Thread: First time building a fiberglass hot rod questions.

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Wow....it has sure been a long time since I last posted in here! I just dont get on the forums like I use to. But.....as long as I am here... I need some input from you guys. I have always been a "steel is real" kinda guy, but I am just now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on my 41 Ford 2dr sedan build and am looking forward to my next project.

I am just so sick and tired of dealing with rust, tear downs, rebuilds, fixing others screw ups from previous builds....etc...etc....Soooo...I have decided that my next upcoming build will be all NEW stuff including a (say it aint so) fiberglass body....

I have decided for sure that I want to build a 32 Ford. I know they have been done to death, but I have NEVER built or owned one. Besides, Im going for a less traditional body style and building a Cabriolet. The company making the body is countylinerods.com out of South Carolina. Ever heard of em? Looks like a quality body plus it comes with a top and electric windows installed.

I was going to purchase a chassis from another company that had all the eng/trans, steering box, front and rear 4 bar brackets and brake cyl. mount already welded in.

The rep from County line rods advised me against purchasing a pre-welded frame because he said the engine mounts may not be in the right place and it will be hard to find the correct suspension parts to match up to the frame.

What say you all??? I was under the impression that any 32 car body would fit on a 32 car frame and since these have been built for many years as aftermarket, the frame and said mounts should work on my build.

Am I wrong, or is the rep from county line being overly cautious??

As always....thanks in advance for your input....
(I will attempt to attach a couple photos of body and frame)

32ford.jpg32ford1.jpg

Hopefully DA34GUY will see this and answer. There are probably others as well with good answers, but he's been building 32s since Christ was a Corporal.

Not all frames are equal. Be careful.

On the frame thing, to add to above, the comments about the engine placement can be very true even for the most common of engines. Planning for firewall clearance based on distributor diameter, water pump length, exhaust clearance to steering box, on and on details can lead to compromises by the manufacturer that might not suit your tastes/needs. Then there are some unexpected things. In years past, though not so in the last 10, I knew of three different people who had problems with TCI chassis not having body mount holes, engine mounts, and steering box brackets in the correct place. These things are supposedly jig built, by a supposed reputable big name supplier, but for whatever reason they needed to be reworked. Probably has happened with other builders, just haven't heard about it. This part of the hobby is entering a gradual decline in participation as we older guys are the core and many are leaving the building. Various long time, and less, suppliers are exiting the market. It wouldn't be a surprise if, as they wind down, quality control were to slip. Not all doom and gloom, just a reason to be even more cautious than ever before.

I've had all of the glass bodies I've used built on the frame they were for---------door gaps, body lines were then correct and stayed that way-doors open and close

ditto what jerry said. make the body mfg responsible for all the fitting. otherwise it will be a " it's their frame , no it's their body " pissing match . best bet is to buy a roller .

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

Hopefully DA34GUY will see this and answer. There are probably others as well with good answers, but he's been building 32s since Christ was a Corporal.

Don't stop by here much anymore also, that being said. Why not have Gerald (Countyline Rods) just build you a chassis also. Just tell him what drive line yer gonna run and problem solved. Just my 2 cents. Have built over 75 32''s in my years and that the best way to go.

I agree, have your body built on your chassis, also if they sell chassis (and most manufacturers do) get it from them. I had a custom stretched 34 perimeter frame built (for blower motor clearence) and its at the body manufacturer right now, the frame manufacturer (very good, he builds for speedway, alloways, P&J's and many others) accidently put the body mount holes measured off the front crossmember, since the frame was stretched it put the body mount holes 6" off, since the body was built to that chassis no issues, the body manufacturer simply made it work, like Shine mentioned if something is off the fingers start pointing.
Not all body manufacturers use a frame with original dimensions, though I would make sure they would interchange if I was shopping for a body, just off my head, the notoriously known Classic Motor Carriages used a piece of junk frame they made to fit only there bodies, I believe the old Zipper cars used a custom frame and several bodies might only fit a "pinched" frame, even speedways Low boy cars are on a custom frame I believe,
As far as suspension parts not matching up, heck these are hot rods, most are not running any stock suspensions or a bunch of custom suspensions are used anyway, some work some don't that's for sure, just do your homework My advice is write down everything in your build before buying anything and build as much on paper as you can, you will need this if you have somebody build a chassis for you, they need to know front & rear suspensions, brakes, motor, tranny, rear end, tire & wheel sizes & even ac or no ac plus many items not mentioned. Above all have fun! Looks like a cool project.

All good advice above. If you can get your frame and body as a package deal already fit together, do it. However..,

In my case I didn't have the cash on hand to do that all at once, so I got my frame first and have built the rolling chassis and driveline. I just recently ordered my body and hope to have it in a couple of weeks. The thing to watch for is good quality. I got my frame from a shop in Ormond Beach, Florida (Clarke Hot Rods). They use frame rails from Shadow Rods which are supposed to be some of the good ones. My body (Bebops) is coming from Fat Cat Rods in Georgia which also has a good reputation. If both of these components conform to stock '32 configuration as they should, they should fit together with no major hassles. If there is a problem, I have extensive experience with both steel and fiberglass, so it's on me to fix it. If you're interested you can follow my build here on Club Hotrod.