Ever since I was a kid building models, I loved that old Moon eyeballs decal, so every time I visit the west coast, Moon is a must see for me. I met Dean Moon back in 1980 @ the nats in Columbus when he walked up to me as I was getting out of my 40 to comment on my Moon eyes patch on my cowboy hat (yeah, I know I was a dork, but cowboy hats where the shit back then). I think he was kinda surprised that I not only had it on my hat, but I had the sticker on my car as well. Not too many people were into traditional rods at that time with the onslaught of two toned paint and resto rods. To me, Moon is one of the last real speed shops with history all around you. Here are some pic's...........
The old Moon digger crashed in Japan on a exibition run. Note the cracks in the old frame. The new frame is next to the old one and the engine with its Potvin blower sits waiting for its new ride.
There was this cool diarama.....dairiair......diareah......shit, you know what I mean... inside the store. There was also this bigger than life statue of Big Daddy hisself.......
Speaking of history, it was all around you if you looked. I saw these old molds in the back and there was neat old sand cast stuff all over the joint! We talked to Bill Jenks, the last surviving link to the old Moon co. He was very cordial even though we interupted his lunch! He signed a Moon tank half for a couple of the guys and he took a picture with me. He told us about the old days at the Santa Anna drags and the way it used to be. Nothing like getting a history lesson from someone who was there...........
Visiting Moon was one of the things we wanted to do while we were out there, but we spent to much time stuck in traffic. Thanks for the cool pics, they came out great! Nice shots of the diorama!
Yeah, that traffic was nuts, wasn't it? We spent a lot of time on the 405. Seemed like rush hour went from 6-11 am and 3-7 pm .Put Moon on the top of your list next time your out there.
A couple of months ago I had a couple of friends from New Zealand stay with me while they were in the States. Chris, in the black shirt, used to work for Dean Moon in the early 80's so whenever he's in the states he visits Bill Jenks. That's Colin on the right. Wait til you see his blue 32 5W. Anyway it's very cool to visit Bill's work space and think that every Moon tank was built right there and Bill welded every one! Here's a pic from our visit. Chris and Colin are fellow Scroungers members.
Lots of interesting stuff, especially pics of matchplates for casting. So there was lots of those matchplates? Great to see 'em!
Yeah, they had a bunch of those match plates in the hall on the way to the shitter in the back......hanging there like clothes in a closet.....
Back in '81 my buddy and I made a pilgriamge to So Cal. I was looking for a tripower for a SBC. Hung out with Dean Moon in his shop for the afternoon while he called around for us. Couldn't find one so he suggested we go to the Pomona Swap meet the next day. I bought some moon wheel covers. He autographed a cataloge cover which I still have. Neat guy.
The Jalopy Journal
