Thread: Fiberglass Rods

Tweet

I like it! Those open headers are going to get you in trouble though...just kidding

www.nnfiberglass.com
I am very happy with what I got from them.

Henry Rifle & All

I'm checking into a Gibbon 32 Ford 3 window that a gentlemen bought new about 10-15 years ago. He bought a p&j chassis to go with it and almost all the parts to assemble it. Poor guy got divorced and lost all interest in the car. I have not seen the car yet as it is out of state. The reason I'm writing you guys... I've read where some had problems with the Gibbon body. The one I'm going to check into apparently is one of his Dad's creations. The fellow that I spoke with said the Gibbon factory had moved to SC since he had bought the body. Can you give me some insight about this old of a body. Nothing has been done to the car. It is just setting in his garage. It has a rootlieb hood.
thanks and look forward to talking with you guys on the build up.

I had the same Gibbon body that was made in dad's shop around 1990 (though Kyle was "production manager" then). Most of what Jack has had to deal with I had too. Specifically the deck lid fit to the quarter panels was total crap. I ended up having to build up the deck lid to match, and revised the line of the upper quarters. The upper drip rail section for the deck lid opening had to be sectioned to improve fit. The method of hanging the hinges was semi-mickey mouse (with huge apologies to Mickey).

While the outer door gaps were pretty okay, just needed some fine tuning (not really untypical for any body if you're picky about fit), the inside gaps around the door openings to the inner door shells was big enough to throw a herd of cats through. Doing a normal upholstery trim out and windlace wouldn't have covered it. I ended up building out the door opening some, and the door shell, to tighten it up. I reinforced the floor with some coremat after glassing in the trans tunnel (they were separate back then) because it was too flexible without it. The mating seam around the firewall to the cowl was really hacked and needed a lot of filler to smooth out. As with Jack's body, when they bonded the floor in they just wadded a bunch of glass mat in the corners which looked both crappy and marginal. Some grinding and re-bonding took care of that. I built my own steel structure inside the firewall to add strength to the cowl area, as well as giving a structure to hang the dash and steering column from (Gibbon didn't do that), and I added some more steel structure behind the seat when I took out the wood package shelf Gibbon put in to gain more room to move the seat back for leg room, and then added a plywood bulkhead there, again for strength as well as to aid upholstery. The garnish moldings were a complete joke (though nothing to laugh about). They needed to be completely reworked to begin to come close to fitting. After all that it was just the normal stuff of filling low spots, and knocking down high spots, adjusting fit from panel to panel, and so on. Unless you're an experienced body man, you might not see these problems when it's in shiny gell coat. If you've got "the eye" and a good hand you'll be able to see/feel lots of areas that need work.

The world in 1990 wasn't as vast as today. Sadly, with all it's faults, the Gibbon was probably the best '32 3 window on the market at the time if you wanted correct body reveal detail, and a not too radical top chop. Since then several other companies have brought out better examples. If I were to do glass again today I'd step up and get the Wescott body. The savings in repair/modify/impove labor would be well worth it. If I were to really dream, I'd go for the Brookville steel repop. They're absolutely gorgeous!!! Otherwise, if the guy is going to give you the body, and you have plenty of time to kill and the skill, go for it.

......looks Fantastic!!! .... by the way, how much is the top chopped??? Thanks, bill

Thanks for the input Bob. I don't know if I have the skill or that much time to kill! i'm sort of new to this and was not wanting to get into a major reconstruction job. I wanted something to assemble and call it my own. The fella is not giving it away, even though he is taking a loss on the whole package. My brother-in-law lives down the street from him and has known him his whole life. He told me the fella doesn't by junk and has built rods his entire life. I didn't realize there was that much work to do to a body bought from a factory. I did expect some minor body work, but i don't want to get into a major project and dump loads of money on body work.
The man also has a 37 plymouth that is a driver that i have not seen. I may go that direction. don't see many of those around at the meets. Its a two door sedan that BIL says is pretty sharp. I would like to hear more about the Gibbon Fiberglass body (33 Ford 3 window). Talked with BIL last night and he said he knows it is at least 15 years old. I thought just maybe the older ones were better than the ones his son built. Any opinions out there?

