Projects Recreating the jesse lopez coupe

TRJ needs to feature this car !

 

The more I look at these pictures the more I love this car. I am so glad you decided to paint it in lacquer Jer it just gives it so much more depth than BC/CC.

 

As good as it is being at this place with this build, it’s still a ways to the finish line. I’ve got two big redo’s to make this right. The “spray on” chrome garnish moldings have some kind of a rash (dark spots) that have been spreading over the last months. I just called Don at Coat of Chrome as I’m writing this, and he said that he would redo them for me (hoooraaay).

The next thing is the stance. If you look carefully and are comparing the old/new pics you’ll notice that the car isn’t sitting low enough in the back. I thought I knew (or understood) what was needed with that rear cross member when I did it. Apparently not. I’m down as far as I can go without shackles and, it’s not enough. Jesse says that there was a guy that looked at what Jesse said he wanted to do and, grabbed a piece of squared U shaped steel and removed/installed it in his car out in the dirt in about two hours. That gave it the look that’s needed. I don’t have dirt floors or a magic wand so I don’t anticipate being able to “whip out” my old cross member and install the correct one in TWO HOURS (?). What’s left after these two things are “chicken feed”.

This is what the to do lists look like now.

 

Front Face alignement, you make my day (joke mode)
You need this too......no?

And you can see the end of the story when you'll take the picture with the girl hood hornament , congratulation Mister Jer, you own a realy nice piece of nostalgia kool kustom, have fun to drive, and expose.

 

so Jer - the "spray-on chrome" - what do you think as comparing it to chrome plate - - appearence and cost. I'm at a point on my car I need to do sa couple pieces and I really would like your opinion - thanks.

 

Waiting to get some info before I can respond.

 

Man, what a beautiful build! It's so cool to see how much attention to detail has gone into the car, especially since a lot of it means working from 60 year old photos as reference! Subbed!

 

OK, here's what I want to say about these "spray on chrome" window (garnish) moldings. They look GREAT. If only you know that they're not chrome, no one else will know. That's the upside. The down side is they're EXTREMELY fragile. They will scratch, chip, if you try to "make" them go into an area that they haven't been in many times before.

My problem is that I didn't have them "fitted" as well as I should have before I sent them out. I didn't realize this until I had everything together for the first time. Sometimes I get things right the first time. This wasn't one of those times. If you have interior trim that you'd like chromed, real chrome plate would probably be the way to go. This stuff is very expensive. If you have a custom situation where you don't have a person with the skills to get everything close in metal, than this is what you want to do.

This technology would not work for anything that's going to be outside (exterior).

Don is only going to charge me for the materials on the redo.

 

Thanks Jer - exact info I needed.

 

Amazing job jer!
You really nailed this build. Your attention to detail is incredible.

Jesse's shoes are pachuco style double thick soles. It was an old "custom" touch of The Mexican american kids of the era to add an extra sole.

It would be amazing to get Jesse there to the LSR with the car! Someone should do a Kickstarter and I'll throw in a few bucks!

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

 

Early this year I had a local friend ask me to ask Jesse about those shoes. He made the same pachuco comment about them. Jesse's response was that he was always a "straight laced kid", no smoking, no drinking, just lots of girls. So, I don't know where that pic came from.

It's probably too early to be bearing down on him regarding "swooping" him off someplace. I would like to keep him as comfortable (in familiar surroundings) as possible. We'll have to see. Him and this car DO have to cross path's. That much we know.

 

Might be a whole lot easier to get Jesse to show up at the GNRS if the car will be there?

 

Hello, about the shoes.....by the way......
The picture is this one


And something strange is that picture.....


And you know what?.....i think it's Sam.


Possible?......Jer,? what do you think about this reflection?

 

Rat, if those shoes were new, maybe.

Craig, unfortunately there are car things and health things in January that are going to make GNRS undoable.

 

Fantastic work, Jerry! Did you end up using the door mouldings I sent you? Everything looks very good, from the chromed dash with the plastic insert to the interior and of course the exterior! It's just absolutely gorgeous.

 

Thanks Joel, I haven't used them, but I'm keeping them just in case

 

Beauty!

Took me 3 days, but I read the WHOLE thing.

Great story/stories.

 

This is the image that would come into my head as a kid when I thought about the Jesse Lopez coupe. The proliferation of all the pictures that are available these days didn't exist back then. To be involved in the recreation of this car has an "other world" feel to it. Never in my wildest dreams could I have seen this development.

Having said that, I'm going to flog this front end thing one more time. After all the history and the images of what Jesse's car looked like in those pics, its not fair to have to deal (internalize) with what's happened. To be stuck with the specter of having to continnuley explain why there's "this problem" leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But, I must now except that it is what it is.

If Jesse/Sam had just left that lower portion of the grille connected everything would have been cool. But that wouldn't be the Jesse Lopez coupe would it?

 

Well shit, the more I look at all the pics, the more I think you are correct. Not that you should do this, but that you probably are correct in your assessment (apologies to Ratatouille!)
But it is hard to imagine undertaking surgery this extensive, at this point, and besides, we are splitting hairs here. The car, as is, is the bomb, just gorgeous, and you deserve all the kudos that are surely coming your way..

 

Well Jer. Great minds do think alike. I saw that same pic while reading that thread and had the EXACT same thought as you.
But as you say it's not the Jesse Lopez car without the modified Cadillac grill.
Torchie.

 

Just for the record. There is no "fix" for this problem. Any attempt to try and do some mods to address this WON'T WORK. This is a bear trap that was set (by circimstances) for whoever was going to try and recreate Jesse's car. Congradulations to me.

 

Completly agreement Rich B

 

I can only add this, if it were fixable we wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

Rat & Rich B... give it a break.. Who cars what old pictures show... Jer is sharing this for us to enjoy. Do we really need you guys pointing out what isn't " correct" on this car... He has put in a lot of work and time to build this car.. I thank him for sharing it with us here...

 

X 2!

 

Man, what a great job! Really diggin' this car! Don't think I could ever tackle re-creating something like that. Maybe a tribute, but not an exact.

 

Finally I'm taking off the protective covering on the rear plexi- glass window. I put the garnish moldings in the mail to Coat of Chrome.

 

It is real hard to tell how much of the lower section of grille is on there. I have only seen 3 pics that even hint that there is more down there. That must be why some people haven mentioned the room between the grille and the headlights not looking right.

Gotta have the angle of the dangle just right to see it.

 

I came across this pic out in the shop, and I’m feeling a lot better about things. This was one of the pic’s that were used to confirm that I was going in the right direction. I had forgotten about it.

I think this will be the pose that will settle things. I’ll want to get the car out side and positioned so that the light will mimic that original pose. We’re talking about black and white of course.

This is Danny Lares’s car at this point in its short life. Lares bought the car while Jesse was in Korea. He extended the hood molding in an effort to personalize his new ride. The car also looks to be sitting a bit lower in this pic.

 

looks just fine to me Jer ! way to go !!! just awesome !