Hot Rods 32 roadster…another build saga

Probably should have called this thread: “Third times the Charm”.

Sitting around, drinking coffee, and waiting for the garage to warm up a bit more (or get brave enough to go work in the cold), I’m thinking about how long I’ve been playing with the same 32 brookville roadster body and how I’m on my third build with it.
She said, What?

Recap: I bought this body as a completed (kinda) running roadster. When I went up north to look at it, the only things that appeared to be done well or could be trusted was the welding on the perimeter frame (from Cl***ic Street Rod Manufacturing) and the paint job on the body (which is just good enough for a driver). Rest was pretty sloppy. No wonder it had been up for sale for some time. That said, there were lots and lots of really good parts sitting there so I did what I usually do and I offered the seller a fair deal based on what I could part out the car for and keep the pieces I wanted to re-use. Don’t think he was happy as I ground him a little bit, but it was mid winter up here and friggin cold as f@&# outside. No roadster was selling with the snow this deep, so cash changed hands and into my trailer it went.

The saga in shorthand….First thing I did was blow the car apart and start selling off all parts I wasn’t going to use. All the front suspension and the wheels went nice and fast, so a little coin to play with. But, holy **** I found some sketchy ****. Frame was good though so fixed a couple little nits and started putting together this ch***is for a 5W I was redoing. Long story short, before I finished this ch***is build, cir***stances changed (twice) and in the end it ended up under my Tudor build.
Ch***is number two, which I put together specifically for this roadster body ended up complete and under the roadster body in the summer of 2018. Yahoo, and I had tons of fun bombing around that summer. For ****s and giggles, I put the roadster in the Autorama show that following winter (2019) and I was really enjoying the Spring of 2019 when things got weird again. Wife really wanted a closed cab car for our run to Deuce Days 2019 in Victoria so to make that happen, the roadster sacrificed itself and the finished 5W body went on the now proven roadster ch***is. Thank god these things are like Lego.
The 5W got lots of attention that summer and before I knew what I was doing it was sold and on its way to a new home (with the dang roadster ch***is still under it).
So now I needed to do another ch***is for this body. Yoikes.
Here’s pics of how impressed my buddy was after we pulled the roadster body off and I was gathering more help to put the 5W body on.



And here’s a pic that, funny enough, shows the line up of where the roadster’s ch***is’ ended up and with the poor little lonely roadster body sitting on the floor again.

Patiently waiting for another resurrection .



Sorry if some of this is old news/pics, but I figure if I start a thread on this third version, I may actually finish this dam thing and put some more miles on it (plan is to drive it to LARS this coming summer) before I do something stupid again.

It’s another pretty vanilla build, following my standard template with a few new little nuances. Still gonna be black. An original firewall this time, modified and painted India Ivory. Another SBC and a TKO transmission. Going to reuse most of the old interior. Has a 3” chopped windshield this time (2” last time). And going to use the same bop top (modified again for a lower windshield).
Yup, pretty much a “belly ****on” as some on this board call em, but it’s going to be a fun little run-about again.
Can’t wait to say: “It’s Alive!” ….again……

I’ll post a few pics of the build/rebuild shortly.
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Right on, never old news when it comes to 32 Fords!

 

What I bought…
Not going to list off all the wonky stuff, but some of it might be visible in this pic.



Like I said, the frame was pretty good and only needed some slight fixes/mods for what I wanted to use it for.
Buddy is a pipeline/bridge welder so I get him to do anything that is structural.



Overall, I’d have to say the frame from Cl***ic Street Rod Manufacturing was very well engineered/built. Spoke with them a few times and have used their products on other builds. Hugo and Osmin are great guys.

Here’s what it looked like with fresh powder coat and new front/rear suspension parts.
Front is mostly P&J or SoCal and the upgraded rear is now 31 spline stuff from Currie.
Upgraded from the 28 spline stuff as it was going to have +400 hp in front of it. It was heading for a new build so lotsa shiney.


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Edit: Here’s a pic of version #2 before it came apart.



Here’s another pic of ch***is number two as it was transitioning to the 5W body.
Still has the roadster gauge panel and heater attached at this point.
Can’t recall for sure, but pretty sure I ditched that rubber ‘shock’ welting at this point too as I did it as an experiment that I considered a fail.

 

And here’s the start of ch***is number 3 in the early stages in the spring of 2022.
Picked up this SoCal frame a couple years earlier (for a different project, but…).
See a pattern with me yet.

All I needed to do was weld on brackets for hood hold downs, brake line brackets, exhaust hanger mounts, clutch zbar mount, brake/clutch pedal support, and a few other little things.



And off to powder coat it went.
Loaned out my trailer that week, so I was all stupid is as stupid does. .

