Rodline International - Gurus of Glass

22/11/2006

Impressive sight from the mezzanine floor. The '32 sedan in the background is being built for Keith Hadley of Birmingham with a 350/350 combination, Ford 9 inch, and Rootlieb hood. The Willys will be somewhat more radical when it hits the street

Rodline International has been selling high-quality, fibreglass replicas of early Ford bodies to hot rodders for around 20 years now – the last three under John Grubb’s ownership. As UK enthusiasts may know, John bought the moulds to eight cars from Keith Williams, who, in turn, had purchased the business from Chris Boyle.

“It all happened as the result of an off-the-cuff comment I made to Keith,” recalls John. “He seemed to be less than happy with the way the business was going, so I said to him, ‘Why don’t you sell it to me?’ I was a bit surprised when he agreed.” The moulds that came with the deal included ’32 Ford Coupe three-window full height and chopped, ’32 five-window, ’32 Roadster, ’34 Roadster and Coupe, ’34 Sports Saloon/Sedan Delivery and ’37 Ford Cabriolet. John says he was under the impression that other parts would be included to help put the bodies together, but sadly, they were not.

Since purchasing the business, John has moved premises, in order to bring the lay-up of the bodies in-house, and employed two experienced laminators – Richard Hampden and Richard Nossitor. “At one time, I had three ‘Dicks’ working for me,” he chuckles. “All joking aside, though, there is no doubt this has been a great move for us. We can control the quality of the work more effectively, plus we’ve employed guys with vast experience in the business. The results are really fantastic, even if I say so myself.”

With the move to new premises in South Gloucestershire, came the opportunity to expand the business from manufacturer of quality fibreglass components to builder of turn-key hot rods.

“It made a lot of sense for us and for our customers,” says John. “We would get calls from customers asking where they could get their cars built. We now have the premises to do that, and over the past couple of years we’ve pulled together a great team of individuals – probably the most difficult bit – so we can offer almost a turn-key service to customers." Rodline’s fabricators include Billy Murfin and Dave Matthews, while the resident American car specialist and mechanic is Darren Mackrell. "I’m very proud of them all,” adds John. “The only things we outsource are paintwork and interiors, but then that’s the case with a lot of rod builders.” Spurred on by talk of a blown Willys coupe and several other cars taking shape at their premises, we thought we’d pop down to Rodline International to take a closer look.

General workshop area for American car owners is run by Darren Mackrell. Chevy truck is a recent import

The first thing that hits you as you drive into the vast yard area surrounding the premises, near Bath, is the size of the place – over 10,000 sq ft of workshop area, plus about twice as much again for general parking, storage etc. John has purchased existing premises built primarily for automotive use, with five, big, roll-up shutter doors and space within to accommodate about 10 large trucks with ease. One side of the business (Bay 1) is reserved for American car servicing, general repairs and even full restorations. One or two cars have come into the UK via Kev Elliott, who is an agent for Rodline on the US West Coast, and also able to source specific cars and trucks for customers.

In the middle of the premises are three further bays, for street rod assembly, where there were six cars under construction at the time of our visit, plus a fifth bay, devoted to the lay-up of fibreglass bodies. Having a mezzanine floor means Rodline staff can carry out this process on two levels. Outside on racks are all of the company’s moulds – now numbering over 20, and including ’28/’29 Ford Roadster, ’28/’29 Closed Cab Pick-up, ’28/’29 Sedan and Delivery, ’32 Sedan and Delivery, ’32 Victoria, ’32 B400 and ’41 Willys. The additional moulds were recently purchased from Classic Fabrications in Bournemouth.

'41 Willys mould ready for laying-up

As well as the most comprehensive range of GRP bodies in the UK – if not the world – Rodline is into one-off fabrication work. Proof of this again can be seen outside on the racks, where there are a variety of moulds, including one for a single-seater race car. Inside, the Richards are busy laying up custom-moulded dashboards, as well as a prototype for a kid’s pedal car, taken from the steel original.

