Projects A late introduction-Junior Conway coupe build

On saturdays post we'll compare the clone front end to the original car. This will be (should be ) all thats needed to reveal the i.d. of the kid/car etc.. The kid wanted a floating grille. Thats why a merc shell was chosen for for the grille opening. We'll get into that more with the next post.

 

MYTHS, MISTAKES AND LEGENDS​

Its not unusual to see writers/journalists make mistakes when writing a story. Sometimes those mistakes plague the subject that they have written about forever. People just assume that they are facts. This very thing has convinced the vast majority of enthusiasts and experts, that this car has always been a 49 when in fact its a 50. It probably happened with the writer of the first magazine story labeling it a 49 out of laziness, carelessness or ignorance. The next article/story picked it up and away it went into the history books. I know that previous attempts to correct this on this website have been met with vigorous resistance. I've seen one article mention a television set that was in this car but it actually was a chromed heater box. In this case the writer was writing about something that he'd only seen a partial picture of.

We come now to a look of the front end of the clone and compare it to original pictures of the car. I have included a picture from the kids (you know his name) private stash that has the year plainly stated on a show card. This particular picture was invaluable because it shows the clearest shot of the grille brackets. These brackets were a constant source of confusion and frustration in my talks with the kid. Ive also included a shot of the kid drawing out for me how he remembered the grille being done. This picture revealed that I have gotten the safety catch area on the hood latch panel wrong. This is something that will have to be fixed. The cut down 53 merc bullets on the smoothie bumper are also visible.

I'm showing a pic of Jay Johnstons '51 shoe box to show what almost became the grille for the kids car. It's a 54 Pontiac bar without the center emblem with spot light ends. In the end the kids need for something new and modern won out. There was a trade going on that would have made this happen. Aren't we glad that modern, won out? Remember this is 1956 and this had to be one of the first bar grilles. Just a little later everybody had one. Bill Carr (Aztec) and the kids boss (you know his name) helped out with the engineering and the installation. This turned out to be the most difficult part of this build.
Has anybody figured out who the kid is or do I have to spill the beans and state the obvious? This should be pretty easy for any of you hard core Hambers out there. Specially you shoebox guys. Or are you guys just hangin back?
Thanks Rik.

 

Here's one more. This is the kid sitting just behind his (back in the day) boss. He has the paint gun. He's filling the role of "THE MONSTER ' (what I call him) in his work that he does today. His former boss calls him the best custom painter/auto restorer in the world. He's been at his Bell Gardens location for over 20 years. In his shop is a 38 Mercedes Benz Nazi command car that he's going to try and win Pebble Beach with. Behind him is Frank Sonzogni, the body man that shared the chores of originally building the famed Hirohata Merc with the late Sam Barris. That's the restored original car behind them that they all recently participated in restoring.
Anybody want to try and put names on the two guys in front?

 

Ok, lets try this. Here's the kids boss ( back in the day) featured on the cover of one of the little mags of that time. With him is the the car we're cloning. A mega player back in the day. He started spelling Kustom with a K. Whats his name? Posting a pic of the car rf 3/4 shot. This has to help.

 

What a fantastic project. Please keep us posted with the updates.
The old photo with the Hood open is great... If you have any other older photos of the car.. please post. I love this car.. and I know many more do.

As for the name of the Kid... well I know of coarse, but that would be to easy since I know which car you are cloning before you started this post.

 

One of my favorite Ford coupes ever! Lots of guys on here know this car, but probably missed this thread...so I guess I'll be the one to say Herschel.

Keep up the great work...can't wait to see it finished.

Bryan

 

looking real good

 

Rusk wins!

Awesome project Jerry, what a thrill it must be for you on many levels, working with your boys,collaborating with Junior,even meeting George!

I'm also doing a father/son project, have just a few pics in an album on my public profile, a '51 Chevy. Nothing as cool as this.

Great job!

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Keep up the good work guys .....
I look foward to seeing the fit and finish on the final product , no doubt it will end up better than the original ....

 

This is interior and underhood chrome. Not quite everything.

