Technical Extending a 32 Ford Frame

So in the ongoing mental planning of building my 32 Ford Coupe, I keep coming back to wondering if I use the Roots Supercharger on the 500 Cadillac engine...........will I have room for it without moving the radiator/grille forward. I realize this isn't a big issue to cut the frame and extend it a couple inches and move the front wheel location at the same time if I were dealing with an open wheel car. I plan to run fenders however and am wondering how much that would complicate doing that mod? Anyone done this and what did you learn? Would you do anything different? Not planning to run hood or sides.
Pics and suggestions..........

 

Don’t have pics. The shop I worked at built a 32 and used a 2 inch longer hood. The front axle was moved forward. Frame stayed the stock length.
The fender was extended 2 inches where it flows into the running board

 

I’ve seen a trillion 32 fords with caddy motors and a stock wheel base I see zero reason why a blower would require you ruining the proportions by stretching it out?

 

I'd be inclined to stay with stock proportions and wheelbase. That means, modifying the firewall and p***enger compartment.

 

The front fender lines up with the reveal on the frame rail. If you move the fender forward, the frame should be lengthened somewhere in the middle so it stays with the reveal. One inch would barely be noticed.

 

The '33 in my avatar had the grill/rad moved forward a couple inches to clear the 394 Olds. I felt that screwed up the proportions and dealt with it by working over the (already modified) firewall.

 

My concern is because I will have an additional 4" wide blower pulley on the front of the motor and the 500 Cad is longer than a smallblock. I have seen Big Block ThanksChevys of similar length with blowers in 32 Fords, and just looking to see what may be necessary/or not. Hopefully nothing needed. Also, I prefer a stock looking firewall and don't want to recess it if possible. Ruining the proportions is a big concern for me, thats why I'm asking.Thanks for your opinion.

 

I think it should still land in the same realm of fire wall tweaking as with out the blower, a lot of those cars run a 3-4 belt crank pulley. Shouldn’t be much different than that. There’s a red 32 coupe with a blown caddy I see online from time to time I’ll try to track it down for you and see what’s been done

 

That is what I'm thinking about. How did the proportions look? I know a lot of people move the front wheels forward an inch to make them look better in relation to the fender even if they change nothing else. So thats one free inch.

 

Is there possibly a shorter V belt drive available? Champion Speed Shop used to do V belt dives on their builds. When I think of lengthened 32 Ford I remember the lengthened deuce Vicky Magoo built. Check it out.

 

Have you got measurements on all this stuff?
That would help you consider your options and supply anyone in the future with the info.

 

Anybody have a 32 that they can give me the actual distance between their firewall and radiator core? I figure they won't all be the same. Type of engine or pic would help.

Actually I'm working on trying to build the front drive setup while using a viscous damper. Trying to see how short I can make it compared to the factory stock pulleys. I will be positioning the alternator and A/C down low (hopefully) in this process. The 500s originally came with a damper some years and just a big clunky pully some years. Going to also use a crank trigger setup. So far lots of frustration, but when I do get it right, I hope to save an inch or even two on OAL. Then I will look further into what must be done.I actually think I like the V belt set up better than the blower belt......but I have the blower belt drive (which I can resell). Its gonna be tight no matter what.. Thanks for the help.

 

Don’t quote me. I think the black one has a longer hood. Not sure about the green one. That was several moons ago.

both were in that rodders journal magazine. Might could look it up. The specs would be listed.

 

Chain drive

 

331 caddy and I believe stock length 32 ch***is, my buddy put this car together before Chad got it on the road. I’ll send him a text and see if I can’t see what he did to have it snug in there. Also appears to be a pretty broad crank pulley

 

That would be my first choice, but I think there are a lot of 32s out there that have been stretched and people don't realize it when they see them. Especially the no fender cars. They may have just moved the wheels and radiator forward slightly and didn't hurt the natural proportions, but some have extended the frame as well. I have a book on building 32s and they actually did the frame extension behind the reveal on the side of the frame.

