Projects A late introduction-Junior Conway coupe build

Waitin' on Barris.

 

On the wednesday before the show I asked Jr. to get a message to the 17 y.o. Jr.. I told him that I knew he was in there. He chuckled. I said the message was "this is your weekend". I think in some of these pics you can see him.

 

The way the car was positioned it caught the afternoon sun. I thought I might be able to catch the crew in the reflection on the side of the car if I turned the flash off. I was right.

 

Ok...drive the thing.

 

That pic says it all, Jerry, very cool! Again, fantastic build/car/father-son project. A "How To" on building a clone.

 

Jer,
Great job on the build, I have been following along on your journey, and I am very proud of what you have achieved in what seems like such a short time. (easy for me to say). I wanted to meet you at the show but the week before something unavoidable came up and I was unable to go. I love '49-'51 Fords. When I was growing up in Stockton, Ca. I must have had half a dozen of them. I used to work with Leroy Goulart and his dad on the docks before transferring to L.A. in '67 then to Vancouver, wa. in '69. I remember Leroy's Ford and his Brother's Chevy like it was just the other day. I started on the docks in 1958 and retired in 2004 here in Vancouver. When you talk to Leroy please give him my regards. I was going to the GNRS with my pal Doug Beattie for the debut of his beautiful Custom '40 ford Cpe. I was surprised to hear Bob Page was not there with his X-51. I went to the same High School as Bob, just a few Yrs. before him. The X-51 was built in Portland by Ron Courtney, I know most of the past owners. I must be getting older already.
Well enuff of my rambling, again Jer congratulations on a beautiful build of a great car. C-U-Later. Ron Mullane

 

I have to fix my mistake--Leroy's brother Ray's custom was not a chevy, it was a killer Olds. I don't know what I was thinking.

 

Well deserved !

I can't wait !

 

Does anybody know if Barris is going to be in Dallas this weekend?

 

Well it's time to head off to the Dallas Autorama for move in tonight. Here we are all loaded up on the U-Haul trailer that I used for the first trip to the muffler shop. Now that the car is all together and lowered its much more of an adventure. I'm going to buy my oldest sons Featherlite that's in Colorado Springs for the round up. It's a 20" enclosed trailer that will make life a lot easier. No more creative shimming to make things work. Did I mention that I loved this part?

 

Big nightmare getting the car unloaded in the dark. Ran out of gas right after the car was off the trailer and the fire marshall was asking me "how much gas is in it?" I brought gas just in case this happened. The pics are terrible. Their from my wifes I phone. I should have gone out in the truck and got my camera. I'm in the "traditional section". A little different neighborhood than a couple of weeks ago.

 

Well we're all set up. I came home last night and was really motivated to put a display together that would explain this car. I'm thinking "traditional customs" means everybody has genuine Appleton spotlights, right? I don't think everybody thinks this way. How did I get caught in this?

Iv'e included lots of original pics and pics of the car in mags. The Jr dash signing etc.. Some mags with the car in them. I'm a little concerned about where the car is in the building. It's the most obsecure, remote spot possible. In talking with Jim Mc Neil about what it's like owning the Hirohata merc., he mentioned that on occasion someone will cry when they see it. I'm not comparing this car to the merc (they are cousins kinda) but, if someone comes to the show to see this car thier going to have to work to find it. It should be easier to find than it is. Isn't this all about giving the fans what they want? There actually was a group of Fort Worth guys that wanted a private showing some where in town before we went to Pamona.

Ah, the adventure continues.

 

I need to see this car !!! looks great Jer !

 

I'm going to venture out into the sunshine (the big lagoon) today to see some sights. I'll try to keep from being eatin.

In the sense that its been 25 years since iv'e been involved in anything like this I'm thinkin' this whole experiance is kinda' like the perils of Pauline. The geezers will know what that means.

 

OK, I'm venturing out into the big lagoon to look around. There are some HAMB freindly cars here. A swarm of chopped Mercs. I don't quite know what this late model chev truck is but there is an award for the most Barris inspired car here. George does not have a booth here and nobody can say if he'll show up. You dont think... naaaaaah that couldn't happen could it? Maybe. We're learnin'.

 

Some more.

 

and more.

 

A swarm of door slammers. Back to the hood. Then waaaay back in the hood.

This is our first show that gives awards. Should be an interesting day to say the least.

 

Great photos Jerry. See you this afternoon! Good luck, there should be an award comming your way!

 

Sorry I haven't had a chance to hang out at the show very much,but I have been trying to catch up on work before the van and I start our trek to Detroit tonight.

