I know that there a number of folks here that either are living in the Rochester, NY area, or have lived there in the past. Several times, former Rochester area Ford expert/hot rodder, Steve LeFrois' name has come up here in the discussions. It's with sadness that I'm reporting Steve passed away this past Monday, February 27th, 2012. There was a very brief obituary published today, in the Rochester Democrat&Chronicle newspaper. The obit was very brief, stating only that Steve was 67 years old, had died "unexpectedly", and was survived by his seven brothers and sisters. At the time, Steve was living in Clifton Springs, NY, which is about 30-35 miles SE of Rochester. RIP Steve.............
This is very sad news indeed. This one hits very close to home for me. I have told this story here on the HAMB before but I feel like it's important enough to tell it again. I was a young kid from Rochester in love with cars mostly Mustangs and Torinos etc. We're talking early `70's time frame. My father, Howard Thompson was parts manager at Fred Walker Ford. At a very tender age my dad let me sweep floors and put up parts etc . One day after school I was sweeping the floor in front of the parts counter and all of a sudden with my back turned, the big window in front just started vibrating and I heard a mighty rumble. I look up and it's the most bitchin car I ever saw in my entire life! I was looking at a `37 Ford convertible sitting low over its tires and it definately had the heart of a lion. Like the young goofy kid I was I ran outside and pounced on that poor guy. I was jumping around like a puppy. The thing is the guy that stepped out of that wicked Ford did'nt seem to mind at all. In fact he took time out to tell me all about the car and show me it's unique features. When we got to the front and he lifted the hood my jaw hit the floor. Lurking under the bonnet was a genuine 427 Ford. I will never forget that day, that car or that guy. I can honestly say that was the moment I fell in love with early hot rods. Oh that guy, the guy that took time out of his busy day to talk to a young kid with big ideas. Well that guy was Steve LeFrois. I learned later on that Steve was a Ford guru. He had a number of unique and fast Fords and many people went to him to make their rides go faster and better. Hat's off to ya Steve. This is one big kid that will be eternally grateful for your kindness and yes patience on that monumental day in my life. R.I.P. friend.....
I wonder if any fellow Rochester Hambers have any pics or stories of Steve's rides. Every one that I saw was so tough looking, and from what I understand could back up it's mean looks. The `37 Ford had a stance that was all business. Later I saw Steve with a white (I think) `71 Boss 351 Mustang that was just so low and had such meaty tires, yet retained the stock Boss wheels. Of course the Boss 351 was VERY healthy powerwise.
I'm not originally from the Rochester area, as my father's employer transferred him a couple of times when I was fairly young. We wound up in Rochester, and neighbors of the LeFrois family. It was the fall of 1960, I was 8 years old at the time, and coincidentally, right around the time that Steve bought the '37 Ford. I remember sitting on my bicycle across the street from the LeFrios' house, watching Steve and a couple of friends and/or brothers tinkering with the engine, trying to get it running right. At the time, it was a small block Chevy! An older, retired gentleman, who knew both me, as well as the LeFrois, took me over and introduced me to everyone. Over the years, that '37 was "re-invented" several times, going from the stock, transverse leafed, suspension, to an independant, torsion-bared front end and a 9" Ford rear, on paralell leaf springs. Along the way, the Chevy engine was replaced with the 427 Ford, and the 4 speed top loader was eventually replaced with a C-6 automatic. Fortunately, as I look back over the years, I can honestly say that I've done only a handful of dumb things in a car, and even more fortunately, none resulted in any injuries, property damage, or traffic tickets. Two of the did involve Steve, however. One was when I got a chance to drive the infamous '37 around the block a couple of times....even though I was only 15, and didn't yet have a drivers' license. The other involved a '69 Mach I Mustang he had, and he let me drive once. I seem to recall speeds around 95-100 MPH......in a residential area, about a half mile from the Irondequoit, NY police headquarters. Although Steve had moved from the neighborhood where I first met him, somewhere in the early 1980s, I still had many fond memories of what weht on back in those days, and my only regret is that I never got in the car and drove out to his current home, just to say "hi"....... RIP Steve..........
