Projects 32 Ford 3 window build finish details

One good thing is now there is a nice side view of the engine with the steering like that.

 

Surprised you had to polish steering shaft down. Most of the steering rod ends are .007 oversize.
I always had to weld material on then machine down for a good fit.

 

Which is better the steering shaft turning in the "ball" or the "ball" turning in the support??
Right now shaft to ball is line to line and when assemblying I was goingto put a little never-sieze on shaft assuming shaft should turn in ball.

 

I would think the ball turning would be better

 

Hi Guys,

Brackets, Brackets and more brackets. Well I should be coming to the end of building all these brackets for my car. I think the alternator brackets are the last ones. Soon the body will be coming off the frame and body work will began.

I am going to start off with a alternator for this car and later to be more period correct I will switch to an generator.

The first thing I did was install the water pump shims as suggested by many of you. I installed several to get the proper pulley alignment.


There was a huge burr on the inside of the pulley I had to remove so pulley would spin true. But now all is good. I still have a small amount of water pump shaft sticking out of pulley for the fan.


I spent a lot of planning for the alternator location. I could not mount it way down low because there is no room with the motor mount plate.


I tried to mount on passenger side with a bracket that came with the car. The bracket mounted to the water pump and intake. The alternator fit in nice between the valve cover and the oil fill neck but due to the oil fill neck the alternator had no freedom to move for belt adjustment. My manifold is a 1956 Corvette dual quad unit with a front oil fill. The bracket must be for a newer engine with the oil fill on the valve cover.


These are older head so they have no threaded holes in the front of the head.

All this narrowed my choice to using the two bolts on the exhaust header and making a bracket.


Using this exhaust manifold location I could mount the alternator low or high. The advantage of mounting it low is when looking at the car from the side you can see the dual quads nicely. The disadvantage is I will not be able to ever install the side of the hood and when looking at the car from the front the alternator sticks out the side of the grill. Low would look like this.



If I mount the alternator high the advantage is I can someday install the sides of the hood. The disadvantage is that it will block the view of the dual quads when looking at the motor. The other disadvantage is that I will really be pushing the limit of fan belt engagement on the water pump. More on that later. I decided to mount it high. Here is what it will look like mounted high.


If you have been following this thread you have already seen me make several brackets and know my method so I will just give a summary. First I cut out cardboard, then the Misses draws it up in CAD then proto #1 is made in steel, then I find areas to improve and the Misses updates the CAD file and proto #2 in made in steel. Here is the progression of the main bracket. My dog chewed up the cardboard version so it is not shown. Proto #1 was .125 thick and was just too thin. Proto #2 is .1875. I did an old trick I learned when I worked for a company where we made equipment for navy submarines. When proto #1 was installed I hit with a rubber mallet and watched it vibrate. It vibrated more than 1 second and shook like a tuning fork. This is not good. I made prototype #2 thicker and hit it with a rubber mallet and it only vibrates for about ½ a second. This should be OK. I will watch it with motor running at different rpm and if it vibrate at all I will add another arm or bracket to the design.



Here is the belt adjustment arm. C clamped proto, drawing and final design.



This is one area I am concerned with having the alternator located where it is. The belt engagement is less than 90 degrees on the water pump pulley. I think it will be ok because a review of several pictures of other sbc’s show several have the alternator located like I do. However proper design for a v-belt is 120 degrees min angle contact.



Here is the alternator all in place.


another view


another view..




Later I will buy a generator for the car. I can make a new bracket easily from the alternator CAD drawings. One reason I wanted to do the alternator first is because if I am on a long trip, say the Hot Rod Power Tour and I am 1000 miles from home and the generator dies I don’t think you can just walk into any auto parts store and get a new generator. But if I take the alternator bracket with me and the generator dies I can just put the alternator bracket on and go to any parts store for a rebuilt alternator and be on my way.

Anyways, my bracket work is coming to an end . I am sure you guys are sick of seeing them by now so won’t be too disappointed. Soon the body is coming off for bodywork.

