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hi everyone!! 1st post!! a whole lot of great infro on this site!! i think you guy,s + girls know more about 32's than henry did!! got a question! bought a 32 3 window project off ebay and don,t know the maker of the body(probably a lower quality body,no wood or steel)are there tell tale signs body manufacturers use? i,ll try to post pictures when my son comes home(he's 18 and i'm over 50) I NO LITTLE TO NOTHING ABOUT COMPUTERS. thanks pete
Pete, welcome aboard. I'm a rookie here too, trying to learn all I can before taking the plunge on a '32 3W project myself. I've been doing a lot of research on fiberglass '32 coupe bodies (see this thread). Something that scares me about your body is the lack of wood and steel reinforcement used by reputable body builders. Hopefully someone can help you identify it.
Mike
please dont tell me it came from kevin in missori....
a lot of builders will glass a bez card on the inside firewall or under the cowl. you can add the inner structure yourself.
Mike52 & I are in the same boat, and I am definitely in a learning mode. Correct me if I am wrong, but if you are adding inner structure to a glass body that has no bracing wouldn't you first need a known straight jig to first get it straight, and then pull critical points into alignment and finally brace to that position? Seems to me that simply installing bracing is likely to make a problem more permanent, if that makes sense?Quote:
Originally Posted by shine
Use the chassis as a jig for the body.
One of the problems with an unbraced body is hinted at in the comments above. As it sits unsupported from within it will sag, twist, in general distort wherever weakest. The longer it sits, the more (and more intense) thermal cycles it goes through the worse it gets. Minor tweaks can be repaired with heat, relief cuts, section patching, whatever is appropriate for the kind/location of distortion. It comes down to a typical time/$/quality standards equation. If you have lots of time and little money you might be able to fix it, especially if your standards of fit and finish are "very flexible". If you have the ability to convert your time into money more successfully than most then turning that unsupported body into yard art might be a better move and find a well built body for the project.
As an unlikely aside, not all decent bodies have been supported by steel and/or wood. A few years back Harwood made both a roadster and coupe deuce body with composite inner structure. It just so happens the tooling for the coupe body is for sale on Craigslist in Portland right now. Disclaimer: this is not a recommendation to pursue buying the tooling as a solution, just a comment intended to provoke a HMMMMMMM.;)
i dont know! it came from western pa.Quote:
Originally Posted by godspeed32
If you decide to add some inner support yourself, aluminum is a good choice. The expansion rate is about the same as fiberglass, so as it heats up and cools down you are not adding extra stresses.
Can you post some photographs of the body?
Here's what I'm working on now
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...59702_9305.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...0/IMG_0540.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...0/IMG_0548.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...0/IMG_0547.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...0/IMG_0545.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...0/IMG_0544.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...0/IMG_0543.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...0/IMG_0542.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...0/IMG_0541.jpg
Here's what I have
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...0/IMG_0549.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...334_2811-1.jpg
Nice. I like yellow. :)
Having just completed a 'glass coupe, and looking at your photos, I believe you have a bit o' work ahead of you. Thtt body is pretty rough around the doors and windows.
How does the outside look? Is the 'glass fairly flat?
I have no clue on the body manufacturer, though.
Looks like one of the cheap bodies off eBay ...
http://i11.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/c4/bc/cd35_1.JPG
Go here to compare ...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1932-...QQcmdZViewItem
Made in Hudson Florida ... :rolleyes:
I had a guy I know buy one already on a decent chassis ... and he finally sold the body and went and bought a Wescott 3W :D
Well.....I'll say this, if I were to build a drag car with a Deuce body what you have would work fine.
As others have said, it's going to take a lot of work to build and install the inner structure and maintain some semblance of proper fit.
Definitely not a project for impatient people, but as with anything it can be built into a quality piece if you're willing to invest the time and money it will take to make it right. Guess I didn't even know there was anyone out there selling bodies without an inner structure installed. My experience with 'glass has been that the body must be secured in a fixture when the inner structure is installed. I would suggest keeping the body bolted to the frame and inside out of the sun and not subject to temperature extremes until the inner structure is installed------unsupported glass moves around a bunch!!!!!
Good Luck----
Like a dog says RUFF
ya know not having built a fiberglass car I was wondering are all these glass cars chopper gun like this one appears to be kind of like bayliner boats just wondering ......ted
Most 'glass cars are hand laid. Gibbon was the exception, but they went under. However, the old man made pretty good bodies, even with a chopper gun. When his kid took over, things did not go as well.
