For street rodders, 2007 promises to be an exciting year for a variety of reasons, but two of the highlights will be the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the 1932 Ford and this year's SRM Road Tour program.
Beginning in May and continuing through September, the '07 version of the Road Tour will comprise seven weeklong tours. Beginning at one event and traveling to another, it's a great opportunity to drive your street rod, see the USA, attend some of the best events in the country, and do it all with a great bunch of like-minded folks. For more information, be sure to check out www.streetrodderweb.com
As in years past, we'll be building a street rod specifically for the Road Tour, and what else could it be with the tribute to the anniversary of the Deuce going on other than a 1932 Ford? But, this won't be just any old '32; it's going to be built with all new parts-including a hot-from-the-foundry Flathead engine from Motor City Flathead, a division of Shadow Rods, and a fresh-off-the-press three-window body from Brookville.
It wasn't all that long ago that no one would have believed it if someone had said we'd have new steel reproduction bodies for our street rods. But, an innovative individual by the name of Ray Gollahon did believe it, and, in fact, he made it happen. A background in the sheetmetal industry and an interest in hot rods led Ray to stamping Model A replacement panels in the early '70s, and he created Brookville Roadsters by 1984 and was producing complete Model A bodies.
In 1995, Ray's son, Kenny, joined the company and immediately went to work on an extremely ambitious project-a reproduction steel '32 Ford roadster body. Compared to an A, building a Deuce body required a much more complicated, and consequently expensive, series of dies. But, thanks to his engineering degree and advancements in die-construction technology, Kenny figured out a cost-effective method to do it. Still, the process required they completely disassemble one of Ray's mint Deuce roadster bodies to make special plaster castings from which the dies would be made. In addition, five more bodies were taken apart to form inner-structure patterns.
To say the Brookville line of bodies has been a hit is certainly an understatement, and their latest creation appears to be continuing the trend. Brookville's three-window coupe body was in demand when production was just a rumor. Well, we're here to tell you the rumors are true and we're building one.
While building a coupe body is truly an ambitious undertaking, advancements in die-construction technology is what made it possible, according to Kenny. A new state-of-the-art process was used rather than disassemble a body to make patterns for dies. It began with Ray's absolutely factory-fresh '32 Ford three-window. Arguably one of the finest original examples in the country, the car was sprayed white, and then all the exterior surfaces were covered with dots 4 to 6 inches apart in all directions. A Detroit company that specializes in prototypes scanned the body and produced a three-dimensional model, and the dies were produced from that. The fascinating part of this technology is that production can be simulated on the computer, and if any adjustments to the dies are necessary, they can be made prior to stamping the first part. The next time you cuss new-fangled computers, remember they were a big part of building this new 75-year-old body.
Production of bodies began in Brookville's 65,000-square-foot manufacturing facility once the dies were completed. All of the body panels that come out of the press are made of the same gauge steel Henry used and are interchangeable with originals. The new bodies will come completely assembled with doors and decklid fit and functioning, pan under the seat, rear floor and dash installed, garnish moldings, and all sheetmetal covers included.
Brookville's new three-window bodies are true works of art and make one of Ford's most desirable body styles available with a phone call. Be sure to stay tuned next month when we will give you a rut-by-rut report on driving the Brookville Roadster Deuce coupe cross-country.