Hello, I believe this is my first post here, so excuse me if I'm in the wrong place or anything else objectionable. I am trying to get my father 32 Sedan roadworthy after sitting my entire life. It will need 4 fenders, running boards (covered and done), lower windshield frame and hood tops. I have scored locally a set of Rotleib (?) hood sides and have yet to call to see if they sell tops separately, hopefully they do. I see many different company's/manufacturers selling these parts and some are E-coated, some are natural, thus telling me different mfg's. Does anyone have experience with different sources of sheet metal and are able to tell me which is the best fitting and/or contoured pieces out there? Thank you in advance, Geoff
Wait a minute ... you've been "sitting your entire life" ????? Forget about the car and focus on your health first ...
I've found that working on old tin is good for your health, it keeps you moving and pondering the ways of life at the same time...
I have had excellent results with United Pacific 32 sheet metal. Interchangeable with Henry Ford parts.
I agree with @lcfman. I've got a United Pacific 32-5 window and the panels are excellent but the ***embly posed lots of problems. So any 5 window parts that suit your sedan will be fine. Re running boards, the Bob Drake vulcanized ones are the best if they are available and not on back order LOL I don't know if anyone makes rear fenders for sedans so you may have to buy coupe ones and trim them to suit.
Another vote for UP. I've also used 5 complete sets of Brookville fenders. One set of rears was trimmed by Brookville for a sedan and fit good. My experience with Brookville is their rears need almost nothing but the fronts need some m***aging. Another vote for Drake for the boards
Hello, thank you for the responses and I live in Denver, Co. The Drake running boards and the United Pacific fenders sure appear nice. I figured they'd get some recommendations. Mac's Early Ford catalog lists Sedan rear fenders, hopefully someone will chime in on those. The Brookville's are intriguing...How and what's different on those that they can be modified? Before you scream "Small block Chevy?!"...A little history on the car and my dad: 1956/57; Dad and his buddy, Dave, living in Des Moines, IA, buy a model A, 5 window at the ages of 16/17. They proceed to chop and channel it in dads stepdads service station. (pictured) 1957; Dad gets a summer job at Paul Manning (?) Chevrolet in D.M. as a parts driver. A '55 full size truck comes in with a warranty issue that turns out to be a dropped valve. Dads able to acquire the 265 block and uses his paychecks along with Daves money to buy the rest of the motor through the service department. At some point a fleet of '57 trucks come in incorrectly built as 4 barrels instead of 2 barrels, so he acquires one of the intakes and carbs to save on costs. Eventually it's bored to a 283 and ***embled as a 283/270 (minus induction). That engine, a Ford trans and axle along with a dropped front axle make it into the "A". 1958; The '32 is driven by an unknown kid, yet a Des Moines neighbor of dads to southern Ca.. On its way it breaks down in Denver. A body man at Luby Chevrolet in Arvada buys it, completely dis***embles it and stores it on his patio and in the crawl space with intentions of working on it. It had a Buick and a Hydramatic at that point. 1959; Dad buys a black over red/black 283/270 '57 BelAir hardtop from Paul Manning off the used car lot and has plenty of fun tearing up the streets of Des Moines. To help purchase it he sells his green '52 Ford convertible with a J-2 Olds. It was a hard sell! 1962; Mom and dad get married and move to Denver, CO. where a new job at Martin Marietta is waiting for him. Dave soon follows with the "A" in flat tow. Dave soon gets married too. The Model A moves from one house to another and does get attention, but never made it far. 1963/64/65; Realizing the "A" was too tight for either Dave or dad, they start looking for what they had originally wanted, a '32. An ad in the Denver paper turns up this car which the 2 purchase for $50 and a shotgun. At night, in the dark they try to lay out all the parts and hope they don't leave anything behind. They did leave the Buick and trans... The "A" is sold minus the 283 and the front drop axle. It's been said it was turned into a Lakeside Speedway racer. The '32 is re***embled but also becomes a rental/storage issue. A '55 chevy 4 door was purchased for its 3 speed stick set up and rear axle, those were installed in the '32 as replacements for the Ford axle and trans. The drop axle is also re located to the '32. 1965; Dads able to purchase a new car, a '65 Impala SS 327/300 4 speed which is soon stolen from in front of their apartment and stripped of its engine, trans, seats and console for a '55 Chevy. The kids are caught, but the cars a loss (it was dis***embled in a narrow garage and both sides had damage from going in and out). In the fall of '65 dad orders a new '66, this time with a 396. It's still with him today and it moves into my parents one and only home, the '32 moves in too. The black '57 is unfortunately sold prior to the home purchase and disappears forever, minus its dual quad set up. Daves wife is unimpressed with the car and the (little) time he's spending on it, so dad buys him out. The money Dave received went to bicycles that never were ridden and soon enough Dave and his wife divorce.... 