It's no wonder the steel Brookville stock-height '32 three-window body has almost instantly become one of the hottest products in the street rod aftermarket. It's not surprising when you consider what a beautiful design it is and just how awesome Brookville's quality is. Moreover, it's also no wonder that demand has been tremendous; in fact, as of today, Brookville has 160 bodies pre-sold. However, therein lies the rub. The wait for a completely assembled Brookville three-window is anywhere between 12 and 24 months, depending upon when the order was placed. Now, we all know that all good things take time, but when ya wanna Deuce, ya wanna Deuce-and pronto.
There is a way around the wait, and that's to buy the coupe parts individually and assemble the body yourself, which will work well, for the small fraction of us with an abundance of street rod-building talents, that is. Nevertheless, where do these options leave the rest of us average Joes? Well, it either leaves us with a pile of valuable parts that we have a minute chance of assembling successfully, or with a nearly two-year wait for an assembled one from Brookville that we know will be perfect. It also leaves us with a stock-height coupe with an un-filled roof, as well. Not the ideal situation for those who'd prefer a nicely chopped and filled hot rod, that's for sure.
Alas, all is not lost. There has been a recent development that will go a long way to rectify this bump in the road to hot rod heaven. Metalworking craftsman Bobby Walden and his handpicked crew at Walden Speed Shop have come to the rescue-of both the consumer and the overworked assembly craftsmen at Brookville-and are now offering hand-assembled Brookville three-window coupe bodies for those who can't handle the current wait. Plus, those who take advantage will not only know that the finished product will be flawless, but it'll come with the renowned Walden Speed Shop Chop and meticulously filled roof for which Bobby Walden is famous.
We recently had the chance to witness one of the Walden/Brookville coupes go together and were amazed, but not surprised, at how awesome the chopped version is. We weren't surprised because we're fully familiar with Bobby's meticulous craftsmanship, but the chop and fill are just so perfect that it's amazing. Anyway, in one of those rare moments where we could get both Bobby and Melinda torn away from their chores at the shop, we asked them to fill us in on the whole concept of the Walden/Brookville Deuce, and here's what they told us:
"This idea came about many months ago when we were sitting around brainstorming on ways to expand our business. We already do full restorations and have our product line with our roof inserts, doorskins, and hubs. So, we decided to expand our line of doorskins, continue working with Jake (Jim) Jacobs on his new venture, Jitney: Hop Up Parts by Jake, and then we thought about Brookville-Brookville and us together!
"It seemed like our two companies would make a great partnering of talents. We obviously pride ourselves on detailed craftsmanship, innovative thinking, and superior products. Their motto is expert craftsmanship, quality, excellence, and expertise. We have built our businesses on the same beliefs, on shared values. Moreover, we're both metal people. We specialize in sheetmetal shaping and they specialize in sheetmetal products. It just made sense, and we felt there was a void in the market.
"We wanted to take their panels and expand on what they offer by taking it to another level-and the chopped '32 three-window coupe was born. We have taken Brookville's high-quality panels and used our detailed labor to come out with this new beautiful body that people can buy as a product straight from us. This is the first (and only) all-steel '32 Deuce with a chopped and filled top made with Brookville panels on the market.
"There are lots of traditionalists out there who only want stock, and they can go straight to Brookville for their stock assembled bodies. Yet, there are a large number of people out there who are looking for the customization that we can offer as a finished product.
Bobby Walden is a perfectionist...
Bobby Walden is a perfectionist and has spent untold hours fabricating and refining a fixture that ensures that each and every chopped coupe he constructs is dead-nuts on. Here you can see Walden's fixture and the beginnings of a body (the side rails and floor supports).
"We thought it would be easier to chop one as it was being built, rather than chop it after it was built. So, we get the body components and assemble, chop, weld, and fill until it becomes what you see here.
"After much brainstorming on the perfect chop, we decided to model our Walden Speed Shop Chop after the Doyle Gammel coupe, which also has a 3-1/2-inch chop in front, and a 3-inch chop in back. We are definitely happy with how things have turned out. Our relationship with Brookville has proved to be an excellent partnership, and we hope to be cranking these things out from here on forward."
So, sit back and take an inside look at what we shot at the Walden shop. Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled for an in-depth look at the Walden Speed Shop Chop in a future issue.
Benefits of the Walden/Brookville Coupe
* It collapses the normal time line for the customer to get a finished chopped Deuce (no more waiting for a stock version, then taking it to another shop to get it chopped, and then buying an insert and filling it themselves).
