Have spent ages going back and forth through this thread checking everything out but 32 5 windows always get my attention. I gather that's a hogshead bellhousing with a Dwight Bond style adapter up front of the T-5. Any details on the chop, using a Walden insert means the A pillar has to be leaned back?
Correct on the bellhousing. The chop is around 3.5” in the front and 3” in the back. Maybe a little more. None of us at the shop are really fans of chops where the roof is stretched, so the a-pillars were slightly leaned back.
I’ve looked at this coupe a hundred times and you’ve just nailed it. It doesn’t have “the look “ because of one thing but all the things. Wheel base, tire size, chop it just all works together to really nail that “big deuce “ model classic look. The slightly laid back A pillars , it’s all just on the money.
I’ll have to check with our wiring guy Mark, but he’s on summer vacation with his family this week so it might be a minute!
There’s way more to this build than you let on. It’s hard to make something look simple, it’s so beautifully executed. How did you get the exhaust manifolds to seal to the block? I don’t see gaskets……Congrats on such a fine 32.
We’re getting started on Sam’s second coupe too…which is actually his first, or third? Before the red car, he had another chopped 5w on a kinda home built P&J style chassis. We did a little work on it here and there, but it was a “finished” car other than paint. Halfway through building the red one, Sam decided to get this one painted too. Once they stripped all of the primer and body filler off of it though, we found out how bad the sheetmetal was. Bad enough that we ended up finding him another body, in the form of a full fendered street rod from the ‘80’s. It had a horrible chassis under it. So we now have the chassis and drivetrain from that first car, with the body and fenders of the new car. That’s what’s happening in the picture on the first page with 3 coupes in a row. The other body and chassis have been put to the side for now. We’ve put a floor and subrails in the new one and a couple patch panels. The fenders will need a little work too. It’s also going to get a chop, but we haven’t landed on how much just yet. And will be keeping the roof insert.
with so many 32 5 windows running around it is hard to build one that stands out among the rest. you guys nailed it. color, stance, interior and detailing. outstanding.
We've all seen 'perfect' 32s before, but this one grabs you in a way that very few others do. From a half mile away, you know it's this car. From 100' away it looks perfect, and from one foot away you realize it really is perfect. These guys are in my neighborhood, and they are cranking out high quality, legendary builds. Awesome job! Can't wait to see what's next.
I had the privilege of looking this car over closely on setup day at GNRS. It is as spectacular as the pics show. One finely detailed traditional build! Great job guys. Neal
It's very nice and well thought out. Now please tell us how much the customer paid to have it built. Just for edification. I know stuff ain't cheap.
Thanks to everyone for all the comments! And thank you Ryan for the post feature. Some fabrication stuff. This firewall wasn’t in horrible shape but had a lot of extra holes, and some factory ones we wouldn’t be using. It had a master cylinder bolted to the firewall at some point and this dimple was missing. It didn’t look right at all without it so we whipped up a simple die and made a new one. Shortened up some dog bones for the rear shocks. We kept wood for the floorboards but made a small sheetmetal hump for the transmission. Later we swapped the factory dropped seat pan for a flat panel we made for extra clearance underneath for exhaust. We made these covers for all of the wiring panels from aluminum and had them chromed. The relay panel works the fuel pump, headlights, and I think some turn signal stuff. Some of our metal work on the chop. We’ve found it easier to cut the a-pillar skin off when chopping so we can weld up all the inner structure, then make a new skin that fits just right and gets rid of the factory leaded seam at the top. Since the roof was filled we needed something to hold the top bows in place. We kept the bows for headliner support and dome light mounting. We mounted the battery and cut off switch inside the passenger quarter panel. Battery technology is great these days, allowing for some pretty narrow or low profile options. The pieces for the side pipe caps. Those wing nuts are old cast pieces from my stash. We brazed a stud inside and put a little point on the center. The threaded bung and flat pieces are what was put inside the end of the pipe to hold the cap on.
Great details, I’m curious if there’s a metal brace along the perimeter of the transmission hump for the wood halves to lay on? Seems like other wise they’d want to “fall in” with out added support. I’ve got something similar need to tackle so it caught my eye/ curiosity edit. I bet they sit on the K member legs
I have a picture of that somewhere, there is a sheetmetal piece on the outside from the toe boards to the floor boards on each side hood then together.
The Jalopy Journal
