glass bodies

**prpmmp** · 10-01-2008 02:18 PM

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

**Mike52** · 10-01-2008 06:47 PM

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

**godspeed32** · 10-01-2008 08:50 PM

please dont tell me it came from kevin in missori....

**shine** · 10-02-2008 04:44 AM

a lot of builders will glass a bez card on the inside firewall or under the cowl. you can add the inner structure yourself.

**rspears** · 10-02-2008 05:09 AM

Originally Posted by shine

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?

**C9x** · 10-02-2008 08:45 AM

Use the chassis as a jig for the body.

**Bob Parmenter** · 10-02-2008 08:48 AM

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.

**prpmmp** · 10-07-2008 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by godspeed32

please dont tell me it came from kevin in missori....

i dont know! it came from western pa.

**HOTRODPAINT** · 10-07-2008 02:19 PM

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.

**rumrumm** · 10-08-2008 05:05 AM

Can you post some photographs of the body?

**prpmmp** · 10-11-2008 05:12 PM

**Henry Rifle** · 10-11-2008 05:33 PM

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.

**Deuce** · 10-11-2008 07:51 PM

Looks like one of the cheap bodies off eBay ...

Go here to compare ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1932-...QQcmdZViewItem

Made in Hudson Florida ...

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

**Dave Severson** · 10-11-2008 09:07 PM

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!!!!!

**DA34GUY** · 10-12-2008 04:34 AM

Good Luck----
Like a dog says RUFF

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