If you didn't know better, you might think this Brookville Model A roadster pickup body is actually having a fighter plane cockpit built into it, and in some ways, you wouldn't be too far off. Created soon after WWII by a hot rodder named Duke Hallock, this split, or "V'd," windscreen not only added an enormous amount of style to early lakes racers and street driven hot rods alike, but also transformed the flat original Model A windshields into slippery aerodynamic wind splitters, just like fighter planes of the time. Imagine the thoughts that would cross one's mind upon first sight of a hot rod running one of Hallock's V'd windshields.
As stylish and functional as they might have seemed, not too many of these frames were produced-they just weren't very economical. Jump ahead a few decades and all that has changed thanks to the availability and casting costs of aluminum and to Hot Rods & Custom Stuff.
Now, as easy as you might think these windshields are to install, there are a few issues that you, the installer, will have to confront. First off, these frames are cast without mounting holes or the groove for the glass. However, being constructed entirely of aluminum, drilling and tapping the mounting holes is relatively easy, and will allow you to customize your installation as you see fit. Milling the 1/4-inch groove for the glass to sit in will necessitate a quick trip to your local machinist, or to a buddy down the street who owns and knows how to operate a mill. To perform these important steps for us, as well as the rest of the installation, we looked to Hot Rods & Custom Stuff of Escondido, California. These guys are pros, and had the entire operation done (with the exception of having milled the glass groove) within about 2 hours. For the rest of us, a long weekend in the garage should be more than enough time, but like any other installation performed on your project, take your time, measure once, and cut twice. Or something like that.