Joe's Glassworks blog! 

Hollywood or BUST!

A pretty amazing thing happened to us recently, and we couldn't be more excited!  In mid-June we received a phone call from Duane Mayer, the crew chief for Boyd Coddington in L.A.  They were in the process of resto-rodding a 59 Vette for the show American Hotrod on TLC...and they needed a hardtop, PRONTO.  We explained that there was NO way we could could custom build a '59 top in 3 weeks...unless they would be willing to get us on TV, mounting the roof on the 'rod!

DONE DEAL.

So, we flew out to the left coast, did the 4th of July at Disneyland, and reported to the shop the next morning.  As we arrived, we saw the car:  A gorgeous '59 with a paint job called 'Red Wine'...stunning.  Also of interest was the three TLC camera crews prowling the shop floor (which is the size of an aircraft hangar) and filming everyone there while they worked.

Duane came over and introduced himself, and immediately informed us of a BIG problem.  The top had arrived safely, and it looked great, but the car had no WINDSHIELD.  It can be kind of difficult to mount a roof on a car with no windshield!  We asked Duane where the 'shield was, and he said "It's all over here, in pieces."  They indeed had all the required parts of the assembly, chrome, stainless, and the glass...but couldn't get the pieces to fit.

About this time, we informed Duane that not only are we familiar with C1 windshield assemblies, we restore them regularly!  "Seriously??  You guys know what you're looking at?" he asked.  We told him it would take some special tools and a few hours, but YES we can assemble this shield, install it on the car, and then mount the roof.  I think he wanted to do cartwheels!

And so, after some on-the-fly tool fabrication and a trip to Home Depot for some odds and ends, Matt and Larry got to work on the windshield assembly. At one point, the crew that was filming us stopped and said "We spent three hours yesterday filming the shop crew while they tried to install that retainer, and they couldn't.  You guys just did it in 3 minutes."  We loved hearing that!  Old Vette windshields are unique and TRICKY, so it's no surprise that Boyd's guys weren't able to assemble it.  MOST people couldn't.  That's OUR turf! 

 Some 7 hours later, the windshield was finished and mounted.  We then happily crowned the car with its new roof...and it looked FANTASTIC.  Everyone there was pleased with it, right down to the camera crews.   Coddington's crew was so happy, in fact, that they took us out for dinner and drinks!  And when we left our hotel for the airport, it was in a limo, sent over by a thankful Duane.

The 1959 Corvette is a three-part episode on TLC, beginning August 23rd at 9pm.  The second episode is a week later, and the third episode (the one we're in) airs Sept. 6th at 9.

Here's to the gang at Boyd Coddington's (they were all great guys, to a man!) and the crews from TLC for giving us a chance to go in front of the camera.  Whether we make it on air for 15 seconds or 15 minutes, it's a great opportunity to showcase our work on a national broadcast!  Tune in and watch us go!

-Joe

*****

Cars and Cancer

As with so many good things, this happened almost by accident.  Matt (our fearless leader) has a sister in Seattle who is a TV reporter.  Her name is Michelle Esteban, and she recently won two daytime Emmys for a special report she did about Inflammatory Breast Cancer.  This is a version of breast cancer that has some nasty twists:  it won't show up on a mammogram, and it's fast-moving.  It is often misdiagnosed, coming across as a spider-bite or an 'underwire problem'.

She discussed this with Matt a few months back, and he decided that with our blistering show schedule, Glassworks might be able to spread the word in some way.  Tons of guys bring their wives/gf's to the shows, after all...

So, after much hand-wringing and emailing, we showed up at Chevy VetteFest in Chicago with a plan.  Duane Mayer from American Hotrod was meeting us; he owed us a favor and was there to 'press the flesh'.  We had a family from the IBC Awareness and Research Foundation come by; the Kirschenbaums already had to fight this beast off, so they would provide the info and background to the women that stopped by our display.  Last but not least, Bob Ashton and his wife Vicki (the organizers of VetteFest) set us up with a HUGE showspace and all the trimmings, and suggested we have a silent auction to raise a little cash for the IBCARF.

And so we did!  Using just donated die-cast cars, posters, and the like, we were able to raise over a thousand dollars, and we passed out hundreds of informational CD's and handbills.  Duane's job was to drive traffic to the spot, which he did spectacularly, posing for pics and signing autographs.  We ordered 200 red carnations and I passed them out to every girl I could find.  (For the record, this stops women cold in their tracks. Then I gave them an IBC info disk.)

There were speedbumps, hitches, and snafus (when AREN'T there?), but it all came together and ended up working out.  We learned that combining a business event AND a charity event was POSSIBLE, and that simply meant we had to get better at it.  Like for the upcoming spring VetteFest, when we'll have a live auctioneer and hopefully some high-end items donated.  Vendors, I'm looking at YOU...

All this begs the question: why don't some of the larger companies try this?  Traffic at our display was constant, I passed out as many business cards as I did IBC materials, we looked GREAT for doing it, and IBCARF got a shot of much-needed funds.  Add to that the 'warm fuzzies' of doing something philanthropic...and it's a no brainer.

Glassworks has raised about 5 thousand dollars for the IBCARF since September, mostly through trial and error.

Glassworks is three guys in a Pittsburgh machine shop.

Just imagine the 'damage' some of the huge, rich, connected companies in our industry could do if they felt like it.

Yes, that would be my gauntlet on the ground...

*****

Fast Cars and Fruit Plates

Our New Year kicked off (as always) at the NCRS Southern Regional in Kissimmee, Florida, outside Orlando.  It's always nice to escape the Pittsburgh winter and 'snowbird' south for a few days in January!  This show would not only give us a chance to brush the snow off our shoulders, but we also looked forward to trying out some new ideas we had for our display.

The first thing we wanted to try was inspired by our last show in November.  At Chicago's Chevy VetteFest, we held a silent auction to raise funds and awareness for Inflammatory Breast Cancer research.  One of the new wrinkles we added that weekend was to have several hundred red carnations at our display, thinking it would attract attention, one way or the other. 

Did it ever!

This being a Florida show, we decided to do the same thing, but with a tropical mix from a local florist.  To say it was 'well received' would be an understatement!  (It occurred to me that I couldn't attract more attention with a FLARE GUN!)  And once people stopped, they were surprised to find something else that they weren't used to seeing at a Vette meet:  Free food!

We thought an assortment of fresh tropical fruits, a cheese platter and a few sandwich wheels would get people's attention.  Turns out we were right!  (Who knew?)  All we asked was that the folks fill out a quick survey about their favorite topic:  their cars.  The purpose was three-fold:  We got to meet Vette owners we normally might not have met, THEY got to meet US, and we garnered valuable insight into our customer base and their cars, with well over one hundred survey responses returned. 

This is what I call a successful promotional activity!

Essentially, a phone call to a florist and a trip to the Publix deli completely BLEW AWAY the show attendees, and provided us with a great deal of exposure.  Sure, there were a few detractors, especially when we were first setting up ("Hey 'ladies', nice flowers!")  My response back: "Hey, nice tarp!"  Our idea was borne out later in the day, when some particularly burly fellows complimented us on adding a 'touch of class' to the proceedings.  Indeed.

The pictures of all this can be seen in our pics section, and we think our overall 'look' has improved greatly since the Carlisle ("Auntie Em, it's a twister!") show in August.  Feel free to compare the two.

For now, it's back to the frigind northland, and back to work until the spring shows hit.  Keep an eye out for us this year, and if you pay us a visit, bring your appetite.