 

Hi Guys,

I installed the tail lights today. After a long time looking at hundreds of pages of 32 Ford Hot Rod tail lights I finally decided on the 41-48 Chevy tail lights. Tail light selection is a just a matter of personal preference and what did it for me was seeing a picture of a dark blue 32 with 41-48 Chevy tail lights with blue dots. The blue dot seemed to me to break up the rectangular shape and the blue dot just seemed to blend with the dark blue color. My car will be dark blue also. So the next decision is tail light placement. Again this is another no right or wrong but just personal preference. Again, I looked at hundreds of photos and I finally saw a black 32 in the “black Ford with red wheels” thread that had tail light placement that I really liked. This black 32 has the tail lights closer together than most. Now that I had the tail light decision done it was time to install them.

First, a mock to see how it looks.


Then I cut out a cardboard template from the back of the tail light.


Next was to transfer template shape to the car. There is a right hand and left hand tail light but the same template was used by just flipping it over.



Next comes drilling two holes for the tail light and one big hole for sheet metal nibbler.


Then the nibbler roughs out the hole. You can't see it in photo but there is pencil lines there.


This is the hole from nibbler.


Then fine tuning with a deburring tool. This was a slow trial and error process so I didn’t make the cut out too big.


Then final sizing with a worn flapper wheel that fit the cut out just perfect.


Here is the final cut out. The holes for each tail light are not on the same center line so it looks crooked in the photo and there is a small relief at the bottom for the license plate light on the RH tail light.


Then I installed the tail lights to verify fit. I had to make a cut out inside the trunk so I could install the nuts.


The final look.




Thanks to all those who have posted pictures on the HAMB or written books for me to look at!!!
Greg

 

Hi Guys,

I started working on the dash. This is the original 3 window dash with a glove box, cigarette lighter, filled in flat area for gages and enough battle scars to have earned its colors as a Hot Rod Dash!! I won’t trade this dash for a brand new one!! But I do need to give it a little attention…actually a lot of attention.

The front looks pretty good.


The back shows the brazing repairs

It has several brazing repairs with steel backing plates and one is right in the location where I want to put the ignition switch. So I wanted to remove the braze repair. I heated the dash to red hot to melt off the brazing repair. Well I did not know this would not work. So the brazing repair stays and I will work with it.


I thought the torch would melt the brazing??


I did a preliminary bondo job just to see where I need to re work it to get it smooth.




Then it was time to put the “double d” key hole in for the ignition switch. First I marked the flat sides.


Then a little drilling


Then a little filing


Then using a socket to mark the round part.


Then a little die griding and final filing


And finally check with ignition swicth.


Now I have to get some new hole saws to cut gauge holes.


Then I welded up 3 holes on dash. These holes were right in line with driver so probably a tach at one time. My welding skills stink so I cheat and take a flatten out piece of copper tube to use as a backer plate during welding to hold the weld.




You can see the copper behind the big hole.


weld sanded off and ready for a little bondo.


On the lower part of the dash there are many holes and several have already been welded up. I can’t help it think of all the vintage gauges that probably hung off that dash at one time. I wish I had all of them today. I did get some killer SW gauges with the car that are going into the dash. You will see these later.

Greg

 

It’s Christmas in February!

I got ¾ of my order from Coker today. One tire was back ordered so I only got ¾ of the order. When I bought the car it didn’t come with a set of wheels and tires. Soon I will be taking the body off the chassis so it was time to decide on wheels and tires so I could roll the chassis out from under the car. Wheels and tires are a personal choice. There is no right and wrong but after looking at hundreds of cars on HAMB, The Rodder’s Journal, books and thinking about how I plan to use the car, I decided on American Classic radials that look like belted tires. I went with 15 inch front and back with Coker Hot Rod wheels. I wish the backs came in a bigger size but that was the widest I could get. I think this keeps to the traditional theme of the car and should work fine for how I plan to use the car.

Greg

 

Hi Guys,
Well I shifted to working on the shifter (…no pun intended). The car came with an early Corvette shifter that worked fine but I am just a Hurst Competition Plus guy. Back in 1978 when I put a brand new Hurst shifter in my 64 GTO it just made it a dream to shift and drive. I want that feeling again in my 32 Ford. The problem is both the frame and the body have a cross member right in the way of installing a Hurst shifter. (the hurst shifter is bigger than the Corvette shifter) So this is going to be a major change and a lot of work but I decided it will be worth it. I plan to drive this car a lot and to me the shifter is a key part of driving enjoyment.