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While the frame and bits were out for powder, I tweaked the TKO for a mid shifter.
Don’t need to take out the rear shift rail for this change, but I’m not one for leaving a bit inside the case that isn’t necessary.
Had this cool mid shift unit that tremec did a small run of for use in tri-five chevys so thought I’d see if I could use it on this build. Would later swap it out for a regular height one, so if anyone needs one…pm me.


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This is too funny…posting at a rate that makes it seem like I build quickly…LMFAO..

Frame and bits came back from powder and it was like Christmas in springtime.
This had to be one of the best powder jobs I’ve ever paid for.
The powder coat shop hit a home run on this one.

 

Yup, still too cold out there.

Time came to start ***embling the drivetrain.
Super traditional guys should look away now as this post may cause ire and potential illness.

From the pic above, you can see I had a couple choices on the sbc power-plant front.
The old and slightly tired 327 that I had used for mock-up (mounts, etc) and a GM350/357 crate motor that was still in the wrapper. The 327, which would be cool, was gonna need some serious love to get it over the 350 hp/400 ftlb of torque that the crate motor has, so was leaning hard that way to start with. Add to this that I’m a bit of a ***** for sbc intakes and I had more vortec intake choices already sitting in the shed (single 4 bbl, dual 4 bbl., and even a tripower one), that really pushed me on which way to go too.

This build was/is all about easy, fun, gear rowing, tire smokin, pissin off the neighbours and use up as much stuff that I had laying around as possible, kinda thing.
A more smiles per mile (and not break the bank) kinda driver.

Here’s a few of the looks I was playin with on the dress up front, keeping in mind that I am going to stick with a single 4 bbl for the break in and shakedown phase of this build.



I’m not really interested in trying to fool anyone that decides to look at my belly****on roadster, but I am looking to be a little different than most of the m***es when it comes to dressing it up, so I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be the tribute to the oldsmobile look (at this point).
I can hear the traditional guys screaming now…”oh my eyes…my eyes”. And as I am a bit of a **** disturber, maybe I do wanna piss off any ol ******s that wanna nit-pick on my roadster when it’s done.
Yup, I’m that guy...
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Logical engine choice and having a third pedal is a huge plus. I have three '32 Fords, a 3-window, an original roadster and a Brookville. All three have a clutch pedal and are very fun to drive. Your roadster will be a blast to drive and will get lots of attention . Carry on!

 

One of the things I screwed up on was the firewall.
No big deal to fix, but unfortunately I had it painted already.
In my defense, it was was fit and set up up for the 5W build that I was in the middle of when that body traded places (as outlined earlier) so now using it in the roadster build it required a few little changes. The big one was needing to weld in some mounts for the heater that I had planned to use and then some other little nits. Figured as it needed to be repainted, I’d do some other changes (like making a little more space for the exhaust manifold in front of the p***enger side foot. More time wasted and a repaint ****ed, but it needed doing.
Here’s a before and after that shows the ‘patches/fixes’.



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The first picture shows a little detail thing I did just for something to do. Decided to drill and black powder coat the middle of the front axle.
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Second pic shows a heater delete byp*** hose still in place. Considered this option for a bit before I attacked the firewall.
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Other lesson learned.

After the frame was powder coated and before I started to put in the drivetrain, I had a buddy stop by and he noticed something I had missed. He had used a SoCal frame on his 5W build and he said he had to modify one of his crossmembers to account for the driveshaft travel. He didn’t discover it until the driveshaft hit the crossmember a few times and he had to deal with a much bigger issue.
I ***umed SoCal would have accounted for this, but you know what they say when u ***ume anything.
So now I’m at the stage of setting up driveline angles and measuring for a driveshaft build and guess what I discover? Dang! He was right…Houston…I have a problem.
So on my nicely powder coated frame, I have to cut a section out and weld in a relief.
Firetruck!
While I was at the shop that builds my driveshafts for me, I see a nice chunk of tubing used for big truck driveshafts. Bingo bango, that would work nicely. Once I welded it in, I trimmed it up and painted the area. Another reason to love black.


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This pic also shows the cool little bracket I did for the e-brake cables. I usually use the brackets and bucket from a mid seventies monza to do this, but I didn’t have one handy at this time and I couldn’t find a donor car anywhere local. So this was going to have to work (for now anyway).
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Cleaning a little ice off the driveway today and looked up at this. Now that’s some winter beauty right there.

