Brookville patch panels

[road_king]

I know there has been a lot of discussion about patch panels. Can anyone tell me their experience with using Brookville Roadster patch panels? I realize they all need work and I will be making some myself when I finish fabricating my bead roller, just thought I would try some lowers for a door I'm working on.


Thanks

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Are you certain that Antique Auto Sheetmetal (parent company of Brookville) actually made them?

 

[Kevin in NJ]

See my website on how I made patches.

A bead roller does not do patches properly as you do not get the right shape at the ends. Doing it with a press gives you a better shape and better minor details. Plus they get a lot of money for those patches. Buying some new sheet metal and a used arbor press cost less then buying a bunch of patches and I was able to make them better. Once I figured out the process I could make a better patch panel for less then it cost to buy one and it would take about the same time to make one from scratch as to fix the bought one.

Then it is critical to first make the patches have the same compound curve the door has. Otherwise you will introduce a lot of distortion. Of course, if you do not understand about weld shrinkage correction and butt weld the panels you will introduce a bunch of distortion anyway. I like having the metal such that I just need to put a few coats of a filling primer to level.

 

[Flop]

guarantee you Brent is right on that one . The roadster skins I have been installing have been pretty damn good . I cant comment on the other skins .

The skins take some doing but arnt a deal breaker to make . You are going to need a shrinker stretcher and english wheel as well as the bead roller .

rolled my bead

then broke it at 7/8ths of an inch

then you shrink the panel

and some english wheel action

round 2 went much better ... tipping the edges in

break time is over time to head back tot he shop and weld it in tonite .

still needs some tweaking here and there but the hard work is done

all in all i think its going to come down to how well you want your body lines to line up at the bottom of the car .

 

[desotoguy]

FLOP, have followed your work on this site for some time. I have a question about the pics posted for the door repair. I believe the doors for an "A" coupe are not straight along the bottom, thereby making the bend on a break unlikely. When they are set on the floor as in the last pic, there is an arc, about 1/4" space at the center of the bottom. A door with a straight bottom will be noticeable when placed on the car.

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

FLOP, have followed your work on this site for some time. I have a question about the pics posted for the door repair. I believe the doors for an "A" coupe are not straight along the bottom, thereby making the bend on a break unlikely. When they are set on the floor as in the last pic, there is an arc, about 1/4" space at the center of the bottom. A door with a straight bottom will be noticeable when placed on the car.

I'm not Flop, ...and I didn't see a question mark but reading between the lines, are you asking how does one make a curved bend without a brake? Most of us do it in a Pullmax or a Bead Roller with a tipping die or a tipping wheel depending on the machine we are using. Google it and you will see how it works.

 

[Flop]

hey desoto!! def not straight on the bottom of the door .

heres a repop skin for a tudor

no arc

heres a stock door . stock skin 100 percent solid

heres the skin i did . sorry for the bad pictures its hard to hold a level and get a clear shot . the lip still needs finished but you get the idea.

on the car !

 

[road_king]

Are you certain that Antique Auto Sheetmetal (parent company of Brookville) actually made them?

I'm referring to panels listed in the latest Brookville catalog. Luckily metal fabrication is my best skill set, but the last panel I used just needed a lot of finessing.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[SteveB31]

Brookville makes a lot of good parts, but their patch panals are NOT The best ones made.

 

[bgarrett]

I figure I can make a poorly fitting patch panel thats a lot cheaper than buying a poorly fitting patch panel

 

[Mike V. Florida]

I figure I can make a poorly fitting patch panel thats a lot cheaper than buying a poorly fitting patch panel

I like that!!!

 

[road_king]

I figure I can make a poorly fitting patch panel thats a lot cheaper than buying a poorly fitting patch panel

I like that too and sadly that's the general consensus...

 

[road_king]

Brookville makes a lot of good parts, but their patch panals are NOT The best ones made.

OK, thanks. I have one of their '32 roadster bodies and as many know are pretty close to the real thing. So when I saw the patches listed I thought they would be from the same presses, but realize they must be made different. And like several mentioned, a patch is just a patch and not an exact part..