"Henry", you were posting this, at the same time I was composing the post above.... Back in the day, Steve got a new car almost every year. The first car of his, that I remember, was a black '64 Falcon Sprint. Then I remember a white, '66 Galaxie 7 Liter. That was followed by a dark green, '67 Mustang fastback. This Mustang was the first street car that Steve got really wild with. The Mustang was originally a GT with the 390, but after it "expired", a 428 went in, which later was bored and stroked to 440 cu/in. The next car was a black '68 Torino, which stayed pretty much stock, as Steve was engrossed in his oval track car at that time. The Torino gave way to the '69 Mach I that I referred to in the above post, this had a 428 Cobra Jet, with a cam and headers added. This car was replaced by a black '70 Torino, but I don't remember if it was a Cobra or a GT. It did have a 428, though. In '71, Steve started his string of "slammed to the ground" Mustangs. The first was a rather mundane, blue '71 Mach I, with a small block engine, that later was briefly replaced with a 427 Tunnel Port, that was formerly in his oval track car. A red '72 Mach I followed that, which had a bored/stroked small block, of around 406 cu/in. That car was stolen/wrecked, and Steve found another '72 to build a clone out of. As we all know, Ford was phasing out the "traditional" Mustangs around this time, and Steve was left hanging on to his '70s cars. I had finished school by then, and started working full time, which sadly for me, became a 6 day, 60 hours a week ordeal, so I didn't have the time to "hang around" as much as I used to, and I lost touch with a lot of people, Steve included. A few years later, he moved out to "the country", and the last time I saw him was sometime in the mid-80s, in the Merchants Rd. Nu-Way Auto Parts store. Ironically, I worked for Kodak, but never seemed to carry a camera around, so while I have a lot of memories in my head, I don't have any pictures to keep those memories fresh....
Here are a couple of pictures I took while Steve was installing a new 351 Cleveland in my Torino. I think they were taken around 1990. Motor is still humming along after 20 plus years.
Tim, if you don't mind me asking, where were those pictures taken? Didn't Steve wear eyeglasses at one time, or have I forgotten that much?
These were taken at his garage in Clifton Springs. Notice in the pictures that Steve's clothes have no grease on them compared to his helper. Pretty amazing!
Thanks for those pictures Timtorino, they are priceless. It seems that any photos of Steve's cars are few & far between. I remember him having photos of his Falcon bodied modified on his desk at the old Parkview Garage, I only wish I could see Steve, his cars, & bring back those days. I spent many hours at that shop. Just a couple of notes about his cars, the 70 Torino I believe was a 429SCJ. Was black with the yellow-red lazer stripe on the side, had huge tires, & was the first car I remember being lowered way down. The blue 1971 Mustang that Leadfoot mentioned previously was actually a Mustang sports roof, it was not even a Mach I (not to many people knew that) as Steve bought the Mach 1 Stripe kit & became very good at installing them. I even helped him do a few with the soapy water etc. to get them on perfect. When the tunnelport was installed in that car it looked like it came that way from the factory. It was scarey fast as were all his cars. The Red Mach 1 was bought brand new & was crashed & totalled. It was sort of borrowed-stolen by a guy that was one of Steve's helpers. He just took the keys late one night & decided to take it for a ride, he didn't get to far when at high speed a telephone pole got in the way. As was mentioned a clone was built. The clone was better than the first as it was lowered even more by cutting & sectioning the lower control arms. A 400 was built with 351 Boss heads intake etc. At that time there were no spacers to go between the heads & the intake so Steve designed & hand built his own. I realize spacers for this were made later, because I own a set made by Weiand. The 400 also used different engine mounts & the C-6 that fits a 400 is different than the 351 that uses the small block bolt pattern. The car had too much trick stuff to list, but it was my favorite of all the Mustangs. The 37 was crazy fast. It had a rumble seat & I remember riding in the passenger seat & turning around to look at another friend riding in the rumble seat & seeing his face all distorted from the speed-wind LOL. Steve was a great guy a tremendous mechanic, welder, fabricator, his memory will live on, I miss you buddy, RIP
Great stories and memories from you guys, He sounds like a nice guy who's knowledge and love of Fords will be missed. RIP
