Technical 1932 Pickup Rebuild Thread UPDATED 1/11/16

I managed to find some pictures of the mount installed on a customers '32 Victoria chassis, which is where I first designed it. This installs using factory holes and fits with our '32 master cylinder kit and brake line. The bottom of the mount is flush with the bottom of the frame which is awesome for cars without fenders and also allows an exhaust pipe to pass under.

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I did that battery box for my '32.......it is very well made and a snap to install.
BTW, those Odyssey batteries are great!

 

UPDATE



Yesterday (Saturday) I spent the whole day working on the truck. It's almost to the point where it's ready to test fire the engine but before doing that there was some rear axle related stuff that needed to be addressed so out it came.



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One of those items is the rear spring. Back in 1995 when my Dad and I originally lowered the truck and designed the hydraulic brake system we lowered the rear by removing the the 6 short top leaves from the spring. The rationale at the time was because the spring had never been apart and he didn't think would should cut the factory rivets around the first 5 leaves. He then made an aluminum spacer to make up the difference so that the original u-bolts would work. Well, it did lower the rear a couple of inches but the tradeoff was (big surprise) that it handles terrible (can you say corner lean!) and the axle would also bottom out easily with a mild load in the bed. Not the best idea but at the time we didn't know any better.



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So I whipped out our home made spring spreader and removed what was left of the original spring. Note that the spreader has safety straps! I wouldn't use one without them.



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To replace it, we had another '32-'34 rear spring on hand that had 3 leaves removed and was de-arched 3”. It had also already been polished, chamfered, painted, greased and assembled. I disassembled it and washed all of the black grease off (so that I could re grease using the same Energy Suspension grease I used on the front spring) and pushed out the stock-style spring studs so that I could install the bushings for my existing hot rod spring shackles. While the shackles were out I drilled them (like the fronts) so that I could use castle nuts and cotter pins in place of the nyloc nuts. I inserted them so that the nuts and cotter pins are on the rear so that at first glance under the back of the truck they look original.



The main leaf was then hooked up, the underside of all of the spring leaves slathered in greased then stacked and assembled onto the main leaf. I also cleaned the 3 removed leaves and gave the underside a quick polish and added them back in so that it was a full 11-leaf spring so I can actually carry a load in the bed.

• Note: After getting the rear axle back in the truck and mocking up the wheels it doesn't appear to be any lower than before. I think this is due to a few factors. 1) Most of the de-arch amount was canceled out by making up for the thickness of the 6 removed leaves from the original spring. 2) I added 3 more leaves back into the spring. 3) With more leaves the spring will relax less with the weight of the truck on it. If I wish it to be lower later on I have some wiggle room. I can always remove the 3 leaves I added back and I can also have the spring eyes reversed.

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Before sticking the rear axle back under the truck I got under there and removed the remaining tail pipe section that passes through the rear cross member. While under there I noticed that the factory axle bumpers were in awful condition. They were also riveted on so I grabbed a big chisel, my favorite hammer and went at it, which was also very therapeutic! With the old ones off I bolted on some fresh bumpers.



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And still more to come...

 

I was looking at the headlight wiring - I think that as shown they will chafe/rub/wear on the bottom of the radiator shell. You may have added some extra fastening, in which case never mind.

 

The way you route the wiring and such is very pleasing to me and my ocd. Nothing worse than wires draped everywhere

 

UPDATE



Back when I built the transmission I didn't install a U-joint because I didn't have but wanted to get a hold of a Lincoln Zephry joint. The yoke halves and center cross of the Lincoln joint are substantially

heavier duty than the '32-'48 Ford joints. They also feature needle roller bearings inside the 4 cross caps whereas the Ford's do not. Shown below is the Ford joint (left) and Lincoln joint (right).



