My 2014 SEMA trip, wanted to share
 

As the title says i had a great time at SEMA this year and wanted to share a little about my week. I've been to Sema now 5 times but this is the first year I've ever taken a car and had a blast. Not only did I get to meet quite a few Lateral-g members and now can put a face to names but I got to meet quite a few car people. Since I had to be there early this year, I got to meet a lot of people behind the scenes before the show got started and we actually got to just sit around and talk cars and shiiitt. Here's how my week went.

1. Drove 25 hour to sema.

2. Arrived at sema, unloaded car only to find out I secured the car incorrectly and destroyed the drivers side airbag and shock tower. It was stuck in the down position and made the rest of the week difficult to move.. the crew at car crazy were awesome helping me move the car where it needed to be safely.

3. Got to meet Rick Dore, Barry Maguier, Chip Foose and Dave Kindig during set up before the show officially opened..Dave Kindig was extremely cool.

4. The car sat up on the Car Crazy stage opening day, had the first interview of the show and my dad was called up on stage during the interview..Dad called up my favorite part of the entire SEMA show.

5. Interviewed several times during the week along w/filming for ads, ended up being published by Yahoo.com and Street Legal TV.

https://autos.yahoo.com/photos/the-h...673-slideshow/

http://www.streetlegaltv.com/feature...-outside-sema/

6. Rigged the airbag up good enough to drive out in the parade to end the show, once I drove thru the light, they allowed me to park next to the Chip Foose tent and load my car into the trailer...

7. Took different route home 24 hours, unloaded car safely and now time for repairs. Also had two generous offers on the car and I think I'm going to sell..will be a sad day for me.

8. Will keep attending SEMA but will not be taking anymore cars.

9. Other than the shock issue, I couldn't have planned a better week, Lateral-g.net is a great site, really good seeing everyone.

10. Here's a flickr file w/pics..no cars..just my experience w/car crazy and some of the people I got to meet.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/422981...7646984933353/

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...674/bB0mcd.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...661/tdR9sS.jpg

Beautiful car bro! Hate that you had trouble with it but looks like you made the best out of a bad situation.

That's really awesome, Lenie. Glad you had a great time and got to meet everyone. Good luck on the next build. Any idea what you want to build?

Awesome Lenie. I'm sure your dad was a very proud father.
Car looked great at SEMA.

The car looked fantastic and bummer on the shock issue.

Btw it's hard not sell them when you get an offer at the show.


Marty-mj
www.garagescene.net www.syborgtwinturbo.com www.2ndcamaro.com

Lenie all I gotta say is your an awesome dude!!!! Great talking with you !

Congratulations on a fun rewarding week! You definitely worked hard for it!
Not surprised to hear abot the sale, lil bummed but looking forward to the van build!!

:thumbsup:
Dan

I like to say that old cars take you on a journey long before they take you for a ride. You've had a great journey!!

Kinda bummed to hear that you're selling the car, but also excited as I can't wait to see what you build next.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Yeah, Bitter sweet for sure.

But the memories from the week are priceless i'm sure....

I tried looking for you a couple of times, but missed ya. It is great hearing about the time you had....:cheers:

Nice to see you again. I know its hard to turn one loose after all the work, but first offers are usually the best.

agreed and that is why Syborg never came home from Sema.

Lenie
Its was great meeting you and your dad. The car looked great. One of those offers happened while Mario and I were talking to you.
Good luck with your new fame.

Mike

I'm glad I was able to see the car in person and take it all in. Car is amazing! Having had a car at SEMA before I know what you went through. It's quite a ride for sure - then top it off that your Dad was able to take this ride with you makes it all the better! Then top it off with a generous offer. Life is good! CONGRATS!

Thanks everyone, yep, my dad had a hoot..something we'll always remember! Marty, I took all my titles and paperwork w/me, if I wouldn't have had the shock issue, the car would have never made the trip back home w/me..couldn't sell it that way, wouldn't feel right, now that I got it home and apart, there's more damage than I thought, the pressure from the shock having no travel not only bent the shock tower back towards the motor, it also did damage to the frame and welds around it..real bummer, figuring out how to fix it right....called the buyer and decided not to sell the car quite yet, partly because of the damage and mostly because I've had time to think and I'm a little emotionally attached even though it was an offer I probably won't see again..
Thanks Mario..you're the greatest, enjoyed talking w/you and meeting your wife.:thankyou: Lateral-g

I know your attached to the car but if your anything like me. You enjoy the build much more then the cleaning. Take the offer and start your next build and I promise you won't regret it.

Hi Marty, you're exactly right...I really just want to ensure this front clip/shock issues is properly taken care of before I pass it on to anyone...I'll sleep better at night...although...it is a kick in the aszz to drive:lol:

Glad to hear you had a great time other than shock issue.I saw the article that made yahoo right away and boy that car is incredible Lenie.As far as selling it building them is the best part.Good luck either way you go because you and your dad can sure be proud of this one:king:

Thanks Jeff, yep..best part of the trip was dad. The individual that wrote the yahoo article I don't believe was a car type guy.:confused59:

Lenie, of all of the cars in the show, my dad and I thought yours would be one of the ones we'd take home. It's subtle, elegant, and viscious looking. My dad was smitten with it for sure.

I totally understand what having your father there with your car- obviuously. Walking the show with my dad (his first time) and him seeing our car there was a special moment in time. Life is so short, yet these cars are vehicles that create memories with loved one and friends. Amazing what a pile of metal, rubber, and glass can do for the soul.

So true about families and memories! It was very cool meeting you and being another Lateral-g.net member was just an added bonus. Your car was amazing, It had so many cool things about it I repeatedly ventured back over to it to take it all in. Thanks again.

Your car is still one of our most popular features ever. Thanks again for that, and congrats on making Sema.

So rather than start a new thread, I'll tell you about another cool thing that happened to me at SEMA. After I limped out of the sema cruise w/the car and parked it in the first available lot which was next to the Chip Foose Overhaulin' exhibit (another cool story) I left the car w/my dad and friend so I could go get the trailer...while I was away my day told me a photographer stopped by and asked to take photo's of the car..later she got a hold of me through facebook and talked to me about the car, she was very nice and very much into cars, her name was Courtney and today she sent me this...

http://www.courtneycutchenphotograph...ntiac-firebird

You've got to love car people, thank you Courtney Cutchen's, hope all you Lateral-g friends enjoy the pictures, I did. Once you open up the link, click on the pics to open them up larger, she just did such a good job to show detail.

Thanks Jody, that's just to cool!!!

Thats a great story Lenie,very well deserved:trophy-1302: