I know it's all straight forward on how all the panels go together but i'm sure someone must have some hands on practical advice on do's and donts, or tips for ***embly? Any threads on building one of these bodies? I've lookd but can't seem to find any good info.
Sounds like you bought the roadster body in un***embled form. I am going thru the same thing with a Brookville 30/31 rpu body. I guess there are lots of variables & things to cover. A couple things that might help a bit with my experience so far: Consider building a wooden platform to ***emble the body on. I build a simple 2x4 & MDF platform to provide a level surface, it's easy to fasten(screw) down parts to hold them in place, and you can draw a centerline with a sharpie, to help keep things square. The cowl on these bodies are the center of the whole body ***embly. If the cowl or anything on the cowl is misaligned or off, nothing will line up right. Time spent making the cowl right will allow the rest to fall into place. Once I got the panels lined up where I was sure they were right, I would bolt things together before committing to welding it. This really helped a ton, and allowed minor tweaks to be done to ***ure everything will fit. And most important, patience..... There has really been lots more to this project than I envisioned. I thought "how hard could this really be??" It isn't rocket science, but does require you to take your time, & be prepared to do LOTS of fitting, cutting, grinding, taking it apart a million times & tweaking it to get it right. Here's some links to some of my build threads on this, hopefully they help a little. If you run into any questions, let me know. I'll be glad to help if I can. Dan Links: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268195 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=271050 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272586 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=273775 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=275549
This is just what I was looking for! I just may contact you if I get stuck, so far the upper hinge mounts look to be a issue as noithing wants to line up. Great info thanks again!
Yeah, I feel your pain for sure, I thought that things were never going to line up many times. I'm not sure how you got yours, but my door hinge bolt holes were not drilled in the front door hinges. I made a template out of 1/4" masonite to position the hinge holes in the front door jam. I wish that I had pictures, but I don't. I originally planned to do***ent each step with pics, but I soon realized that there were so many freaking steps, I would NEVER get the thing done. So I missed some things picture-wise..... But to make the template, I set an oversize piece of masonite onto the hinges, & clamped it to each hinge with vice-grips. I then traced the outer curve of the door skin(with the hinges in the closed position) carefully to get the shape of the door. I marked the hinge holes in the template, and drilled a small 1/8" hole carefully with this on the door, so I knew each hole would line up. I then cut the shape out with a jigsaw, & hand sanded it to match the door shape perfectly. With this done, I could put the template against the door jam, and make the template line up nice with the curve of the quarter panel. I clamped the template, & marked the holes, & drilled an 1/8" center hole for each mount. I then drilled them out. The upper hinge bolts also go thru the bronze windshield mounts. I bolted these in place first. Now, I'm not sure where your alignment issues are happening. If the curve of the rear of the door is not lining up with the curve of the quarter panel-that is an easy fix- Look at the door, and it has 4 holes along the upper edge: This is where the inner & outer doorskins meet up, and this is left loose to allow alignment. When I bolted up the doors, and closed the, the rear quarter had lots of curve at the bottom, but the door was MUCH flatter..... I was like, what the hell????? Is the door damaged, what did I do-it way WAY off.... Well all you have to do is push the lower edge of the door in hard, and it will conform to fit. Once you have it lined up with the rear quarter, have somebody hold the door there-then go inside with 2 pairs of vicegrips & clamp the door skins thru the hole like you see in the pics. With that clamped, the door now holds that shape-and all is well. Once you are SURE this is correct, you can spotweld or rivet the skins together where these 4 holes are & you are set. One last thing worth mentioning. If you read thru those posts, you will see that I made the mounting brackets to mount the rear quarter panels to the subframe BOLT on, instead of weld on. The reason for me was simple-it let lots of room for adjustment to line up the doors & rear quarter gap perfectly. If I committed to welding this up fixed, it would never line up for me. Now I can udjust this in every way possible to make it perfect. Sorry to ramble, I forgot how much work me & my dad went thru to get it together Maybe post some pics of your trouble spots. I am definitely not a body ***embly expert, but I made about every mistake possible and had to work thru them on mine haha. When you are done, NOBODY can give you **** about taking the "easy" way out using a Brookville body. If you ***embled it yourself, you know better!! Plus when you are done, you have a beautiful rust free body as a reward Dan .
Good luck!! I did the same thing and now know why they say it takes them 40 hours to ***emble a body. Its not worth it in the end, unless your modifying every panel. -Jason
That is why I asked about the cost differance, 40 hours JIG BUILT vs. tab A into slot B doesn't make sence to me.