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I showed the same picture above on my Instagram account and a fellow HAMB member, Chris Swenson, commented that he had heard reports of quite a few failures of Lincoln needle bearing U-joints. I replied to him that I was willing to bet that was because the user did not properly lubricate the needle bearings. I have seen a lot of people slather the U-joint in grease but the problem with that is that grease doesn't flow and it won't get under the caps in either joint style to lubricate where it's critical. Greasing any other part of the joint is essentially pointless other than rust prevention. Furthermore, Ford did not use grease to lubricate the U-joints. They used a fluid formula called “soda soap.”



My method of lubricating these joints is to flow liberal amounts of Ford replacement 600W gear oil (which is thick and syrup-like and clings especially well) down into the caps and work the joint cross up and down and side to side in the caps and pivot the yoke halves all around to work the oil down into the caps. I spend a good amount of time doing this. For example, I spent a half hour working oil into the Lincoln joint I'm using. I then put a thin film of oil all over the joint surface for rust prevention.



This is the back of the transmission and mount as it had been sitting since installing the trans and engine.



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Here is the U-joint installed. I always use blue thread locker on the U-joint retaining bolt which screws into the end of the transmission main shaft.



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The inner U-joint cap was installed with a gasket and gasket sealer. I also applied a good amount of grease to the outside of the cap because this is what the torque tube pivots on.



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The inside of the torque tube bell is also greased along with the drive shaft splines. The drive shaft is then engaged into the end of the U-joint and the torque tube slid into place.



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Then the outer U-joint cap was put into place with a gasket and gasket sealer, the nuts tightened evenly and cotter pins installed. While I was under there I also aligned the castle nuts on the trans mount bolts and installed those cotter pins. The speedometer drive cap will be addressed later on.



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With the U-joint and caps hooked up I then raised the axle and spring up into the frame and installed the spring clamps.



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With the rear axle and spring installed for good I then pulled the rear hubs/drums so that I could have a look at the rear brakes for the first time in 20 years. At the minimum I was going to install new wheel cylinders but on closer inspection it looks like the right rear cylinder had been leaking a little bit because there are some traces of fluid on the forward shoe and on the drum. So, it looks like I'll be installing new shoes as well. Which is fine because I'll have the peace of mind that the entire brake system is fresh.



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At this point I am going to hold off on the brake work and spend the first part of this week getting the engine fired. In order to do that I have a new set of spark plug wires that need to be made, put water in the radiator, put oil in the engine, prime the engine and index the distributor then put some fresh gas in the tank and push the button. Once the engine runs I'll finish the brakes then I can bleed them and put it on the ground and go for a test drive. Then all that's left is driving an 1/8th mile down the street to get the exhaust built.



Getting real close, folks!

 

UPDATE



Okay, taking a slight step back to the wiring phase after getting some pictures off of my phone...



Early on into the project I bought this really neat Guide license plate bracket / light off of the HAMB classifieds. I especially liked that it was made by Guide because it was kind of keeping in theme with my Guide headlights. I picked it up because I wanted to move the license plate under the bed instead of hanging off the left taillight. To me, with the fenders removed the plate looked like it was just kind of stuck there like an after thought.



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I made this really simple mounting bracket out of some scrap aluminum angle.



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Then bead blasted and painted everything semi gloss black.



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And finally attached it to the rear support cross beam under the bed.



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Another thing I did and have been wanting to do for a long time is replace the fully polished passenger taillights and wire shields with proper black commercial units.



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And lastly...

Last week I happily received my entry packet for the Suede Palace at the Grand National Roadster Show which is just a couple of weeks away at the end of this month! So, if any of you are attending the show you will be able to see my old truck in the flesh.

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Thanks man! Yeah, wiring in general is where so many cars fall short, looking like a bowl of spaghetti was dumped all over. Normally I enjoy it more but now I'm starting to feel the pressure of the GNRS deadline so it was all about getting it done and moving on. The depth of my tech on these recent updates is suffering a little because of the pressure, too.

I'm just so ready to be done working on this thing. I wanna go for a drive!

 

Building Hotrods is fun and easy!
That's my mantra when stuff goes sideways like the TT seal situation
It looks great Dennis, the end is so close now.

 

Just a quick note for all you Odyssey Battery users....

