FNG questions... What would make you choose a 1932 Ford Sedan over the 1932 Chevy? Does it all just really boil down to being a Ford person vs a Chevy person or is there something I'm just not seeing? I see all of these badass Ford's with Chevy engines and think why not put a Ford motor in your Ford, or just build a Chevy and throw your 350 in it? The 1932 bodies look the same to me, I personally love both, and maybe I'm too close to the forest to see the trees. I'm trying to learn everything I can, so help me out with this. Thanks for your input.
Old 30's Chevy were not as popular and they were turned into scrap metal. Thats why you don't see as many as Fords. I like em cuz they are different. Old Fords are a dime a dozen.
I have an unfinished '29 Ford sedan, and if it were a Chevy it wouldn't matter. I wanted a sedan of that era. Friend of mine had an Oakland sedan, that was cool too. I do admit to subscribing to the Ford-in-a-Ford, Chevy-in-a-Chevy engine theory for the most part. I suppose if I had a Chevy sedan, it would get a four-banger or something GM other than a 350 for the sake of being different.
It's mainly because Chevy used so much wood in the bodies up untill 1937, It was easier and cheaper to build up a Ford. THe chevys were great looking cars, just hard to work with because of the wood. Bodies would twist and flex under load. THATS the main reason Fords became more popular, along with the flathead V8.
So the wood, do mean in the dash, the top, the floor? Where else and can't the missing wood be replaced or metal use in its place to increase strength?
I would have to go with a Chevy with Ford engine. Because I am a nonconformance type person. To me the Chevies look, is a better look. The problem though is the wood as mentioned above and the stock parallell springs. I think most Chevies get raped with a Ford I beam, or MII front ends. I haven't seen a good solution that is not a Ford front end.
Yes. Kinda a wood frame with sheet metal on it. Even turnbuckles in doors to square em up. Replacing with metal can be done but taint easy.
I think most of the old coupe's are cool. Ford or Chevrolet are good and I would use either one. My preference is Ford power but the cars them self are still desirable ones. I had a 1933 chev coupe and was neat as hell and wish I still had it but its been gone 50 years. Currently I have a 33 Ford Roadster and a 34 Ford coupe and like them both. If opportunity arose and I could get a nice 33 chev I would do it.
Actually Chevrolet out sold Ford ... in 1932. So in 1933 ... there were more 1932 Chevrolets than Fords. The Chevrolets had LOTS of wood in them. Wood rots. That is a major contribution to the fact that there are very few 1932 Chevrolets left today. Also ... Henry's Flathead V8 in the 1932's gave it a superior performance advantage. A 1932 Chevrolet ... actually looks closer to a Model A Ford than a 1932 Ford IMHO. The shiny grill and the shiny cowl band ... are Model A features. The fuel tank is not as attractive as a 32 Fords ( to most folks ) and the rear bumper brackets are kind of funky also ( to me ) I like 32 Chevrolets ... never had one but would
Ok, the WOOD. It's making me a little leary. Should I have paid more attention in wood shop in high school to take on a 32 Chevy project?
That quote right there speaks volumes. If you are in that frame of mind, then pretty much all early '30s cars look the same. You know...those "gangster cars" like Al Capone drove. That's pretty much how 99 percent of the world sees the cars we lust after. Anyway, hot rodders as a majority have always leaned towards early Fords. The wood used in Chevrolets is one reason, but another big reason was because the Ford got a flathead V-8 in '32....and the flathead ruled lakes and drag racing until the OHV engines doomed them in the early '50s. Hot rods (and later street rods) were born out of racing, and Fords were the easiest to go fast in. Yes, the wood in a Chevy can be replaced with steel, but if you start with a Ford there's really no reason to replace the small amount of wood used. This is especially true for '32 and up Fords. Ford in a Ford? For starters, there are a LOT of traditional hot rods with Ford motors in them...they're called flatheads. If you are talking small block Ford, then you are pretty much talking about a "street rod" from the get-go. SBF was not available until I believe 1960, and wasn't really a popular rodding powerplant until the late '60s or so. Other minor problem with the SBF is that it doesn't fit as easily as a Chevy in most early Ford engine bays. Ford's other options, like the Y-block and FE are viable "traditonal hot rod" fodder...as long as they are dressed right and used in a late '50s or '60s (and up) style build. A 350 in a '32 Chevy would still fall in the "street rod" category for most of us, but if you were to build it with the right accompaning parts you could still do a fairly traditional looking hot rod. There really aren't any "rules" persay in hot rodding. But there are some pretty strict "guidelines" when it comes to building a TRADITIONAL hot rod. If you're starting with something other than a Model T through '34 Ford, then you're already setting yourself up for having a hard time staying within the guidelines. I feel that the HAMB should serve as the sanctioning body for traditional hot rodding. Sort of a 'jury of your peers' kind of thing.
I agree completely on what has been said about the wood in the bodies being the major issue. I have always thought that is also the reason not as many Chevys survived. The wood rotted away and the bodies just collapsed. Ford bodies were everywhere so that's what guys used. On the other hand if you look at pics of the lakes before the war, you see lots of 4 spring frames with all kinds of bodies on them. I see nothing at all wrong with the frames. All that said, I have a '33 Chevy coupe that I love the look of. It will be my next project. Come over and see it some time.
I personally love my Chevy and am a Chevy girl thru and thru, but it is so frustrating that every thing for a chevy is so darn expensive, while on the other hand every Tom, Dick and Harry has some thing dirt cheap for a Ford. My husband keeps telling me it would be easier if I just conformed to the Fords, but come on really, how many 33' Chevy Master Eagles do you see running around today!!!