GKafer, Glad you started this thread, already found a pointer or 2 to use myself on my "31 roadster, bought by me from the guy who bought it from Brookville, (he's a member here on HAMB, but not presently too active, as he's contracted that dread disease "Harley-itis"), and I don't recall his username).He had started and gone far enough with his ideas, such as a shortened and heavily modified '35 Ford dash (with a glove compartment door), etc., that I have accepted most of them and incorporated in my concept of theme of the finished car. Anyway, do a lot of looking a photos, and go to shows and cruise ins, take photos (thank God for digital cams) view those photos on your PC, review your memories of the visual or other aspect that either attracted or repelled you. Carefully consider all aspects, including practicality, ergonomics, visiual, and above all our own wants. For instance: I love the visual aspect of the proportions and channeling of dodgerodder's RPU. It's a look I've always admired, but it's not for me! Why? I'm 6'3", 230#, and there's not enough of a body there for me sit IN, only ON. So for me, it's gotta be a highboy if it's an A or a T! Stop and think about all of this sort of thing and get yourself at peace with yourself before you go so far that you can't change course, only start over! Dodgeboy: Agree with you about that damn primer, and all my ****, since it was a roller, is painted in that ****py primer, just cheap grade red oxide lacquer primer sprayed on a poorly degreased non etched metal. Metal so slick when stripped of that primer shines almost like chrome, so slick that no non self etch primer is gonna stick in the long term. I know that myself, I'd rather pay a premium for a body whose panels had been properly degreased and etched before applying a primer worthy of trusting for a high dollar paint job. The labor it would save the end user would make it a worthwhile extra cost option. I've got lot's of hours in stripping that damn primer, then cleaning and etching. And I ain't thru yet! One more point: Next mofo calls my car a "kit" I just might see if I can either get him to listen whilst I tell him how I have used every tool and machine available in my well equipped machine and welding shop, complete with welders, including TIG, lathes, and mills, or else just kick him in the nuts! Dave .
Thanks Guys, I bought mine from a Hamb member who wasn't able to continue with the project due to family health reasons. So I bought it as he did, broken down state and as shipped no instructions or hints on how it fits. Like I mentioned before it's easy to figure out where all the parts go but to make them fit well takes a lot of time. My main issue at the moment is those damn br*** upper hinge/windsheild stantions. As of right now there is no way to slide the door hinge into the body as the hole in the cowl side is not in alignment with the br*** inner pc. It just looks like it needs a bunch of hours to masage it to fit better. As i'm going to be running a Duvall windscreen I may make my own upper mounts as they need to be shaved down to cap the cowl. This is all great info, keep it coming!!
Just exactly what month/issue of Street Roddercarries a story on building a Brookville? I gotta go back and take a look at that write up. Dave
Cost is a lot less...the build is their big production bottleneck! Adopt someone who has a complete body you can refer to and photograph.\ In the last couple months, someone here posted some ***embly of a '30 RPU. And there's a joker at Brookville who throws a hatful of floor sweepings into each kit, I think...I had a friend who kept bringing around about a hatful of little braces he couldn't find a home for, and each time we crawled all over an original and a brook and couldn't find any of the things...
Dan/Dodgerodder - Did you do any picture threads on the ch***is build for your RPU? I follow a lot of your builds and really like your work. I really want to up my game concerning metal working. You set the bar quite high. Mike
Thanks Mike, I appreciate that. I did a few threads as I went, here's a few of them, hopefully they help a little: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232150 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=238284 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=240412 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=243750 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=248088 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=261101 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=261605
Thanks for all the links to the ch***is build! They really help me with ideas and how-to-do type of things. I especially like the 1/4 eleptic springs. Just a little ot, but have you or anyone ever done a build using 1/4 eleptic springs at all 4 corners? Mike
I think you save about a thousand bucks. just like most phases of hot rod building do a lot of pre-***embley bolt or cleko sp? panels together before welding anything. I started with a stock innner structure and am reskinning it with Brookville sheet metal. I started at the front, fitting the cowl sides to the stock firewall, gas tank and new doors. one thing I wasn't expecting was none of the hinge screw holes lined up. had to weld the hinge holes in, drill and tap to fit my jambs that's as far as I got for now, next will be to fit the quarters and upper and lower rear panels.
I think if anyone complains about '***embling' a nice pristine set of Brookville body parts, I'm going to scream... And then go kick my dog... And then cry... Then laugh hysterically... At YOU! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=233532
I see that your quarters and doors and the panel above deck lid have that same red oxide primer that I've been *****ing about. Real pain in the *** to get it all off, degrease and clean, then etch with metal prep. My body I bought from a guy who had it for at least a couple of years and you can see places where that **** has started lifting and peeling. The metal underneath is as shiny as chrome almost. Don't trust that **** to stick and paint over it or the day may come when it turns loose and brings your nice paint job off with it. Gonna be a real pain to get it all off on interior surfaces. Outside will need heavy block sanding to prepare for painting anyway, so not all that bad there. Dave
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