Has anyone used both the ASC and JW 32 rails and do you have any feedback regarding their quality? How do they compare as far as accuracy for shape and hole placement? Is the reveal sharp and accurate in design? I would like to know which is the most like the original excepting I know the JW rails are relieved over the rear axle. If I were to use, I would not be trying to fool anyone but would like the rails to be good copies of the original. Does either kind of rails have the holes for front, center and rear crossmembers? How about the steering shaft hole? Thanks Jack
There are several threads on this topic if you do a search. I think I'll be using JW rails when the time comes. Bob
I've used both,as far as the reveal both are fairly accurate and I have noticed some hole misalignment on both. Remember,they are both aftermarket pieces and they will need a little tweaking to fit the body. HRP
Starting in the 90's in my shop we boxed 100's of ASC rails and with our boxing fixture and the expertise of my man that did the boxing they worked great. Fast forward to 2009 my guy moved back to his home town and I didn't want to train some else so I started using boxed JW Garage rails and after a few minor adjustments to suit my style they have worked out as good or better than ASC's. To date I've had no negative feedback from customers since I went to JW rails for my chassis.
I have used JW rails on the my last few chassis. Body mount holes on one rail would vary as much as 5/8 inch from the other side. Also one rail was 1/2 inch longer than the other, so if the rails were bolted in the jig front first the C notches were off 1/2 inch from each other. I welded blocks under the bolt holes then welded al the holes closed. Then I put the body on the chassis and transferred the body holes to the chassis. Talked to JW and he just said he would give me dealer cost ($100 off) on the next set of rails. The only plus to JW rails is they are smoother and take less bodywork than ASC rails.
My rails are 10ga. which is like 0.134". They are still pretty flimsy though, I wouldn't try to weld up a set without some sort of frame table to hold everything in position. Perhaps one might buy the rails already boxed??? Bottom line is I'm real satisfied with my rails from JW Rod Garage...
I have JW boxed rails under 4 of my cars with no problem lining up the body holes. All 4 of the cars are gennie Henry bodies. A 3 window, a sedan delivery, a roadster and a PU. The closed cars are FF and the running board holes were right on. I can't speak to the fenders as they were Brookvilles and we had to drill the holes to mount them. When I did my first pair (boxed) of the now JW rails they were being built by a company called Hotrods & Horsepower and they had problems with uneven lengths and non aligning holes. Fortunately at that time we only did 1 pair and went back to ASC until 4 years ago when I started using JW. I asked him (JW) about the problems I had encountered earlier and he said they had been addressed???
I have bought and used both JW Hot Rod and ASC '32 Ford Frame Rails. Both looked and worked well. In fact I currently have a set of JW rails on my frame table now. When I ordered this set of rails I got to talking with the sales guy who was taking my order and he divulged to me that they buy their 1932 Ford Frame Rails from ASC. I kind of suspected that , but he confirmed it. So bottom line, NO DIFFERENCE!!!!!!! I buy my 32 rails from JW because I like their service, better price and lower shipping.
A stamping company in Cedarburg, WI that we do work for stamps the rails for JW. I would assume JW owns the dies and he has them stamped out because of the size and tonage of the press required to stamp out the rails. I don't know if the ASC rails are the same or where they are stamped.
I got JW rails and one rail is good, the other rail is bent fucked up. ALL the holes are wrong. If I was building a '32 Ford with them, I would be pissed. I bobbed off the rear horns off the frame. I can't even get the rear spreader bar to fit because the bolt holes are too low. They would've replaced the rail, if I paid shipping. I said fuck that since they're for a total custom frame,and not a Ford body going on it. Check out the rear horn on the right side of this pic. You can see it wasn't bent right. The holes must be already there before stamped. Look at the shape, it wasn't bent centered-
I just got 2 pair of boxed 32 rails from JW and they look good. I've been wrong before but I think JW has his rails stamped in WI and ASC stamps their rails in Olive Branch Ms. I've used a lot of both and there is no way in hell they are the same.
The Jalopy Journal
