Once the quarters are pulled...
Once the quarters are pulled from the press, they have to be trimmed and the edges folded over and finished.
Besides a line of steel '32 Ford bodies, Brookville also offers a '28-29 roadster, a '28-29 roadster pickup, a '30-31 roadster, a '30-31 roadster pickup, and a '30-31 extended-cab roadster pickup.
But Brookville Roadster isn't the only company building new Model As. Waddington Street Rods & Restoration Centre-the folks who also fabricate an all-steel '34 Ford phaeton body and a '34 Ford roadster Ute-are currently in production on a steel '29 Ford closed-cab pickup!
Since it's been 80 years since most folks have had a chance to see how a steel Model A goes together, we thought it might be a good time to take a tour of the Brookville Roadster factory and see how they do it.
 Here is a good illustration...  Here is a good illustration of the difference between the back halves of the standard and extended-cab late '30-31 roadster pickup sections. The extended cab section adds a full 6 inches to the cockpit's length. |  Brookville also manufactures...  Brookville also manufactures their own line of Model A frames and offers a two-inch rear kickup as an option. The base '28/31 perimeter frame, with crossmembers welded in and the entire chassis boxed (minus the frame horn section), runs $700. |  Who wouldn't want to have...  Who wouldn't want to have this scene in their own shop? A group of bodies including a '29 roadster, two '30 roadsters, three '32 roadsters, and a '29 roadster pickup body all wait to be shipped out to anxious customers. |
Model A Staff Cars
With all the different types of hot rods out there that can be built, we found it surprising the one vehicle each of the five STREET RODDER staffers currently have in common is the Model A. Each guy owns at least one of them in their current stockpile, and it's probably safe to say the Model A is about the only thing we can agree upon! Here's a look at what's in our garage.
Brian Brennan / '31 Highboy Roadster Pickup
I currently have three steel Model A hot rods; a Brookville Roadster '31 on Deuce 'rails, a stretched '29 highboy closed cab pickup from Waddington Street Rods, and this Brookville Roadster '31 highboy roadster pickup. This one should be especially fun with its high-revving Fontana Automotive four-banger and five-speed, buckets of military olive-drab patina, and loads and loads of aluminum work with more rivets then I can count.
Jim Rizzo / '29 Closed Cab Pickup
In keeping with a "Beaters are Better" outlook, the plan, at least this week, is to keep the truck cosmetically just as it is but mechanically transform it into a reliable, everyday driver capable of getting me back and forth to work. At present the driveline and suspension are vintage 1948 pieces but I haven't ruled out replacing the current Flathead/five-speed with an early SBC/TH350 combo.
Ryan Manson / '29 Roadster
Being a fan of the early era of hot rodding but also the lakes and Bonneville cars of the '40s and '50s, the plan for this roadster is to fit into that niche, with a few tweaks. Parts for the street-driven roadster include a small-block Chevy with Potvin-equipped front-mounted blower, a homebuilt chassis using 2-inch .120-wall tubing as the main rails and 1 1/2-inch tubing for the X-member, a Schroeder steering box, a quick-change rearend, V-8/60 axle, and many more hours of work.
Eric Geisert / '29 Roadster Pickup
Having only recently traded my original Model A closed cab truck to Rizzo for this Brookville roadster pickup, I haven't decided what to do with it yet. I already had the California Custom Roadsters chassis with an aluminum Currie rearend, and I've since added the ETIII five-spokes because the 16x10 square-window Halibrands I had on the rear were too fat. I'll probably loose the four-link in favor of Fatman's new radius rods and, since I like Ford engines and my Fords, that'll probably go in next.
Ron Ceridono / '31 Pickup
In 1966 I traded a small-block Chevy engine for this pickup. Over the years it has been powered by a hopped-up four-banger, a small-block Chevy, and a turbocharged Buick V-6. It's also never been finished. It now has a 276-inch Flathead and a'50 Mercury with a three-speed overdrive transmission. The body has a few dings (it still wears a semi-gloss and flat-black paint combo) and the interior is only partially upholstered. It has a few rough edges, but it's driven every day, rain or shine-and there are no plans to change a thing.