Brookeville model a fenders don't fit no how!!

It's all been said. Time for closure.

 

Just reread posts #87 & #88 by Cyclone Kevin and Kenny Gallahon from Brookville, close this thread and go work on your project. Have a Happy New Year! Bob

 

Brooksville was upfront with me about the manufacture the front fenders I bought and when I asked about fit, they told me the truth. some work was going to be required to get them to fit. the dies used to make them were not as good as they could be but replacement/ correction would be very expensive. I knew what I was getting into, a repop was better than continuing a search for a solid original.



Kenny,. not knowing how many sets of Model A fenders are sold each year (maybe more then the 32 fords) has there been any ROI (return on investment) studies done for brooksville to look into having their own dies built and making their own.

If quality was better, a higher price could be charged than what gaslight units go for.

 

Brookville faces the same basic problem every other manufacturer in this industry runs into.......some of their products get into the hands of people who know what they are doing and can work through any issues, and a certain percentage get sold to people who think everything should be plug and play. This is not a bolt on, fits every time hobby. I can't name many parts that are one size fits all, especially when dealing with 80 year old cars.

Now, if I could only save up enough money for their Deuce coupe body.

Don

 

At very least maybe we can now stop seeing constant repeated false posts about original tooling huh Don??

[ We have built all of our tooling for these panels as all the original tooling was melted down during the war years.

 

Total respect for Brookville !!!
That is a quality company, with quality service.

 

Looks like you have been appointed the official HAMB proofreader? If you reread my post I said the "presses were some of Fords originals", not the dies. They would never have survived as they have a finite life expectancy in any stamping operation and only have so many cycles before they wear out and get sloppy.

Don

 

Testament to what our society has been conditioned to think, that everything is someone elses fault.

I have brookville products that heven't been put into service yet, but having read this thread and the response by Brookville themselves I'm expecting to run into some issues. If I don't great, if I do I can live with it. I've seen enough attempts at interchanging original parts to know that fitment issue claims previously made are accurate and not some figment of someones imagination.

Lastly, Kudos to Brookville for responding in such a rational manner when they have every reason to refuse any further ***istance to a self proclaimed former customer.

Just my take on the situation.

Doug.

 

I could see how one with little body experience (self included) would conclude that some parts are junk. From a friend/customer that used to do $100,000+ resto work on Musclecars and cl***ics, "Factory tolerances on even these [late 60s-early 70s cars] are +/- 1/8" in many cases". If you don't have to fit panels on a regular basis I might say the same. As a powertrain/engine guy, I would call most of even the OE stuff **** from a fit standpoint - most of my good bodyman friends just shrug a little and start cutting and shimming...

 

You should see the re-pop fenders for my off-topic chevy II. Now THEY have some "issues". Instead, I bought some good originals that need a bit of hammer and dolly work.

 

To be fair you did say presses in this thread but that still suggests the product being the same as or similar to actual Ford parts. I'm also surprised there was no dragging on about the model A no one could tell from original this time. Give it a month another thread pop up and all of you guys selling these parts and flipping rollers can make yourselves feel good by jumping all over someone because he thought his new deck lid should match the basic shape of the body it was sold for without peeling the skin and reshaping the frame.

 

ardeem - Checkout this thread and you'll understand about after market sheet medal.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=656508

CRUISER

 

Purchased a trunklid ,doorskins ,lower quarters,and panel below declid for my t coupe from Howells and had heard them badmouthed on the hamb after my purchase,so i was really anxious whilst i waited for them to be shipped down under,,,,,they fit like a glove ,,,and only the decklid was trouble as it fitted the car perfectly,but henrys original inner skin and lid was at least 1/4" short on both sides and once measured up wasnt even square!,,,,,remember henry produced a car the m***es could afford,,,,built as cheap as possible,,,and in those days it was impressive just to own a car let alone worry about panel gaps etc,i felt kinda lazy for buying those panels,,,instead of fixing mine,,,but thats just me and even the tweaks i had to do were a whole lot easier than starting from scratch,,,,,,its the gen y thing,,,i want it,,,i have the money,,make it happen 4 me now!!!,and someone else is to blame if its not perfect 1st time