It looks great, Iceburgh! Color combination is great, and that spreader bar with the lights is really first class!!! Nothing in the world prettier then a Deuce frame done right! Congrats on a really outstanding job!!! This is where all the extra hours really start showing in the fit, finish, and detail. Very well done!!!

Bob your old Gibbon body sounds a lot like my Lone Star body! I am going to have to fill out the deck lid greatly to get it looking right and the door gaps leave a lot to be desired. I'm sure my give a damn is going to wear out before I get it looking perfect though. And I don't think I will mind a couple of cats jammed in the door openings

Regards, Kitz

Here's my take. I wouldn't touch another Gibbon body - old or new - without a complete, detailed inspection for quality of fit. Unfortunately, that type of inspection is difficult to do, because there are so many details to evaluate that some of them just don't occur to you until the construction and fitting is underway. I should have been more picky on the Gibbon body I have, but I wasn't. Luckily, I have the ability to make it work.

There is a second reason for not buying an older Gibbon body, and that's the resistance to heat (sunshine) of the resin that they use. The technical name is the Heat Distortion Factor (HDT) it tells you whether or not your body is going to be stable when it sits in the hot sun. Low temp resins (general purpose) will deform under heat, and the glass cloth pattern can print through the paint. That's why some body manufacturers recommend that you "sun cure" your car, and/or you not paint it black. I have no confidence that Gibbon EVER used a high-temp resin - even back when Dwight was making the bodies. I strongly suspect that they used a general purpose resin, what I call a "camper shell" quality. Cheap, but not the best for a car - especially a dark one. Bottom line, if the correct resin is used, the car is "cured" when you get it, and you can paint it any color you like. Wescott and Redneck are two companies that I know use high-temp resin, much like that use in the aircraft industry.

Another reason is that Gibbon Bodies have been fabricated with a chopper gun rather than hand-laid fiberglass. Gibbon always claimed that was the best way to do it. But as far as I know, they were the only widely distributed firm that did it that way. With a chopper gun, it is difficult to get the resin to catalyst mixture correct, and that mixture is critical in the proper curing of the glass. I would NEVER touch a chopper gun car again.

The final reason is that Gibbon makes their bodies in many pieces and bonds them together with bondo. That gives rise to several problems. I found a couple of places where the bondo didn't cure properly. They obviously didn't mix it well. With a bunch of parts bonded together, you have a lot of seams to work out. It also makes for a very sloppy interior. Redneck and other quality manufacturers make their bodies in a true plug mold. They pull the whole body (not including fenders, of course) from one mold. All you have to do on those, assuming a good layup, is smothing out the parting lines and blocking the body.

On the other hand, Pete and Jakes chassis are pretty darn good. I wouldn't hesitate to use one again. Also, the Slovers are excellent to work with.

Read about resins and construction on Redneck's site. This is not just their hype. I have other references that say the same thing.

http://www.redneckstreetrods.com/advantage.html

I guess my only exception would be if I inspected a Gibbon body, found it to be generally ok . . . and then could buy it for half price or less, I'd think about it . . . but probably still wouldn't touch it.

Hey Jack,

You got that Gibbon blocked and primed yet?

What about you iceburgh? that 32 appeared just about done a couple of weeks ago.

So you bought it?

I got it done ( well for the most part) still need to do a few things in the interior but they should be done soon. Hoping to be able to get it complete and head to Ocean City in 2 weeks and then York.

......here is a pic

Iceburgh

That is one awesome duece!!! One of the best that I've seen.

Jack,

I haven't bought anything yet. the picture album to the 32 project is supposed to arrive today. Some of the local rodders with families (i have 2 kids 11-13) have advised me not to do the coupe thing... go sedan. I love the coupes though and I believe the 32 that you know about is a good buy if everything about it is true.