Thread: ’32 3W Coupe roller package advise/opinions wanted

Tweet

I have a secret audio system that works from a remote. You cant see it from inside. However you can see it in the trunk.
Secret audio is a good unit and small enough to be hidden any place

Thanks ... do you have a link to Secret Audio on the web ??

Originally Posted by Deuce

Thanks ... do you have a link to Secret Audio on the web ??

Google is your friend

In reference to glassing in the floor on your frame vs any other '32 frame or fixture, I think that might be a little over rated.

The cars I have built have been Wescott, Brookville, or Ford bodies. I built a 5w using a Gibbon body about 10 years ago.

A '32 frame that is assembled in a fixture, to the correct dimensions should be the same as any other '32 frame assembled in a fixture to the correct dimensions. I have been to Wescott's shop, and the fixtures they use to install the floor look like a short section of a frame, the cowl portion to the rearmost body mount.

I haven't been to Brookville, but Scandinavian in Huntington Beach assembles B-ville bodies, and they have '32 rails, cut down from the cowl back, on rolling fixtures to assemble those bodies.

So maybe if it is acceptable for the two best know body manufacturers, who are respected for there quality, to assemble bodies on a random frame or fixture, it must be fine. So I guess my thought process is why would the body manufacturer need or even prefer your frame, if they are assembling their bodies on a proper fixture that ensures accuracy and consistency from body to body?

As for shimming, closed cars aren't that big of a deal to shim up - ALL roadsters of ANY brand need extensive shimming to get everything, door gaps, beltlines, hood lines, fenders to fit - those door hinges have no adjustment - all adjustment is in shimming the cowl and quarters up/down front to back.

I understand the position that any body assembled on a frame/jig that is "to specs" should fit any other frame that is also "to specs", but the specifications have manfacturing tolerances. While they will be close I would challenge that no two frames are going to be truly identical, hence the need for shims to get the gaps right. This is the benefit of having your body assembled on the frame it will ride on - tolerances are accounted for in the body assembly.
From the August '08 build article in Street Rod Builder, N&N not only mounts the floor with the body on the frame, they also build the doors up from inner & outer panels clamped in place on the body to make initial gaps right. They offer a complete chassis/body combo as Mike points out, but I am pretty sure that you can also carry in any quality chassis, for example a roller from Pete & Jakes for them to match up your body to. Others may be as good or better, but from what I have seen so far their approach is a pretty solid value for the dollars they charge.

There is a tolerance, yes, but in the Y plane (vertical) the rails are all the same - there are only 2 people stamping them, and Lobeck and SAC weld up rails - the vertical profile of all 4 major sources of '32 rails(ASC, Weimer, SAC, Lobeck) are the same - certainly within .100" - I've had them all in my jigs and they are all very high quality. So if the width of the frame from the centerline is the Ford spec - they should all be the same. I cannot imagine being able to build a '32 Ford with any body and chassis, and not have to place a single shim under the body anywhere. I've built too many, and know too well how difficult it is to fit a hood on one of these cars. Maybe the definition of "fit" is a little more broad for some of these companies claiming "no shims"

My point is simple - Gibbon, Ravon and others have trumpeted the great benefit of glassing the floor in on the frame the body will ride on - this is not new - I know nothing of the NN bodies - but this is the same deal.

TONS of super-high quality cars are turned out by So-Cal, Lobeck, Brizio, SRRC, Cali Street Rods, Limeworks, Circle City, every year with bodies and frames that have never seen each other until they both arrive at the shop of those guys.

One issue with reproduction frames is the width. If you are going to run fenders ... the frames are too narrow. The fenders hang on the rear body panel and then drop down to the frame.



With the frame too narrow, you can end up with a space in between the fender and the frame. I have seen this gap as large as 1/2 of a inch. Then the running boards are not out far enough to line up with the outer edge of the fender.

As " flexible " as the fiberglass bodies are I am with SirSpeedy
I do not really see the advantage of the body being built on the chassis it will finally be on. They move around a good bit ... and some SMELL pretty rank after sitting in the hot sun all day. Most of the fiberglass body guys suggest that you NOT paint your fiberglass cars a dark color.

The ONLY advantage I could see is that with the new body sitting on the intended chassis ... it might cure up better sitting on it than sitting some where else.

I helped a friend with a chopped 32 3W Wescott body ... and we installed it on a original 32 chassis ... and it fit like a glove. It barely was wide enough to sit down over the rails. Bolted it down ... with webbing in between it and the frame and everything was just right.

________________________________

For those of you who have never built a 32 Ford

The body actually sits over the frame and hangs over. The floor is recessed up into the body about a inch and a half. This photo is all I have of showing the way the floor and sub rails are recessed. I know, black floor in the 3W does not make for the best photo.

Hey Deuce, is that a Serta or a Sterns & Foster that you laid the body to rest on?

I suspect that the appeal of a body assembled on it's eventual foundation is based in axiety over the possible unknowns of shimming to the less experienced builder. Learning to shim can be intimidating, and certainly frustrating as you find that you end up redoing certain portions of the job as you add more components (especially when getting the front sheetmetal on) and what looked "good" before ends up being the victim of stacked (pun intended) tolerences.

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

.....as you add more components (especially when getting the front sheetmetal on) and what looked "good" before ends up.....

So the hood on these cars is a challenge? haha

Originally Posted by Mike52

Hey Deuce, is that a Serta or a Sterns & Foster that you laid the body to rest on?

Simmons Beautyrest World Class ... only the BEST for my old coupe to lay on

Actually, it came out of one of my rental properties ...

One thing that bothered me about my fiberglass 3w was something that Deuce mentioned.........the glued in windshield. To remedy this, I bought a windshield frame and hinges, chopped the windshield frame and had it chromed, and fabbed up all the bracketry to make it work. I'm happy with it now although it's not finished, I drive it between improvement projects. By the way, it's a Rat's Glass body.

Originally Posted by Gastrick

One thing that bothered me about my fiberglass 3w was something that Deuce mentioned.........the glued in windshield. To remedy this, I bought a windshield frame and hinges, chopped the windshield frame and had it chromed, and fabbed up all the bracketry to make it work. I'm happy with it now although it's not finished, I drive it between improvement projects. By the way, it's a Rat's Glass body.

Gastrick, I like what you did! Looks good! Sometime in the future I'd like to do it to mine! Bill

WELL ... it has been 6 months ...
What did you do ??

Buy a N& N or a built car ??

"Most of the fiberglass body guys suggest that you NOT paint your fiberglass cars a dark color. "

My research tells me that the folks who say that use a cheaper resin that doesn't have an adequate Heat Distortion Factor (HDT). That tells you whether or not your body is going to be stable when it sits in the hot sun. Low temp resins (general purpose) will deform under heat, and the glass cloth pattern can print through the paint, or panels can deform. That's why some body manufacturers recommend that you "sun cure" your car, and/or you not paint it black. The "no dark color guys" probably used a general purpose resin, what I call a "camper shell" quality. Cheap, but not the best for a car - especially a dark one. Bottom line, if the correct resin is used, the car is "cured" when you get it, and you can paint it any color you like. If I bought another 'glass body, I'd ask the manufacturer about the HDT of the resin. If I got a blank stare, I'd go elsewhere.