 

Yeah, whatever. I guess in the hot rod world there are people of all skill levels and some are just more accepting of the fact most parts need adjusting to make them fit and look better than the original factories took time to do. Everyone wants parts that they can afford and then they ***** because they aren't absolutely perfect right out of the box. No one was "jumping all over someone" we were just giving our opinions that some work is needed to make them fit but that is part of the game.

And not all of us "sell these parts or flip rollers", most of us are using them for our own cars. We just know how to work metal and make it right. Most of us also come on here for more than to just sell our wares in the cl***ifieds, we actually try to learn and p*** along some help when we can to our fellow hot rodders.

Don

 

We have discused this on the HAMB and I have not seen it mentioned yet. Those "cherry" NOS parts? ***embly line rejects. Ford sent a lot of the bad fitting parts right over to the dealer parts network. The guy on the ***mbly line COULD NOT waste time for even minor finessing but Henry would sell the same part throught the parts department.

 

Sounds about like Ford ***embly lines in those days,....Tightwad Henry did not s**** anything,..it was going on a car, regardless !!!! Which explains why first production runs often had some "last year" bits and pieces ! A great example of this would be the '41 Ford pickups....they were built to use up frames, top shift trannies, and sheet metal. The very last of those actually were mfg with column shift, after using up all the top shift units.

4TTRUK

 

Agreed

Well said Don.

 

I've been building old cars for many years. Let me tell you any part you buy used, nos or new will get you in the ballpark. The rest is up to you. Whether it be a different bolt a spacer a bend on a bracket or a cut and weld. The ones that can do this build the cars that the rest lust after.

 

Repro frame, repro fenders and they don't line up. What the hell was Henry thinking?

 

hope for the best, expect the worst, learn,practice, practice, practice, and gra***ude is optional. Lately I've had to make some panels from scratch for my car so when I buy them and it only takes a day to make them work, I'm happy. hard to have a bad day building a car you love though

 

So then what the hell do presses have to do with anything?
It's the dies that matter.
Presses are irrelevant.

 

***********

 

10,9,8,7,6...

 

Well said, Kenny. If it hadn't been for you guys, I could not have done my roadster when I did. Yeah, there was some tweaking, but a lot less required than beat to death gennie parts would have required. It was only a rusted out POS to begin with.

As for me, Brookville builds good stuff, that is sold by good people.

Thanks for advancing the hobby!

 

1st - I used Brookville sold '32 roadster parts. They were good quality. Hammer and dolly to fit.

Later - I used Brookville sold A fenders. They are horrible quality. Cut and weld to fit.

If I had purchased the A fenders before the '32 parts I never would have. those A parts hurt the Brookville name in my opinion. I don't mind working the panels. That's part of building a car. But I did expect higher quality from earlier experiences with the company. They didn't tell me anything about someone else making the part.

The owner may be a friend to many on here, but to say "But to Blame Brookville Roadster for a product that they don't manufacture isn't a fair representation about Brookville Roadster" is a crock. You sell it, you own what you are selling. Shame on you for selling a part that isnt quality That the equivalent of saying "don't blame me, I just work here."

Some of the same folks defending Brookville for selling sub-par parts are the same folks that gripe weekly about Autozone selling batteries that don't last 10 year. Some HAMB hippocrates.

 

Thanks for this!! This makes things a lot easier to understand.

As it is, I'm almost thinking of going the old english 'panel basher' route if I don't find something of a project car soon...just do the dang thing from scratch if you will...

 

agreed.

my weekly metal work blog www.themetalsurgeon.com

 

presses purely provide the power to press the male die into the female.Your end product is a result of the dies not the press supplying the force.

my weekly metal work blog www.themetalsurgeon.com