Thread: Another Brookville body whine

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I wonder what a stock '30-31 would measure? Could it be they actually copied what Henry actually did? Their new '32 3 window was digitized from a genny car, warts and all. Don't know if they did it that way back when they tooled the '30-1.

Jack and Bob,
This has gone to Brookville along with a yearly (until this year) visit to their display at York. I have it posted on another forum:

I think Brookville is a better choice than trying to restore a 74 - 75 year old original 31A roadster but I am at least a 2 years behind on finishing this project. I am NOT a body man. I feel that there should be an attempt by the manufacturer to produce a "quality" product as the Golohans (sp?) of Brookville stated to me. This is a partial list of aches and pains:
1.Right quarter was totally flat - did not have a bit of curve to match the left nor the door. This took many hours of disassembly and reassembly.
2. Neither rear quarter was welded to the sub frame only had 6-8 tabs bent over the subframe made for a floppy body.
3. The floor boards kinked while kneeling(I weigh less than 200#) in them to set up the seats - required new ones made up by my local Metal Supermarket.
4 Cowl cover missed the right cowl side by over 1/2 an inch, the left by ~1/4"
5. Hinges were bound up so tight they kinked the doors. Bushed with Oilite and made new pins and straightened the kinks
6. Most body rivets not bucked enough - needed to bolt and/or weld the entire body together.
7. Molding under the windshield needed complete reshaping.
8.The original one piece windshield posts that I purchased were ground to the point of paper thickness - returned for credit - also completely misdrilled the brass risers for the posts.Also the posts were not finished or chromed read the (real) fine print. I ended up with LeBarron Bonney stainless 2 piece posts
9. I ordered a 5" recessed firewall for a SB Ford and got a 3" so needed to modify it 2 more inches to clear.
10. The grille shell needed many repairs to look look and fit properly.
11. When fitting up the top, the upolsterer discovered the entire rear section of the body was off by up to .500 which required him to adjust the rear window in the top fabric.
12. The hot rod rear deck former is just plain poorly done I should have elected for the original wood style. This was corrected.
13. Their poor grade of primer had to be completely stripped it was up to .030 thick in places and covering a multitude of workmanship sins
14. There isnt a single panel on the car that is smooth enough for prime and paint without many hours of metal, filler and high fill primer work
And it goes on and on. I guess they may make and OK 28-9 and 32, but after this experience, not for me - I'd buy someone elses. I'm making the best of it and it will be a nice car when done but the extra work on a new steel car has been frustrating
Oh yes one good thing happened it fit the TCI frame nicely (theirs appears to be an old design TCI clone) !!!!

I have since found that one complaint was wrong - Henry Ford did use tabs to fasten the body to the subframe no welds .

When the originals were manufactured they were indeed rough by today's standard but the rivits were properly bucked, the doors closed properly, the quarters and cowl were shaped correctly and the various panels were made from a strong enough steel that they wouldn't bend easily - I previously did own an original - and it was well put together (again, by the 1931 standards for a $495 sedan)

Gee, I would have not been able to handle all that. My Bebops 'glass decklid is slightly off but when closed the gap along the bottom edge is pretty even. Inside the rumble are there is some assymmetry in the 1" steel reinforcement tubing but I don't think that will be evident when the deck lid is closed. My main problem has been the huge trans tunnel in the Bebops body and the added work to reduce it took a lot of time. If anything, the Bebops firewall indent and the trans tunnel look like they are meant for a big block and I did have to add a stainless plate to the firewall after I cut out the the huge trans tunnel. However the Brookville frame is exceptionally straight and measurement from the center of the king pins to the opposite rear frame corner were made equal to less than 1/64" simply by minor tweaking of the four bar threads. My only minor complaint about the frame is that if you choose to use bumpers the small 5/16" threaded holes on the rear of the frame (two per side) fit nicely with the stock brackets if you cut them off as per instructions. Still those little bolts look too small for my 230 lb. on the rear rumble step plate and it definitely gave a wobbly bumper on the rear. One of my innovations of which I am most proud is not visible, but I found that one can simply reverse the pieces cut off the standard bumper brackets (with a little bending in a vise) and drill some holes to mount a second bumper brace under the frame where it is not visible using stouter 7/16" bolts through the frame. Now I can stand on the rumble step plate and bounce up and down and it is like a rock with motion only in the suspension! I have had a large distraction due to a contract I signed last August but I hope to get back to the car and finish the accelerator cable in a month or so, but I am sorry to learn about problems with the metal body. I am not very happy about having non-original fiberglass but it does seem pretty straight except for the oversize trans tunnel. Surprisingly so far all the body accessories I have purchased from Bratton's Antique Parts for a stock '29 have fit quite well on the Bebops 'glass. Ireland's child, this is partly a case of you knowing the imprefections but maybe keeping most of the small things to yourself and/or maybe you are getting near the end and are just weary. Take a day off and read Street Rodder to get your enthusiasm back. Let me know if you want a photo of how to use the cut off pieces of the bumper brackets because those little 5/16" mounting bolts on the frame are just too small for a heavy bumper let alone to absorb a 5 mph "bump".

Don Shillady
Retired (?) Scientist/teen rodder