what do you think of reproduction bodies?

Unless someone has really butched a reproduction body (some are pretty bad) its really hard to tell one is not an original @ 80 mph. I am not really into sitting and showing.

Does that answer your question?

 

Thanks Pete. There are so many things on my car that I made from scratch, the hood and the trunk lid I rolled from .080 aluminum sheet, flush fit the doors and hung them suicide style etc. etc. etc. Had alot of fun, I appreciate the thumbs up, Thanks.

 

Mine started original............
until it was sent out & blasted. What didn't have swiss cheese holes in it was thin as paper. Very little useable metal. It wanted to fold up when you picked it up.
So- used a repro body & welded what little Henry metal that was salvagable to the new body. Others place no value on their time. My thinking is- I could be out working & making money rather than spending years welding patch panels in & trying to make it look like a car again. Is it a ringer for an original Henry body? Nope. Do I care? Nope. I just want to drive the shit out of it.

 

I think the reproduction bodies are good for the hobby.

My logic is a bit weird, but here it is:
There's a lot of support (aftermarket, manufacturer, etc.) for tuner (rice) cars. There's a lot of support because the cars are relatively affordable to get into and money can be spent on going faster, not on fixing a body.

If reproduction bodies allow more people to get 'into' a hotrod - whether traditionally styled, street rodded, whatever - the more demand there is for suppliers. Yes, the members on here (myself included) gravitate towards original or old parts, we still have use for modern aftermarket suppliers and 'old-time' experts... parts for Stromburg carbs, replacement engine parts, bias-ply, GMC-Bubba etc. More demand means more affordable prices, and more demand means that experts who know their stuff feel comfortable enough to try and make a living through our business.

So a reproduction body means that someone might be building a hotrod that would have otherwise shied away from a rusty beat up original, and that helps us all in the end.

 

I would rather buy an 'off brand' - that's non Ford - real car which can be had for much less rather than following the lemming herd because 'it's the cool thing to have'. I pulled a mold off an original T sedan back in the 70's and made a body but 'glass smells when it gets warm. It's each to their own and shouldn't be about approval seeking - think carefully about what you want and if you can live with the stigma - perceived or otherwise. Go with what works for you and you can live with and be happy....

 

I am a saver of junk, but would love to have a Brookville 5 window.

 

well i got a 41 willys glass car. i started on it and quit.the reason, because i keep reading on the hamb if it aint steel it aint real. i started to believe it. i quess if you hear something long enough it can happen. lol well a feqw weeks ago i was lookin at it and i had such a sorrowful feeling come over me. its like the poor car was saying what did i do wrong. i was born this way. lol./ no i wasnt smokin any dope.there it was sitting in the shop and i thought if i finished it i could drive the damn thing. its far from being able to drive but it is doable.and to me it will still be a 41 willys. only lighter than the steel ones and rust free.my thinking has changed alot lately. i just dont care if henry built it or not. as long as it looks like the original thats ok with me.also i did have a old timer tell me awhile ago that if they had glass bodies in his day thats what they would have used. lighter meant faster.his words not mine. so he is the one that got me to thinking about finishing my willys.anyone price a rusted out willys lately.one sold for over 25,000 and there was nothing hardly left that wasnt bent or rusted thru.nothing!i gave 2500. for my body and it aint the best but it is a hell of alot better than that 25,000 car.

 

Looking at the Tri-Five repop steel bodies, I would say you can easily sink more money into restoring an original body than it costs to buy one of those.

 

That is a cool story and a cool car too! Neat to see you still have it after all these years!!

 

Good to see company's like Brookville step up to the plate and invest in the tooling to make these high quality steel reproductions.
Not only does it help the old car hobby with a supply of virgin steel bodies but also with supplying the components, trunk lids, dash, fenders etc. to those who are restoring an original OEM body.

 

I know when I had a fiberglass '32, I envied those with real steel.

 

Only if you buy a race body. Glass street bodies are usually pretty heavy.

Moose man when I have a glass body to work with they usually don't have a floor. What I do is make the floor mount to the chassis and then the body is its own entity. You can remove th body and still drive the car without it. Think funny car here.

I hope that makes sense to you.

 

I would be overjoyed to have a new repro 32 5 window body!

 

I think its good for the hobby to have reproduction bodies. but i love it when they ask if mine is a kit and i get to explain that it is a real one.

 

Damn, the HAMB sure has gone soft since I first starting looking around on here! I can't believe this has not degenerated into a shit slinging, name calling, free for all! I guess the "original steel" guys have not had a chance to see the thread yet because they are out in the shop welding up patch panels.

Heck, i checked this thread for some "action"...guess I will cruise over to the intros and see if anyone has used the word "rat" in their introduction instead...

 

So would Brookville, but they don't. There is one being made, however.
http://www.uapac.com/ant/1932Ford.pdf

Bob

 

Thank you. I am resurecting it for a rebuild starting this fall.Actually all the body needs is some spotting in (good ole acrylic lacquer!) and buffing.Most of the work will be an entirely new frame/chassis with a different powertrain than it had in 64. Also it will get the interior that it never had! I will be doing a build thread on it over on the garage journal board.

 

I guess if I had my choice, and money was no object, I'd like to have the steel body ... having said that, I've been very happy with my Rat's Glass 5 Window Coupe. Unless you know what you're looking for, most people can't tell the difference.

