Hot Rods how do you feel about fiberglass hot rods???

I’d buy one in a heartbeat if it had the look I wanted and the doors, trunk, and hood worked and fit nice. I can easily change headlights and stuff like that. And yes I’d drive the s**t out of it.

 

I think that there are not that many 32 FoMoCo
Roadster around since 80s , Kind of rare !!
My self living in H-R Area for little over 50 years ,
I only know of One ,
Built in 50s , maybe 61 originally as a H-R ,
Section and channel, faded Black lacquer, the original builder passed about 20 years ago , the brother has now & I would think in his late 80s may be early 90s If he has not passed , been few years since I seen the Roadster ,,
But many B-V & glass around ..
I know not roaster , just think about the pic,

 

I have 3 hot rods. One is an original steel car (body, fenders, frame) that I built in 1974. It's a Plymouth coupe. Chassis is modified, 350 SBC with TH350 & '57 Chev rear and has received upgrades over the 50 years of ownership. That car would have been nearly impossible to build today as a steel due to the disappearance of original Plymouth parts. The other two are fiberglass '33 Ford roadsters.

The first roadster is a Wescott body/fenders, TCI chassis w/4" dropped Super Bell & 9" Ford, S/S gas tank w/FI pump; front disks, rear drums, V8 Shop running boards, Glide seats, '32 dash, Ron Francis wiring, 348 Chevy w/700R4; Halibrands, etc., etc. The only original parts are a '33 chrome grill and a 2" chopped windshield. I currently have over $49k in purchased parts and over 700 hours invested in building this car by myself (no shops). I estimate that it would take me about $60k and about another 5 years at my current production rate to finish this car just as a nice driver. That includes things I would have to pay others to do (paint, upholstery, rebuild the 348 & 700R4, etc) plus other parts needed (top bows, hood, windshield stanchions, tires, plus all the nickel & dime things that eat your lunch).

Last year, a friend sent me a teaser link on my birthday about another, "finished" fiberglass '33 Roadster listed in another state. It had an unknown fiberglass body, full fendered, with a top, hood, rumble seat, aftermarket polished '33 grille, black paint, red interior, wire wheels, 350/350 combo, Heidt's MII front end w/original MII disks & Posies' parallel leaf springs supporting a Granada 8" drum brake rear end. Looked good in photos & in person. Had a couple of driving issues, but I bought it for about half of what it was going to take me to finish the Wescott car. As with most "finished" cars, it had some issues when I got it home, but nothing major. It cost me about $2k in parts and 5 months of part time work to get it sorted out. The interesting part here is what my wife said when I showed her the pictures of the car before I bought it. She said "I think you should buy it. You can spend the next 5 years working on the Wescott car or you can spend the next 5 years driving the one that's for sale. What do you want to do more of?" Gotta love that woman!

Sorry it took me a long time to get to the bottom line. Obviously, I don't think there is anything wrong with a fiberglass car AS LONG AS they are built properly using quality parts. There are no short cuts to quality and, as a former hot rod parts shop owner, there are some quality made bodies and some real crap out there. What you save on the purchase price, you will spend more to make up the difference, or worse yet, never complete the project. Steel cars are cool, but original "Henry" steel cars are difficult to find. Reproduction steel cars are also cool for those that can afford the premium. Fiberglass cars, to me, are also cool, but make sure you get a good quality manufacture. Just remember that driving a hot rod, any hot rod, is the fun part.

John

 

Photo from the ALL DEUCE RUN, which ones are glass? no one in this group cares! HRP

 

Maybe it's time to look at the 'fake' idea in a different light. The fact that there are reproductions says much about the popularity and love for these certain model cars. After all, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". It is a very narrow and negative view to categorize 'glass body rods as 'fake' when they are actually paying homage. Terms like replica would be a much better fit....

 

At the Street Rod Nats......I think it was 2 years ago. There was a 32 OEM body that someone had cherried out in bare steel, and it looked like they did a good job. This was just the coupe body, nothing else. If memory serves me, the price was $50K.


Hey if ya got the big bucks, nothing wrong with that..........it pretty well insures that anyone who owns a real one will be taking care of it and insuring its around for posterity. The rest of us will just have to be satisfied with actually driving a dream.....

 

I would own and drive a glass replica 32 -5 window coupe because it's getting so expensive to own a steel coupe.imo
26k rolling is pretty affordable to me

 

My pal in Bakersfield had this Flatlander bodied 3W many years ago, it was/is one of the nicest fiberglass bodied cars I've been around, in my mind a great looking car, sure, not built by HAMB standards, but as mentioned, small things are easily remidied.
The one time I rode in it I had just had a cervical (neck) fusion and by the time we ran across town and back I definitely would rather have been in an unchopped car, other than that, if I owned it the only things I would change are the four bars and lower it a little in the back.

 

lol... where did you get that pic.. that has to be 40 yrs old... that was the 80's... we built that car for a guy that owns a cab comp. in vegas... he gave it to his son in law who sold it back to me...

