Technical 1932 Pickup Rebuild Thread UPDATED 1/11/16

Dennis: Thanks for this thread. I've gotten a lot of really good ideas for my PU build. Your attention to little details is great. I will be doing several of them on my build. I'll be using some products from your company. Keep this thread coming as there are more like me than the hater's. Gary at Cornhusker

 

Great looking stuff to me!
That fuel line from pump to carb is masterful! I think some of us could use a technical on steel tube bending! Thanks for taking the time to show us all the little details... after all, it is about the details, isn't it??

 

People need to learn to not say anything if they have nothing nice to say! Your project looks awesome and will be killer. Who cares if the "era" of parts don't go together? It'll still look cool. Thanks for putting the build thread together. I've learned a lot from it as I'm sure others have as well


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Dennis, Your '32 is turning out great and especially because it's the way you want it. There's always the people who have negative opinions who have to ratchet their jaw with criticism. Their opinions mean nothing. I've been building hot rods for over 55 years and have listened to the bs since day one. My response is to ask them where is their car so I can pick it apart. I've never had a taker as it seems that they haven't ever built a car themselves. I look forward to seeing your pick up and hope you and your family enjoy all the great updates. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Ron

 

Ever since I started reading this board, I've even felt bad about replacing old rusted bolts with new grade 8 hardware sometimes... Sometimes I think the period correct people can go a little overboard (but in a good way).

 

I use original Ford hardware whenever possible because in most cases it's made specifically for its application with regards to shoulder length, overall length, etc. Ford bolts also have unmistakable thick heads that make them immediately identifiable.

 

Looks great. You're in the final stretch now & will be driving in no time!

 

Oh no, I understand each nut and bolt was purposefully designed and that hardware helps to achieve correct tolerances and fit. I definitely wasn't referring to your build as going overboard.

I was just saying sometimes I feel guilty calling 1-800 HOT ROD now is all.

 

It's cool, man, I knew what you were getting at. I was just saying why I like using them whenever possible. That being said, there's nothing wrong with going overboard. A good friend and customer once told us, "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing."

 

Took me three hours but I read the whole thing. Outstanding. Your tech abilities are second to none. I have a question about the Zips riser. You plugged the heater hose outlet. Have you done that in the past. Also part number on the lower hose. Salaute to you youngman!!!

 

This is a great thread. I just wanted to comment that I plugged my heater hose outlet on my Zips riser without issue. I did install GM OE part number 10070107 bleeder screw in the riser as mentioned on another thread. I interchanged that number to Dorman 902-112 or NAPA 6413377. It makes bleeding the air out easier which is the most important part.

 

It looks great Dennis!

 

This is awesome. Nice work!

 

You should be making these builds in hard copy for our work benches. I have 2 books on transmisions and none come close to your description and detail with photos to make it clear.. Absolute great job!! I'm going out and restart my '32 build now !! We all thank you and look forward to your next enlightenment.

 

Thanks, guys, for all of your comments and compliments. They really do mean a lot to me! They also help keep me motivated.

I'm still working away on the truck. I've been dealing with lots of the little, nit-picky details that aren't particularly exciting to photograph. I should have an update worth reporting this coming weekend. Trying to get this thing running by Christmas!

 

good luck that will make a nice Christmas present to yourself I have really enjoyed this build, it is almost like reading atext book on how to build a hotrod and the fact you are using sbc makes even better Tom

 

Go man go!

 

hey bubba...I have a question. What brand spacer do you use to mount wires on '40 drums?...inquirin' minds

 

http://www.mtcarproducts.com/Support-Rings.html

 

Gotta say that I love your truck, and especially....your attitude toward it. I have always built what I liked, never stuck to a "style", and last winter finished up a three window 28 Chrysler, sold to a guy who just "had" to have it. Unique car, built to go fast, it's maiden voyage was two long blasts down the country road in front of my house, 80 plus miles an hour, never been driven car, I told the new owner how foolish I thought that was, but he couldn't wipe the shit eating grin off his face.
Good job, fantastic truck.

 

One more possibly dumb question for you... What lubricant do you use on all the zerks and tie rod ends? I can't find anything definitive that states what I should or should not be using.

 

The spacer supports from MT (which we sell) that Danny linked to are for use with MT's replacement drums because they feature longer wheels studs and the thickness of the support spacer doesn't affect lug nut thread engagement. There is a different style for original '40-'42 drums (which we also sell) that is a ring that gets epoxied to the drum and sits inside the stud circle to replicate the inner raised support stands on mechanical brake drums. Some people tack-weld the ring to the back of the wheel. Either way works.

I'm using the spacer-style supports from MT on my original drums because I'm a stubborn ass.

 

We use Sta Lube black hi-temp disc brake bearing grease everywhere on the chassis that requires grease. Its never done us wrong. There's lots of different grease out there and lots of personal preference. We like black grease because if it squeezes out of somewhere it's black and inconspicuous.

