hot rodders in SoCal, the municipalities saw a way to pad the city coffers with money for anything that they could come up with to pull you over. Jesse’s response to this was to get creative. He figured if one of his license plate lights burnt out, the other one would be his cushion to keep from getting pulled over. He said he used some small lights. I’m using two repop glove box lights.

 

I think this will look right. It's off to the plater.

When I say look right, I'm always trying to protect myself from some one coming up and saying, You didn't get that right, look at this pic. Now I'm thinking about some black and white pics. Wouldn't that be the ultimate test?

 

Dan's going to take it to work and glue it on.

 

oh yeah it's so glue on !

 

This is the E brake handle in the vise getting lubed so it will work freely after the plating process.

 

Adventures in garnish molding land. The platers have told me that they will work with me to get the welded seams filled and polished. Oh goody.

 

Here's the bumper/bracket (glued) back from Dan's shop. I painted the backside before he took it.

 

This is going to be fantastic Jerry!

 

The Jesse is looking like a finely crafted Kustom there Jer. Your work is impressive.