Deuce Roadster body..need help

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Deucedreamer32

Junior Member
Hello,

My dad and I are starting a project together, a Deuce roadster. The car is an old channeled car that only had half the body channeled. Whoever did it, cut the sub rails of the body off right at the B pillar and then slid the frame over top of the rest of the rails bolting the front part of the sub rails to the bottom of the frame. They then used thin sheet metal to make a flimsy floor and tie the rest of the back of the body together. Weird, but I guess they did it a number of different ways back in the day. My dad and I want to put it all back to factory. We have purchased a set of sub rails from Brookville and intend to marry them up to what is left of the front portion of the sub rails on the body now.

My question is: How do I locate the rear of the body in relation to the new sub rails? I'm pretty sure all the brackets and such used to attach the quarter panels to the sub rails are all gone. Does anyone have pictures or measurements of how they attach?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!! I'd like to be able to do this properly so that all gap and mounting points will be normal.
 
I did the same thing for a model a roadster some years back. Do yourself a huge favor and buy an assembled floor. it has all the holes predrilled for frame mounting door and cowl posts etc. the doors ended up fitting perfect on mine.
 
I had a similar task with my avatar car. It sat out in the rain for 30+ years and the subrails, floor top flange of the frame were corn flakes (I welded about 10" of new metal on the quarters and cowl (I think there are some pictures in my public albums that might help you). I too used new BV subrails and floor. I am using an original frame so I know those holes are correct. I started by setting the subrails on the frame. Then I bolted the stock firewall onto the frame. Used the firewall as the reference point to work from. I then fit the cowl to the firewall. Hung doors on the cowl, fit the repaired quarters to the subrails so that the door gaps were correct. Mock up everything and only tack weld things as you check fitment of the rest of the body parts. Install panel above decklid to hold quarters together, same with panel below decklid. Since my braces in the decklid area were out I put the rear floor in and set the bottom of the braces on top of the floor like original. I would characterize my assembly of the body as hanging the doors and fitting the rest of the body to them. Much easier fitting the "hole" to the door then the door to the "hole" if you weld the quarters on before the doors.
I have also un-channeled a 32 roadster. You need the stubs that go inward from the subrails that the body crossmembers for the floor and other braces hook to.
PM me if you need other pictures as I took a lot when I built the car. It has been on the road since 2001 or 2002.
 
Don't forget the back of the body where it rests just above the gas tank. Make sure you leave room for the rear frame horn covers to slip in.
On many original 32 frames you may find the rear horns are bent down slightly. A telltale bump can easily be seen just at the kick up at the rear. Ford reinforced the frames late in the model year to help keep the frames from bending there. Damage like that will change the spacing between the top of the tank and the bottom of the panel below the deck lid. They are not to hard to straighten ...a frame jig would help on that one.
 
If you have the necessary parts, Ford installed a couple of good dimensional checkpoints.
The rear fenders bolt solidly to the frame and to the arch on the body, providing a good check on rear body placement.
At the front, stock firewall bolts to the frame and allows the cowl to be hung on via the hood hinge bracket.
Get hold of a good frame diagram first, and especially study the common bend at rear kickup so you don't build everything around a bent frame. Wescott has a diagram on line and a much more detailed large print is available from Deucedaddy Don on Hamb.
If you can find it, there is a great article on '32 frame straightening done by Pete Eastwood in an Old Petersen/Rod&Custom book. Great pictures, hammer work done by a guy who has fixed hundreds of deuce frames.
 
I am currently doing the same thing on a 33 coupe body, can't provide much help except to agree that the rear portion is much harder to deal with (position wise) than the front!
 
The body is going on a TCI frame...so I will be able to bolt it down at the firewall and the B pillar with certainty that it's in the right spot. The frame is new so it should be correct. I just don't know how to locate the rear of the sub rails in relation to the body. And which brackes I need. I looked at brookvilles catalog that has a blown apart roadster diagram...there appears to be a lot of brackets! Anybody have pics of a roadster they could share that show the sub rails and floor and brackets?
 
Hi,

I had the same situation with my roadster. You definitely need to get a complete floor with sub-frames. Can you buy those now?

I ended up buying an excellent sub-frame from a Tudor from a guy living in Montana that I found from Hemmings before the internet. I did this on hunch that it would work and after many hours, it did. I also had good reference photos that I took from a 32 roadster being frame off painted and then later, access to Lee Atherton's Lebaron Bonney originator and owner) pristine 32 roadster on Saturdays whenever I needed to take dimensions.

I bought a fantastic firewall and used that for the front. Lots of measurements for door openings, rumble lid, height and squareness were required. One of the biggest challenges was making the bottom of the door sill parts. It took me many hours of forming, bending and welding to do them! All of the welding I did with a stick welder and 1/16" rod, this being before wire feeds were readily available.

Lot of work but worth it.
 

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glennpm said:
Hi,

I had the same situation with my roadster. You definitely need to get a complete floor with sub-frames. Can you buy those now?QUOTE]

Yes you can buy them. My dad has purchased the sub rails, floor panel, and inner fender panels from Brookville. We don't need to use the whole subrails though and are going to cut the new sub rails at the B Pillar and join them to the old sub rails. The front part of the sub rails are in excellent shape.
Click to expand...
 
I'm doing this exact same thing on a channeled Deuce Roadster...channeled the exact same way. You are on the right track...there is no way I would cut out the original subrails. If yours is like mine, the cross channel support pieces are probably still on the subrails. I sat my body back on the top of the frame with the original holes, welded in the cross channels, and located the rear quarters with an original set of fenders. I then welded in new Brookville subrails from behind the b-pillar back. Their are 2 sets of brackets that support the quarter...a set that runs from the above the deck lid panel to the wheel house, and a set that run from the trunk rain gutter on the sides to the floor. If you look, you will probably see the 2 rivet holes on each rain gutter for this bracket. This really isn't a bad job...
Sam
 
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