 

yes sir thats the one,lol... it was all the above.... bought it for a bar hopper in havasu...hated that car.... it was a tv build for kit car mag.... ton of good stuff... just all on the wrong car....

 

If it's 'glass, it ain't a Deuce. Simple as that.

 

Just my personal opinion, that's all.

 

You post a lot of pics on a lot of different sites. It's all out there for everyone to see.....

 

I almost bought a '32 roadster glass body with chassis, suspension, rear end and a complete flattie drivetrain, but there's a small problem here in South America: registering the car and getting a title and that car didn't had one.
Here in Brazil the main issue it's not what material the body is made but getting a title even if you can only find/afford a glass body.
Of course i'd love to get a real steel car, but if that fiberglass roadster from years ago had a title i would buy it in a heartbeat and i'd still building like some Mcmullen's inspired roadster because that car ate my brain in a way that even myself not being the biggest fan of roadsters would love to build and having fun with something like that!

 

I prefer a steel car but a fiberglass Hot Rod is better than no Hot Rod. I'm a 60's guy so I dig T-Buckets and Dune Buggy's. A T-Bucket kit is about the easiest way to build a Hot Rod.

 

more than the owner,... it's the crowd that hangs out at car shows and rod runs....they have to let you know what they think they know, and like this site... there's a large group of gobs that love to try to bust your balls and get under your skin... one of the big things they like to do to new owners is the "Did you build this car".... when they know very well who built it...or is it real? when they know very well it's a glass car... I always treat people with respect.... a guys car is like his wife/ girl friend.... you don't walk and say.... are those Tits real,... or I know all the guys that were banging her before you married her... when all you have to say is... you're a lucky guy... this is a nice car... or you're a lucky guy, you have a pretty wife.. old hot rodders think that they are some kind of ASTM inspector... and have to tell you all the things that won't pass their Idea of how things should be done,,, there's plenty of time after you walk away to do the.."Did you see how they did thiss or that with your buddy...not the they ruined this car painting it yellow, they need to take the spay gun away from who ever painted it...

so my way is to park my car and walk away from it....I've own'd lots of glass cars and you can see in this thread... they go back to past the 80's... and I did learn this.... the guys that get the most frustration owning glass cars are the ones that try to hide that it's glass... those are the ones that the GObS go after the hardest. they're ear marked for attack.. and get hit the most... one sign that they are getting under your skin and they'll make an ant farm out of you...

when I started this thread, after taking a long break from hotrodding... I want 'd to know if it was still the same, or if the new crowd take glass as ok.... glass cars are worth less.... not worthless...


so I say.... run what you brung, and have fun...

 

So to some all those cool Ed Roth customs are not good cuz their glass? I'd drive any of them!

 

the big problem with glass cars start with the owner... doing things like "I wanna change this or that to make people think it's a steel car""" you just open yourself for attack... you have to come to terms with reality... call it what ever makes you happy, just don't call it a real 32 ford roadster...and I don't care what the title says....
here's my way.... and it'll keep the wood peckers from tapping on your car...

 

This has been an interesting read. Is a steel, rusty, crusty, tricked out "rat rod" worth more than a painted, full fendered fiberglass "hot rod"? I believe the answer to your question is held by the owner of the car. Only he/she can determine the value of their car because, ultimately, they are the one that accepts a price. My current running, driving fiberglass '33 Ford roadster is worth more to me than my all steel '34 Plymouth coupe because it is more fun, and more "finished" than the 50-year old coupe build, but I love them both. The coupe has memories and the roadster is making memories. The point is build/buy what you like and screw those who bad mouth your choices.

 

The group I have run with for the past 20 years, ALL DEUCES could care less, we invite all Deuce owners whether it's original, reproduction metal or fiberglass, we all get along and enjoy the camaraderie, I don't know of anyone trying to pass a glass or reproduction deuce off as one of Henry's originals, again no one cares!

Quit worrying about what the other guy is driving, I would say 95percent of the members here just want to have a hot rod or custom on the road. HRP

 

can I be in your group????... I have a red nose....

 

who are these gobs you speak of?

 

In the past 6 years since Randy's passing I have been helping Bill with the run, If someone has/had a problem with glass cars they have kept it to themselves, to each their own. HRP

We always have hamber's show up from different parts of the country... along with some other 32 Ford folks.
No attitudes, no drama ... just folks with 32 Fords getting them out for a nice Saturday drive to Blowing Rock NC via some neat old paved roads and enjoying the Blue Ridge Parkway.

 

Amen to that!

 

I think it might be referring to all of us...

 

And I believe Mr Moriarty has a few? So cool I'm having glass envy lol

 

if you took all the fiberglass 40/41 Willys off the road there would be 10 on the road, what a shame that would be,

 

As long as the glass body looks authentic, correct belt line, firewall, hinges, etc, I'm not bothered. It's stuff that is obviously made without attention to the details that grinds my gears. I've seen lots of good glass cars, unfortunately, I've also seen some that were not so good. What's the old saying, "the devil is in the details". Oh, and boy I really miss the Carolina All Deuce Run.