Thread: New Here, But With A Question

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I am 72 and just bought 2 27 Ts. One is on a Model A frame with a new dropped front end , The Rear leaves something to be desired but my Son and I can fix that.

I have always been into Restored Muscle Cars, Therefore My Problem. Neither one of these T bodies, 1 Coupe and 1TUDOR have hardly any of the Inner Perimeter Body Framework. I mean the Framework that the Crossills would normally connect to and the Outer Body would be connected to.

What do you do in this case when you build your Street Rods and/or Channel Bodies that have rotted away or had these inner frames cut out?

Any suggestions or point me to the right biuld thread will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks From an Old Car Freak in W. VA.

Hey a567, welcome! All of that "inner perimeter body framework" was wood on those early cars, mostly reclaimed oak from pallets the parts shipped in on. For a street rod, most guys build a framework of 1" square tube that bolts to the frame and provides the needed support for the body panels. For a restoration you're looking at replacing the wood pieces that were form fit into the sheet metal panels.
I'm not sure about build threads that detail replacing wood with steel, and IMO the search function we have on the forum isn't the best. Others may disagree, but I find it to be pretty much useless.

Yep, what he said. Build it. I didn't see if you were talking about a metal body or fibreglass.. I don't remember anyone making a thread on this topic.. but that doesn't mean there isn't one!

I Googled "Replacing wood with metal 27T" and this popped up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSA0betW4Do Try Googling other ways, like maybe "Model T body bracing metal" or "replacing model (A or T) body wood with metal" for other ideas.

It's got a lot of dialog that's not a lot of value, but it does show these guys approach to framing up the bracing with 1" square tube, which is what I'd use. My glass cars both have 1" square tube "frames" that bolt down to the frame on flat plate pads, cuts to bend and form to the body shape like these guys were doing. I remember running into Duane Noblett who used to have N&N Fiberglass Reproductions at a show, and he was saying that he'd just bought a tube bender to speed up their fabrication, but when I next saw him a year or two later I asked and he laughed, saying it was still in the box - they hadn't had time to think about trying to learn how to use it and were still cutting, bending and welding like always!

Post up some pictures as you get going! Should be fun times!

I use 1" thin wall square tubing and a cheapo square tubing bender that I've had for years. Takes some practice to get the hang of measuring the tubing to get the bends done in the correct place but IMO well worth the effort. The bender came with dyes for 1" and 3/4" square tubing along with 3 or 4 different dye sizes for round tubing, the round dies work great for stainless tubing for fuel lines, etc. Think I paid like $180 for it from Speedway.