Leadfoot, I'm still sitting here thinking about Steve. Do you remember Ron Learner (sp) He had a couple of unique cars Steve worked on often. One was a 1971 Mach 1 Black with silver stripes, spoiler. This car I heard Ron bought from one of the local Ford dealers, & it was a demo with a few miles on it. Equipped with a 429 SCJ, & had a tan interior, & every available Ford option. Ron also had about a late 30's, early 40's Lincoln that Steve did an engine swap. Even though I hung out in the shop a lot during this time, The details are pretty foggy. I believe a 428 may have gone in that car, with a Mustang Shaker sticking through the hood. It seems that it was dark blue in color, & I heard he wiped it out hitting a fire hydrant at a high rate of speed. I believe Ron may have been a Kodak employee, & was one of the few older guys that I remember from the shop. Most of us were just kids, & there were a lot of us LOL... Ralph
<LI class="translateable_info hidden_elem uiListItem uiListVerticalItemBorder">This is the conversation I had with my old friend on Facebook about Steve's awesome 1937 Ford.<LI class=uiUfiComments data-ft='{"type":32}'> Joe: Hey Tim, remember your experience sitting in the rumble seat of his '37 when we cruised the Bay Bridge at about 180 mph?<LABEL class="deleteAction stat_elem UIImageBlock_Ext uiCloseButton" for=u1e8ew_1></LABEL> Tim: I sure do Joe, his speedometer wasn't working at the time but his tach told him he was north of 150 mph, but it could have been 180 mph for a few seconds. I remember trying to sit up in the rumble seat but the wind was so powerful I just crouched down until the death-defying ride was over. Joe: I recall you saying it felt like your face was being pulled off! LOL! Joe: He also said there was power to spare even when we were at peak speed.<LABEL class="deleteAction stat_elem UIImageBlock_Ext uiCloseButton" for=u1e8ew_2></LABEL> Tim: My hair hurt too! LOL!
Tim, thanks for the information. I didn't realize that Steve had that good a shop set-up. I guess I should have motored on out from Rochester and stopped in. Now, obviously, it's too late... Ralph, I do remember Ron, I believe he spelled his last name 'Lerner'. That Mach I he had was a little strange, in a way, at least in my opinion. The black exterior, with the silver striping, just didn't look quite right with the tan inside. Maybe if the interior was black or gray, or the car didn't have the silver striping, I think it would have looked better. Yes, the car originated at the former Ev Lewis Ford, in Honoye Falls, NY. I think the story was that it was originally ordered for Ev's wife to drive around..... The Lincoln you're referring to was a '48 Cabriolet. It originally had a V-12 in it, and I remember Steve honing out a couple of the cylinders in it, using a portable honing tool, while he still had the Atlantic station on Titus Ave. A while after that, the 12 was just too old and weary to be rebuilt again, so they put in a new engine, I seem to reacll that it was a 460 Lincoln, but I'm in no way positive.
If you're looking for specific pictures of Steve's '71 Mustang, and his former '37 Ford, that might be difficult. With no disrespect to Steve at all, one thing about his cars is that appearance wise, they were very subtle. He chose to have their performance do the talking. What I mean, is that other than his Mustang sitting low in the front, instead of the "nose up" attitude that stock Mach1s of the day had, and fairly wide tires all around, you'd never really know of the performance potential of the car. It looked like a very clean, red Mach1, with the chrome magnum 500 wheels that were optional on Mustangs back then. In other words, there wasn't anything that screamed at you, "this is Steve's car".......until, of course, he cracked the throttle! It was somewhat the same with the '37 Ford. In it's early days, the only thing that sort of said "hot rod" about the car, were the custom wheels on it. I remember the wheels, but I'm not 100% sure what brand they were. I'm thinking maybe M/Ts. I fully understand that a stock '37 Ford didn't ride with it's running boards about 5" off the road, and certainly didn't have 60 series Goodrich radials on it. But other than those two details, it looked reasonably stock, at least body wise. No hood scoops, no lakes pipes, no flames in the paint job. My point is simply think of any unmodified '71 Mach1 or '37 Ford, and you've captured the essence of Steve's cars.
I have pics coming from my sister.i had the pleasere of being steveo friend for 40 yrs he showed me how to drive paint rebuild motor tranys been to a lot of nascar races with him and my sister she dug out old pics of the cars and steveo will post them miss the bro.
I would be great if you can post the pictures, as I'm sure a lot of people would like to see what a craftsman Steve was.
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