 

Also this doesn’t help your firewall to radiator core measurement but the hood top down the center is 32” I think factory they have a decent gap front and back so they aren’t rubbing the cowl and grill but that gets an idea

 

Says all he did to fit the caddy in the 32 was modify just a bit of the lower lip of the firewall for the one I shared.

 

View attachment 5926828

 

^^^^^^^^
This deserves "sticky status"!

 

On stretching the frame. I've done quite a few customer 32 highboy ch***is with the front cross member moved ahead 1-1.5 inches with a Rootlieb hood stretched accordingly. One thing I always did on a highboy was used a flush mounted front spreader. Never did a stretch on a full fendered deuce. Always moved the front cross member on all deuce ch***is ahead 3/4 of an inch to allow the wheels to be centered under the fender because of the caster. I talked about this in past threads and I have been poo-pooed by a couple of notable ch***is builders. It worked for me?"

 

Found a few photos but still not the ones I was looking for. Hopefully they help anyways. this motor from Ross racing looks like the drive belts aren’t any deeper than the water pump pulley sticks out and the rest seem about the same random shared photo on the internet but… these two are from @bobbleed and he could probably give you a little more first hand info on what it takes to clear. I think a little m***aging and you should be fine I’d be more concerned about clearing a mechanical fan than the blower drive at that point. But I’d sooner run an electric fan than stretch the frame out

 

I saved these pictures from a Brizio build some years ago - they show a recessed firewall in order to accommodate a Caddy mill. note how the frewall feet were lengthened to meet the new position of the firewall.

I post this to give you a look into other methods of filling the engine bay with traditional motors

 

>>>>>Your measurement you asked for
From the rad core to flat of fire wall above feet pockets ,
Is 32-1/2 inches ,

there are a few ways to set up,
Depends on your fabrication skills and thinking outside of the box,

If you start stretching the frame and you decide to run fenders and runningboards there's a lot of work to make all that look correct , following the contour of the frame , there are no straight areas where the running board and fenders meet the frame,,,


Flatten/ cut the feet pockets of fire wall,
How tall are you & size of your shoe?
@ 6 ft with 14 shoe size the package tray will have to be removed, & using a stock 32 seat .

You mentioned 4 inch pulleys, is this a multiple V belts drive?
If so ditch if your not wanting to move the engine father back along with pocket in firewall ,
If using 1/2 drive belt or 8mm ??
8mm better choice & stronger ,
Cut your pulley down to
2 inch or 1 -1/2 inch wide belt , even a 1-1/4 inch or even 1 inch thats pushing it thoe ,
(( Top pulley )
Use a good kevlar belt even @ 8-10 psi you will not break it ,

also cut your own belt size to
chosen width

1/2 or 8 mm pulleys , on lower use a pulley to set in side your V pulley so your 2 inch threw your 1-1/2 sticks out of inside of crank V pulley ,,, then do math to calibrate what upper pulley needed for your choice of boot ,
You will also need to cut down your
Idler pulley to correct belt size width.

 

Well, I consider you to be a "notable builder" and your opinion is valuable to me. I'm going to post a couple pictures from #57 Rodders Journal that show a couple cars which were stretched to allow installation of some less than normal engines. Also, I have a book on building a 32 that shows the ***embly of a frame by a "notable builder" and he lengthened the frame. Nothing wrong with it, and it makes things more possible/better as far as I'm concerned. Never forget, what made our hobby was "innovation", not conformity. The trick is doing it and also making it look right at the same time.....maybe even unnoticeable.



Bill Burnham............

Don't think most people would notice the difference on either of these cars.

Keep the good info and pics coming guys, really appreciate it Merry Christmas

 

Here is a pdf of the 1932 frame measurements from wescotts.
It might help someone coming to this thread in the future...
http://www.wescottsauto.com/WebCatalog/Tech/FrameDiagram1932.pdf

 

I removed a 350 and replaced it with a 500. The biggest difference was the head set back on the drivers side. The firewall had to be recessed on that side.
But the width was the biggest issue.

 

I’m curious what the hesitation to ding the fire wall is? You’ve got plenty of interior room?

The amount of time and skill to stretch a full fendered 32 a few inches successfully is going to be years of work. Insurmountably more work than making the fire wall slightly different.