I picked up a project with a fiberglass body of a 27 ford however there was no support for the back half(trunk area). Its hollow underneath it and since the previous owner attempted to put a passenger door in, the body sags at the seam. Anyone have pics of how theirs is supported? Thanks
what holds back of 27 roadster?
- Thread starter wnaplay
- Start date
Help Support Rat Rods Rule:
rustybeercan
Never met a beer he didn't like!
Got any pictures?
donsrods
Well-known member
Well, if it is a typical fiberglass 27 body, it is hollow from firewall to the very back of the body. When you build them you have to add plywood and fiberglass material to glass in bulkheads and floors.
I have a 27 glass body on my one car, and I installed the floor, backrest, and sides in wood, and glassed that all into one piece. But the back part (called the Turtledeck) just hangs there in space. My body bolts to the floor via 6 bolts that are only in the area where you sit.
I didn't cut doors in mine for the very reason you outlined........it severely weakens them. Some people have glassed in door jams and cut doors successfully, but I have seen too many that don't work out, so I eliminated that problem.
Here are a couple of pictures that might give you a better idea of what I am talking about:
Don
See the backrest made of glassed over wood? Behind that is hollow all the way to the back where the tail lights go.
Here, this shows the inner liner of wood and glass pretty well.
I have a 27 glass body on my one car, and I installed the floor, backrest, and sides in wood, and glassed that all into one piece. But the back part (called the Turtledeck) just hangs there in space. My body bolts to the floor via 6 bolts that are only in the area where you sit.
I didn't cut doors in mine for the very reason you outlined........it severely weakens them. Some people have glassed in door jams and cut doors successfully, but I have seen too many that don't work out, so I eliminated that problem.
Here are a couple of pictures that might give you a better idea of what I am talking about:
Don
See the backrest made of glassed over wood? Behind that is hollow all the way to the back where the tail lights go.
Here, this shows the inner liner of wood and glass pretty well.
Alright that answers that question. The back just hovers. I may throw a brace in there for the heck of it. Now question 2. Mine currently has a wooden plywood floor which the PO just screwed through the side of the body into. I really dont like this and want to channel the floor over the frame to help sit lower. However I dont know how to achieve this. I can make a new floor out of wood and have it channeled over and then bring the body to it, but how do i attach the floor to it without again using screws?
donsrods
Well-known member
The way the original guy did that floor is exactly what you don't want to do. What you will be doing is fiberglassing the new plywood in with fiberglass cloth or mat. I prefer mat because it conforms better, and I use polyester resin instead of epoxy because it is cheaper and does just as good of a job in this application. Most boats are built with polyester resin, if that tells you anything.
Not to send you somewhere else, but I did a year and a half write up on the build up of my 23 T on another forum. It spanned 200+ pages and you have to weed through a lot of bs and kidding around, but there is everything you should need to do your own glass work if you follow what I did there. It begins on this page: I am Itoldyouso on that forum, so those are my posts.
http://clubhotrod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23618&page=73
It jumps around a lot, but from that page on I show pretty much how you glass the floor, sides, and back in. That is a 23, but the principles are the same. By the time you are done you will become a very good glass man!
Don
Not to send you somewhere else, but I did a year and a half write up on the build up of my 23 T on another forum. It spanned 200+ pages and you have to weed through a lot of bs and kidding around, but there is everything you should need to do your own glass work if you follow what I did there. It begins on this page: I am Itoldyouso on that forum, so those are my posts.
http://clubhotrod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23618&page=73
It jumps around a lot, but from that page on I show pretty much how you glass the floor, sides, and back in. That is a 23, but the principles are the same. By the time you are done you will become a very good glass man!
Don
Hey Don I took a look at your thread as suggested. Thats alot of reading and I eventually found myself just searching for more pictures than anything else. I do have a few question's, I see it looks like you have metal tubing holding up the body, is this just how it looks? I dont appear to have anything like that, do I need it? I see how you did the floor(wood), then sit the frame over it 1, whats holding the 2 in place before you glass it, 2. is the floor only attached to the body by the glass? Will glass bond to wood without issue?