1968; Dad seems to be doing well on the car as it had '68 dated sealed beam GE bulbs and '68 Packard plug wires (still there). Soon afterwards it falls into limbo and becomes a storage locker for random items. It was hampered by many mechanical issues dad was never able to find solutions to (brake and clutch set up, brakes, throttle, exhaust etc.) as he was a working stiff with a family. 2013; After going to the Hot Rod Hill Climb in '13, '14 and '15 in Georgetown, my brother and I decided it was time to do something about the '32. Dad's aging, never seen it move under its own power and we realize it's a pretty cool car...So it comes to my house, the dual quads finally see the light of day, but I realize I'm not a fabricator, I'm a painter. My incredibly talented friend Dan and I strike up a trade, I'll paint his '68 Barracuda, he'll make the '32 drive. (I got the better end in so many ways) It took 3 years of his time in the evenings, but it's the nicest, smoothest driving beast we could have imagined. Thanks Dan! Everything he touched was fully restored prior to going back in or under the car, so many components, are ready to be carefully stored when the body and frame are restored. It's been home just shy of a year, but dad went into a home just prior to that. we have been unable to get them together, but once the weather warms and the yard dries out..... The '57 Chevy; Dad misses it terribly and my brother and I would love to know its whereabouts. It was sent back and sold in Des Moines in '65 with a 2bbl on it, but still a solid lifter, close ratio, 'vette press on drum axle with an aftermarket grille in it. Des Moines winters and time are not likely on our side, but should that sound familiar to anyone, we'd love to hear from you. We have no paperwork or VIN, we've searched. Thank you for listening and the advice on parts, Geoff
The Rotlieb hood sides will probably only fit one of their hood tops. The spacing on the side hinge isn't the same as stock hood top.
Nice car !! From the pics your fenders don't look that bad or are they.Have them repaired IMO.Stay away from Mac's.I have heard that they are shutting down.
What a fantastic story, Welcome to the HAMB! I'd spend the time correcting any problems with the fenders, they are part of the cars life history and soul. Look forward to progress updates. Bob
Yeah, how bad are the fenders anyway? I’d try to repair them if not too far gone but they look pretty good to me. Nice tow vehicle by the way!
Your running boards appear to be OK so just a set of replacement covers would be a cheaper option over the vulcanised units. Your nTudor appears to be coming on great, keep at it and loved the pic of your Dad and Dave in the early shot with the A coupe.
I've used dozens of 32 Rootlieb hoods mixing and matching them with stock 32 hood parts with no problems. Their Gennie Henry 25 louver sides are exactly like originals.
I also say repair those fenders. Any repros you buy will probably need the same amount of work to fit as you would put into straightening those, and those already fit right. A no brainer. If your body man is scared of fixing those, he would definitely not be the man to fit repro fenders to the car. Usually involves slicing and dicing.
Hello, thank you for the responses. I prefer original to repro, as do all the craftsmen around me. The rear fenders are rough beyond the taillight holes. They are ripped on the welts and repaired with rods from behind, which have torn since. The mounting flanges to the boards are torn and partially missing and mounts at the body are rusty along with regular dents/damage. The running boards are junk, just terrible. Photos don't show it. The fronts are probably going to be saved, just looking into options. I've fixed things in the past that should have been replaced due to stubborn-ness, cheapness and nostalgia. I need to learn from those mistakes. As for the comment about them being part of the car's history, I couldn't agree more! I'm a sentimental sap, don't like new ****, and am restoring every tid bit on the car I touched as a child "driving" it in the garage. But some things are better to start over. If you saw them, felt them, you'd agree. I work at a high-end restoration shop, we regularly buy dry 4 doors to replace lower 1/4's, wheel lips and dog legs along with floor and trunk patches into rusty valuable 2 doors. I'm no stranger to slicing, dicing, fitting and altering to get perfect gaps and lines. Several of my metal, guys, not "body men", have seen and gone over the rears, and they realize the damage, work ahead and likelihood of a less than perfect outcome. I do appreciate your comments, I hope I'm not coming across as rude or arrogant, Thank you. Geoff
Not arrogant, I just think you haven't experienced any of the repro fenders out there. Maybe the new UP fenders are really good, but I haven't fitted any of those. I have seen Brookville fenders that were given up on and traded down the road because the arch was wrong. Kinda difficult to reshape the complete arch of a three foot fender. I would rather attempt the repairs first, then if I failed I would find some replacements. Maybe you could even find some originals in the cl***ifieds?
The Jalopy Journal