 

Another fun little project around this time (Fall 2022) and while I was messing around with the firewall, it was time to double check the steering column angle/mount. I’m really picky about how the final placement and angle of the steering wheel will work and how it will look. I often see steering wheels that are too high, too far back, too much of a bus look, etc.
Another thing that bugs me is when they are ****eyed and not square with the actual ch***is/wheels. I’ve sat in a few of these little cars where the wheel ends up at a different angle to my ***/chest. And often they are outboard (or left) of where my ***/chest lines up.
I have a little formula that works to move the column inboard (so wheel has a little more space on the door panel too) and upward, so it’s not at such a bus looking angle. And best of all, the steering wheel will sit square with my *** and chest. This adds to distance driving comfort hugely.
Note: I don’t move the lower mount very much from where it originally went through the firewall/floor, as the shaft to the steering box still needs to clear the engine block and exhaust manifold, but every smidge counts on these little puppies. And the way I did the lower column mount on this firewall was gonna be tricky because of how much of the footwell I left in.
Here’s a couple pics of my cheat plate for setting angles and location.



Another thing that may bear mentioning at this point is how I actually mount the steering columns in these cars.
I often see guys that just do a simple floor mount to replace how the stock column mounted to the frame (good), but where I see a bit of weakness is now in the upper mount. Often builders will just attach a mount to the lower (reinforced) area of the dash. Looks good and is in the original position so good to go, right?
Yeah, no.
The problem I see with this method is twofold.
One, everyone removes the stock gauge tunnel when they build a 32 hot rod. Various reasons to do it, but this piece is what added stability/strength to the dash for mounting the steering column and it also stopped the dash from vibrating.
And by mounting the column to the dash without the tunnel anymore, you do gain some of the stability factor back, but now you’ve made it hard to remove the dash for when you want to work on the ‘stuff’ behind it. I say “some of the stability factor” and not strength because the dash isn’t really that strong without the tunnel supporting it any more (think of what will stop the column from moving upward/inward when pressure applied in a forward direction. Couple this with the fact that the base of the steering column is longer attached to the frame (usually) and you’ve lost a fair amount of strength in the column so it doesn’t move any more. At least in my peabrain anyway.
My solution to these issues is to fab up an upper column mount that forms a tripod using the firewall, the upper cowl area, and the side body structure. Then I fab up a way to attach the dash to that tripod, so that when the steering column is in, I can still easily remove the dash without needing to remove/detach the column. I’m always tinkering and taking my cars apart and putting them back together so I try to make everything as modular as possible.
Each version of this that I do is slightly different. I wish I had some pics of the solution in the Tudor, because I made that tripod structure completely removable. It’s pretty damn cool. But here’s a pic from this roadster set up. If you do this, make sure you don’t permanently attach the firewall to the cowl for two reasons. One, so you can still separate the body from the firewall if need be, and maybe more important, two, so you can still use your cowl feet adjustments for door gap/alignment before you tighten down the structure. Remember to slot your mounting holes.

Hopefully this pic helps explain what my ****ty prose can’t.



Note: the square tubing to the side structure also gives me a place to mount my switch/ignition panels. (See where the little post-it is). I like em kinda hidden.
And the ‘arm’ sticking out to the right is the dash stabilizer mount with an extra hole that I use to mount my choke cable. I’ll get into why I only use manual chokes in a later post.
Cheers.
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Great thread, cool car with solid ideas.

 

Thanks Kev. Appreciate the props.

 

Thought I’d comment on the cooling pieces I usually use and share some part numbers for those building these types of cars.
I’m a big fan of using a mechanical fan on my hot rods.
For some reason, the look and sound of an electric fan just turns me off.
Luckily there is a great solution out there.
Zips risers (hopefully they keep making them).
I know there are a bunch of zips threads already, but here’s a pic with the hoses stickers still on for those that use this solution. And you can see how I trim the a/c mount so I can use it as the anchor for the alt tensioner bar.



This will be the first time using a new Johnson’s Rad shop radiator. Have always used Walkers in the past (for sbc builds) and have an older one on the shelf still, but I’m saving it for when I do another rod with an automatic trans. The new Johnson’s ones do not have the lower cooling tank/fittings for ****** lines so it will work on this build, and I’ll save the Walker for later.

One ***** I have on the new Johnson’s rad is the paint. Rubs off on your hands, so don’t know how long it will last.



Another handy part is finding the correct thermostat housing to put this upper hose at the right angle. You can use a straight up housing (use different hose then), but I find that this one will give better clearance for bigger air filter housings (like the olds/caddy ones) and really help when using multicarb intakes. Tricky part is to find one that’s more than 45*. Being a salvage yard parts kinda guy (mostly when I was younger), this was a great thing I would yank when I found them (late 80’’s to mid 90’s trucks). Now I just buy new ones. Here’s a pic with part number.



As you can see, these angle around 60* and they are flat bottom so can use a std gasket instead of one of the newer o-ring ones. .
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Picked up the new tires from the install shop today.
Jury still out, but will throw them on the roadster later to see how they look.
Wish Coker made them in 550-16 as these fronts look a little slim.
Won’t get a chance to see how they roll til spring though.