* It's a guaranteed meticulous fit and finishing of each body.
* The bodies are built on a custom jig with patterns for every cut, ensuring each body will be the same level of perfection as the first.
* It looks badass.
The left body side panel and...
The left body side panel and cowl top were clamped in place here. A combination of welding clamps and Cleco fasteners were used to hold the panels in place on the fixture during assembly.
Walden's fixture has been...
Walden's fixture has been painstakingly designed to accommodate every Brookville component for perfect fit and alignment. Bobby has even made provisions for the Brookville cowl-vent mechanisms for those wishing to use a stock-style cowl top versus a filled version.
The rear section of the body...
The rear section of the body is assembled via the fixture, as well. The two body side halves and the tulip panel (the section between the decklid and the rear roof turret) were temporarily clamped to the fixture, as well as each other, prior to welding-this way they are able to be fine-tuned for a perfect fit as needed, though the fixture is so precise that gaps and minor misalignment is virtually nil.
The need for a stout and extremely...
The need for a stout and extremely accurate fixture is a must, since the outer body skin is less than solid in the beginning stages of assembly. Each and every Walden/Brookville chopped three-window is pre-assembled prior to finish-welding so each one is exactly like its predecessor. The consistency of the Brookville components combined with Bobby's keen eye and accurate fixture make this possible.
The decklid was lowered into...
The decklid was lowered into place, and tabs and Cleco fasteners were used to hold it to the fixture, keeping it in perfect alignment.
Bobby's signature Walden Chop...
Bobby's signature Walden Chop is an angle chop that's 3 inches at the rear of the roof and 3 1/2 inches up front. The rear roof turret is pre-chopped before installation on the fixture, and here you can see the difference with it sitting between the stock-height body side panels.
Bobby's right-hand man, Wesley...
Bobby's right-hand man, Wesley Kent, marked and cut out the sections of sail panels as part of the process of chopping the body side panels to match the roof turret.
Though going about a chop...
Though going about a chop in this manner is much more difficult and time consuming, it's the best way to keep the flowing compound curves of the sail panel areas in their original form. Most chops are achieved by sectioning this area as one would a flat or near-flat panel-a short cut that's not really short, as that route requires those original curves to be reworked in order to flow as beautifully as they did originally.
With the sail areas trimmed...
With the sail areas trimmed to fit, they were set back into place and held there with a series of tack welds.
As Wesley worked his wonders...
As Wesley worked his wonders on the rear of the roof section, Bobby was hard at work trimming and fitting the cowl-top section to perfection.
Here, the cowl top is in place,...
Here, the cowl top is in place, and the A-pillars were cut 3 1/2 inches, re-welded, and ground smooth. It's gettin' there, and looking awesome.
With the majority of the body...
With the majority of the body assembled, the next step was to catch the roof insert going in-a Walden specialty. This panel is one that Bobby handforms in-house using his trusty Yoder Power Hammer. Bobby fabricates each of his many styles of roof inserts individually and by hand, eyeballing them as he goes, and then matching them to an array of fixtures (one for each model of early Ford) to ensure they all have the perfect crown.
The insert was lowered over...
The insert was lowered over the opening and carefully centered, so the crown flowed smoothly in every direction. The panel was then held in place using Cleco fasteners to keep it from moving. A line was scribed all the way around the roof at the edge of the insert.
The insert panel was then...
The insert panel was then removed and the roof opening hand-trimmed so there was about an 0.030 gap between the body and the roof insert so the new insert could be welded flush with the existing metal-no overlap at all, just a perfectly butt-welded seam.
Attaching the insert to the...
Attaching the insert to the roof is a tedious task. Bobby (or Wesley, whichever is working on a particular body at the time) slowly worked his way around the roof perimeter, tacking the panel in place, and then gently worked any waves out with the use of a hammer and dolly.
The new insert was installed...
The new insert was installed in the roof panel here. It's amazing how easy these guys make it look. There is virtually no heat warpage evident-and this was before any finish grinding had taken place! Having seen the finished product at its debut, though, we have to say it is beautiful, and a much better way to end up with a cool hot rod chop than it would be to chop an already assembled stock-height Brookville body. So, if you have your heart set on an all-steel three-window, you have two choices: a stock-height Brookville or a bitchin' chopped Walden/Brookville three-window.