When it comes to old Ford bodies and hot rodding, there seems to be two paths that people go down: original or aftermarket. On one side, you've got the purists who won't have it any other way than original Henry steel ("If it ain't steel, it ain't real!"). On the other hand, you have those who don't care if it's reproduction steel or fiberglass ("Once it's painted and upholstered, who can tell?"). It's been an ongoing debate since the dawn of the first reproduction parts almost 40 years ago.
I tend to lean more toward the purists' perspective, although I don't have any problem with someone using an aftermarket body-to each his own. But for me personally, I tend to lose interest in it if it's not original Ford stuff. I built models when I was a kid, so why would I want to build a big model as an adult? There's just something about breathing life back into something that's more than 70 years old that gives me satisfaction; I relate it to people who collect antiques. The yuppie neighbors next door with their IKEA furniture wonder why someone would want all that old crap in their house. You know they don't get it, and that's fine; they have their taste and you have yours. I figure the street rod crowd is similar to this comparison. That's what makes this hobby fun-everyone is different.
When the time came to build my next project, I had a choice. I knew I wanted to build a '29 Ford roadster, but wasn't set on whether I would use an aftermarket body or try and find an original. I casually looked around the Internet and passed the word to my buddies as to what I was looking for, but nothing seemed to come up. I was just about ready to call the guys at Brookville Roadster when I got a phone call. There was a body for sale up in Los Angeles and the guy was ready to sell. I went to take a look and decided to go for it. It was rough, but complete and only needed a couple lower patch panels. I figured that by the time I patched the panels and tackled all the rough spots, I would be financially in it the same as I would be for a new Brookville body. That's the goal anyway. I'll let you know how we did in a couple months when everything's said and done. Until then, take a look at the first installation of the patchwork required in both lower quarter-panels.