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Back to build/***embley update pics.

By the Spring of 2023 I had started on the exhaust system. Probably could have done 2.25”, but decided on 2.5” pipe. Picked up the kit and some extra bends on one of speedways sales so cheapest way to go. Had fun with the routing.




Think it ended up pretty nice, and just for something a little different I decided to coat the pipes black.



FYI: used Currie axles (28 spline) and a trac-loc. No peg leg burnouts.
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Might as well finish off 2023 tonight.
It was a pretty slow year on this project as I was trying to finish off another build and get the shakedown done before I had a s***cher tackle its interior.

Played a little more on the steering column (needed final position) and then tried to finalize pedal location. Also did a little more on the floor, with a shifter hole ring and fill ins for the footwell area.



One little tidbit to share is what I use for brake/clutch pedal floor seals these days. Anyone that had (or drove) ford delivery vans/trucks from the 60’s might recognize them. Remember when vans/trucks had steel floors with rubber floor mats?
As I can’t find any more of them in the wreckers, I was pleased to find them still available from Dennis Carpenter.



Hope that might help someone.
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Great pics and details on your build. Very helpful. What size wheels/tires are you showing?
Thanks.

 

Thanks much.
See pics for sizes.
Coker Excelsior Roadster rubber with pretty standard big’n’little vibe.
*** Only add I have is to make sure you read the specs on these puppies as the 750r16s are 32”, and that’s getting kinda tall for the 25.75” fronts. I thought the better balance would be with the 700r16s on the back, so that’s why I chose them.
With the Firestone Bias tires, I liked 560-15 front and 700-16 on 32 roadsters, and was originally going to do another setup like that on this roadster (see last pic) until I heard about the new bias look radials coming out.



Project with the Bias Ply Stones:




Note: I’ll throw up a pic of the project with the new Excelsiors on the car soon, so folks can see and judge for themselves if I picked the right sizes.
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Thank you for the information. Do you have a 4" wide wheel for the front?

 

Used a 4.5” x 16” wheel.
I think a 4” set would have been better looking on these little skinny fronts, but I already had these rims because I like to use 550-16 (or even 500-16) tires on the front of these little hot rods.
Sure hope Coker decides to do the 550-16 in these excelsior roadster tires at some point.
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I’ll put the caps and rings on later, but in the meantime here’s a pic to show how the sizes look. I think that they will work out perfect.

 

Very nice. Thanks for all your sharing of information. I have 4.5 x16 and 6 x 16 that I am using on a hiboy roadster and trying to decide on Firestones (I have them on a deuce truck and really like the look) or wait and see what sizes will show up in the "Roadster tires"

 

Getting back to the project progress and sharing some of the boring details of putting this roadster back together again…

Once the body was on and shimmed so the doors and trunk are aligned, and I was pretty sure I had final “fit”, it was time to tackle redoing the bulkhead. I always wait until I have the engine/trans in to do this too, as I’m always nervous that weight will flex the frame a bit. Considered making the bulkhead adjustable this time, but decided not to as I’m damn sure this is the last version of this car that I’m going to do.

As this body is already painted, welding the new frame back in was a wee bit delicate.
Here’s what I went with.



Note: the wood slats are just PL’d in and they give attachment points for the upholstery. Cheap and easy.



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For a different look on the *** end this time, I thought I’d change up the taillights and license plate mount. Last version of this car I used some 39 mini zephyr style tail lights. I liked them a lot, but when you sit around thinking too much this can happen.
Boredom can be a dangerous thing.






Another element that many on this board won’t like is that I used LED brake lights on my builds (last 3 anyway). They don’t look as cool as the old bulb styles, BUT after almost getting rear ended countless times by *****s not paying attention, I want as bright a brake light as possible. Sacrifice a little cool for safety.
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One more quick hit today.
Hard to see in the pic, but decided to do a different rollover valve setup this go round.
Just used a simple pig curl inside the quarter on the p***enger side last time.
Using a different tank and pick-up this time, I ended up deciding to put the vent line on the drivers side.
Got bored again one day so bent up some hard line and made a couple brackets to utilize the rear trunk brace.

 

Coffee break is almost over, but here’s a couple pics of how I finished up the front floor.
As usual, I do em so they can be easily put in and taken out with easy access to the brake master cyl.
Nice fit on the firewall.
Pic also shows the holes in the footwells where I put grommets/seals and run the wires to the engine bay and down into the rails for the front lights.



Pretty boring stuff, huh?
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Going to use another firewall mounted fire extinguisher so remembered to weld in some nuts for the mounts…this time.