DO NOT USE A CONVENTIONAL HOLD DOWN AND CRANK IT DOWN ON TO THE BATTERY CASE WITH A SOCKET !!!!!

If you are not familiar with these batteries, be advised that the cases on them are very thin, and , if you look at the mounts and hold downs that Dennis has made/sold for these, they all have a stop built into them and just snug down lightly before the case is under pressure. I have had a couple of ham-fisted customers crank these down into tray style mounts and RUIN the battery......

Some people certainly think they know a great deal more than they actually do........
( and some days, I`m one of them......but those stories are for another thread........)

 

Battery mount is cool work. How do you find these work as they are only rated at 330cca.
I am thinking we may try the same thing on our 32 pickup.

 

I always enjoy the updates to this thread. Thanks again, Dennis, and good luck at the show.

Mart.

 

As one of our customers mentioned above, these batteries work really good. They may have a relatively low CCA rating but they do a great job of cranking an engine. We've sold a good handful of the '32 mounts and also have made some for '33/'34 and we have only received positive feedback from our customers.

 

wow a lot of tech / info and pictures, you are very meticulus. Which brand is that ignition coil?
thanks

 

Thanks! The ignition coil is from Standard. It's 12 volt with a built in resister.

 

Thanks i' m gonna follow your project!

 

Very cool build, nice work. I have a 34 and love it!

 

I second Dennis's recommendation for the Odyssey battery, I've had one in my '32 roadster since 2008 mounted in a modified '32 battery tray. I used the MJ925, it's the same battery in his pu but with a metal enclosure. The battery is more exposed when mounted in the stock tray and the metal enclosure protects it from damage. I will purchase more Odyssey batteries when needed for my other cars. Dennis, looking forward to seeing your pick up at the show, great results!

 

UPDATE



After getting the rear hubs & drums off and inspecting the brakes it was time to get busy.



The left rear hub / drum had 2 stripped wheel studs right next to each other. One happened many years ago before wire wheel support rings became commercially available and the other happened a couple of years ago. It had probably been on the edge for a while and the last time I tried to torque it was the the straw that broke the camels back. Since the truck hardly got used over the last few years I just drove it that way. It wasn't a great idea but wimpy 4-banger putting around town at 40 MPH wasn't going to break anything. This time around is a different story so I needed to fix the studs. Rather than remove the 2 stripped studs and replace them I opted to remove all of the studs and install new, modern press-in versions.



Original Ford studs are not pressed in, they are swedged. What that means is that the studs are inserted through the hub and brake drum then the shoulder area below the threads is peeled down and fits into a relief around the stud hole the drum. The stud head on the inside of the hub and the swedge on the outside of the drum captures the two together so that the do not come apart. Never, ever try and press the studs out because it will egg-shape the holes in the hub and can also warp the hub flange.



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To remove the swedged Ford studs I first center punch the stud heads.



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I also flip the drums over and make index marks with a center punch on the hub and drum. On the left side drum I put the marks in-line with one of the wheel studs and on the right side I put the marks between two studs. This ensures that that a left hub and right drum index marks will never match and the sides can't be mixed up. This also ensures that the drum will mount to the hub in the same position as when they were separated keeping the shoe surface concentric to the hub center line. This is especially important if the drums don't require machining of the shoe surface.



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Next the stud heads are drilled starting with a 1/4” pilot hole and working up to 9/16”. The holes must be just deeper than the thickness of the stud heads.



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Using a hammer and a drift down in the holes that were drilled in the stud heads, the studs can then be punched out and the hub & drum separated.



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This is one of the removed studs and its head, which broke away when the stud was punched out. Not the raised lip on the stud under the threads. That is from the swedging process and it is why you don't want to try and press the studs out the other direction.



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The stud holes in the hubs were then drilled to 5/8” so that the new press-in studs will fit.



