Who's got the best deal on a body right now? I want to buy a body w/ floor and dash, and attached p/u bed. So far it seems as if TP is the least expensive. I also tried a guy the RPM told me about, and he was a little higher, but not by much. Do any of you know of someone I don't????????? I've got the money and am ready to pull the trigger.
Best Deal on a Body?
- Thread starter Spdwy808
- Start date
putz
Member
T_bucket
racer bucket
1923, 1927, 1928 - 1932 Ford Fiberglass*Bodies - Tucson Arizona
Enter t bucket body on search engine and you will find more
You get what you pay for.Remember that.
racer bucket
1923, 1927, 1928 - 1932 Ford Fiberglass*Bodies - Tucson Arizona
Enter t bucket body on search engine and you will find more
You get what you pay for.Remember that.
der Spieler
Member
I'm leaning toward Spirit. In fact, based on what I've read here about the quality or their work and their readiness to answer questions, when the time comes I will buy a Spirit. My question though, to add to Spdwy808's, is who gives the best value for money? I've seen a lot of manufacturers mentioned and I've visited their sites. I've seen what Spdwy808 is looking for priced anywhere from around $650 to almost $1000. Assuming we are comparing apples to apples why is there such a price disparity? Does the high priced one have gold dust mixed in with the gel coat? None of the manufacturers are too up front with the construction of their bodies. Unlimited Products has two T bodies, one with two ply glass and the other with three ply. I haven't seen any of the other manufacturers state the composition of their bodies in any of their literature, but then I could have missed something somewhere. Is the price difference in the construction? I would like to see a poll of all of the members on this forum giving the pluses and minuses of the bodies and other related components they chose when they built their Ts. I think this information would greatly help members make a more informed decision when it comes time to buy their bodies and frames. I think it would also give the manufacturers a pretty good idea of how their products are viewed by the customers. The manufacturers who score high would be validated in knowing they are building a good product and the ones who score low could either stay where they are and maybe take a hit in sales or work to bring their quality in line with their prices. I have heard nothing but good about Spirit. I have heard nothing but good about TP. I built a Speedway T and their body is good but since you can't buy one with a floor molded in I won't go there again. I know nothing about the other companies out there and I'm curious to know about them. I don't mind paying more if I know with some certainty that I'm getting what I'm paying for, quality of workmanship............My $.02..........Steve
Check these guys out
Welcome to K & S Customs, LLC
They aren't the cheapest but they make a heck of a body. I have one sitting on my "Youngster" built frame.
Chuck T
Welcome to K & S Customs, LLC
They aren't the cheapest but they make a heck of a body. I have one sitting on my "Youngster" built frame.
Chuck T
der Spieler
Member
Chuck...The K & S body is the high end body I was referring to. What makes it a 'heck' of a body? Do you feel that you got your money's worth? Steve
der Spieler,
Based on people I talked to who have K&S bodies, and the owner himself, I ordered one having never seen one in person. 6 hand laid layers of fiberglass makes it a very sturdy body. The workmanship is second to none. I like the way they do the door and the pickup bed. The floor, tranny tunnel and dash are all installed. I have yet to find a flaw in the body.
Paying the shipping from AZ to MN wasn't cheap either but so far I think it is worth it..
Chuck T
Based on people I talked to who have K&S bodies, and the owner himself, I ordered one having never seen one in person. 6 hand laid layers of fiberglass makes it a very sturdy body. The workmanship is second to none. I like the way they do the door and the pickup bed. The floor, tranny tunnel and dash are all installed. I have yet to find a flaw in the body.
Paying the shipping from AZ to MN wasn't cheap either but so far I think it is worth it..
Chuck T
all-world1
Member
chuckt said:
Chuck, with all those glass layers, did the body still require wooding?
Craig
I've used bodies from a lot of different places, and heres a rundown on what I have seen. The first T I built used a Spirit body, bed, and seat insert. I liked the body, and I really liked the seat insert. Didn't care much for the bed. It didn't fit the body well, and just took a lot of work to get to the quality I wanted. This was back in 1999.
Then next I used a body from unlimited products. They aren't to far away from me, so I could drive and get it. They were such a pain in the ass to deal with. At the time they had just moved, so I kinda wrote off their lack of organization, long wait time, and general poor phone service to the hassles of moving. But the next two times I purchased from them, it was the same. The bodies are crooked, the glass thickness is inconsistant, and they are full of voids in all the corners. The car I am building now is one of these bodies. And the last one I will purchase from them.
For one of those unlimited bodies, I ordered a MAS seat insert to modify to fit. That is the nicest T bucket related fiberglass piece I have purchased. Good quality, nice and thick. The people were easy to deal with, and it came right when they said it would. I have never seen anything nice on the interent about MAS. Maybe my experience was a fluke. But I will give them another chance if the need arises.
Next, a new shop opened here a few years ago, called fat buckets. They built T bucket kits, and sold bodies from unlimited and dave koorey street rods. Two of my dad's friends bought some koorey parts unseen, but with the promise they were top quality. They were the worst parts I have seen. The body lines were terrible. the doors didn't fit right. Wavy, Just Junk. And nobody, not koorey and not fat buckets, would do anything to help. Bad parts, and bad customer service.
