constructing a 32 3 window coupe

Hello I'm new to this site, I've read quite a few of them before and now I have a few questions for all of ya'll out there. Opinions! whom makes the best body out there, ? What if anything does anyone know of rat's glass, beebop's bodies, I head rat's takes an awful lot of work to get the body panels to blens ie, from the quarter to the door and door onto the cowl , is this true, I'm getting ready to build a 3 window hiboy, pinched , heidts open wheel independent, jag rear, how about a perimeter frame, cannot justify building a jig for one frame, appreciate all info , thanks Skiball

Skiball, you mentioned "I've read quite a few of them before......", not sure if you mean the other threads under the Deuce Den forum, or other sites. If you haven't, read the other threads we've had because there is a fair bit of discussion in general about various body manufacturers and chassis builders. Otherwise you may need to be more specific, especially about the frame. It's too complicated to answer a "which is the best" kind of question precisely because of the huge number of suppliers out there. But I can give you some generalities to help your thingking process.

I'm starting with the assumption that you are thinking of a glass body only, as that's what you gave example of. There are shops that make good ones, and there are bad ones. Then there are shops that have some inconsistency. My '32 3 Window body required a bunch of work to get the panel alignment and gaps to look good, it's a Gibbon. Our friend here, Dan J, assures me that they are doing a better job now, probably based on his experience with his '34 sedan body. I purchased mine 12 years ago. Regardless, don't set yourself up for disappointment, or limit yourself, based on your desire to avoid body work. Just about any glass body is going to require some. How much is going to depend on each, individual body, even when considering a given manufacturer. As an example, there are two glass body manufacturers who I've seen personally that can consistently turn out bodies that require the least amount of work to smooth out. One is located in your state, named Minotti. Great glass work! Unfortunately, I don't believe he does '32's (though it might be worth checking), just '33-4 and '37. The other is Outlaw Performance in PA. They do make a '32 3 window, along with a range of others, but I don't care for their's. The quality is top notch, but they chose to delete the reveal around the windshield. I don't know if they did that to ease production, or if they were specifically targeting the "smoothie" market. To me, that reveal is one of the "beauty marks" of a '32, just like the reveal on the side of the frame rail. But it sounds like, with the independant suspension, that you may be leaning "smoothie", so their style could fit you tastes.

After that, the next highest rated company, in my opinion, is Wescott. The company has earned it's high reputation both from longevity in the industry, and because of producing a consistent level of quality. Notice I said consistent, not highest. From a design standpoint, their structural skeleton is probably the best out there. Their glass work is very high quality. But, the body will require panel to panel "massaging" to get show quality smoothe. Not quite as easy as the other two listed above, but a lot better than the worst out there by a long, long shot.

The next best thing you can do, especially since you're in year round rod country, is go to as many rod events as you can and talk to owners. If the person bought the car finished they probably won't have the first hand experience to correctly evaluate the raw body. Their experience will likely be based more on the craftsmanship of the builder than on the body manufacturer. But if they paid a shop to build the car from scratch, then you could get some great feedback. Because, if they had to pay $50-60 per hour to have a body made nice, and it took, say 100 hours (not as uncommon as you might think), then they have a REAL GOOD idea of the body quality. Likewise the guy who does his own work will know how much effort he had to put in (although, for sanity sake he may repress those memories:LOL: ). And therein lies another message. Even if you plan to do your own body work, it comes down to what your time, or your ability to buy someone else's time, is worth. That's the fallacy of comparing a $5000 body to a $9000 one. If you have to spend another $5000 to get the $5000 body to the same level as the $9000 one then you paid too much at $5000. As often happens when building a car, it's "pay me now, or pay me later".

Bob ; Thank you for your response. Yes I realize what you said as to the 5k and 9k bodies . My wife and I went to the Shades of the Past run in Tennesee earlier this month what a wonderful show , good times and great cars, had 2800 plus there, and two give away cars, both 34's one unfinished and one completed and it was breathtaking. anyway we toured Rat's glass facility Rat the owner was very nice to talk to and his main man Toby was extremely helpful and knowledgeable, a wealth of information, they make a really nice body or should I say Bodies, they make the SpeedStar and now the SpeedStar Vicky , I didn't care for the thin floors but I did like the fact the doors open 90 deg. to the body and the trunk lid opened 90 deg. as well . the finish is very good , the gaps are good as well but the edges of the doors are somewhat inconsistant, but like you said that's the difference and if the bodies were perfect they cost a lot more. I did not mean to mislead you, yes I'm looking at a glass body , to me their so much easier to work with, you can make mistakes and repair them relatively easy. but like most fellas I want the most bang for my buck and deffinately do not want to make a costly mistake. Does the Gibbon body come with as much steel as indicated in their ads. does yours have that much. ? , you said go to the shows and that is great advise, we make quite a few each year and we'll be going to the S.E. Street Rod Nats. in Tamps next month and then in Nov. Daytona hosts the Turkey Rod Run Thanksgiving wekend inside Daytona Speedway, it usually draws 5K plus cars each year and has an unbelieveable swap meet as well, it's an open show so there is a real assortment. Weve seen most of the body mfg's there as there are approx 300 vendors. If anyone out there is looking for a great run to attend and see vendors as well as cars and swapmeet I highly recomend this one.

Tim/Skiball,

There are two schools of thought about reinforcing fiberglass bodies… the primary use of steel or wood. Gibbon is one of the many companies that believe wood reinforcing is better because wood is more compatible with the contraction and expansion characteristics of fiberglass. Wescott happens to be one of the companies that like to use steel because they feel it is more rigid. There are “finer” arguments involving the adhesion of the reinforcing material to the fiberglass, etc. I’m not sure that most of the issue gets down to quality of construction by the manufacturer.

As far as getting the best fit, I would have the frame sent to the fiberglass manufacturer for the initial fit-up of the body. If you are not happy with the result, don’t take delivery until you are satisfied. If the manufacturer refuses to work this way… you might want to look down the road for someone else.

BTW, welcome to CHR.

Dan J

I bought my roadster body from Doug White at ShowMe Rod & Custom http://www.showmerodandcustom.com/ about a year ago. They also build a very nice 32 three window coupe. Doug can also source a chassis from Pet & Jakes or from a couple of other good shops and build the body on it for you.

I went with ShowMe because they offer the body I need. I am a tall dude and I wanted one with stretched doors and cockpit. Harwood was my first choice but I found it hard to justify the $3,000 premium (over other quality bodies) that they were asking for. So, I checked out the other "stretched" bodies. I visited American Street Rod Design and Rats Glass in Knoxville. ASRD builds a nice body but their roadster does not have the cowel lip for a traditional windshield. Rat's has the lip but they also have a rolled pan in back that requires a bobed frame and relocated gas tank. Ball's also offers a stretched roadster but the one I looked at a show here had a non-traditional windshield and the stretch was not very subtile. I pased on all three and resigned myself to saving for a Harwood.

Then I heard about ShowMe. They are located between Branson and Springfield, MO. They had everything I was looking for, stretched doors and cockpit, cowel lip, and traditional rear. They also put me in contact with an owner in Little Rock and I checked out his car. It was nice.

So I carried my SoCal chassis up to him and a couple of weeks later went back for the finished product.

I am not a body man but I was able to prep the car for paint myself. The panels were right on. I don't think I used more than a quart of filler. There were some pits that needed filling and sanding did open some pin holes but it was relatively easy to get right. It took me about two weeks to prep the body. A pro could have done it in three or four days I think.