Hey guys. Over the last six months I have been looking for a turtle deck for a 26 T roadster project that is on the back burner at the moment due to a total lack of them. This morning I saw a complete 26 roadster body for sale. It was posted up on a local Facebook Hambers site and was fully painted and looked to be in excellent condition with no dents or rust. The only downside was that it was a little out of my budget. Do you think 11 thousand dollars is good value for a body ? If not, what would you pay ?
I wouldn't pay that much unless the body was perfect and didn't need one minute of metalwork. Ready for paint basically perfect. Even then I don't think I'd pay that much. After all there is no gold or silver in that old metal $4 -5 K tops.
$11,000 for just a body? That's insane. I have a '26, I love them as much as anyone, but that's really a ton of cash for a T roadster, even if it is cherry, unless it has some kind of history attached to it. Got any pictures of it? That'd make it a lot easier to determine a value. Having nice paint and bodywork on it that you are willing to use does add a lot of value to a body, but there's not that much acreage on a T roadster that the paint job is going to add $8k to the price tag for me.
Sorry I got a new tablet so I don't know how to save the image, but the ad was posted up on the Aussie Hambers Facebook page. I will say this, the body is already painted and looks to be in excellent condition but even so 11 thousand does seem a little over priced.
Over here you would have to double that to even be in the ballpark. I have seen timber bodies Ts for sale here for upwards of 30 grand. Nothing is cheap in a country where the minimum wage is over 600 dollars a week.
The problem is that it's the only original 26 T Roadster for sale in the whole country. It's a case of demand far outstripping supply. The same goes for any original 28 to 34 roadster and coupe bodies, they are rare as gold over here.
You guys are very lucky, but don't take it for granted though. Once the supply of original Model T based tin dries up you will face the same problem. It's not like they are reproducing them in steel either.
Back to your original post - the lack of turtle decks. Any competent metal fabricator could build a turtle deck from steel or aluminum. Look at Ron Covell's video on this topic. He made a buck to do it. On a related note here is a pic of a champ car bustle I did using my home made buck.
Look at this ebay link...and sorry, I didn't realize you were not in the US, but see what it would take to buy one, and have it shipped to you...I just typed "Model T" in ebay search window. Best of luck. https://www.ebay.com/sch/Ford-Model-T/6235/bn_50449139/i.html
Up till maybe 25/26 most Oz Model T's had Oz made bodies which were good & bad, some looked like the US model T's some looked like shit on a stick..........have seen a few US stamped 25/26 bodies over the yrs but they are not common, although 11K seems a little steep, but caveat emptour........andyd
'26-'27 roadster it the only T I can stand... even then I would graft a '28-'29 A cowl to it... 11 K will get you a running streetrod here in maine... or maybe a 5K project and toss 6 K at it...
Being located in Australia is going to make a big difference. And did we determine if we're talking US dollars or Australian? Also a big difference. It would help if the seller has build pictures of it before paint, if you could see it in bare metal and know it wasn't a hack job underneath, that would be helpful. If the exchange rate makes it $8600 US like Evintho said, and if they're really that hard to come by in Australia vs. the US, and if the body and paint work is really truly nice and not just a nice looking quickie to make a sale, then maybe. Wouldn't bring that here though. I ended up using an earlier turtledeck on my '26, 26-27 decks are hard to come by even here, plus it helped not having a wheel arch with my spring-behind axle. I was actually looking for a pickup bed when this came along. It's cut up to make it wider and to fit the cab better and house the gas tank, but it works for me. You can buy these decks around here in decent shape for $200-$300.
I have that video and he shows you step be step how to create the turtle deck but the only measurements he gives you are for swage that runs along the top of the quarter panel. I have the metal shaping equipment but without the measurements it's a pointless exercise.
I just bought another complete body (1927)for $1K. A little rustier than I prefer but came with the turtle deck and lid which is usually missing. He was going to sell it to his buddy for 600 so I had to make it worth his while. So, that's what I'd pay for one. A new fiberglass one is $2600. A complete car can be had for 8600. At prices and scarcity that the the OP is saying I would think that importing to Australia would be a viable option. The body can fit in a 4' x 4' crate if the sub rails are cut, after all. May be a small sacrifice that can be fixed with a welder. I don't get why Howells, Brookville, or another stamping company isn't slamming out 26-27 turtle deck quarter panels to match up with their other turtle deck parts. It's not rocket science to build a set of dies, even kirksite ones, from a good model donor. I've thought about commissioning some to be done, but what do I know?
It’s worth as much as you’d like and to pay and what the owner would take. More importantly, where do want to start your build? Is this T-Rdstr Body all completely ready to mount in your chassis? Will it need to be modified in order to bolt down? Some people will take the rattiest sheet metal solely because “it’s real” and fits ones pocket book. I kinda hit the middle to the high end of getting a usable body that can be mounted not breaking the bank in the meantime. Now that’s not to say that my T-ster has the best body when I got it nearly 20 years ago, I got a great deal on it, but have never put a hole in it that wasn’t already there. If I could’ve bought a nicer one back then I probably wouldn’t have. Now if I had a little more money perhaps this late in life I’d probably look for the nicest one that I could in order to fullfill a dream that I set out live. Good luck with your search.
If its already in Aussie you will also need to add shipping and any duties etc. If its what you really want then get it, you may regret it later. I payed $1oK for this 6 years ago, but got a lot more than the body. JW
Couldn't you buy his, if it's better shape than yours and sell what you have to chip away at the cost?
Nice bodies are hard to find. Rust repair quality is important. I have never seen a '26-7 body in original rust free condition. So the used vehicles and rods people are talking about for 5k to 10k often have crap under the paint.
Wow, that one is a deal if it's as nice as it looks! Even a few hop up parts on it. I wouldn't have the heart to cut it up though. I wonder where it's located.
Buy this instead. $5250 https://buffalo.craigslist.org/cto/d/1925-model-ford-roadster/6313992646.html https://buffalo.craigslist.org/cto/d/1925-model-ford-roadster/6313992646.html
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