This is great information - Good to hear from someone that had this experience with the same body. Reassures me that something is not abnormal here. Uh, shim the subrails?
That's kind of what I was thinking - right now I have all four corners bolts in... It just so happens that the holes on the left and on the right are off by the same amount in the same direction (I'm kind of glad that everything's not randomly off in different directions and different distances). I was planning to mark where I need to remove material from the body with a white paint marker and then pick a body up with some 2x4 spacers and hog them out with a die grinder
Here's another option for you to consider ...... I'm hoping that you have the resources available to do this. First off, position the body in the ideal position on the chassis and mark/measure some reference points between both, also identify which chassis holes need moving. Remove the body and tack weld a 1-1/2" square piece of 1/8" thick steel ~ centrally over each bad chassis bolt hole. Refit the body using the previously marked reference points and then spot punch the body hole centerlines onto the tacked steel plates. Remove the body again and holesaw a 3/4" hole through the 1/8" plates and the chassis. Remove the tacked pieces and then prepare and weld in some threaded steel bushes. I'd prefer stepped/headed type bushes installed from inside the chassis and rosette welded. They're easy to make if you have a lathe available or a buddy with one.
Something I've noticed on a few Brookville body combinations whether it's an original frame or aftermarket is that the rearmost body mount holes need a lot of shims, and the gap from the gas tank to the body is pretty extreme. you'll find a thread or two on that here as well. Most common fix is to pie cut the rails and raise the tank until there's about 1/4" gap from the tank to the tail pan.
I disagree, - get the body in the correct place first as this affects guards/ fenders, wheel arches, gas tank etc. As you do so, make sure hood and grill line up……..
SPOT on! I was wondering why my tail lights were nice and tucked up against the tailpan when I had the fiberglass body on this chassis, but now there's a big gap. I just went around to the back of the car and noticed that there's about an inch gap between the gas tank and the rear edge of the tailpan. About a quarter to 3/8 gap between the body and the frame where the rear corner bolts go through. I think I'll get the body all bolted down as well as I can and then look at pie cutting the frame back there like you mentioned. The question is where from front to back would you do the pie cutting? As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, the rear body mount bolt holes are the only place where there is supposed to be a spacer - do I pie cut the frame in front of the rear body mount holes and try to eliminate that gap, or do I pie cut the frame behind that body mount and just pull up the tank?
I've searched every way I can possibly think of to find threads regarding the above-mentioned gas tank to tail pan gap on Brookville bodies , but cant find any - have any ideas? Probably related to this...another thing I noticed (when I put the Brookville body on the frame) is that when there are no bolts in the body, it wants to "slide down the hill" and the bolts become misaligned from to back by over an inch. This is most likely related to the gas tank to tail pan gap issue as that gap closes when the body slides forward. When you look down from above, how much space should there be between the rearmost point where the tail-pan meets the outside panel under the trunk lid and the gas tank filler neck? As I mentioned earlier, the Duece Customs body (which is arguably the best quality fiberglass body ever made) fit on this frame like a glove. with no gaps, anywhere.
Seeing how much the holes are off, I would elongate them rather than try to drill them larger. A small die grinder with the speed (air volume) turned down so it doesn't jump around should work well. Then I would look on Ebay for some of the vendors selling flanged and serrated bolts and nuts to help keep everything in the right place. They are cheap to buy and they look a lot nicer. Besides the Stainless won't rust in place if you ever need to remove the body again. https://www.ebay.com/itm/251450811970?hash=item3a8ba2e642:g:~~4AAOSwBahVMWaB Nuts too ! (No I'm not affiliated with them and there are many other vendors on Ebay) https://www.ebay.com/itm/262069137286?hash=item3d0489af86:g:2CcAAOSwstxVLRHK
Cut so when you pinch the cut closed, it moves in the direction needed. Don’t cut all the way through...leave some metal to act like a hinge.
