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01-19-2020, 09:56 PM | #21 |
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Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 413
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
Great guy to talk with. Smooth as silk.
I ordered at least 6 sets of pans over the years. At first they came in a month or two and at the end I had to get my money back via the credit card company. Nice pans poor service. Not for me. If I had a product in high demand I would make an effort to fill that need but that's just me. |
01-19-2020, 10:25 PM | #22 |
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Shelton, WA
Posts: 3,800
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
The bigger lesson here is to buy things like this when you know they are available. You never know when the business will be sold, go out of business, or in Paul Bradley's case be too distracted to supply parts or backordered for years. I was lucky in that I bought a 1/2 floor pan for my wagon many years ago from Paul and got it right away. If there are currently available repro parts you will need later, get them now or you may be out of luck when you actually need them. This used to be real common years ago when the only business that made running boards did a run of 32s and then switched to 33-34s and there was a big gap in time when you could get 32s again until after the 33-34s were finished being made.
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01-20-2020, 10:13 AM | #23 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: southeastern Michigan
Posts: 10,101
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
Amen to that advice. Plan (i.e. make a list of what you will need and buy) ahead to avoid the "no-longer-available" blues.
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01-20-2020, 11:55 AM | #24 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: MN
Posts: 7,053
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
I agree also and in some cases buy a spare!!!
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01-20-2020, 02:01 PM | #25 |
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: New Berlin,Wi
Posts: 228
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
I would buy 36 floors for my 3 window today IF he had them in stock,but I'm not willing to wait two years. I wish there was a high quality alternative, I don't want the universal street rod floor.
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01-20-2020, 02:14 PM | #26 |
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bonita, CA
Posts: 1,374
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
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01-20-2020, 02:34 PM | #27 | |
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Wichita KS
Posts: 16,132
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
Quote:
Post #5 I spoke with Paul recently and he IS still in business. He did mention that he’s been taking care of his mother who has been ill since February. Based on our conversation it seems things are improving and he’s beginning to be able to devote more time to the business. Hopefully the responsiveness will improve. |
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01-20-2020, 02:39 PM | #28 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Charlotte NC KiWi-L100 available here
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
Paul does not stamp these. They are die formed, every indention is formed separately. They are a work of art.
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01-20-2020, 09:13 PM | #29 |
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bonita, CA
Posts: 1,374
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
He still has dies. If he is not going to continue, maybe he would sell the business. Would be a great investment for the right person.
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01-20-2020, 09:49 PM | #30 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: MN
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
Always thought these were punched out by hand. Not a large sheet die press.
. Last edited by Tinker; 01-22-2020 at 10:37 AM. |
01-21-2020, 11:13 AM | #31 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rogersville, TN
Posts: 797
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
Exactly!
I spoke at length with him about this very thing. Buy the business, make it a full time retirement endeavor for me, hire some help and continue the supply. Unfortunately, he either didn't need my money, wasn't interested in expanding the business, and was willing to let it wither away until it died. Sad. |
01-21-2020, 01:43 PM | #32 |
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 16,436
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
We had a fellow comment on one of these threads about fabrication of his dies. If I remember correctly they are more on the line of a hand forming die set up and not a press die set. With modern high pressure water jet tables and the like, a set of forming dies can be cut out to fit the basic shape but have cut outs and and added forming bucks for the hand forming process. This is how a lot of stuff was formed before deep draw press equipment became more widely produced. The art of repousse' and chasing have been around a long time. The statue of Liberty was made this way. Copper is a bit easier to form though. You can do a lot with a hammer and a set of old chisels with the chasing shapes needed. Plywood can work too but it would only last through one or two panels before it was misshapen a bit too much.
All a person needs is a floor pattern to make a die set but it would have to be in CAD/CAM for the machines to cut them out. It takes a while to hammer stuff out and generally some welding has to be done as well but a floor isn't as hard to beat out as you might think. I'm surprised someone like Mac Hils hasn't taken up stuff like this since he already has a good bit of forming equipment. |
01-21-2020, 02:12 PM | #33 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Charlotte NC KiWi-L100 available here
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
RR that is close to how Paul forms his floor pans. I personally think that even with Paul’s dies etc it would be hard to make floor pans. It is knowledge pasted down from his Dad that would also be required.
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01-21-2020, 06:27 PM | #34 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Napa,California
Posts: 6,037
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
Seems to me that Bradley is in the same category as GoCat Speed Shop and Flathead City.
All three should be avoided like the plague.. |
01-21-2020, 10:17 PM | #35 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: NW Ontario
Posts: 5
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
Dennis Carpenter has floor pans for most of the '40 cars. I bought a set in the fall of '19 when DC had a sale.
https://www.dennis-carpenter.com/en/...or-pan-62-inch. |
01-22-2020, 04:07 PM | #36 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bonita, CA
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
Quote:
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02-25-2020, 03:46 PM | #37 |
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bonita, CA
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Re: Paul Bradley Floors
Has anybody talked to Paul Bradley lately about acquiring floor pans or is he still down and out?
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