I also asked about the fate of the tooling. Most of the tooling was scrapped with the exception of what the auto manufactures could make money on in the future (tailgates, grilles, etc.)
So I'm sure some of you have toured the Dennis Carpenter plant back when we have Bronco gathering's their. They had some huge machines (presses?) 2 stories high or more, they said were used to stamp parts. Isn't it possible some of tooling (that wasn't scrapped) ended up there?
That is theoretically where all the body molds went. Dennis Carpenter has long touted the fact that due to their longstanding relationship with Ford many of their body parts are in fact stamped using original Ford stamping dies(?)/molds.
Unfortunately this does not reach one of the more popular parts, which are the front fenders of Broncos. Those are produced overseas like so much else.
Unfortunately also, the quality of the final product even using the original stamping equipment is not finished and often needs some touch-up.
I think that might be what the Budd folks that Nick was talking to were referring to.
Areas like edges, especially near curves such as the top and bottom of a tailgate or nose of a grille, are rough gouged and mis-formed. Almost like the metal is stretching differently when pressed now than it did in the past.
Perhaps the steel is in fact different from the old days, rather than deterioration of the original stamping pieces, or changes in procedures? Don't know, but they are definitely not as finely tuned as the originals were. Whether from the molding process itself, or just from a different finishing procedure than Ford (or Budd?) used originally, they're just not quite as smooth.
They're still a nice alternative to old, beat up and rusty, but if your old one just needs a small dent removed, better to do that sometimes, than to buy brand new.
Paul