I got it, thanks for the advice... I've pie cut plenty of things before, just never built a 32. Now I'm kinda wishing I had kept The fiberglass coupe body on it... I had none of these problems with that. In a previous post I mentioned that the body keeps wanting to slide down the hill towards the front if I don't have any bolts in it... I got up underneath and took a look - figured out why. The curvature of the frame rails doesn't match the curvature of the floor and it contacts at one point - I'm thinking about either cutting small channels in the floor pan (then welding them back up of course), or trying to beat it into shape. Here's some photos of that - wondering how much of it creates the gap between the tailpan and the gas tank?
I'm going to elongate the holes that bolt the body to the frame today I want to make sure that I have the body located as close to correct front to rear... How much space should be between the rear edge of the body and the gas tank filler neck? Please see the photos for an example...
Your body and frame are original 1932 and you have 1 1/4" gap between the back edge (where the body under the trunk meets the tailpan) and the top surface of the gas tank? If that is the case, then what I have going on is not a problem. Thanks for posting your photo, but what am I looking at there? Four and a half inches between the edge of the tailpan and the gas cap?
Yes 2 of, I recommend using a FoMoCo 1932 chassis drawing ( later I will post a pic of) put the body in correct location , Then if you want to move the Rad or gas tank to yr liking then do so, If you later sell Car It will help next potential buyer If they know what to look for, ( all in correct location ) It could be much more resale price then all altered to your liking only, But it's yr "Ride Know" . If yr wanting the gas tank higher & father forward I would cut rear frame Horne within 1 inch or so after Rear ""subrail body mount" then shorten & movie up ward ( step up) . But you have to consider shock interference & rear pumpkin , fuel sender / pick up in relation ship to Gas tank
All of the hole locations are in the right spots give or take 1/8- 3/16 of an inch off center. That was the first thing I checked with Brookville when I noticed this body didn't fit right on and bolt up. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had a deuce customs fiberglass body on this chassis and it fit like a glove without having to elongate any of the holes... I also had this exact same gas tank and a stock hood and grill shell on it - everything fit and lined up great. Right now, I'm mostly trying to determine what is off the most -The contour of the body floor pan where it meets the humps that go up over the rear axle? maybe something something like a guy mentioned in a previous post about Brookville bodies lately being too high up in the tailpan area? This frame is already pinched in the front and the front spring cross member is pancaked so that the splash apron on the grill shell is right on it... The front axle sits about an inch forward of where it would stock. Doing modifications to the rear frame horns isn't going to do anything to the value of this unless it's done ugly. I'm just trying to confirm some measurements before I go wacking away at it. Is a one and a quarter inch gap between the back edge of the tail pan and gas tank too much, or is that what it's supposed to be on an original car. Is there supposed to be a 3/8 to 1/2-in gap between the rear body mount holes & the frame?
On an original deuce frame, the section from the rear axle back has a tendency to droop down due to the rough roads back in the day and gravity. Actually there was a factory fix for this. If you check 32’s the distance between the bottom of the body and the top of the gas tank, the dimension is all over the place, on reproductions and originals, and all combinations. There doesn’t seem to be any set standard for the droop, or lack of, back there (side profile of frame). Another area of different 32 measurements is the width of the roadster bodies right behind the doors at the top of the body...because of inadequate bracing on the original bodies to keep the bodies from spreading there. Because original bodies differ in this measurement, repro bodies differ depending on the measurement of the body that was copied.
Alright...in that case, It looks like it's a matter of aesthetic appearance vs. how much effort it would take to getting it to look the way I desire. I'm going to take the body off the frame and beat the underbody seams in a little bit (in the spots where they are contacting the frame) and elongate the holes properly...Then bolt the body down good and re-assess. If the gap at the rear body mounts and the gap between the gas tank and the tail pans still bother, I've come up with a good way to pie cut the frame rails without affecting the positioning of the buggy spring mounting crossmember. I'll post some photos when I have it done. Thanks
Don't forget the webbing that goes on the frame, that helps with the final fit of things. Personally I like the original woven stuff not modern cargo strap material. Bob
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