All the following photos are taken standing at the door looking at the floor where the shifter will be. It may take a minute but you will get your frame of reference after a second or two.

First task was to add a 1x1 square tube to strengthen body so we could cut out the body cross member.


Then cutting out the frame cross member.


Frame cross member cut out and prepped for welding.


Now room for the Competition Plus.


Shifter installed. I started out with a Hurst Indy we had laying around but it wouldn’t go into reverse without a fight so I bought a new shifter. Seen here is the Hurst Indy.


This is the new one. I chose one with a long handle since 32 fords don't have a floor hump most shifters are too short. Long term I plan to make a plain round chrome handle for the car that will be more traditional.



Another shot


Then a trial fit of the new piece of cross member. We used four 45 degree steel elbows to create the offset.


Trial fit with shifter.


This is the as welded offset piece.


Here is the offset piece all sanded and ready to install.


Tacked in ready for welding.


another shot.


I forgot to take a picture with final welding of the frame cross member. I will add that later. Here we have started modifying the body cross member with an offset.


Since we have greatly weakened the body cross member, we need to think about some ideas how to bring back some strength. More on this later!
Greg

 

Looking back at the throttle pedal. If you are planning on having trim on the firewall the pedal mounting is a little close


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Hi Guys,

I am back on the 32!!! I had some health issues last spring that kept me out of the barn for 3 months and then I did the cardinal Hot Rodders sin… yep that’s right…. just as I was feeling better and able to get back in the barn I bought another project car even though I was in the middle of the 32 project... But I know I am among many others here that have more than 1 project going so I don’t expect too much criticism. lol

Just before I had to quit I was working on the dash so this update is work done last spring. I made some progress on the dash installing the gages. I decided to go with SW gages. The car came with a vintage speedo and vintage tach that I really liked so I went with SW gages to match the tach and speedo.

Most 32 dashes have the gauges in a straight line across the dash. This looks really nice but would not work for my car since mine is a 3-window coupe and 3 window dashes have a glove box. I was struggling to decide how to lay out the gauges and then I saw the cover of the Stewart Warner catalog with the gauges arranged in a trapezoid and that looks nice and would work in my dash so that is what I did.
Here is the cover of the SW catalog I used for inspiration:


To layout the gauge holes I mounted the dash to a block of wood.


Then leveled up each side with a square until it was level.


Then scribed lay out lines for drilling.


After all the lines were scribed, I began drilling. I bought a new hole saw and used lots of cutting oil.


Then a little deburring...


and a trial fit.


Next it was time to weld up the numerous holes in the bottom lip of the dash. I almost hated doing this because this was part of the car's history. These were well earned battle scars on an old hot rod....


Next I drilled new holes for the column drop.The column drop came with the car. It is a plan and simple chrome plate. I like it because I have never seen one like it and it has probably been on the car for decades.


Probably was OK with two bolts...but center hole was already there.


Dash needs a little more bondo and it is good to go. Anyone know brand of column drop?? Cal Custom maybe?

 

After the dash and gauges were done I went to work on the tachometer. There really was not too much room for the tachometer in the dash. I really like the look of a tachometer in a chrome cup on the steering column. The issue was that the tachometer had a light hanging off the outside and therefore would not fit in a tachometer cup. My son had an idea to put some micro LED lights inside the tachometer and remove the original light. Without the big original light on the outside I could now mount the tachometer in a cup and attach to the steering column.

Here is the tachometer.


I disassembled the tachometer and attached 3 12 volt micro LED lights inside the tach.


I spaced the new lights equally apart . The original light just popped off easily.


Here it is how it will look in the dark. Now I just need to buy a nice chrome tachometer cup and it is good to go!

 

Great job.

 

Thanks brady1929!

Now I am moving on to the doors and door hardware. If you have been following this thread since the beginning you may remember I bought this car from a friend as a partly finished project. I did not take the car apart and I have never done a 32 Ford (or any other early Ford for that matter) so I decided I needed a little assembly practice and to look for any issues that need repairing before I start body work and painting. I found a few “needs repair” notes from my friend from when he took the car apart but the rest I found as a general inspection of parts.