I used to go to a small T bucket show in Tucson called Fred's Fun Run. I met the guys from KnS there 3, maybe 4 years ago. I looked their bodies over closely. Nice stuff. Not priced to bad either. I haven't done business with them, or used their parts, but from my talking with them on a few occasions, and seeing the bodies, I wouldn't expect any problems.
My father is building a car now with a body he purchased off ebay last year. The guy was like 100 miles away, so we took a road trip over to see it, and bought it. The guy went by PF hot rods. I haven't seen him selling on ebay in a while. He was selling knock offs of unlimited products parts. He bought thier parts, pulled molds off them, and had a 'glass shop local to him spray them. He had scoops, fenders, all kindsa stuff. The T bodies were all crooked and flawed the same as unlimiteds, but they were laid up nicer. No voids, thicker, and nicer gelcoat.
I have never used beds or bodies from Speedway, Total, or CCR. But I have visited CCR. The bodies, beds, and chassis they have in their warehouse were every bit as nice as the pieces in their showroom. No special display pieces there. And they were the nicest looking parts I have seen. I have seen people post that their CCR bodies look so nice they didn't paint it. And I believe it. The bodies I saw back in 1999 were that nice too.
Then next I used a body from unlimited products. They aren't to far away from me, so I could drive and get it. They were such a pain in the ass to deal with. At the time they had just moved, so I kinda wrote off their lack of organization, long wait time, and general poor phone service to the hassles of moving. But the next two times I purchased from them, it was the same. The bodies are crooked, the glass thickness is inconsistant, and they are full of voids in all the corners. The car I am building now is one of these bodies. And the last one I will purchase from them.
For one of those unlimited bodies, I ordered a MAS seat insert to modify to fit. That is the nicest T bucket related fiberglass piece I have purchased. Good quality, nice and thick. The people were easy to deal with, and it came right when they said it would. I have never seen anything nice on the interent about MAS. Maybe my experience was a fluke. But I will give them another chance if the need arises.
Next, a new shop opened here a few years ago, called fat buckets. They built T bucket kits, and sold bodies from unlimited and dave koorey street rods. Two of my dad's friends bought some koorey parts unseen, but with the promise they were top quality. They were the worst parts I have seen. The body lines were terrible. the doors didn't fit right. Wavy, Just Junk. And nobody, not koorey and not fat buckets, would do anything to help. Bad parts, and bad customer service.
I used to go to a small T bucket show in Tucson called Fred's Fun Run. I met the guys from KnS there 3, maybe 4 years ago. I looked their bodies over closely. Nice stuff. Not priced to bad either. I haven't done business with them, or used their parts, but from my talking with them on a few occasions, and seeing the bodies, I wouldn't expect any problems.
My father is building a car now with a body he purchased off ebay last year. The guy was like 100 miles away, so we took a road trip over to see it, and bought it. The guy went by PF hot rods. I haven't seen him selling on ebay in a while. He was selling knock offs of unlimited products parts. He bought thier parts, pulled molds off them, and had a 'glass shop local to him spray them. He had scoops, fenders, all kindsa stuff. The T bodies were all crooked and flawed the same as unlimiteds, but they were laid up nicer. No voids, thicker, and nicer gelcoat.
I have never used beds or bodies from Speedway, Total, or CCR. But I have visited CCR. The bodies, beds, and chassis they have in their warehouse were every bit as nice as the pieces in their showroom. No special display pieces there. And they were the nicest looking parts I have seen. I have seen people post that their CCR bodies look so nice they didn't paint it. And I believe it. The bodies I saw back in 1999 were that nice too.
blownt
Member
Larry, I got a name of a guy that makes bodies from Ron at RPM. He told me to contact Tim Norwood tknorwood@earthlink.net
He replied back with some pics. This was back when I was thinking about getting a bigger body to replace my small 15 body. I also was considering a Dave Koorey body but he is a real jerk to deal with on the phone. At least he was whenever I called asking him for dimensions.
And yes CCR does make a great body. Several guys I know have run just the black gelcoat ever since they have had it (a LONG time) and cannot tell its just gelcoat..
He replied back with some pics. This was back when I was thinking about getting a bigger body to replace my small 15 body. I also was considering a Dave Koorey body but he is a real jerk to deal with on the phone. At least he was whenever I called asking him for dimensions.
And yes CCR does make a great body. Several guys I know have run just the black gelcoat ever since they have had it (a LONG time) and cannot tell its just gelcoat..
blownt - If I remember correctly, the guy (Tim) that RPM told you about has a place in Tennessee called Herman's Fast Glass. He has a body with bed, dash, and wood kit for $948. I've only been able to find his website once, because it's a geocities site, and geocities never works.
putz
Member
I run Mozilla also incase explorer doesn't work found links to him right away.
Herman's Fast Glass We make your dream driveable!
Herman's Fast Glass We make your dream driveable!
der Spieler
Member
It would be nice if he had posted pictures to go along with his descriptions.
Photoman said:Needs a real website. I don't get it, other than $, why companies don't have at least a one quality webpage on the internet. We are in the information age for Al Gore's sake!
I agree. I put a simple site together for my wifes business. Good quality hosting is really cheap at only about $6.50 a month!
Just for the curious, here is the site I made for her:
Martha Roden is UI Writer
David
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