I built a "34" Ford pickup hot rod with a 6" chop, channeled 6" over the frame and stretched 5" behind the rear of the door opening. The car has the stock radiator shell and full hood and side curtains. the engine is a 302 Ford crate motor rated at 345 HP. I have a Tremec TKO 600 five speed transmission with the .82 overdrive. The car has no fenders. My problem with this car is the incredibly loud wind noise starting at about 60 mph. I actually have to wear ear protection to cruise at 70mph. Conversation with the passenger is next to impossible. My guess is that the visor above the windshield channels the air to the left and right and that the noise happens as the air stream passes around the "A" pillar. I thought of fabricating panels attached to the top hinge to smooth the air around the pillars but these would be ugly and made of aluminum would cut down on visibility. I also thought of cutting the visor off to see if that eliminated the wind noise. That would be drastic but if metal finished correctly wouldn't look that bad. This would look more like the windshield treatment of a "32" Ford. I would like to know how other Ford pickup owners have addressed this problem and what people's opinions would be on whether or not removing the visor would eliminate the wind noise. I could always weld the visor back on if I wanted to. Thank you.
Cutting off the visor would be wrong, and ugly. Do you have all the doors sealed, and the windshield? Maybe add more stick-on foam seals in the gaps. There are a few companies making a variety of sizes. Check the ads in a magazine like Street Rodder. Make sure you are going 360 degrees around the doors. I bet Ford didn't have much more than the windlace under that tin strip above the door. Also, maybe the noise isn't all wind, but vibration as well. Sound deadener like Dynamat or Lizard Skin could help a lot. Sure couldn't hurt.
I had a 34 ford hot rod pickup with a lot of wind noise, the nasty 348 Chevy (lake headers) was not quiet either. I always thought about fabricating a removable rear window to let the air pass through the cab more efficiently. It would be worth a try to remove the rear window and take it out for a highway cruise. Let me know how you fix your wind noise problem. Don't cut that visor.. You have an awesome truck. Gary
My experience is similar. I had a 31 Victoria with slant windshield and no visor. Always road with the side windows closed on the freeway, still noisy. Had way more foam seal than original. Remember these cars were not designed for freeway speeds. My Dearborn Deuce is even louder than the Vic. Lots of wind entering even with seals added around the doors. Good luck. Phil
Another thought.....if removing the window (is acceptable) helps. A custom roll down rear window would be totally cool. Gary
Add a blower and Quick Change, you wont notice the wind noise. Why I wasted time and money on a stereo plagues me.
My '32 was noisy and I sealed everything pretty well,the trucks have the aerodynamics of a barn and all the wind buffers under the visor, it was also noisy in my Model A pickup,it's something you get use to. During the summer with the windows down it's not near as bad. HRP
I think I understand.....you have a hot rod and complain about wind noise at speed. They were designed to go about 40-50 mph. Maybe you guys need to build a street rod with all those nice quiet interiors and all the comforts of home.... Ha, just razzing you. I personally like the noise, I don't want to talk to anyone when I drive.
Had the same problem with my 41 Willys P/U with the wind hitting an almost flat windshield. These old cars were obviously built with little or no aerodynamics and no thought of driving at 70 MPH plus.
You will never get rid of the noise......just get rid of the truck. You will be better off in the long run. In fact I will take it from you....saving the hassle. That truck is bad ass and welcome to the H.A.M.B.
try lifting the back of the truck a little and see if that changes the aerodynamics. Two or three inches will still look good but might help. Let us know
My 34 was taken care of by installing weatherstrip on all door seams. I consider all other noise via engine and exhaust as music.
Our 34 pickup seemed to hit warp speed at 60mph and the wind noise intensified. Sold it ,but not because of the wind noise. Had sellers remorse , now have another on the way, be it a 32. All these old jalopies get much noisier when there is a side wind blowing of some sort. If we can we choose not to drive our 32 highboy in strong wind as it seems to get tossed around. Give me rain any day to drive in .
Your driving a brick-shaped hot rod with a hot rod engine...the air is gonna make some noise trying to get around that brick. Killer truck. Don't change a thing.
My Model A is really loud with wind noisetoo, in fact in my first year driving it I lost some hearing (We do OSHA hearing testing at work and my L ear lost some wind frequencies) I now wear ear plugs when I go on the freeway, which is often. It's just part of hot rodding
I love my swimming pool, but damn, that water's really wet. What can I do? I can't jump in without getting wet all over!
If it ain't loud, hot and uncomfortable it ain't a hot rod! I had a '28 Tudor and it was very loud. Not sure if there was more wind noise or exhaust noise but I wore ear plugs when going over 60 or so.
I've got the doors all sealed up on my '34 pickup. Wind noise is still loud in the front. I also have almost the same noise in my stock Model A except not as loud. It goes slower
I had the same problem with a Deuce 5 window. Figured there’s got to be a way to get this thing quiet. Used Lizard Skin, Dynamat, extra weatherstripping around the doors. IT WAS STILL LOUD! As others have said, it’s a hot rod, get used to it. The only thing that worked for me: Bose noise cancelling headphones, paired via Bluetooth with the music on my phone. The wind noise was gone with the added bonus of tunes. Just watch for the cops, in some states it’s illegal to drive with headphones.
It will always be not aerodynamic and will be noisy at higher speeds. Stereo systems are not a good investment in an older car, unless you mostly cruise at 25 mph. My 29 ccpu starts getting really noisy at about 35 mph. Even my “modern” 51 Ford, with a lot of sound deadening, is pretty noisy at 70 mph. You can always drive a new car if it bothers you too much. I just stopped putting radios in my old cars.