Hi, Thought of an idea if there will be newly produced 1933-34 Ford coupes both the 3- and 5 window model. Just love the style of the coupe, also like the Fords 1930-31 and 32. But the 32 model coupe have a production of newly steel body. The 1933-34, did seen, long ago it had a production, but now i looked everywhere, can't found anything. What do you guys think? Is there possible market for it to appear? Or should i just start stock pilling huge amout of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck to buy the real deal? Or meybe build one from scratch, make a copy so of speak. To either have a hot rod project or have one that was run in the old days. Best of regards, from Sweden. ( sorry if the english is super rusty from my part )
Steves Auto Restoration in Oregon had built some. They were not selling well due to the price. I doubt that anyone will ever make another steel reproduction body . The last one that RAR had for sale was in the 45k range. I had to edit the beginning of this post as corrected. Vic
I believe it is Steve's auto that Vic is thinking of (SAR) and yes they were not selling when put on the market in 09 during the crash. Later, it seems no one could buy the dies, and last I heard they wanted to melt them down for the special metal . I could be mistaken, but I dont think we will ever see any more model 40 new steel bodies. Thinking some more, I believe that Steves auto does still make the roadster body on special order
Steves web site, I did not look for the bodies, https://www.stevesautorestorations.com/ and here's an old thread with some talk about it. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...toration-pulls-plug-on-3-window-coupe.787405/
Steve's auto started to reproduce the 3w but needed 20 orders, to make it worth his investment, and only got a few orders. I had a friend that ordered 2 and got his deposit back a few years later when Steve knew it wasn't going to happen
The good news is there is already someone already producing them. Lazzie is also Swedish, he coach builds them in his metal shaping cl***es. There is definitely a market for reproduction steel 3 window coupe bodies and these can be sold for the same or less than their equivalent fibregl*** counterparts. All the equipment needed to manufacture these bodies can be purchased for less than five grand. It’s a labor intensive process but the profit margins are far higher than wasting hundreds of thousands on dies and stamps.
I saw one of LAZZE's body's he was trying to sell on ebay. It never got very high on the bids, didnt sell if I remember. I thought it was very good...in pictures anyway
Lazze's English wheel, Bead Roller and dies,and his shrinker stretcher combo for 5,000?I'll take all you can supply. His Tools are expensive and worth it.As far as being able to sell steel 3 windows for less than fibergl***,I'll take the all you can supply.Lazze no longer is doing his seminars .I was able to take his first cl***, and wanted to do the advance course but no luck.
I thought I had some photos of the show and tell body that Steve had at the Portland roadster show but I don't have them in any of my photobucket albums. I just remember that it looked great but was seriously spendy.
That’s a surprise, they would sell like crazy here in Australia, this is what we pay for fibregl*** bodies. Despite the ridiculously high price tag, these sell really well and some have even been exported to the States. I have thought about doing repro steel 3 window coupes myself, I have the equipment but I would need a helper with the manufacturing as well a surplus body to get patterns from. Whether there is anybody in Australia interested is another story.
Where can you get a new steel 34 coupe body for $AUD 18,400? Including everything internal, not just the outer skin.
They are well known fibregl*** bodies, produced in Victoria, I won’t give them anymore publicity as I don’t like their one size fits all products. My point is they are way over priced, that converts into over $13000 US. My second point is that with five grand worth of equipment, a frame, body and workshop, steel 34 3 Window coupe bodies could be manufactured here and sold for far less than than the local fibregl*** ones. The frame would become a jig, the body would be used as a pattern.
Lodi , You are 100% correct in this statement. Those of you thinking a steel body could be made cheaper that a fibergl*** one . Have no experience in metal forming . A guy could use a old stump to bang out parts but in the end they are going to look just that . I do stand corrected on my comment about Ricks Auto Restoration making steel bodies. Yes that was SAR there in Oregon. Again , the last body he had left was for sale in the 45k range and it was for sale for a while. The equipment to hand make these parts will add up to way more than buying a body already done , plus it takes years of learning in order to manipulate the sheet stock into body parts. I wished the guys who make these types of comments step up and dive into building bodies. They will find out real quick that the investment and time is not worth it. My hat is off to those who step up to the plate to make parts and bodies , steel or gl***. Sorry for my rant but just had to get this off my chest. Vic
The fact is that they can be made for far less than fibregl*** bodies. Here is a breakdown in costs of my equipment. Bead Roller $2000 AU Folder, Sliproll/Guillotine $1100 Shrinker/Stretcher $650 AU English Wheel $650 AU Hammer and Dollies $200 AU Contour Gauges $120 Hammer Form and Jig for rear window $50 AU Angle Grinder $40 AU Aviation Snips $25 AU TOTAL. $4835 AU - $3458.84 US Tell me that creating a mould for a fibregl*** body would be cheaper.
Very time consuming, these 'rolled & stamped' parts. My '27 tub was nice when I started, but then there were some patch panels, then some..... I got deep into it in no time, don't forget: This was a nice body to start with, but fixing all the little woes? I can imagine building a '27 tub from A-K steel. No I can't. Harder doing than talking about it...in SPADES.
Best hope for a New repo 33-34 coupe body is "United Pacific" They have the resources and Money to Back such a task. My son tried to save the 34 3 window program that Steve started before Experi-Metal melted Down the Dies. It was just to much of a money risk for the economy at the time. The investment was offered and numbers run by many well known early ford parts suppliers. They all agreed that the numbers were just too far off to save it. Kind of funny how in todays market the 33-34 3 window seems to be fetching the Top money all around between the 32-34 fords.
Hi Iwe been planing to repro steel bodys with china factory.High quality steel bodys and pricing like brookwille duce. Now we have need some preorder to get it running. Any thoughts for folks here?
That's a bummer that they went through the effort to make the dies and then bailed on the project. I could definitely see that it would take a few years to become profitable, but damn, the hard part was done! I'm not gonna lie though; they were really expensive, and all I could do was dream about buying a body one day. You can probably buy an original whole car for the cost of those bodies. 3blap.
If you can do the quality and price that Brookville does with their 32’s, I’m sure you would sell a bunch. But be aware that they need to be exact. We early Ford guys are a particular bunch.
Hotrods, including bodies are slowly but steadily come down in price as the demand drops with a big chunk of the market aging out and that not being replaced. Having seen quite a few youtube videos of replacement bodies for O/T cars its going to be a big ask to get something made to a decent quality. If doing it Id suggest starting with chopped 3W bodies. Starting with a near perfect body to be copied will be key.
I can remember several years ago looking over one of the bodies Steve had displayed at a show and hearing him tell someone in the background that he had invested so much in the project to produce the bodies that there was no way he was ever going to recoup the investment in his lifetime. Sadly he is no longer with us
I'd have to disagree with that statement because you automatically cut out anyone who wants one to have the original shape, it's easier to remove material, and chopping one can be done several different ways. That's a bummer, but I believe it. Just think, that was done in year 2000 (I'm totally guessing) dollars and not current dollars. Whatever he spent is 25% or more, more expensive. When I got my '33 3W, the guy I got it from was a pretty big player in the Model 40 market (on here) and he told me that Steve got crossways with the other investor (or vice versa), and out of anger the solution was to stop making them and destroy the molds. I kinda believe that story, otherwise, I think he would have sold them to recoup costs and let someone else try and figure out how to make a profit, unless his ego got in the way. As you said, he's no longer with us, so we may never know the real story! I was super bummed when I heard they were out of production. It was my goal to get one, before I realized real ones can still be had as well. 3blap.
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