 

I promise I'll have an update very soon, guys! I've been leaving the camera home so my wife has it on-hand for all those cute, unplanned Holiday moments with the kids. In the coming week I plan to attack all of the wiring and also plan to spend all day, Saturday the 2nd at the shop to get some major work done. The GNRS is just 4 weeks away, gotta get my ass in gear!

 

I am glad to hear the naysayers haven't run you off. looking forward to updates, and happy new years to you and your family. Tom

 

how long is 'soon' in dog years?

 

UPDATE



Where I last left off I was to the point where I needed to handle an electrical system. Running wires is what it is but I needed a solution for installing the Odyssey 12 volt compact battery. I love these batteries because they are 5.5” tall and can be mounted on the frame without hanging below. We actually offer as a product a fabricated mount to put this battery in a stock '32 frame, in the original position but I kept looking at the original battery support and thinking that I could modify it to work.



I wish that I had taken some before pictures but here is what I came up with. I removed 3.5” from the vertical section to bring the bottom of the support up even with the bottom of the frame rail and K-member. I then completely removed the other vertical support and made a new flat plate that reaches over and lays in the frame channel and attaches using the original bolt hole. Once all of the was done I added new studs for the hold down to attach to.



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Here it is with the battery and fabricated hold down frame in place. The frame was made from 1/8 x 1” and 1/8 x 1-1/2” flat bar.



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And with some paint sprayed on.



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Installed. Fits perfectly and having the battery tucked up into the frame will give the left-hand exhaust pipe somewhere to go. The ground post can also still be reached through the access hole in the wood floor board.



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More to come!

 

Looks great as always. Keep the updates coming.

 

Dennis, do you any pictures of the one you sell? Slug

 

UPDATE



With the battery installed I was then able to measure for cables and start wiring in general. For cables I use pre made pieces from Standard Wire. They come in a huge variety of gauges and lengths. In addition to solid, corrosion free connections another factor that makes for a good starting system is low resistance so I like to use large 1 gauge cables instead of the typical 4 gauge. Plus, the cost difference is only marginally more so why not go with the better, larger cable?



1932 Ford's with V8's had a heel activated starter switch that mounted off of the back of the steering gear. This is also where the positive battery cable, starter cable and all other positive wire connections attach making it the power junction for the entire vehicle. I was originally planning to reuse the stock wiring harness's so I designed a simple bracket to attach a modern 12 volt, ground to energize remote starter relay off of the back of the steering gear. This would mean that none of the factory connections would have to be altered. (As it turns out, not such a concern anymore for my truck since I ended up making new wiring but I also took into consideration being able to offer the part for sale to our customers if they want to do a 12 volt conversion to a stock '32 and have a push button for the starter instead of the heel button.) This also makes the wiring connections still easy to access with the hood up but without all the mess right in plain sight to an observer if it were up on the firewall where folks typically mount these relays.



Here's the mounted relay with all of it's connections. Because the B+ post wasn't long enough to accommodate all of the wires and cables I used a threaded coupler as a nut for the two cables then a short bolt to attach the smaller ring terminals to the other end of the coupler. I didn't have the budget to purchase a bunch of spools of vintage cloth covered wiring so I faked it by putting scraps of cloth covered wire everywhere that shows outside of the loom. Looking at it you can't tell the difference and it saved a bunch of money.



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The starter cable and solenoid trigger wire then make their way across the back of the engine and over to the starter motor. A stock '32 V8 is routed in a similar fashion.



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In addition to the usual wiring needed for the basic truck to function I also decided to add turn signals since most people on the road don't know what the hell hand signals mean and I intend to drive my truck A LOT! I sat in the truck and mounted the turn signal switch where it felt the most comfortable. Then I stared at the wires coming out of the switch and tried to decide the best way to route them. I soon realized that bundled up they would all be able to pass through the now unused hole for the old 4-banger starter pull cable in the steering column mount. (I still need to do something about that awful red hazard knob.



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I did end up using the stock light harness down on the frame but it became quickly apparent that it made more sense to make a new purpose-built engine/cab harness instead of scabbing onto the stock one because that's exactly what it would have looked like. After all of the wires were routed as needed and bundled together I covered them in asphalt-dipped cloth loom with cloth covered wire anywhere it shows outside of the loom for a vintage appearance. I didn't take any photos of the wiring process but it was pretty straight forward, run from Point A to Point B as needed. Knowing where to run wires to and from and making the connections isn't too difficult. At least, not for me. For me, the timing consuming part is deciding on the path of the wiring so that it looks the cleanest that it can. Also, since the loom I use isn't split it takes a lot of planning ahead to ensure that it can actually be installed everywhere after the wires are ran and bundled. You can paint yourself into a corner really easy without enough forethought!



Here are some pics of the finished looms that will be obvious to observers. I used some hand made wrap-around clamps to secure the loom to the firewall using original holes. I also made some similar clamps to hold the wire loom along the intake manifold but forgot to take pictures with all of those clamps painted and installed. I'll get some asap.



You'll also notice that nowhere are there any wire terminals with red, blue or yellow covers on them. Those ugly things are a HUGE pet peeve of mine and you'll never find them on anything I wire.



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Still more to come...