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Before going further I needed to remove the wheel bearing, grease seal and snap ring from the hubs so that I could wash and inspect the hubs and bearings. Getting the grease seals out can be a real pain in the butt because they are a tight fit into the hub. We came up with a way to use a small 2-jaw puller that works awesome every time. After removing the snap ring an aluminum slug with a pilot hole is inserted down in the hub.



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Then the 2-jaw puller is fit in with the puller pilot in the pilot hole of the aluminum slug and a C-clamp to hold the jaws in position.



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The seal is pulled out then the wheel bearing can be removed.



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After washing the hubs the new studs can be pressed into the hubs. A flat spot must be ground on the stud heads so that they fit with the raised shoulder on the hub.



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The stud holes in the drums are drilled 21/32” (5/8” + 1/32”) and then are set back onto their corresponding hubs with the index marks aligned. The holes in the drums are made slightly bigger so that they are not a tight fit onto the studs. This allows the drums to be pulled off of the hub (like a modern drum) for inspecting and working on the brakes. An especially nice feature on these old Ford's with the tapered rear hubs.



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The hub and drum are then torqued together with nuts and washers so that the brake shoe surface can be machined.



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Machining the shoe surface.



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Lastly, I drilled the holes in the bolt-on wire wheel support rings to 21/32” so that they also slip over the remaining portion of the studs.



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After getting the drums tuned up I also freshened up the rear brakes with fresh wheel cylinders and relines brake shoes. As I did with the front brakes, I took the wheel cylinders apart to make sure they were clean and lubed. The shoes were also arch-ground to fit the size of the drums.

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well shit...I thought you were gonna show us your version of how to adjust the brake shoes...those are '46-'48 backing plates?

 

Yes, they are the '46-'48 versions which self-center the brake shoes to the drums and only require you to adjust the shoe-to-drum clearance.

I personally think that the '39-'42 versions that require you to manually center the shoes to the drums with the lower eccentrics are a pain in the ass. I hate 'em! Everybody else did too and they didn't understand what they were trying to accomplish by turning them, which is why Ford changed the design after The War. The later versions also have the raised pads that positively support the inner edges of the brake shoes and keep them more square to the drum, like the Lincoln Bendix brakes do.

Maybe I can do a separate brake "How To" thread. I just need to recover for a while after this project. The problem now is that I've been in such a frenzy to bang out work on this old truck I keep forgetting to take pictures. When I started I felt like I had all kinds of time.

 

UPDATE



With the rear brakes gone through I could now install our '32 Hand Brake Kit and all of the rearward brakes lines which were also made in stainless, like the fronts.



This is the '32 Hand Brake Kit that we manufacture and sell to compliment our '32 Master Cylinder Kit. Like everything else we offer, this is a bolt-on kit. It clamps to the torque tube and is also secured to one of the speedometer gear drive cap bolts, which keeps it from rotating. The tube routes the front cable from the hand brake handle to the center of the chassis. This way the rear cable loop that goes to each brake is pulled evenly from the center.



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This picture shows how the cable attaches to the hand brake handle with a yoke that is part of the kit.



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Here are some general pictures of the rear brakes lines installed. Other than being made in stainless steel they are otherwise identical to the '32 brake lines that we sell to go with our master cylinder kit. Notice that the torque tube clamp portion of the hand brake kit also serves as a mount for the rear brake flex hose.



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Also, while I was under there I trimmed the new Lokar speedometer cable (which was necessary to work with the new Stewart Warner speedometer) to the correct length and attached it to the drive gear and followed the original routing through the K-member then up and through the firewall and secured it to the firewall using the original clamp.



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Another thing I did at the recommendation of several people, INCLUDING 3-WINDOW LARRY , was install a PCV valve. There is a stamped steel hose nipple fitting from the factory that fits into the road draft hole at the back of the block but those aren't reproduced and originals are getting up there in price. I found that pretty much every vintage Chevy parts supplier sells the same kit to convert '55 to mid 60's small blocks from a road draft tube to a PCV valve so I ordered the kit off of Ebay where I found the best price of $37 plus some postage. I removed the plug that I had previously installed in the road draft tube hole and installed the kit which has a rubber grommet that fits into the hole and a 90 degree nipple that fits into the grommet. The Edelbrock carburetor has a 1/4” NPT hole in the rear of it's base (like GM 4-barrels) for the PCV valve and 90 degree adapter fitting to screw into.



