How to tell what used body I got???

["The Bat" out of hell]

My son just got a used glass 23 t body,the guy he got from had no idea who made it.
I'm wondering with all the knowhow on here,if we can find out who made the glass bod,from size or pic's.? I'll post some pic's of it soon as I can get some shots,and do some size checking too in day or two.
Just thinking it maybe very handy to know ,so if he wants to buy a glass insert for it? it has no wood or metal bracing now.:welcome:
Is there any dead give away marks or places to look for?

 

[donsrods]

It's tough to tell sometimes who made one of these because they are made by so many different people and since they are based on Henry's '23 they are going to all look alike for the most part. Since these things started showing up 50 years ago there have been countless companies cranking them out. However, yes, there are some tell tale signs sometimes.

If it is a Total Performance body it MAY have the word TOTAL on the tailgate in Ford looking script. But the earlier versions said Ford until Ford started getting goofy about people using their name or likeness on anything.

The dash is another giveaway sometimes, some use a flat dash, some use a '32 style dash. One problem with T bucket bodies is that although they are all made to resemble a '23 T, they are not dimensionally exactly the same. For example, the width where the windshield mounts may vary from one manufacturer to another, so if you buy let's say a Speedway windshield it may not fit your car. The area where the windshield mounts may differ in shape too.

Shoot us some pictures of all of the areas mentioned, like dash, area where the windshield mounts, the reveals that are formed into the top of the cowl (sort of like a molding on each side. We may be able to tell, but I am not optimistic. I think my T body is a Speedway, but I bought it used too, so I am not 100 percent sure.

Don

 

[Rick]

Another thing with the Total bodie is it's in pieces and there will be a seam in the rear on both sides where the pieces are glassed together.

 

["The Bat" out of hell]

Thanks guys,I'll work on getting some pics posted,no rush here,my son has some parts yet to fine and a lot of old parts cleaning to do,just know what all he has now with this old T bucket that looks like it just never got done or on the road.
Tiltal has 1997 on it,yet no way of knowing how long befor that who ever was buying parts,he'll give me a list. This is my sons first rod,he helped me build and drive a few race cars,so I know he's got the basics. looks mostly home made to me,other then the body.

 

[donsrods]

Cool. Post up some pictures of the whole car and maybe we can help him make some good decisions on building it.

Don

 

[norseman]

if the body is sitting on its flanges on a flat floor and you measure up to the corners where the windsheild posts sit and its 1/2 inch different side to side, you got a mas body. lol Dash is a fairly good giveaway too if they bought all the body parts from the same company. I have the mas body and the glass in tunneled dash, love the way it looks..

 

["The Bat" out of hell]

Ok ,my son and i mocked up his T-bucket parts here,there just kind of set on top of each other. Looks like a Sprite body from compaering photos as the dash although cut up some from other owners looks just like Sprints V with Ovel panel in it. He's thinking to make wheel base shorter by about 1 foot in the back ,and all a little lower all around.