I know its probably a dumb question but I am working in a HF Steel 32 right now and got the interior gutted and was admiring the absolute beautiful welds done by the artisan that built this car in 1932. And made me think. Just how were these bodies welded together? I'm guessing with a torch and rod. But I could be wrong. But the welds on this one are precision, uniform and straight. My hats off to the person who did it. Hopefully my welds some day down the road are viewed this way as I've got a lot of welding to do when this car will once again be transformed into something new and fresh. Looking like a proper hot rod shop in here this week. 32 in for a full tilt customization and the 33 is in for a redo on the trunk latch (it's a fiberglass tub)
They were resistance welded in a big jig, from what I’ve found. Like a band saw blade. The bead showed on both sides, and the outside was ground off. Here’s a pic. Looks like a Tudor sedan.
@hotrodA thats an amazing photo of the process. I was looking but didn't have the right keywords. That body jig alone is a amazing piece of work.
On FoMoCo body ,inside it like a piece of .020 -.030 Shim stock stuck threw gap , on inside 1/8 - 3/16 left & blunt /sharp, Welded , ground on outside .
The usual association of HF around here is Harbour Freight, so I had a brief wtf moment seeing HF Steel 32! Chris
Thanks everyone. A bit better look at the 33. Amazing the difference in one year. And sad it's a fiberglass tub. No welds to admire on it.
I've related this before, but hey. When still a kid I had a weld shop near me. One day when I was there the boss was spouting of his experience. " Early '50s, working in the Ford plant, I had to show a new hire to weld the back crossmember". The job was a half foot inside the frame. The new hire said "You can't weld that far inside the frame?" His reply as he turned up an 8 inch flame was "Watch Me". BTW on the wall he had posted this sign. "Minimum charge eight dollars. If it ain't worth $8 throw it away"
Do you mean he adjusted the torch to get AN EIGHT INCH INNER CONE FLAME??? The one to use for welding. I have never seen an acetylene torch that could produce an eight inch inner cone, and I taught welding at a junior college as a side hustle.
@Tow Truck Tom the front half of the shop I'm at is a colosion shop that's been in business 47 years. It's crazy the amount of people coming in with a $1500 car with $3-4+ K in damage and wonder why we don't want the work. Told one lady she could buy a really nice newer car for less than the repair. $8500 in damage to a 90s Taurus with 300k miles. And that was a loose price as we knew there was inner damage. She asked when we could get it in. I said 3-4 months out currently. She got pissy with me asking to get her in next week she needed her car! I pointed to a car we had for sale for $5k. Or take it to Maaco. Lol it's gotten worse now that we are the only shop in town. Decent paint jobs cost $$$. In her defence she may of had something not wanting to let the car go. I mean the car was a bucket. But you never know the full story. She could of been filthy rich. Lol
I know the fusion welds to create the roof rear corners on a '34 are incredible, they even have a support piece at the roof opening, at the corner, with a bump in it for the weld seam. The seams are razor straight thru a compound curve, quite an achievement that. Try to make a straight line on a basketball.
I'm leaning toward one of those plastic 33/4 Tudor or Vicki. Looking for a driver that I don't need to worry about getting dinged. It's going to be a highway piece to tow my OHV Banger so updated frame SBC (or Ford) with AC will be a plus - also the fact that it's 1/2 the price of one with HF steel.
A bit baffling that the two working on the Ford factory body plant welding operation appear to be without eye protection.
Yes - but at 74 I'm not going to spend the time building one. That one will also have about $20 grand in body and paint when it's done - much more if it loses a couple inches of roof height.
I read that Ford had a $50 million investment into the development of the flathead V8. He was not one to half-ass anything.
That's $3.33 in development cost for every one of the 15 million he made. Like all the A & B 4 cyls they were all made at the Rouge. 3,000 of them per day. In reality the 50 million is probably one of those "in today's dollars" amounts. In 1932 dollars it would have been 2.4 million to develop the V8. In 1932 Henry was worth about 85 million (1.8 billion in today's money). Ford almost went bust on the Edsel and that was a loss of 25 million. The company was still recovering when the Mustang was proposed and the Edsel loss weighed heavily on the decision to reskin the Falcon vs developing a whole new car.
Ever been in a Ford Plant? I can say this. It is no Place I would want to live. I've been in four of them ( Kansas, Georgia, Ohio , Kentucky ) I can say It's no picnic. They see no limit except time.
My uncle was a Ford VP and ran the Cleveland casting plant. He took us on a tour one summer when we visited - decided right then I would never get into that line of work.
As a Ford engineer in a former life I've been in many Ford plants - vehicle assembly plants, foundrys, engine plants, supplier's plants, component plants, etc. - and seen some remarkable improvements. ALL automotive plants of the traditional HAMB era were challenging to work in. The tasks were often repetitive, taking a physical toll in dirty noisy environments. Ford and others have made significant strides to make their plants more worker friendly, in part due to collective bargaining of the work force. For an excellent example of this, next time you are in Dearborn take a tour of the Rouge Complex Assembly Plant (reservations required). You'll see a clean, well lit, healthy working environment with nearly cleanroom conditions. Ford is also taking a greater responsibility for their impact on the environment as well as their workforce.
Thanks for that update @THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER , it’s encouraging to hear. And if it wasn’t for the labor force that struggled with those tasks where would we be? All too often the salaried personnel looked down on blue collar workers, but of course both were necessary. I put in 35 years as a proud UAW member machining diesel engine components for GM locomotives in a plant that went into operation in 1936. Starting in the 1940’s for more than four decades Electro-Motive enjoyed 80%+ of the market until there was a change in philosophy. Instead of having a general manager that was an engineer (the g.m. was a GM VP) it was decided the plant would be run by a bean counter. For eight or ten years it was a revolving door of new GM’s and the hourly workers would meet the new individual. One in particular said this- There are too many of you people and you make too much money. When he opened the session to questions a woman asked what the cost of direct labor was and he answered 6%. At that point I raised my hand and asked about the cost of indirect labor to which he said “I don’t have that answer at my fingertips.” He was a liar and not too good at it either. The bottom line for me? We need workers from both walks of life to have a strong country.
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