In addition to the fact the 32 Ford could be had with a V8, the excellent 32 Ford frame was stronger and easier to channel a body over than most other frames.
Why are there so many old Fords stiil around? Especially the '32? There is a reason for that. All steel construction and the flathead V-8 are the main reasons, but also the interchangeability of parts, superior materials such as the steel that Henry used made them last. But even more the public seemed to love them, even when they were 20 years old they were collected and saved from the junkyard. In the 50's and 60's people were already hoarding them and that's why they are still around. Look back in your old Hot Rod Magazine classifieds and Hemmings from then and you'll see they always commanded top dollar compared to the other makes. Old Fords were just the ones collectors and Hot Rodders wanted and that's why they are still around in such great numbers. Long before Brookville repopped the Deuce roadster there was a guy making all steel Chevy roadsters that were pretty nice. Guess what? He didn't make it because everyone would rather have a glass Deuce than even a steel Chevy. And as far as I care, I don't care what engine you put in it, it's a Hot Rod, so there are no "RULES"!
Take a look at this.. do you see problem or potential, if anything at all. May not be enought to look at. 32 Chevy sedan. not mine but for sale.
Good discussion, Chris. A lot of great input. A '36-'38 Chevy with a hot-rodded 'six', would be sweet (to me). Do something different.
Your right BK. The input is outstanding. The "different" part is what is so attractive about maybe taking on a Chevy! It sounds like it could be a challenge and that in itself would make the reward pretty damn cool. I'd still like to hear some more thoughts. I have learned a lot in the last hour reading the posts. Thanks guys.
Seems like the opposite problem when it comes to engine components. When I had a SBF in my '55 Customline, performance parts were 50% higher than they are for my SBC that I have in my pickup. But when it comes to body and chassis, you're right. There are tons of aftermarket, repopped parts for the early Fords. Hell, I've seen entire"'32 Fords" that didn't have a single part on them that was made before 2001 and not one single "Ford" built part.
To be honest your first question has been more than answered,,,mainly the amount of wood structure. The second part has nothing to do with Ford guy verses a Chevy guy,, I personally know a bunch of hard core Chevy guys that don't like the early chevy body styles and prefer the Fords of the era. As ford keeping it all Ford,,,a lotta guys do,flattys,y-blocks and overhead valves,,but there are a ton of small block chevys in the early fords also. It does take more planing in using a Ford engine in the tight confines of the early fords like the model A's and the 32's just to mention a few cars. The basic problem is the length of the water pump and some of the ford V8's have a front oil pump wiich creates a problem with the steering. It's just easier to stick a sbc in a ford for some guys,,, i've done it myself. HRP
yup wood! but then nobody could match the styling of a duece. they just HAD IT! all them 30,s cars had somewhat the same look. but Ford just looked good, plus all the other reasons mentioned. The Chevies, like most the other cars used an inline engine, which was ok but didnt have the mystique of a V8, dueces were hot rods from the beginning,and they would wake up easily. nobody had discovered that a chevy 6 could actually blow away a flathead if it was built right.
I think really what it came down to in the early years was ease of building, cost efficiency and a good dose of "what is going to get me the fastest the quickest?". I don't think especially from the mid 50's and earlier they were trying to be very "different" from their counterparts. I think they just wanted to go fast. The fact that you are using a body that is like everyone else does not mean that it will me the same car. So if you were a kid in your early 20's setting out to build the fastest car within a budget, would you go Chevy because "nobody does it"??? I would probably put my money on no being the answer. Also I am new to Hot Rodding so I am no expert but I sort of get tired of people saying "I did it because it's different" or "nobody runs that engine so I did!!!". Traditional Hot Rodding is about paying respect to those before us. I mean it's more restoration then open minded Hot Rod or street rod building. Using the parts that everyone used back then and still making it and individuals car is difficult but that where the fun lies. There are many different ways to skin the cat and that applies to building these cars. Just because something was "around" in the era does not make it right. To me the realy fun of this is searching out what was done and how it was done so that my finished product is as authentic as possible. So back to the Chevy vs. Ford question. I think that there are enough cases of Chevy's being used to warrant the choice of building one now but prepare to face many more difficulties in the process and have something that may still not be as nice and cost efficient as the Fords that were so popular in their hey day. But then again, it's your dime and you should be happy with your build so do what makes you happy. Mid 50's version of the Dickie Flippen '32 Chevy running a 302 GMC with a Wayne 12 port head. Oh an even though I think that Ford is really the most correct way to go when building a Traditional Hot Rod, it did not stop me from buying a '31 Chevy because I like them and think they are pretty rad looking.
Might I add that a great deal of Hot Rodder's back in the day were nothing more then glorified mechanics. So making a rad set of engine mounts that look like they were computer control tig welded was not something they could do or even think about. They knew how to swap engines into chassis where they would fit and only the most rudimentary fab work would be needed to complete the swap. I don't think replacing the wood structure with a steel cage would have been something that they thought was easy. Given there were a shit load of great fab work being done back then but the average guy wanted to go fast and did not want to spend 4 years building it. The Dickie Flippen Coupe that I posted above was pretty much built over night with the help of 10-15 of Dickie's friends after his sedan was totaled. The fact that he used a straight 6 engine was probably because that's what they originally came with so it was a no brainer to stick another in. Coat hangers supplied the welding rod to chop the roof.
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