Shifter location is very important to me. I like my hand to drop off the wheel and fall right on the shifter. And I don't like having to pull yourself off the seat back to get into 3rd gear. I modified a stock Hurst mount by cutting the top half off and moving the shifter mount forward 1 inch, and shortening the rods the same amount to give the stick just enough to clear the seat. Made a small cutout in the cross sill for shifter clearance. Sitting in the seat, everything feels comfortable, like an old pair of shoes.
Finding this Duvall windshield in the for sale section of the HAMB back in Dec, 2015 has certainly kept me busy over the past 3 yrs. Funny how buying one single part can totally change direction. I have two other "project cars" that I was ready to start on, one right after the other. And just like that, they get pushed back, still sitting and waiting for their turn. I sold my last Deuce Rdstr 31 years ago. I wanted one more to take into retirement with me. This is it. Dec 2015 Dec 2018
This build is great. I am 71 and have been retired for a couple of years. I bought a 32 Ford roadster in 79'. It had been a channeled car in the 50's. The thing I like about this thread is that you have been doing this for years and have far more mechanical skills than I possess, but most of the choices you have made on your build are the same as mine. I am going with a 327, 4 speed Muncie and 9" Ford rear and 56 Ford F100 front brakes. I am on a far tighter budget than you but you are confirming my thoughts on how I want the car to look and drive.
Looking at the car from the back, I didn't like the opening between the rear wheelhouse and inner sub rail. Looked unfinished. Being an open-wheeled car, this is in plain view. So I made a couple of filler panels and welded the inner and outers together. While doing this I also made the lower wheelhouse follow the frame kick up a little closer. One more small detail only a few will notice.
Bent up the rest of the exhaust and made the brackets/hangers this past weekend. I've never used these Porter Steel Pack mufflers on any of my cars, but after listening to a number of YouTube videos, decided to give them a try. What ever they sound like, I'm pretty sure it will be a lot quieter than the exhaust on my Corvette.
Moving right along with progress! I have a pair of Porters on an off topic c10 and i'll be using one for my coupe, they make a great sound
Here are a couple pics of the mounts I made to move the wishbone mounts inboard. You can see in the last two pictures how much more turning radius it will have on left turns, plus the wishbones look better(and will work better) mounted this way. Tie rod bungs came from HAMB member CTaulbert ( very well made), and complete the job.
@Baron, I’d love to see a shot of the wishbone mounts from below, too, showing how you attach them. Looks like a good solution.
Not great pics, but these show how I boxed them front and rear to the boxing plates and tied them into the center cross-member for a little extra support.
Here are some pictures of the inner trunk pan I made for the raised floor. Knowing I was going to swap out the 32 rear cross-member for the Model A, I knew what little space there was to run the tailpipes was going to be even less. So, I made these two 3 1/2"cutouts in the rear trunk pan (where the floor kicks back up) and welded those to the body to make room for the tail pipes to go over the Model A cross-member. I still need to weld a couple of stainless tips on the pipes to extend them down just enough to angle cut them so they just peek out in front of the rear spreader bar.
Baron I really like that shot, especially those front wheels turned like that, at first I thought it was a well done painting. That's some nice work, I like your approach to the retrofit and gusseting. I machined my own weldments for the tapered rod end pivots on my hairpins but sunk them into the frame rails.
All caught up. Things won't be going as fast from here on in now that I'll be posting . Yesterday I ran all the brake lines and installed the 3/8" fuel line. Now I can remove all those and get back on prepping the chassis for paint.
Baron- Your car looks awesome! Great work. Just a question, on your brakes, why are you running a proportioning valve? I have always run a 1968 Mustang master cylinder with front and rear drum which eliminates the whole valve and keeps everything is much cleaner. I believe 1/4" to the front and 3/16" to the rear right out of the master cylinder. Just a thought. Keep up the good work! Chris-
@Baron thanks for the pictures, exactly what I wanted to see. Looks very stout and provides that extra turning radius you were looking for. Nicely done!
Thanks Chris. I'm sure your right. I have found over the years that better to install one, adjust it once then to find out you need one and have to install one later on. Just changing tire sizes can make a difference on brake bias and this gives me a little adjustability. Thank you.
This is one really nice build - love the thought processing that went into it. Looking forward to the finished project .... I also agree that this roadster is just killer!
Took this picture almost exactly 2 years ago. Fitting the hood a grille shell to the body and locating the headlight bar/headlights.
Usually I put 40 Ford dashes in my 32 Fords, but I really like the look of the Kenecht Equip Co dash panel. Extremely well made and the gauges are beautiful. Good chance this will be the last Deuce Rdstr I build for myself , so I figured no sense cutting corners at this stage of the game.
The Jalopy Journal
