REEL STEEL PART THREE


The So-Cal gauge panel is modeled after a '32 KB Lincoln. It fits nicely in the smooth Brookville Roadster dash and holds Mooneyes gauges from Classic Instruments.

 

 

   blocking before paint, but another consideration is that there's significantly more material there to block-sand.
Interestingly, the Brookville dies were actually made from molds taken from an original '32 roadster. Ray Gollahon collected five original Deuce roadster bodies for comparison before starting the project. Surprisingly or not, there was quite a bit of variation between them. Even though it sounds like a small number as car mass-production goes, to produce 12,000-14,000 bodies in less than a year, Ford had to use several stamping and assembly plants throughout the U.S. and other countries. You probably already know there were two different Deuce roadster doors: one with a small raised bead around each hinge, and one without. But the Gollahons found several other variations in sizes and shapes of various parts. They finally settled on one particularly good body that came from California as their "master" and used it to pattern all the parts. By the way, other than the lip around the back of the seat, which is a wood tack sttip on a gennie Deuce, the Brookville body is an exact reproduction, including all inner bracing, seat risers, water channels, handles, latches, and so on. Options include smooth doors (no outside handle), hidden hinges, a flat floor, and a smooth cowl (no vent). You can also get a trunk or a rumble seat. The other new steel Deuce roadster body-can you believe there are two, simultaneously, after all this time?by Rod Bods in Sparks, Nevada, replicates the outer Ford sheet metal and comes with hidden or original hinges, but has completely different inner panels and bracing.
Most of the Brookville dies are made of Kirksite, which is a "composit" that starts out as a liquid, but solidifies into an extremely dense, hard solid. Thus, plaster molds can be taken directly from the outside of the original part. The

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