Projects Recreating the jesse lopez coupe

very nice Jer !

 

Jesse says that there was only one station that he listened to while in H.S., and until he was drafted in 1950. There were a few DJ’s that had migrated to SoCal from the mid-west during this time frame. They had brought with them a new kind of music, r & b. At first I found this very curious until I realized that the music scene right after WWII was big bands, jitterbug and boogie woogie.

Jesse’s sister Marge has sent me some info on the music scene back then. She was an avid fan that was involved in the local culture back in the day. She danced and dressed the part and actually managed a local music store.. She says that Jesse would go to the dances, but girls were more his focus than the dancing.

I am by no means an expert on this time period, but I would sure appreciate someone who is from that period adding to this. I’m sure that some of these black musicians can be googled to actually hear what was coming out of those radios.

 

Good stuff. Big jay and Joe Houston are both still around I believe.
Last I heard big jay was living in Glendale or burbank, and last time I saw joe Houston was about 7 years ago and he was in a rest home.
Huggy boy is legendary here in Los Angeles.

 

Well, now that we know what station the radio was on, we have to have a face plate.

 

Jesse was in that period that was post swing and pre rock and roll.
I would think that he listened to some Louis Jordon as well.
Radio faceplate is looking great as well Jer.

 

that radio face plate looks terrific ! My late father was all about big bands and swing, jazz.. never a rock n'roll guy around that time frame... Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey.

 

Ah yeah, Lois Jordan's jump music.
A lot of the R&b songs will be familiar to you; they were covered a lot by Elvis and other early white rockers.

 

Well, we've got the station located, and the backing installed. Now, installation on the dashboard.

 

I take it you have just put on a dummy dial and not an actual radio? I totally dig that it will forever more be "tuned in" to Jesse's station. Great story and fantastic detail to add!!


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What's the center knob for? And what brand radio is in the car? My '41 Plymouth had a Motorola and continued to work just great when we sold it. The shop that repaired it for me said they were the best radios "back in the day" - and easy to repair. Thx

 

The radio that came with this car was not an original '41 Ford radio. I never did find out what that center knob did. This is a "faux" radio. Forever 'on station', into perpetuity.

I was not able to put in any meaningful time on the car today.

 

The center knob was for 5 station presets, similar to what push buttons did later on. The complete manual can be found at the link under the photo.


https://plus.google.com/photos/ HerbertBooker/albums/5833782325803153569

 

Cool thanks.

 

Ok, I haven't posted for a while, but I've still been sneaking out into the shop to do some work. What really needs to be done is to get the interior wrapped up (my part), so I can get it back to the trimmer to finish up. This would then leave the major issue being that stance adjustment, the rear cross member replacement.

I've been using this stool to sit on as the car is moved. This is where I want to be. LOTS of chopping to arrive here at this height.

 

The PhotoShoppers would have a heyday with that!

 

Here is the stock seat, and a look after the lower portion is reduced in size by removing the springs. Lower, but not near low enough to make things work.

 

Remembering the previous pit-falls of comparing old images to new.. It appears that you could lower the seat an inch or an inch and a half and be closer to where you wish to be.




Car looks great Jer!
Dave

 

The other thing that I would think needs to be taken into consideration is your height and build size as compared to Mr Lopez. Going to be interesting to see what further you need to do to that front seat Jer.
Torchie.

 

Oh Lord, Big Jer, good luck with that! Probably gonna take more than 1-1/2"

 

It's going to have to be a bunch. At first I thought that I would just put the seat on the carpet, but that won't work. Here it is with some cuts to those side panels, and the center front to get it down.

 

I've never seen a one-man-show with such incredible dedication to getting things "right". You continue to impress the hell out of me with every post Jer!

 

Thanks, here's the lower seat frame upside down with those side panels marked for a cut.

 

look forward to seeing how this works out, keep up the great work Jer...

 

Really making me want to work on my 41 basket case.

 

I'd say you are on the right track Jer. If you look at the pics that Dave posted the area of the panel that he has circled is not as tall as on your seat. The pic the you posted with the cut you are making looks closer to the original.
Torchie

 

So many of these fascinating and important little details rear their ugly heads after we are well into our projects - I admire your continued efforts to get things right Jer..

Wot a great thread!

Dave

 

Flatheads will not run in the heat with ethanol gas. Going to Gainesville (1 hour) to get pure gas. Forty gallons for $86.00.

 

Hey Jerry,your car is looking great.that seat issue you have.......i had that same problem with my Ayala ford build and i resolved it the same way.....glad to see the problem resolved

 

Definitely an interesting look (?) at how your dealing with your seat track problem Rich. I think I'm going to do a static set up on mine at this point.

 

I will be watching how this works out, my car is not chopped as much, in fact I have not built the top at this time; but it is surprising how much lower I need to sit to see out the windshield. Lots of fooling around to gain just a couple of inches.