I do not know if any one sells a patch for the rear corner of the five window we have been making our own at the shop, and if any one sells a patch what is the quality of it. You could have one made and sent to you it will require some more work to final fit to your car, or bring it in to a shop and have them install it, it might cost a little more money but would save you some time and help get the project down the road a little faster. Rex
Call Frank Borawritz at 602-248-0812 and tell him I sent you. Here is what they look like and how they went into my car.
There was a repop set on Fee-bay for the longest time... I don't see them anymore. There is a set for the 3 window, You could write the guy and see if he has them for the 5 window?
I'm getting the corners off a fiberglass body and am going to use them for a pattern to make a buck. I'll give that a try. Its all junk when you start.
I've been working on this issue for a while now too. I've got one corner that Frank Borowitz made and I believe I could make it work but to be honest, mine doesn't look as close as the one pictured here and it will take some work. I've also seen the listing for the corners from Steve's on Ebay. They want $600.00 a pair for them. I've watched about 10 auctions and haven't seen them sell a pair. The photo of them looks good but (besides the price) here's my problem. The listing says that they're made for roadsters and are "slightly different than 5/W". I asked them about what this means at last years G.N.R.S. and they said they weren't aware that it said that in the listing???? I believe that any replacement corner will need some amount of tweaking to get it right but for $600.00 I feel like I don't want to have to worry about it fitting.
Just want to ad that I'm not knocking anyones product or efforts in my post. There's a pretty huge difference in profile on my original Henry corners from left to right sides so I don't imagine anyone could produce a replacement (for any amount of money) that would fit every car without some work.
Carl Holden in Bridgeton,MO made a die and sold the corner patches for years. I believe the price was $200. My last contact with him,his health was very poor. I lost his phone number,but I am sure the old car guys in that area could get it.
Decades ago one of the magazines (Street Rodder, I think) showed a very modest attempt at saving a funky roadster body. The guy cut the corners out of a junk 5w body (Yikes!!!!!!) and had to make several changes to get the reveal lines to work out. So based on this old, vague memory, I'm going to say that the two bodies do not have the same corners.
How about trying to hammer some yourself? Twenty years ago I needed some for a roadster and hammered new steel over hunks of bar, the edge of the vise, pieces of tubing and whatever else I could find. I made mine in two or three chunks, but steel welds together just fine. A little skim of bondo and nobody would ever see your hammer and grind marks. I used no fancy tools (bead roller, shrinker, brake) because I didn't have them back then.
ok, thanks to tingeezer's post, I got off my ass, rang some phones and learned a few things today. 1st, roadster and 5/W corners are not the same. Close but not. The middle bead heads in a slightly different direction for each. (Make sense?) The one I have was made for a roadster 1/4 which is why it doesn't fit my 5/W as well as hotrod ron's do. Saying corners fit roadsters/5 windows is like saying fordor front doors fit 5/Ws. THEY DON'T. So make sure you ask and you get an answer that makes sense.
The best way to make sure the patch fit is to form it your self and the five window and roadster are completely different quarters. finding a good car to take some initial patterns first. To make the corner patches a bead roller and a shrinker are recommended everything else the shape can be put in by some hammer and dolly work. I have a few pictures i will try to load them up on here. if you are not too far from Loveland we have a nice window in the shop you can pull some patterns off. Rex
I'm sure you would never get rich but I see this as a good project for a retired tool and die maker. No pressure to make a couple of dies and when finished could provide a little extra income. I'm sure a male/female die would be unnecessary just a hammerform sort of deal would yield a piece that could be fine tuned by the user. Any takers? Frank
Is the only difference between a roadster and coupe quarter the bead around the wheel? That piece that you are referring to is $600 on ebay I think. I pretty complex piece so I can understand the price but I would be cool to form your own.
Well, they will, with a little work. Less work than, say, chopping the top on a 5W. Modifying and fabricating existing parts to work where needed is part of the hobby, right? This car has Fordor doors on it, BTW...
That's right Mike, it's less work than turning a roadster into a coupe too. But it does require a serious amount of modifying and fabricating to do it well. right?
As it turns out corners will be the least of my problems, what is there is solid except where water collected under the bondo. Those areas are gone. I have already started making what I can without the body being mounted to a frame, waiting for subrails and a set of frame rails. Some times it really is junk when you start.
I probably have a advantage over you on this since I went straight to Frank with my car and we were able to make them for my car by using the roadster ones to start with and made the changes that were needed. I am sure if you talk to Frank and tell him what you are trying todo and he can make them the way you want. Hope this helps
I don't have my patterns yet, but I took pattern off a cabriolet body and winged it, just to see how hard it going to be. I think I can make them.
Not to steal the thread, but does anyone know if any of the above sources offer the same piece for a 3w? Besides the 600.00 ones on ebay, that is...I sure could use a set... thanks... sam
This is how I made the corner shown, its not perfect but I think with a little more time on the pattern and the layout on the sheet metal, I think the finished piece would work just fine. Its a learning process anyhow.
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