Another way that chopper bodies gain some strength is the use of a product called cormat, look at the floor on the one shown here, it's the creme colored stuff laminated to the floor surface. It's basically a tight woven mat that reinforces large "flat" areas, e.g floor, roof, side panels.....
http://hotrodsandhemis.com/DeuceFrame/IMG_1089a.JPG
The exterior has all the earmarks of a Dave Koorey body (made in New Port Richey, FL). He produced good quality reasonably priced bodies (I have one) but is out of business now. I picked mine up over 10 years ago before his shop burned down and he lost all his original molds. He then made new molds but from what I understand he had some personal problems that got in the way and creditors and bad debts sent him under. This guy in Hudson (which is right up the road from New Port Richey) may have purchased his molds. The glass work does not look anywhere near as good as Koorey's stuff though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Deuce
Actually Deuce, I think the one you found on EBay looks better.:3dSMILE: Certainly not as rough.
Just A Thought; Any Inner Structure You Add Should Not Be Bonded To Flat Surfaces Where It Will Show With Temperture Changes Or Future Curing (try To Stick To Corners, Door Edges, Firewall, Etc). And I "would" Set It Out Outside On The Hottest Days Or Get It Into An Oven (enamel Shop), On The Frame As True As Possible. You Want It To Move Now Not After Paint.
Check Out A Wescott Catalog, They Show Their Inner Structure, Might Give You Some Ideas. Good Luck.
Outside or baking is a good idea, but AFTER the inner structure has been installed.... An unsupported body will really move around without it when subject to heat.....Quote:
Originally Posted by ALLEYCUSTOM
Bayliner boats had both matt and cloth added to them, along with material from a chop gun...... BTW, Bayliner closed last month after many years of doing business in a small Minnesota town where it was the largest employer for quite awhile..... As a kid I worked there (briefly) one summer. It was an interesting experience to say the least....Quote:
Originally Posted by ted dehaan
hey great infro!! the body does,t seem to be to bad on the outside to me(54 year old eyes) i,m sure others would not agree,but i,m not looking for a show car(don,t have the time or the talent) i guess it will be a 20 mile an hour car! i,m going to put wood inside and post my progress with pics if that can help some one in the future. one more question? i,m taking out the hidden hinges(somebody made them,a little rough but spent some time to make them) and putting exposed ones on,can someone measure where the hinges go on there car. that would be a great help!! thanks all!! peteQuote:
Originally Posted by Henry Rifle
hey great infro!! the body does,t seem to be to bad on the outside to me(54 year old eyes) i,m sure others would not agree,but i,m not looking for a show car(don,t have the time or the talent) i guess it will be a 20 mile an hour car! i,m going to put wood inside and post my progress with pics if that can help some one in the future. one more question? i,m taking out the hidden hinges(somebody made them,a little rough but spent some time to make them) and putting exposed ones on,can someone measure where the hinges go on there car. that would be a great help!! thanks all!! peteQuote:
Originally Posted by Henry Rifle
hi everyone!! i just read my last post and the beginning did not sound right!! great infro was meant for all the responses ,not being a smart as$ to Henry for not knowing what body manufacture it was,sorry if it sounded as if it was directed to you Henry!! thanks again, pete
No offense taken . . . actually, I went back and read it twice, and couldn't figure out why you think I should have.
Be careful how you bond the wood inside the car. Any wood bonded to flat surfaces will show through the body if you're not very careful. Also, use very dry, hard, straight-grained wood like oak or poplar.
I think you can see some wood installed in bodies on the N&N website.
I can also take some photos of the wood in my Gibbon car this weekend if you want.
Back in the 70's I worked with a friend on a project, we started to build fiberglass 32 Ford bodies, and something we did to eliminate any outside distortion on the body when we glassed support inside the body,...
We rolled up little balls of modeling clay to about 3/16" and put them between the inside of the body and the wood before we glassed it in, as the fiberglass drew in as it cured, the little clay balls would flatten out, the heat generated from curing made the clay very soft, and we never did see any "tattle-tale" marks on the outside of the bodies.
And BTW you can do amazing things with glass bodies that seem rough, you spend some time on that body and it will look fine.