 

I'm very happy with the original '30 Roadster old Hot Rod body I've had since 1961, and all the parts I've collected to build what I hope will be a car I could have built back in 1962. Maybe it is more of a "Restoration" with all the correct period pieces, but that is what I want. Being able to remember the people that I got all the bits from also gives the car special meaning to me. Will I ever finish the car and drive it, I really don't care. I don't have a problem 100% reproduction car someone else has, I just like the old factory original stuff. Bob

 

A good alternative......alternative being the key word there. If there was a chance to own an original I would do it 10 out of 10 times but if for some reason it was out of my price range I would definitely consider it. I wouldn't mind a '32 Roadster from Brookville.

There is just something about owning/driving a piece or stamped steel that was done in the 30's.

 

Oh yea well the hell with all you guys the guys that like 'em and the guys that don't, your all a bunch of ass hats. I am an equal opportunity asshole.

I think if I had a problem with a repro body or even an original steel body is when someone feels the need to make an excuse to use one. Neither one is any better just different.

When one starts making justifications for one thing or another one must take time to rethink what they are doing. No one ever makes excuses for what they know is the right thing to do.

James,
What does a brookville duece cost? I find a lot of the steel repro bodies to be cost prohibitive. Granted I don't mind patching up someone else's old junk but because I can do it myself and this is a hobby not a job I can normally find a usable old body for way less than the cost of most repro bodies.

Now for some bodies which I won't name if I could find an old race body I would use it in a heartbeat. I can stiffen one without making it gain much weight and I do like light. But i don't think that is part of this arguement.

 

To each his/her own. I have the utmost respect for any nice ride out there, whether original or not... but for me personally, there's just something more "significant" about having vintage steel. But I like that old and weathered look... I've never tried to make vintage metal "perfect". It's all about that extra level of nostalgia. It's that cool old gas station sign from the 50's... versus a brand new reproduction of that same sign. It just means something more to me. Not "better" per say, just deeper meaning.

 

I would rather have a steel body, but if it came down to it, I could live with a fiberglass body. I have wanted a Willys coupe since my teen years and they are just way too out of reach right now. I may have to make do with a glass one, unless that Powerball winning combo pops up soon.

I also would prefer girls to have real boobs, but as an alternative, fakes ones will suffice.

 

This is the route I am takeing with my 28. The last build on it was in 64,so this time around I am doing a 1966 period rebuild. It is going to be difficult to try and THINK and make judgement calls on the build today like I would have then,but I will give it my best shot!

 

A few years ago I patched up an original duece radiator for a guy at the local Good Guys show. He had a beautiful duece barn find or at least he passed it off for a duece barn find that he had shot in DP90. He took me for a ride and I noticed that it didn't rattle right (I did part of my growing up in a duece roasdster). So I ask him what he was using to keep the original henry rattles down. He laughhed and said for me not to tell anyone but the body itself was glass and the rest of it was parts he had collected over the years.

I like old and like you I don't shoot for that perfect AMBER or Riddler award type of car. Mine are always a little rough around the edges, some call them 50 footers. I don't think that they are 50 footers myself because I put them together the way that they are, not to fool anyone or to win a show.

I guess the point is that even a repro body can be more than passable at a distance. If you're in it and driving it I am probably not going to stop you to check if it is new or old.

There is one problem that I do have with repro bodies as well as show cars, the fit and finish. Everyone thinks that the doors and what not need to line up perfectly, they didn't come that way from the factory but a repro body will almost always line up better than stock sheet metal. There is a lot to be said for imperfection when it comes to old rides.

 

I agree ...
But the reproduction bodies are good for the hobby/sport. I have a pair of original steel HENRY 32 Fords without any repro patches or panels but ... I have been a 32 Ford guy for 40 years. A lot of the old 32 Fords need panels and repro pieces to make it back to the highway.

SO ... IMHO the repro stuff has it's place .

 

I personally enjoy the old tin...that's why I lurk here everyday! That said, I know I'll never be able to own a 32 three window. This is one way of doing it without remortgaging the house.
With the steel firewall and swing-out windshield, it's pretty slick. I'd be proud to own it.
Here's the build thread:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=324514&highlight=make+window

 

Keep in mind that for every manufactured steel body (of recent years) somebody is going to purchase hundreds of other parts and pieces to create a frame (or just buy one outright), engines and hipo stuff, ditto trannies and rear rends. Were there not reproduction bodies available, there'd be less business for the aftermarket suppliers and less people supporting this wonderful hobby. As new folks move into this avocation, and the supply of Henry's stuff continues to dwindle, the slack will be taken up by aftermarket manufacturers. If the newbies just 'gotta have' OEM tin, then other brands (GM, Mopar, orphans) will be considered and selected for builds. Demand for aftermarket parts will begin to expand and ultimately you'll be able to buy repro Airflow fenders, Terraplane hoods, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. As they say in hipster down - "It's all good".

dj

 

Unless you are restoring a car for the Smithsonian, I see nothing wrong with reproduction bodies made of steel, fiberglass or aluminum.. What is important is structual integrity, shape, and quality. If I lived on the coast a 'glas body would be a big plus. Some cars are unattainable due to price and how few of them there are...so a reproduction body is no shortcoming.

 

I think for the most part steel aftermarket bodies are made out of country, for me im out. No pride in that