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One last thing I did was order a black K&N-style air filter to replace the typical light red K&N filter that came with the Edelbrock air cleaner set. Interestingly, the new filter is from Edelbrock. They ought to make this an option. I'm thinking it looks better blacked out. The other one was like a big neon sign diverting an observers attention away from seeing the entire engine.


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UPDATE – IT'S THE “BIG” ONE!!!



Two days ago (Friday, 1/15/2016) I put the finishing touches on the chassis stuff and I pried my Dad out of his office to help me bleed the brakes. Other than one fitting I hadn't tightened enough, that went really well with no leaks (which I was a little worried about since I had never used stainless brake lines before!) He also helped me measure and adjust the wheel toe to 1/8” toe-in. Yesterday (Saturday, 1/16/2016) I went into the shop and finished the last few engine-related things such as pouring in the oil and priming the oil system, filling the radiator with distilled water and Royal Purple Purple Ice cooling system treatment, putting the distributor back in and indexing it correctly, making my new solid core spark plug wires that are compatible with the Raja spark plug clips and pouring in some fresh gas. Once all of this was handled, at around 11:45 AM I pushed the truck outside, sprayed some starting fluid down the carburetor and hit The Button. It didn't fire on the first try but a little fiddling with the distributor position (at my Dads suggestion) and it fired right up! I had pumped some oil into the cylinders and once that burned off there was no smoke coming out of the manifolds to speak of. No strange noises, no problems. There's nothing better than finding out the used motor you spent all of that time detailing runs as good as it looks!!! After setting the timing and bringing down the idle a little I hopped in a took it for a couple of laps up and down our long alley. Again, no issues to speak off other than a couple “new car” things like needing to adjust the clutch linkage and center the steering wheel. The transmission works killer, the brakes absolutely STOP, there's no bad noises and all the awful creaking and squeaking from the old dry springs is gone. I am absolutely thrilled with how things turned out!



Sooooooooo, A few things left to do. Center the steering wheel by adjusting the drag link, take up some free-travel on the clutch pedal, get the exhaust system made and make some little tabs to mount the rear hood latches on and it'll be ready to hit the street and bring home next weekend where the old 60's green lacquer will get washed, clay barred, polished and waxed so it looks it's best for the Suede Palace.



See you at the Grand National Roadster Show!



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Also, if you follow these links to my Instagram account there are two short videos of the engine starting/idling and behind the wheel.



https://www.instagram.com/p/BAnZGPzNO7zjRED8FPSvy1bhUrcv_yJjUBDT_Y0/?taken-by=dennis_lacy



https://www.instagram.com/p/BAnaKneNO-PIqqCLudU5WPOoBhGslXgJ27Y18Q0/?taken-by=dennis_lacy

 

Awesome, totally awesome!!!
Truck looks great.

Congrats Dennis! It's been a great build to follow.

 

awesome truck and great built thread, do you have a part number for the wheel studs that you used? and where did you get them from. Thanks

 

Nice truck Dennis! Great tech source! I'm building an old style 32 Tudor right now and have found your tech very valuable,thanks for posting!

 

links no workee

I've never been one to lavish anyone with gushy praise....but goddamn you've done a great job editing and documenting this thread of your build...best I've ever seen...loved all the detail shots...makes me proud you're in the hamb deuce club (btw, you're past due on your dues)

 

If that truck had a quick change, you wouldn't need to hide the rear end.

Great build buddy. Congrats.

 

Information overload!!! Thanks for all the pictures and clear explanations, A guy could damn near build a truck after reading this thread! One more reason i wish I was going to GNRS!

 

Hooray! well done, Dennis. Thanks for documenting every part of the thrash. Is there a part number or an application for the wheel studs?

Cheers!

Mart.