You and I will probably never meet. If we do, the way to impress me is to have a car you are proud of, have fun with and willing to share with others. That applies to a just barely back on the road all the way up to a show winner, either home built or commissioned. Build what makes you think "yeah, just like that" not "everyone thinks this is right", so long as it's safe enough to get you there and back. I may have opinions of design choices, materials used or color selection, but it's not my car and I'd be bored if everyone drove the same thing.
It fits your build plan, and you would be happy going that route from the sounds of it. So what would there be to be ashamed of?
Funny, growing up I used to wish every 'old car' had its own Brookville, to keep the streets throbbing.
It's matter of personal preference, I want as much vintage on my car as possible. I don't even like that I have to run modern air in my tires! There are guys building bodies out of several different cars, some of the guys I know form New England are building a 32 five window from a cowl, a posts a pair of 5 window doors, quarter windows made from the rear side windows from a 32 Fordor, because they want all Henry steel. However, I completely understand not wanting to start with 90 year old rotten body. @firstinsteele beat me to the punch on my final thought and that is if you have to ask than you may not be happy with having a Brookville and not an original Ford body.
My daughter is one , my dad was and his also. My daughter and my grandfather have been the most default people I have ever known other than my daughter’s mother and she’s a dirty blonde. lol
Heck ya! After all, pretty much all we care about is the look of the car. The Brookville body has (essentially) the same look as the vintage junk you'll spend countless hours patching.
Welp....next you're gonna tell us you 'think' you wanna put a crate motor in it !!!! COME-ON-MAN...... ( J/K ) So long as it stutters when it idles and is noisier than a Honda I vote go-fer-it ! 6sally6 About a Ginger....I always wondered if....... Neverrrrr-MIND !
The cowl, doors and a couple of small parts on my roadster are original to the car; with one crappy Howells piece and the rest Brookville. As this was an old Hot Rod, with the Cad engine that had been in it for 60+ years, I wanted to keep as much of the old stuff as possible. Trouble was, that it had been majorly hacked up over the years and mission creep set in on the project. I spent a good 9 mos. repairing the Henry cowl and doors and building the body up from a new sub-frame, which was interesting, but a lot of work for this old guy. After adding up the cost of all the new parts and shipping I could have had a new Brookville body, ready for finish body work and prep for paint for not a lot more money than I had spent. And saved my self several months of work meaning that I could have been enjoying it last year. Guess I've come to the point where I realize that time and money are finite for us oldsters... I'd get the body ordered and not look back!
I'm grateful there are places like Brookville Roadster and other such places. When I bought my roadster it had no doors and the deck lid that came with it was in sad shape. Trying to find those items anywhere else would have been like my grandma used to say rare as hen's teeth. It reminds me of the old debate of glass vs steel that used to be around back in the day. I say whatever keeps this hobby alive is ok with me. Be it skill, health issues, or time factors, being able to get a body that's done is a great thing. Guys around my area often joke about others buying four post lifts for their garages and the guys who don't have them say real men get on the ground and slide under their cars.
I got into some rather heated arguments when in a car club over this . A few members , not happy with people driving glass cars and in progress , what they could afford to drive . Hey , it’s a HOBBY , you build it as you want , the way you want , and have fun doing it . I’m all about the fun factor , not what you owe on the credit card to build it . The very same guys spend big dollars to buy a title to attach to their repop cars and sell them as they were real . I have a tough time with this happening selling to the unknowing . Remember it’s really hard and takes years to get near 100 year old sheet metal perfect . I’m on your side build it with what you have and want , and drive the wheels off it .
I mean.....when new a-v8 builds first started happening the cars were less than twenty years old. Not almost 100. So a brand new body is closer to twenty years old than over 90 years old. Which on a new build would technically be more authentic. At some point I'd love to do a build on a Brookville body. Likely 30/31 style
Only problem I got is folks who figure telling someone how to build it and claiming it’s their own work, that I can’t abide, Henry didn’t stamp all the sheet metal that’s out there, so how do you really know?
Steel is Steel - 99 44/100% will never know when it was stamped. Now if we were talking resin I'd see the shame........
Two sides to every coin. A resin body would be approaching half the weight of a steel one, and I bet the 'glass car will be much quicker, all other things being equal. Pretty sure the early builders would have been all over 'glass if it was an option to them back in the day. After all, the aim was to go fast. And yeah, I know, it's a moot point in most of the discussion about traditional cars....... (but not always).
To heck with all that cutting and welding and hammering and grinding and sanding and cutting and hammering and grinding and sanding and welding and grinding and welding and... Whew. And when you get all done, it's just what it's supposed to be in the first place for god sakes.
This comes to mind. You could really expedite things and buy one done then change a few things to make it yours.
My coupe is a real deal drag car from the 60"s. Real 1930 steel. Has bumps and bruises, stone chips, you name it. I have had jerk offs at shows point out to me imperfections in the 60 year old paint and more. I tell these gas bags, this hot rod is driven and drag raced, it is not a pussy unused trailer Queen. Then I ask them, where is your hot rod?. Most of them are spectators, No Hot Rod, No guts, No Brains, wanna be shit tard. Ok, I feel better now. Drive it , and enjoy.
I had a fairly nice 1930 Roadster but I planned to make a number of changes from stock and I knew that when I peeled back the paint I would probably find a number of headaches. I also had a spare frame with roadster title. With that in mind, I sold the completed car with a very amateur restoration and made plans to buy Brookeville body. Along the way, I stumbled upon a decent 1930 Coupe that has already received new floor panels, deck lid, and a few patch panels, all still in primer. I will roll with the coupe for now, but I will have no problems switching everything over to a Brookeville roadster down the road, especially since I have many of the roadster specific parts (windshield, stanchions, wooden top bows, top frame, etc.). Those who want to complain about your non-Henry parts are usually the same ones that get invited to an orgy and complain about the cheese dip. Good luck and have fun!
The Jalopy Journal