First, I worked on the door latch. There is pin for the striker that was loose and fell off when I began working it.


From the back it originally had a peened stub over a washer. But after 85 years it was toast!


So I replaced the washer on the side that slides on the plate with a hardened washer, ground the other side flush and welded it back together.


The pin was hardened so I hope the weld penetrated good. Now the door latches work great.


I will be replacing some springs, one latch spring is way too strong and one door lock spring is missing. After that, some fresh lubrication and the door latches are ready to go.


While working on the door latch I noticed one of the door panel hooks was missing so I made a new hook and welded it on.


There we go.... fits perfect.


and a little weld..


Then while fitting on the door handles I discovered a broken off door handle bolt buried inside the door.


So I used the outer door skin 1/4 diameter hole as a guide and center drilled the bolt. Then drilled the bolt for an easy out.


Easy out would not budge. This was strange since the bolt was brass and there is no rust or corrosion in the metal either. Then I went to next size easy out....no luck.


So I got the proper size drill for a 10-32 screw , drilled it and ran a tap in it. Fortunately the tap took on the original threads and bingo!! I am all fixed. I sure am glad. Fixing that would not have been easy.


I am trying to get all these little details fixed now and not when the car is all painted when it is more difficult to fix them. I know this part of a car build makes for boring reading...... and my friends come over and say "I don't see any progress" so I need to show threads like this as proof I am working... lol

 

I believe most the treads on the doors are 12-24! Uncommon thread today, but still available.

 

Great thread keep the updates coming.

 

ago - so far all of my door screws are 10-32 except the two screws in the door jam for the door latch which are 12-24. I ran into 12-24 on my 53 Pontiac. I had to buy them at McMaster Carr. Local hardware stores don't carry 12-24.

Hot Rod Ron - Thanks I plan to keep posting even if my thread is a little dull compared to a 3 window or 50 merc chop......I enjoy the input I sometimes get from the members!!

I am still working on the doors. I was pre-fitting the inside garnish moldings and noticed not much bite in the wood for the garnish screws. Since this car has been chopped the garnish moldings don't fit perfect so I will probably need good bite on the screws to pull the garnish moldings in tight for that quality look. The garnish screws go into a piece of wood sandwiched in the door. Not an easy piece to replace.


So I drilled out the holes just to the depth of the previous screws. The hole did not go all the way thru the wood. Since this is a traditional inspired build I used a 1950's traditional drill motor. Man that drill is heavy but when it runs the electricity smells great. I think it is actually o-zone that smells....reminds me of my childhood. Drills just don't smell that good anymore.... The thought of drilling out some 1932 wood with a yellow DeWalt drill from Lowes seemed wrong to me. Sorry I am drifting away...back to the car.


Next I got some 1/4 inch dowels.


Then cut to depth of drilled hole.


Then I applied wood glue.


Then a little light tap with hammer.


Now hopefully during assembly I can just pre- drill a small hole and install garnish screws nice & tight and the garnish molding will look professional!

 

Still working on my doors!
I noticed one of the doors was missing the bracket for the rubber glass channel stop. After a quick check on eBay and finding nothing I decided to make my own. The bracket looked simple but was actually a little difficult.


I started with a new piece of sheet metal with a few cuts on the shear. My dog Axel is totally not interested in this. When I stomp on the shear he won't even wake up!


Then I taped up the blank and started to mark it for cutting and bending. I am too cheap to buy any dykem layout blue so I just mask and use a pencil.


Then a little work on the band saw prior to bending.


After some bending on the DiAcro bender I sawed a few cut outs for bending clearance.


Quickly the part gets too complicated to fit in the bender and bends must be made by hand over the edge of the bench. I clamped a 1/4 inch rod to the bench to bend over.


Then a few bends with a hammer in the vise.


I used the old part to mark holes for drilling.


Some drilling and counter sinking. Again I used a traditional drill press that could have been used on this car back in the 50's. It is a 1942 Craftsman drill press.


I made a gauge on the bench from the existing part to check the holes. As I bent the new part I continually checked hole location so the bracket would fit the door when it was done.


Finally after a lot of bending, belt sanding, re bending and re belt sanding it was ready for final emery paper sanding by hand. And my other dog Katie is also bored to death with my project...she is sound asleep under my vise.