Moulds galore outside. The '32 body looks in good shape but was deemed unsuitable for sale because of pigment staining. The sedan mould is for the '32 Vicky. Rodline's impressive premises are to the left

John says he's hoping to get all of the moulds under cover at some stage soon

Perhaps the most technically challenging of all of the Rodline-bodied projects in the workshop at the time of our visit was a ’41 Willys, powered by a blown and Nitrous-injected small-block Chevy, backed up with an Ian Jackson-built manual gearbox and a 9 inch Ford rear, equipped with Strange internals. The car is being constructed for a Liverpool rodder. “It’s being built for the street and has a number of unique features, not the least of which is the front air suspension, three inch roof chop and ’59 Impala dashboard," says John. "Dealing with those double compound curves proved to be a very intricate, time-consuming job. We insisted on a roll cage, as this car will be seriously quick, plus the owner wanted a race car-style rear wing and wheelie bars, which should make negotiating speed humps rather interesting.”

Three inch roof chop adds even more drama to this Willys coupe. Check out the numerous cuts around the door frame (below) which were necessary to get the shape right. Very neat too.

A little less demanding from an engineering point of view is the Cosworth Sierra-powered, yellow Model A pick-up belonging to Nigel Parris. “Nigel just drove his Sierra up from Devon, and asked us to take it apart and put the drivetrain into one of our rolling chassis kits,” says John. “This has now progressed to a full build. The engine is in place, we’re fabricating a one-off exhaust system and have just built the front suspension.”

Model A truck with Cosworth Sierra power. Amazingly these little motors can be tuned to deliver 500 horsepower

There are also more traditional-looking hot rods taking shape in the Rodline workshops, including a chopped ’32 three-window coupe being built for Matt Dorey, that features ASC rails, a Superbell I-beam, 10-bolt GM rear end, ARE five-spokes shod with whitewalls, and a small-block Chevy. This fenderless coupe already has a promising look about it. Behind it is a ’32 Roadster, which follows a more nostalgic theme with triple-carburetted small block and Radir wheels.

More traditional style rods under construction

Finally, Karen Brain, an accountant from Oxford, has opted for Rodline’s ’37 Cabriolet body (below) as the basis for a unique rod, which is powered by a Vauxhall Cresta 3.3-litre straight six. One particularly noteworthy feature of the full build will be a swoopy, Carson-style top, which will be integrated into the overall look of the car.

There’s clearly a lot going on in the Rodline workshops, but how, we wondered, does John keep track of where he is with each project? “That’s quite easy,” he responds. “If we’re waiting for parts to come in for one car, then we move on to another. As far as the financial side is concerned, we work on a stage-payment basis, which is easier for our customers to manage, and we positively encourage them to come down and see how their cars are progressing. It seems to work.

“What we are able to do is build cars to suit specific budgets. The Willys is a no-expense-spared project, for instance, while the yellow pick-up is being put together on a more modest budget. We also offer part-builds, so if a customer just wants a rolling chassis with a body, we can accommodate that, too.”

Custom dashboard under construction

Show goers may remember Rodline’s recent generosity towards the NSRA too. A 28/29 Model A truck body was given away at this year’s NSRA Supernationals at Old Warden - a great gesture by the company.

There has been considerable discussion in UK rodding circles recently about the effect proposed new legislation is likely to have on our hobby, but had this talk had any effect on Rodline’s business? “It’s true we are not selling quite as many bodies as we were last year, or the year before that, but if someone really wants to build a rod, they will, no matter what,” says John. “In addition, when you factor in the cost of our bodies, there’s a huge incentive to go GRP. A steel Brookville ’32 three-window coupe body, for example, would cost over £15,000 to import into the UK – if you are prepared to wait over 12 months, but we’re offering the same look, in GRP, for under £2000. I still think our prices are ridiculously cheap.”

John Grubb - rightfully proud of what he's achieved

Of course you’d then have to put in considerable man hours to get the GRP body up to the standard of a finished steel version with regards to hanging the doors, fitting the windows and so forth. If you have time to spare and are confident enough to handle the work, there’s no denying it’s possible to build a knockout car – as many of Rodline’s customers have already done.

On top of its UK operations, Rodline International now has representatives in the US, Canada and Sweden. It’s an impressive performance, especially when you consider John and his company have only been in operation for three years. We at DRC Review look forward to revisiting some of the cars we saw under construction during our visit and are a little miffed that we missed out seeing at least four more under construction in a second warehouse.

Story: Andy Kirk & Graham Jones
Photos: Andy Kirk