I've been around here a minute and it's no coincidence that I have been building hot rods as a profession for the last 10+ years. These days I am in Ft. Worth Texas at Race Street Garage (actually for about 2 years now) and we have been doing some pretty cool stuff in my biased opinion. This '32 5w is our first full build from start to finish, seeing it through paint and interior, though we have done a couple of full mechanical once-overs. Our customer Sam Pressler is as dedicated to this as anyone could be. We debuted the car at the GNRS in February this year with not much for interior, then again at the Roundup in full dress where it collected the Rodder's Journal pick. It all started with an original frame which Sam had before there was a body to put on it. The rear framerails were largely remade from scratch with new inner reinforcement pieces added. A stock rear crossmember and K-member were riveted into place, along with a front crossmember that was modified to lower the car 1". It was set up to use a stock '32 rear end and front suspension. Once a body was located, a more substantial plan was made. The rear crossmember was flattened, both springs were reversed, and a Salt City Speed Shop K-member was installed to hold the overdrive transmission. The original '32 front wishbone was split and some frame mounts made resembling those on the Walker-Morrison roadster. A dropped '32 axle was installed with '32 spindles. Hydraulic lever shocks were installed inboard out back, and tube shocks were used up front with F1 upper mounts and lower mounts welded to the wishbone yoke.
The body found was a 5-window coupe. It received some repairs by another shop including quarter panels and floors. But we were tasked with a chop, and general fit and finish of everything. The chop is roughly 3"-3.5" but honestly we just cut until it looked right. We went with a Walden top insert to fill the roof, and it was a very easy job with how well the panel contoured. The remainder of the body was largely untouched, other than the grill shell being filled.
There was a lot of other work done on the car. Firewall holes were filled and other areas repaired. We did later replicate and patch in the missing dimple in this firewall. An original "innie" dash was found and repaired, then we installed the gauges you'll see in an upcoming post. A '37 COE column drop was modified to work using a Neal Jennings steering box. Support bars for seat belts were added. We did a full exhaust on the car, starting with a set Red's headers that were modified and going to some pipes we made with original '35 driveshafts. The side pipe caps were handmade and the mufflers are Cherry Bombs. A headlight bar was built using original Ford pieces. The hood is a Rootlieb.
We prepped everything for chrome, got some primer on a few areas, wired the car and got it running/driving for the '23 Roundup. Afterwards it was time to blow it back apart for paint work. Here it is with Sam taking his first drive. Thank you Tom Davison for the excellent shot!
Bodywork and paint was done by Slick's paint shop in Ft Worth. Color is 1952 Olds Chariot Red. The engine was one of the last built by Dennis Piranio. 265 with a Merc crank, porting work and relieved, but does have a pretty mild cam.
NICE! Car has a nice rear wheel well to tire fit, same with the quarter windows. Like the body rotisserie too! Looking forward to finished photos. Bob
The finished product. Unfortunately the only images I took of the finished interior are in video form, but I'll try and find some and will post them. It is an excellent job, done by Rex Upholstery in San Diego.
The gauges are '46 Studebaker. That is what was in the car when it was found, so that's what we put back in it. Cloth wiring done in house. Kaiser tail lights. Other than the mufflers, the entire exhaust was chromed. We remade some air filter elements...the front is what we ended up with.
Beautiful work with excellent choices in detailing. Regulator on the firewall, slot headed screws, lacing tape on the wiring, old style hose clamps, and the molded pads where the headlight stands attach - awesome.
At 73 I'll never live to understand wiring, how can this car function with 50-75% less wires than most cars?
Some interior shots I stole from Rex’s instagram. These pleats are all hand stuffed. Rex has and uses a lot of Eddie Martinez’s old equipment
The most complicated circuit on it is for the turn signals. It would have less wiring if not for the electric fan and fuel pump. But no ac, no stereo, mechanical temp and oil pressure gauges. It really takes very little for a car to run.
Outstanding, bitchin, perfect, one of a kind, timeless. Words don't do it justice a future historic hot rod. Well done, I can only dream..
Beautiful car, top quality build. Is that a special extension housing on the trans to suit the torque tube and does it still use the original Ford universal?
Thank you! This one is a 4wd T5 with a rear plate/bearing retainer that adapts a factory ‘32 mount and it does use all of the factory Ford torque tube parts. I do not recall who did this one, but Cory Taulbert does the same conversion but with all new internals and better gearing (longer first gear) and his own main shaft. We have used a few of his setups now and all have worked great.
Gorgeous. For me the headlight bar and placement, and the capped driveshaft pipes are the cherries on the cake that put the car over the top. If I won the lottery I’d totally pay you to build me something!
Thanks for that @Anderson I didn't know that set-up existed. I guess I better not get rid of the 32 K-members kicking around in the old dairy LOL
The Salt City K-member we used is meant to replace the stock K member. Because the transmission is a lot longer (I think in the neighborhood of 3”-3.5”), the SC piece is wider and placed farther back with longer legs. It also has its own brake/clutch pedal assembly. You could modify a factory k-member similarly but it would be a lot of work. Alternatively you could cut the center out of the stock k-member then use a later transmission mount with ears on the sides, and build brackets off the back of the crossmember to support it.
The Jalopy Journal