The finished bracket with rubber stop. Should be fine for a part inside the door that will never be seen. If this was seen on the car or under the hood, I would probably make one or two more to get some cleaner bends.



These parts will sit around until I sandblast next time. Then I will sandblast the old one, prime & paint them and glue in the rubber stop.

 

Started working on the window crank mechanisms. These were in really good shape. One has the wrong spring so I will order a new spring. You can see in photo below the end of the spring is not anchored into the sheet metal tab.


The pins on these do not rotate when they slide in the window channel so they developed a wear pattern. You can't see it in the photo. The wear is under the bevel washer. The new window track would not slide nice so I had to do some filing and sanding to get a good surface so windows work smooth. Below is a before and after photo.


That bevel washer has a spring behind it so I had to fabricate a little clip to compress the spring so I could get the bevel washer out of the way to file and clean up the pin.


Here is the clip.


The clip made it easy to work on filing and sanding the pin.


Then I used a round file to reshape the pin.


Then some emery paper.


Then I tried sliding them in window track and they seem to slide fine even dry as a bone so I think with some grease at final assembly the windows should slide nice.


These will go into storage until I get a new spring.

 

Hi Guys,
I moved onto the windshield. This is the original windshield. Sadly it will not be staying. This car was chopped in the 50's and I am really trying hard to keep as much of the original car as I can but the windshield ain't staying. The frame is rusted out in the corner, the glass is broke and a few of the threaded holes have bolts broken off inside. Of course, all of this can be fixed if this was a Duesenburg with no replacement parts available but I must pick my battles. I decided to use the new frame. Maybe when the car is on the road I can go back and work on the original frame.


The old windshield will be cool wall art. It has some cool decals; Moon on one side and Rod & Custom and NHRA on the other.




A new windshield frame came with the car. So I always wondered what the chop was. The windshield was chopped 2 5/8 inch.



We began laying out the new frame for cutting.


We decided to cut with a 4 1/2 in angle grinder.


And then fine tune on the belt sander with a piece of 1 x 1 set to the correct angle.


Then deburr.


Then reassemble and trial fit.


Then tweak to fit better and keep frame totally flat since glass will be flat we had to make sure windshield frame stayed flat. You would think that with all the folds and bends that this windshield frame would have been stiff as an I beam but the opposite is true. Apparently in order to form the frame they anneal the daylights out of the steel. It was very soft!!! It twisted really easy.


After several trips back to the belt sander, refiling off all the burrs and reassembling back together to check fit, we finally got a good fit. I don't have photos but we had to fabricate shims (3 at each hinge at .045 in thick)to put between the hinge and the body and we used the shim supplied with the screw kit between the hinge and windshield frame. This was a long trial and error process with many trips to belt sander and different shims.



Finally we were happy and drilled & counter sunk the side holes for the bracket.


We ended up with a good fit all around the windshield frame, consistent side to side gap, hinges that work good, we now know what to do with body sheet metal work for a nice tight seal fit. Next step is to have frame chromed and glass installed.

 

Hi Guys,
The windshield frame is at the chrome shop so I went back to the doors.


The inside of the door had some stripped out sheet metal where somebody had a fight getting a screw out. This was bad for 2 reasons; first I may need this hole for something and second; it left a bit of sharp sheet metal sticking into the inside of the door which would either send me to the hospital for stitches when I install the glass or scratch the glass window. So I had to fix it.


First I took a deburr tool and removed all the torn up sheet metal.


Then with a dolly inside the door, I hammered it back to original shape.


Then I cut a new piece of sheet metal to fit in the hole.


Then a little weld and some paint and I am ready to go. I just have to repeat 3 more times and the holes are fixed.


Next I am moving onto the outside door skin. Sometime in the last 85 years something happened to the door skin next to the hinges. The door skin has been bent badly and has some brazing to fix some cracks. I was afraid I would never get a nice clean fit with hinge that looked good so I decided to cut out the bad sheet metal and replace.


First I made some replacement patches. I just picked up this used Beverly Shear for $58 at an auction. It is a straight shear not one of the better throat-less shears but what a great piece of equipment!!! I love this thing! It cuts 18ga sheet steel like a hot knife through butter. Up until now I have been using tin snips and after a few cuts my hands kill me, but I could cut all day with this shear!


