Hastings Fiberglass Body.

[mike cain]

I have been offered a unfinished project. It has a Hasting Body and frame. I was told the company has been sold or is no longer in business. I think they were located in Ill or Michigan. Would anyone have any info. on the company and the quality, durability of the products?   thanks mike

[enjenjo]

I have never heard of them, but that doesn't mean any thing. Look it over, if it looks sound, go for it. If the price is right anything can be fixed.

[teal32]

I had a '32 with a Hastings body. It was about 10 years old when I got it. It appeared to have held up very well. I made a great trade for a '40 Chevy with a guy, and he has traded it already. Interestingly enough, the last owner has it for dale or trade. It' on racingjunk.com and the guy who has it now is located in MI.

The owner before me had taken a trip from OH to CO and back. It even went to the top of Pikes Peak.

Bottom line is that I wouldn't hesitate to get a Hastings car again. I tried to find who bought the molds from Hastings when they went out of business, but never could find that info.

[Dave]

Hastings made a nice body.. I take it you can look at it before you make a deal???  The thing with glass bodys is they have good days and bad days.. the last one i did was a good day body and it needed work. The gibbon pos i have now is gonna need a lot of work but its glass. Glass unlike  metal glass  likes filler and they are kinda of the same composition so stuff works nice..  If there are any real issues id use dura glass then a easy sanding filler over that..  They all need work thats the bottom line..........
Dave

[kb426]

One of my friends had a Hastings in the early 90's. It looked pretty good to me. It had a little metal reinforcing but not as much as a Wescott.

[32Flames]

Saw this posting and thought I could help.  I bought a 32 3W coupe body from Hastings in 99 and completed the car in 01 shortly after Don Hastings passed away.  They were located in Sessler IL and I know several companies were interested in the molds but the last I heard his widow still had them.  It was a unique company in that they were not interested in producing volume but more interested in quality, to the point that he redid my fenders a couple of times because they did not pass his muster.  He did not advertise except at the Louisville Nationals where he claimed he picked up enough to keep him and one employee busy.

Anyway, the car has been on the road since 01 and is well used and travelled.  I have no quality issues at all, the car was painted black so some work went into the body prior to paint but not more than would be expected.  Car has steel reinforcement and is sound.  So after 7 years on the road, I would still recommend the Hastings body.

Good Luck

[mike cain]

Thanks everyone for the replys. I got the info. I needed.

regards     mike

[Roadstar]

Those were actually pretty good bodys, I have looked at them up close when they were being made.

Don't buy a gibbons thats all I want to say.