I will see everyone today I am just waiting for my ride to wake up to take me to the show

The car turned out amazing and it was finally great to see it in person they should give it or the Texas playboy the riddler trophy

 

Just got in. Will post tomorrow.

 

Congrats to the builders on the Rod and Custom choice

 

My last involvement in any car show stuff was in the 80s. So my observations and anlysis is filtered through that experience and time frame. I had a chopped,bobbed and lengthened 68 vette cpe and a 39 Willys c/gasser that I showed in and around the Pacific n.w.. These vehicles had so many mods that the show staff would usually create a class for each of them, award them a first place trophy and there wouldnt be a second or third place. I hated the politics and egos associated with all this stuff and eventually stopped participating. My purpose in this present day endeavour is not to throw anybody under the bus but to give an objective (hopefully) analysis from my perspective.

My car received an outstanding in class plaque. I think it was in the conservative hardtop class. The plaques were generic and uniform in appearance. The outstanding in class plaques were the same for lawn mowers (they were there) as they were for the most over the top vehicle. In my day there actually were trophies that stood up off the platform and were shiny. Ive given those all away a long time ago. I also received the Rod & Custom magazine award. The George Barris award was an actual cup type trophy that was quite impressive. It went to a very deserving Merc chopped 4door. For some reason I neglected getting a pic of this car. It was stunning.

My goal from the start of this project was to recapture the impact that Jrs car had on me and every other teenager (translate-geezer these days). Everyone couldnt go to the Grand National Roadster Show. So any award this car receives is secondary to the main goal of easy access to this car. There were people that missed this car because it was out of the main flow pattern of this show. I;m going to make an attempt at finding out just how this happened so that I can prevent a repeat down the road. This car was given a p.r. person that was going to use it to promote the show (see doc.). So something happened. I dont know what. I was also offered a last minute spot in Starbirds show that I couldnt accept because of my obligation to the Dallas show (see doc.).

I guess the lesson is not to assume that show staff know what this car is. Junior Conway? Whos he?

Were learnin.

 

The real prize from this show seems to be Darryl Starbird wanting to give you front center space at the last minute. Pretty cool.

 

Again your car was amazing and I looked at it for a hour after you parked it. After you won the RnC choice I sent a picture over to Rob the editor because usually some goofy car from the shiny section gets it to make sure all of them get at least two trophies......rob said finally something I would pic lol.

I was kind of the same way on the show I heard through the grapevine that the promoter didn't want me"working" the show because the photo vendor might get mad......so I didn't shoot any show coverage.
Then when I drive all the way up from Houston to get jammed up against a wall that didn't allow me to open up the van properly I kinda lost interest.........especially when lawnmowers got a nice big spot.
Looks like I payed 50 bucks for a parking space for the van on my way to Detroit.

.........but I say that to say this....I would go back......why you say?
Because of Big Ken, Brian Bass, and your car. It was worth all the hassle to see great people and amazing builds in person

 

Were we "in" time out?

 

I'm gonna take this window (before the roundup) to deal with a hood thats been bugging me. Multiple overlapping repairs/material build up. A result of the pressure to the run up to the GNRS.

One of the pluses from the Dallas show experiance was the people that I met. More later.

 

One of the good things that came out of this experience in Dallas was the people that I met. I came to appreciate the little model A cpe that was across from me. The more I looked at it the more its proportions impressed me. The perfect chop and the way it worked with how the car sat on its chassis. The big n' little's, everything just worked. Scott Rierson was the owner and he introduced me to his dad Kenneth (The Rat Patrol t/f dragster). We swapped racing stories. The chopped and polished bare metal pickup was also close by and is owned by Mark Britt. I deputiesed both of them to watch my magazines that I had included in my display. Big Ken was also next to me. I haven't talked to Santa in decades. At the very end as I was taking down my display Joey Barris came over and introduced himself. He had the late model trk mentioned earlier. A very nice guy that is living and working in this area. Had I not been at this spot I wouldn't have met these guys. It was worth it.
There also was a very important thing that I discovered that's going to be critical in showing this car. More later.

 

Lets get this hood done.

 

Really loved seeing the car at the Dallas Autorama! Also thanks for the great gift I got in the mail!! I hung the framed pic of the car on the wall the same day!! Thank you for letting me ba a part of this build!!!

NOW GET OUT AND DRIVE THE SHIT OUT OF THE CAR!!!!!!!!!! Letting it sit in a garage and be trailer to shows isn't fair to the old girl!! DRIVE IT!!!!!!!