The shear is a really old one. The nameplate has the old 2 digit postal code between the city and state and not the 5 digit zip code we have today. The 5 digit zip code came out in 1963 so this machine is probably 1963 or older.


I hope I made these patches big enough. Anyone do this before?


Next I fired up the angle grinder after I marked the cut area.


After cutting I filed to get a nice hole.


The door has a bow so I measured the bow and bent my patch to match the bow.


Getting an even bow was not easy. The patch is stiffer on the ends then in the middle.


Next will be welding into place.

 

Love following along. Nice work you're doing. It's all this small detailed stuff that takes a lot of time on a build (and is seldom seen or considered when someone is looking at a finished car).

 

Thanks Hot Rods Ta Hell!, I am glad you are enjoying the thread. It is really good to know someone is enjoying this, especially now that I am in the boring body work phase.

Time to weld the patches in. My son has been helping me with the car and he is a much better welder so he did the welding and a little banging. This picture is confusing, in the background is my scrap barrel with a ceiling fan housing sitting on top. Just ignore that, it looks like its part of the game but it is background clutter.


We use a Millermatic 135 set as shown for these patches.


Once the patch is welded all around rough grinding is done.


If no touch up weld is necessary final grind is done and it looks like this! This gave us a nice clean fit between sheet metal and door hinge. A little bondo and its ready for primer.


Next I moved unto the bottom of the door where I found some small rust holes.


I marked up where I wanted to cut and drilled the corners.


Then I used a cut off wheel with a die grinder. Most guys would skip the drilling and go right to a 4 in angle grinder but my hands don't work that well anymore to be safe.


I cut the ends with a pair of tin snips



Then with a deburr tool in my die grinder and a file I finished the hole.


Then over to the Beverly shear again and I got a patch made.


For final fit up I belts sand to size. Years ago I made this stand for my small belt sander. The best thing I ever did was put wheels on it. I roll the belt sander right up to the part where I am working on it, sit on a stool and belt sand until I get a perfect fit.


All welded in place


I ground with a cut off wheel in a die grinder


Then a little final grind with a 2 in sander and its ready for bondo


Sometimes it is hard to know what to post on a build thread. There are a lot of really really good sheet metal guys on the HAMB that do some fantastic work. In general, I decided to post almost everything and let the reader decide what to look at and what to skim through.
Greg

 

Hi Guys,
I started pre fitting the hood to check and see if I need to do anything special on the hood. And sure enough I needed to modify some parts. I am planning on using the top of the hood but not the sides. When I went to install the hood I realized the radiator support rods were too short. Which makes perfect sense since the firewall is a new one that is inset into the body an inch or so.


Rather than buy new ones, I decided to stick with the traditional Hot Rod theme and keep and modify as mush as possible. I started to think about how to lengthen the rods. I was going to use a tube and weld around the ends of the tube and then I discovered that Henry made these by butt welding the cowl end on. Its hard to see in the photo but these were welded.


So if it was good enough for Henry and lasted 86 years, a butt is good enough for me.
After a little measuring I was off to the hardware store to buy some 5/16-24 x 4 inch fine thread bolts. I cut the rods and bolts to proper size. Then chamfered the ends and made a little fixture to hold them straight during welding.
.

Then weld, rotate and more weld.


I used my new welding helmet for the weld job. A special thanks to Ryan and Eastwoods for getting together for Eastwoods to join the alliance. The helmet was $109 online and with HAMB alliance it went down to $79.


After I had weld all around I belt sanded the weld smooth. (I don't have a lathe)


and it fits!


Now for the first time since I bought the car I can see it with the hood on. Without the rods, the radiator leaned forward and the hood wouldn't stay in place to even just look at it.





Next I went to work on the cowl vent. The mechanism works prefect but the lid looked like it had a lot of bondo so I was concerned what might be underneath.


Some quick work with a DA sander showed I had nothing to worry about.



There was a very small dent in one corner that I was able to bump out 95% of it from behind.


A visual inspection showed the mounting surface had a bow. That might need to be there. It might come right back when it is mounted, but for now I will straighten it.


I held it up against the bench and a dozen light taps with a hammer and it was straight again.


