Potentially dumb questions, but figure I'll take the hazing if it means I get some good info. I have a '29 RPU that I've fallen out of love with and have decided to back half it with a true roadster. Looking at the back half, I can go the Brookville body panel route (and I very well may), but a buddy of mine has a 29 sport coupe back half which he has offered to sell me. I've heard that they are the same from the b-pillar back, though comparing pictures, I can see that at the very least, the sport coupe doesn't have the same belt molding reveal behind the door that the roadster does. Does anyone know if reveal aside, the sheet metal is the same? Are the deck lids shared? Are the doors on a coupe longer, thus causing a rear quarter length difference? am I overthinking the hell outta this? lol (pics robbed from the web for reference) Sport Coupe: Roadster:
One of the few times I would recommend getting new replacement or search for original (even if you're a talented metal worker at the very least the upper front corner piece) roadster panels...that being said if you can find coupe/sedan cowl & doors save your roadster parts build a coupester body and then when you find 1/4's sell it and swap your roadster body on...don't delay your project waiting for parts but also dont stick coupe 1/4s on a roadster ...it won't work
I pieced together a roadster using sport coupe quarter panels and there are a lot of differences. The coupe doors are longer, so you have to make the quarters longer (by quite a bit, like 4 or 5 inches if I remember correctly), also the panel above the deck lid on the roadster is longer, I found a replacement roadster one and used that but if you were trying to use the sport coupe one you'd have to stretch it and add in that body line. Those two things aren't too terrible to do, but the transition from the upper deck lid panel to the tops of the quarters was the hardest, its a pretty complex shape and mine didn't turn out all that great. It worked for what it was, someone else could do a better job. Deck lids and the panel below the deck lid are indeed the same, and you could use the subrails from the sport coupe back half if it has them. It could be done, and it would depend heavily on what you were trying to end up with. But it's going to require a lot of creative metal surgery, and it's a better option if you don't really care if everything looks stock. We are building hotrods, after all. If you're looking for a drop-into-place option it's not going to be that at all.
Thanks for the info! I did some digging as well, and some comparative photchopping. Turns out that the coupe doors (29.25") are like 7" longer than roadster (22") doors, The cars ride on the same frame and W/b, so if you were to attempt to stitch on together without the above aforementioned creative surgery, it's be a 7" shorter body, Plus the body reveals don't match. Result: Gonna keep saving my pennies to buy Brookeville roadster parts.. unless anyone is sitting rust free 28/29 roadster parts they need to offload.
Just for future reference, this isn't true. The decklids are the same, but coupes carry them rotated slightly farther back, so the tail panel is shorter on a coupe.
i have [5] '28-'29 doors, no tops, but good panels to match the sport coupe beltline beads to the roadster doors... also 1 rough right sportie qtr... 04210.
Post #4 is incorrect. The outer panel below the trunk lid on roadsters is 9 and 1/2" tall and on coupes it is 7 and 1/2" tall.
I toyed with the idea a few of years ago and encountered a number of problems. Not only are the coupe quarter panels shorter, but they are also taller vertically. The roadster doors are shorter in length and height to coupe doors. I raised the roadster doors up to the same height as the belt line to the coupe quarter panel and found the coupe swage was still not horizontal to the roadster door swage. To counter this difference I could have angled the coupe quarter by 5 degrees and added the extra 6 or 7 inch section needed to make it the same length as the roadster quarter panel. Even doing that would not solve all the problems, as the swage that wraps around the back that sits between the top and deck lid would need to be fabricated. In short it’s more work than it’s worth.
I was lucky enough to score this roadster quarter panel last year and you are far better off using real roadster ones than trying to modify coupe ones.
the roadster doors are shallower, but i don't see any sill plates under the roadster door... extra hight...
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