 

Hey Lab Rat, I must reply to your post. One of the things that made Junior different from the other young guys that cycled through Barris Kustom was his attention to detail. He was always frustrated with the need to. Get these cars outta here!. He tells the story about a guy from the mid west who scheduled his car to be worked on during his two week vacation expecting it to be finished in that two weeks so that he could drive it home. This included a chopped top. As Junior says We got the car done, but it wasn't right.

All of this frustration and repression was let loose when Junior went out on his own. I call him THE MONSTER because of what he has become in the decades since he left Barris. He replies by saying, its just the kind of work that comes to my shop, that dictates the level of detail that he has become famous for. So even though he was only in his mid to late teens, the fit and finish on this car was exemplary.

 

Well it's been quite a ride. Rougher on me than you. We finally have the kid identified. Junior Conway who as a teenager and a very young adult became the painter for Barris Kustoms in Lynwood California. Imagine the cars he's touched and the people he worked for (George and Sam Barris) and hung out with.
My purpose for the (maybe too clever) subtletys was to keep my life as drama free as possible. At least during this build. So we go forward being able to use names that are familiar. Ryan and I are working on a new name for this thread. So stay tuned.

 

Here's a shot of the grille. The toughest part of this build. Many many hours.

 

Very cool Jerry, good work.

What a project!

 

The more I read , the more I learn ... Thanks for sharing Jer .

 

A very sanitary build. You won't be putting any parts that fell off back on this one. Keep the progress posts coming.

Frank

 

Hey Buddy , Your lucky havin' a son thats involved , I have a 24 year old daughter that hates these silly old cars that her old man plays with ........looks like a great little car your buildin' there , good work .

cheers

Steve in Oz

 

first time i saw this post...conway's shoebox has always been one of my favorite shoeboxes..part of the reason i grafted 55 chevy fenders onto my shoebox ..and i didnt go with a merc shell, but with the meteor shell, very similar...

which skirts are you going to run?????
awesome job, car definitely deserved to be cloned..

 

What a great thread, I'm so glad to see this car getting cloned. Someone commented
"that's 1 hell of a car to cutup, it's your business for sure, but damn what a waste."
- Just shows what he knows! You're doin' it right, I'll be watching this one.

 

I love your "project". I have 3 kids that aren't really into "cars"
per se. It must be a great thing doing a build with your sons.
Check out my "project" on my profile. I recognized

 

Almost hate to reply to this thread. I traded a 40 Ford sedan for Jrs. car in the mid 60's, this was in Natrona Heights, Pa. It had Alaska plates on it, was painted all white. Still had the all chrome flat motor in it but the block had an external crack, was driveable but leaked pretty good. Still had the electric doors, hood, etc. The frame had been notched alot with a torch to lower it and was cracked everywhere. It had a chrome dash with paint on part of it and stripping. Still had the custom bumpers and tube grill. Long story (SAD) is I sold it to a buddy and he took the Buick taillites/custom back-up lites out in favor of plexiglass with little bullets, the style then. He lost interest and sold it, it then sat in a field for years and went bad. It got junked at a small junk yard just outside of Vandergrift, Pa. called Benny's. I still have some photos of the car from here in that period but not as many as I wish I'd have taken. I wish I had it back and still think it was the best shoebox ever !! Good luck on yours.

 

Now don't you feel better now that that's off your chest?

 

looking good!

 

Hey Hot Rod. Everyone would love to see your pics. Post them please!!!!

 

Wow!

Bet Junior never knew what happened to it, now he'll know thanks to hot rod crazy.

This thread is slowly picking up steam, Jerry. I'm loving it.

 

jivin Great work

Wow how could i miss this thread?

I understand it´s not easy to build a clone of Juniors car! but i see that your going to make it! Many hours just looking at old pictures and thinking
And many hours searching for old hard to get parts!
but it´s really fun

I am building a clone of The Panoramic Ford known as the Buster Litton car! In Book Barris Kustom Techniques VOL:1 it says " Buster sold the upholstery out of his car to Hershel Junior Conway"
Do you know if thats correct?? I have my doubt!?

Good luck with the build /Andreas...

 

Juniors interior was done by Gaylord's in LA...

 

We're gonna post all front end pictures of the build before we move on to the rest of the car. I'll post more later today.

 

If you don't mind I'd like to make one suggestion. I think you ought to change the title of this thread to mention the Junior Conway Clone so more guys can find it.