The threads were a little rough on the cowl vent handle so I ran a die over them and they cleaned right up. Every time I can use an original part it makes me happy.


One more part ready for primer and a thin coat of bondo.


Thanks for following along.
Greg

 

Keep posting away these little details are what keep us coming around.

 

Hi Guys,
I got the windshield back from the Chrome shop. I went with Kro-Pro since they are only 25 miles away and he is a HAMB member. I went with the standard chrome not the show chrome. The chrome turned out really nice. They said it would be 2-4 months and it was 3 months.


Next I went onto mounting the seat. I had done a preliminary job when I set the steering column but now it was time to finish the seat mounting. My son and I set the seat in with the brackets from Glide that came with the seat and sat in it. My son and I were thinking about cruising on the Hot Rod Power Tour or driving to TROG and we said "man it is small in here" So I went on a mission to get the seat as far back as possible and as low as possible. I was able to lower the seat 3/8 of an inch by making my own seat bracket of 5/16 X 1 1/2 bar stock and not using the Glide bracket. The barstock spans 3 floor cross members so should be stiff. Photo below is where I started.


Here is the bracket I made to set seat on.


Here is how they look in place. I will use flat head screws so the fasteners are out of the way.


Underneath the car I will weld these to underside of floor cross-members to attach seat mounting bolts. I want to be able to remove the seat without having to hold a wrench underneath the car. I put seat belts in my 53 Pontiac last fall and it took 2 people to install them. One in the car and one underneath to hold a wrench on the nut.


These brackets fit great but there is a stud and bolt on the bottom of the Glide seat that pokes thru and interferes with the sheet metal floor. Which is why the glide mounting bracket was a "hat section" and 3/8 in taller.


So I had to take the sheet metal floor out and dimple it for clearance.


I have a good 30 ton press but I am a little light on dies. So I went scrounging in the shop and found the cap for my oxygen tank was just perfect. Then I found a brass ring for the lower die. I sprayed some lube on the part and pressed it.


Here is what it looked like as I pressed it.


Now the seat fits perfect. Dimples are shown in blue circles. I hit the back of cab before I run out of seat travel and I am as low as possible with the slide mechanism. This gives me at least an inch head room. The seat slides forward until my knees are in the steering wheel. I will have to remember that this dimple is there because the only down side I see is that those dimples are going to fill up with pennies, nuts and bolts that fall off and will rattle!!


The final location tucked in there for lots of leg room.


Greg

 

Hi Guys,
I got the brackets from MAC's and got both sides of the top hood in place. In the beginning I plan to run the car with the top hood but not the sides. So I had to develop a method to hold the hood in place so the wind won't lift the hood and make my car look like a butterfly going down the road.


After searching many books, the HAMB and countless Rodder's Journal magazines I never really saw how everybody does this so I sketched up a design with pins at each corner of the hood. I tried to make it invisible but the front pins will be a little visible. I put an order in to McMaster-Carr for 1/4 diameter stainless steel rod, some springs and some stainless tubing for a spring stop. I started bending up some rod to fit into the top hood where the hinge is for the side hoods.


Next I bent up a plate to weld to the radiator grill for the pin to engage.


I will weld this to the radiator grill here.


It will be drilled much later when the body, hood and grill are all aligned in the permanent location with all the final shims. This will be the only part of the pin that will be visible and it will show less than this photo once it is engaged into the plate.


Underneath the hood it will look like this.... sorta...not shown is the little stop for the spring and the black duct tape will be replaced with weld. The little handle will not be visible when the hood is locked in the down position. The spring will always push the pin out. The only down side of this is if I put the hood down and forget to pull the pins back with the little handle it will hit the fender or grill and scratch my car. The pin at the back will engaged directly into the fender and will not be visible.


Greg

 

I just use two rubber bungie cords across the hinge loops. It's never flown up on me.

 

Alchemy!!!!!.........Bungee cords???........That’s twice now someone has said “just hold the hood down with bungee cords.” Come on guys, we are Hot Rodders, we build stuff…I just can’t do bungee cords. LOL


Now that I am done teasing Alchemy, back to the 32.
I started working on the inner firewall. Way back in the beginning of this build I had goofed up the steering column location and cut into the firewall with a hole that was not in the best location which pretty much meant I needed to make a new inner firewall. I used the old one as a template and cut out a new one on the band saw. I want the fire wall stiff enough to not wobble and have everything that attaches to it serviceable without removing the firewall. There is a 3/8 gap between the inner firewall and the firewall in the engine compartment. So I started making brackets to hold the gas pedal, heater, fuse block and a wire tray .


