I’ve been packing in the miles. About 80 so far , and Loving it. The rear shocks are not working at all , and as the body settles in it’s apparent there’s still some shimming to do. The shocks seem ok but the caps were bent and allowing the fluid to leak . Getting into that now.
The motor developed a mechanical noise , so I pulled it. The rebuilder looks like he’s backed up all summer so I drove to Bakersfield and bought a 57 power pack engine from a hamber. Swapped it, Broke in the cam and had a main seal leak so I pulled it , did the rear main seal and took care of a bunch of other stuff along the way. Hopefully this works.
Nate u did a grat job on your 32, but my 2 cents is compare the shot next to the beach, with the shot of the proper 32. notice the exhaust pipe, the one at the beach u cannot see the exaust pipe, this is the that look that u need. loose that pipe just my 2 cents Gary
I’ve been through a few of these early sbc motors now but still managed to make a few car shows this year, and get the interior finished. Currently I have this 265 in there.
The way you see this car now is not how I pictured it in my mind at all. I’ve been working very hard on version 2 which I’m trying to finish by Santa Maria. Until then thanks for looking !
Ok so I put some fenders on it. Then I bought a complete rootleib hood and cut it up to fit some 32 Chevy master deluxe hood sides . The Chevy handles are cool! so I made some brackets and made them work
after I did what felt like an eternity of flat tig welding and bump chasing I had the hood blasted and primed and the hood doors chromed.
Nate, really digging your car. A couple of questions - did you use a '32 or '34 rear cross member? And how did you get the '32 Chev. good to confirm to the curves of the '32 Ford cowl and grill shell? I'm planning to use the same hood side on my car and the flanges on the hood door openings want to stay flat. Tanks, Tom
Looks good! I also used 32 Chevy hood sides on my A coupe on 32 rails. A lot of sectioning and twisting to make it fit right.
I used a 34 rear crossmember. My door openings are flat, to me it looks fine. There’s a small high spot on the cowl bead kind of in the middle of the sides but it’s not super noticeable and I don’t care. I could probably match the contour 100% but I’m not going to.
This next bit took one year . I love Carson tops on early cars. I thought I’d take a crack at making one. I’ve seen some on 32’s and I think some of the more modern ones are too round. I wanted to keep some angles and make it more coach built style than traditional padded tops on early customs. I ended up making the frame twice . I got the wood bow from an Amish carriage supplier and made the header bow . Here’s some pics.
The whole way through Rex from Rex upholstery and I met up so we could make sure the proportions came out right. We even went to lunch with the man Sid Chavers and he let me ask him all sorts of questions. Rex has had the top at his shop and totally crushed it , I’m so happy with how it came out !
The Jalopy Journal
