Has anyone successfully installed a 32 ford firewall in a 33/34 ford pickup? If so please let me know what's involved? Thanks in advance
it'll work--but why--it just costs you a precious few inches of leg room and the other body lines will still give away it's not a 32. seems like an expensive change for no good reason.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=773037&highlight=33+ford+truck this guy did the opposite 33 fw in 32 cab. might help
don't do it,,, back of cab, and body molding above w/s in top, dead give away.. w/b longer on a 33, radiator mounts in front of cross member not on it. lose space inside, 33 frame different under doors, and from firewall forward.. not worth it.. WHY? my .o2 cents
In one sense you are correct,,there is a loss of leg room but the body lines on a 33 Ford are identical to that of a 32,,,it's the 34 that has the extra wider reinforcement bead on the back of the cab. If it's just a cab and a 33 I can see doing the work,,if it's a complete 33/34 I think it's a bad move. HRP
if I remember correctly that is what wd040 did on his truck. removed bead from back of cab.I seen it naked but ive pooped and showered since then.
It will still be a cut up transves***e, but the 32 firewall is pretty. I am not sure but would imagine 4" or s**** foot room lost.it really depends if you want a convincing 33 transves***e. You need to loose the bead above the visor. Fit a 32 dash etc, but it really depends on your desired final outcome. Listen to HRP he is right on the money.
I've built 3 deuce trucks and the first 2 were built using 33 cabs. I left the stock 33 firewall in both. I needed the extra legroom and in the second I installed one of the Vintage Air mini air/heat units and it fit perfectly. When the hood was on nobody knew the difference.
OK, here's how you do it: Remove the firewall from the '33 by drilling out the spot welds and rivets. Remove the cowl band stiffener from a '32 cowl. This is a narrow angle piece that runs inside the skin edge of the cowl trough. These can be bought from Brookville also. The stiffener is installed in the skin by spot welds originally, but you could probably plug weld it through the holes you made when drilling out the '33 firewall. Then you can bolt the '32 firewall to the cowl band, but you will still need to modify the subrail feet to bolt to a '32 frame properly. A little drilling of new body-bolt holes and probably a little t******* off the front end, and they should be fine.
Those should be attached to the cowl stiffener band if he's scavaging from an original '32. If he's buying new from Brookville he will need to order those too.
Says in some Ford books I've read (loren sorenson) the reinforcement body line across '34 pickups allowed the back of the seat to go at more of an angle, rather than vertical. And added strength to the back of the wavy cab.
There you go can always rely on HRP for the good oil. I was thinking of our own 32 which is an early one # 377..
thanks alchemy, that's exactly what i was looking for. i am sorry i should have given you all more information. i have a 33 or 34 cowl only. extremely rusty. the whole thing will have to be rebuilt. the 32 firewall has been butchered also. my intention is to make a "32 woody" out of it. another stupid idea i have swirling around in what i call a mind, is building the wood portion out of aluminum. i have a lot of misc 32 sheet metal laying around like front fenders, hood, grill shell and insert, firewall. ill need a frame, rear fenders and running boards and lots of wood or aluminum. sorry again for not filling you all in up front but the key thing i need to know was how to fit the 32 firewall into the 33/34 cowl. thanks everyone for all your replies.
'32 firewalls are somehow important...my '32 pickup has a '33 cab on it, perfectly OK visually...until the hood goes up. Then it draws my eye like a train wreck in a leper colony...only slightly better visually than one of those welded boilerplate streetrod ones. Fortunately I have firewalls, and the band and adjuster feet are now available from Brookville and the new '32 5W people so I am no longer always hunting for a dead cowl to hack up for that stuff.
since HRP brought up the visor difference I'll throw this out there. if anyone's trying to make the switch to a 32 from a 3 or 4 I've got a an early 32 roof I'd love to swap for a 33/34. the first time I built my truck I swapped it out, but I really prefer the extra line on the visor (and the cab back for that matter--and the longer wheelbase)