Some of these brackets have threaded holes and some have studs that stick out the other side. Then I welded them on the back (inside ) of the firewall sheet metal. I used 3/8 thick barstock for proper spacing.


Then a trail fit on the bench. All fits good.


Then a trail fit in the car. I added the dimmer switch to the left of the fuse block which keeps it out of the way but I should be able to just reach my foot up and operate it. I also added a wire tray near the top and to the right of the fuse block to lay all the wires on. The tray has drilled holes for zip ties to hold wires after all wiring is done. The heater was located to clear the cowl vent handle on one side and the glove box on the other side. The height was chosen for good room for passengers feet and to have heater hoses run straight out into engine compartment without seeing heater hoses in the cab.


When I went to install the dash to see how it looks, I noticed that the dash mount on the car had one of the mounting bolt slots broken off. Since it was for the bolt closest to the steering column I decided it had to be fixed. I cut off the broken area and fit a new piece in.
This is the new piece.


All fit up.


A little welding.


And a little grinding.


And now we have all 4 bolts for the dash! Two on each side. At final assembly the bolts will be aimed the other way.



A photo with the dash in place.


And a photo with steering column, steering wheel and gauges. I only did this because I needed the inspiration.


I think the inner firewall is good to go. Now onto the headlight switch and the clutch & brake pedal pads.
Greg

 

Hi Guys & Gals,
It’s been a long time since I updated progress on the 32. I got a part time job and also hit the body work stage. I suck at body work so it takes me forever to make it good. If you saw the thread “who is currently working on a 32 Ford” you have seen some of these trunk pictures already but I wanted to add them to this thread also.
The trunk lid was a challenge. I think it was dropped on the lower corner at some point.


I decided I needed something to weld to, so I welded a 5/16” steel rod for a base.


then slowly went to town adding weld. Then some grinding , a little more weld and soon it looked ready for a little filler.

Then it was on to the width of the lid. There was a 1/16 low spot at the width by the upper left hand corner. So I cut out a 1/16 shim to weld on to make the trunk width consistent everywhere. The body opening for the trunk lid was consistent. This picture is the lid standing on edge.


A little weld and grinding and all Is good on the width. Then unto the gaps.

The gaps keep moving every time you open and close the lid. This was driving me crazy!!! At the same time I was trying to get the height even with the body


I just couldn’t do it. There was a foot long dip in the lid on the left side. Too deep for filler so I welded on a .09” rod. Hard to see in photo but there is a rod there.

Then some more welding....slowly...


Then some grinding.


I had to do this process twice because the weld pulled down so when you weld to bring it up but the weld pulls it back down. I think an experienced body guy would have a better way to do this. But I did get a nice strong edge eventually. Then I sanded with guide coat. The dark area is the low spot. The edge is steel.


I filled the low spot in with tiger hair. The low spot is about .06 max.

Then regular rage gold filler.


Then sanding until my fingers fell off. Do you remember that famous line from Ringo Starr after the Beatles played a long concert? Ringo yelled out “ I got blisters on my fingers” well I never played a guitar but I sure can relate to blisters on my fingers!!!

Then it needed work with a slap hammer to work down some high areas. Then more rage filler again.

After tons of sanding and more blisters. I tried the fit to the body.

The gaps changed again. I suck at this body work gig.... I would starve if I depended on this for food.. so I milled elongated holes in the hinge brackets and it helped to position trunk lid but not enough. It changes again wither or not truck latch is open or closed. So I ended up removing the fixed rubber bumpers.

Seems my car was originally black. How cool is that? Then I welded nuts in place and switched to some adjustable bumpers. This was a huge help getting trunk lid to fit better.

At this point it was ready for 2 part epoxy. We got some primer on it and hung it on the wall to come back & sand & put hi fill primer on it later.

Sorry, I know a little boring compared to some other build threads ...but that,s what I am doing.
Greg