2022:    In 2003 Gale Wallen posted in Genealogy dot com, that this DNA project started thanks to Clyde Brinley, who at the time had secured commitments from 6 various families to test
At the time, the "test" to take was the 12 marker test, and great effort to research, and document the various families continued, and those involved did an amazing job

Unfortunately, many of the original testers either chose not to do further testing, or they past away before having the opportunity to do so

Clyde Brinley also maintained a stand alone website, and posted frequently in the forums on Genealogy dot com; the earliest in 2000, and in 2011  Clyde posted: "As of today, we have 27 Dna test returned and one in the process of being processed.
These represent:12 different UNRELATED Brinley / Brindley / Brinlee families. If you wish to join the Dna project go to: familytreedna.com Click on Products Would suggest you do not order any with less than a 37 marker Dna. The 12 and 24 is not detailed enough. The 37 will let you know if there are any related, however in some cases, it may need to be refined more than 37, but not normally. Clyde"

In 2004, Joe Brindley posted encouraging others to test in hopes to confirm the relation to the Canal Engineer, James Brindley

2010, Clyde wrote: "August 29, 2010 at 03:00:10 What is needed on the Brindley family tree is additional Dna testing. Currently we have Dna on 5 unrelated Brindley families.With additional testing we should be able to move backwards some.
Here is a link where you can join the Brindley Dna Family group.https://www.familytreedna.com/Click on Projects > B >Type Brindley or Brinley into the surname searchIf you have all ready completed DNa, could you post the a link here so it can be seen.
Thanks    Clyde Brinley"

The last post by Clyde (that I've Located) on the above thread was March 31 2012. 

In 2019, members of the Mace Thomas Payne Brindley family wanted to obtain grant money to revitalize the graveyard of the Brindley family in Cullman Alabama, and Mr Buchanan with the help of Ms Burks worked diligently to complete the grant application to it's fullest, and in doing so set out to re-research everything available for this particular family line. It was during this time that they discovered the now defunct website, and gained access to this DNA project.

Efforts to contact Clyde Brinley and others connected to the original research resulted in finding out that Clyde had past away, and his website was no longer active; This was posted, but I do not know the original poster: 

Clyde Brinley passed away on January 17, 2013 after a valiant struggle trying to recover from having had 2 strokes.
He really enjoyed and loved working with everyone as he chased his ancestors across the centuries.
He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.
He was a special person.

There is an enormous amount of research, but not much was entered or transferred to FTDNA, prior to Clyde's death, and It was just coincidence that lead a "cousin my marriage" to become the  new admin to this group

More to come!