Projects And the 32 Coupe begins...Finishing another guy's dream...

Ok... making some progress on the Deuce finally ....

I found a shift handle for the T5.... I looked quite a while for a vintage handle... hard to find for some reason. I ended up buying a rebuilt chev 37 tranny for $25 and cut it off... oh well. Here is the chev tranny.



Now grafted on to the T5



Next... I tackled the steering and brakes. After a lot of thought I ended up with a Limeworks column, a gennie 39 banjo wheel and column drop.

The car was set up with a single pedal welded to the frame. I was able to cut out the old and weld in the new with the body in place. I ended up with a Pete and Jake's pedal assembly, using a hydraulic clutch. I really wanted a mechanical linkage, but I felt the hydraulic was a simpler and more straight forward install.

Here is the old brake assembly:



The pedals from Pete and Jakes were not shaped to fit the floor. I called them and they said modification was common for the variety of builds. I had to cut, bend, and weld to get the contour to fit the floor. Here shows the modified clutch pedal and the stock brake pedal for comparison.



Welded in place. I power coated the bracket since it would be a pain to paint later :


The steering....




The column drop... I need to make a spacer to get the right contour



More to come later .....

 

It looks AWESOME! I can't wait to see it on the road lighting up those super old brand new tires.

 

We going to see it at Back to the 50s next year?

 

That is the plan !!! Right now I don't see any major roadblocks other than money .......

 

Ok... finally got some more garage time to work on the Deuce.....

The car was painted before anything was fitted by the previous owner. The firewall was void of holes, which meant drill a lot of holes in it or weld to it and repaint. I picked the later, then decided to paint the firewall a cream color rather than try to match the green.

The 3 deuce set looks awesome. Hopefully it runs as good as it looks.

Spent some time and painted the engine and powder coated the bell housing.



In my builds, I like to use Highway 15 wiring harnesses. They seem to work well for me. I bend up a sheet metal tray to weld it to the firewall making the install easy and clean. I also mount the ballast resistor, relays, and misc crap tp make sure I have it all. Nothing worse that having crap hanging under the dash.

Fellow HAMBer gave me a Bobcat heater... it fits very nicely and is small and simple... and we will be covered by the dash.

I also mounted the gas pedal and insulated the inside of the firewall. I should be ready to go.....




Now its on to connect the clutch, brakes, and making the floor......

 

Very nice, I like the firewall color and Bobcat heater.

 

Love the color , about the only thing I would do is change the belt line ,and body trim to a diffrent color maybe a dark green or black.....your call ! looking real nice !

 

Ok... I'm way overdue on an update on my Deuce project. I made some good progress I think between it and all of my other obligations....

First of all, finally got the engine/tranny in place for the final time with the intake and carbs installed. Bought a new Edelbrock intake with Rochester carbs. I powdercoated the intake to hopefully keep it easy to clean.



I decided to keep the firewall clean. Only a coil feed through and the throttle cable. I wanted to go with a mechanical linkage, but didn't want the pain of installing and using it....

The tight fit distributor came from Hamber Bubba... Thanks !




I like the look of ram horn manifolds. I ceramic coated them myself. I had to go around it with the steering.. oh well...

The alternator is one of the mini-GM types mounted low and out of the way.

I don't like the flex fan, but the only way to fit a mechanical fan between the motor and radiator without pushing the firewall back.




After a lot of looking around, I sprung for the new wheels. 15 inch ET vintage V with Firestone bias 8.20 and 5.60. I love the look.






I ordered a new chrome windshield from Dick Spadaro. I stuck green tinted glass in the car all the way around... to go with the car color. I am not normally a big fan of green tint, but in this case it looks right.



I got all the original Henry garnish back in it. For fun, I powdercoated it chrome as an experiment. If it does not hold up, I'll change the color later. When I bought the car, the entire interior was together without the glass. I painfully removed all the staples so I could get the glass in.... what a pain





I made the floor sections so I could take it apart the front portion for a future tranny swap.



All the wiring is mostly done. I used a Highway15 harness. A great product that has well labeled wires. I have done several other cars with this kit and have had great luck with it.



The heater is in place. A modified Bobcat heat mounted sideways. Should work well here in the north tundra.



Not too much to do before I fire it up ! I hope to have it on the road this spring ....More to come later .....

 

Gsta 2014????

 

That is the plan !

 

Nice Car! Nice job finishing up, looks great! John

 

Nice car, nice build....

I'll comment on two things; you'll like the flex fan even less once the car is running as they're noisy as hell at highway speeds. I've got a PO-installed one on my avatar '47 and that's near the top of the list of things to change. And mine is under a hood....

And the 'chrome' powdercoat won't hold up unless you clear it with paint; the single-stage stuff is complete crap, putting clear powder over it helps but it will still show scratches badly. A hardened clear paint will give a scratch-resistant finish.

 

Steve, thanks for the comments. I will have to see how much fan room I have once I mount the radiator. I'm not sure if the fan noise is a big issue with the loud exhaust and wind noise.... I really don't want an electric fan in front of the radiator.

I did clearcoat the intake with clear powder over the chrome. If it does not hold up, I'll just do it over someday. Its an experiment. I read a lot about it and you either people love it or hate it. I run a small powdercoating operation and I need stuff to show my customers. If it doesn't work, then I wont recommend it.

Doug

 

Nice car and good progress. Your chassis is an early Deuce Factory frame and they were very well built. I still have two of them. Keep the photos coming.

 

I like everything you have done, keep up the great progress. Were you happy with the windshield frame? Some day I plan to get a new chrome one.

 

Thanks !

I love everything about the new windshield except the price

I was going to use the original crusty windshield and powder coat it flat black. Glad I did not.

 

I don't understand why you can't run a mechanical fan in your deuce. I did it in my car no problem.



Ago

 

Better kick it in high gear on those fenders and the cutting & buffing! The deadline is coming quickly! http://www.gstarod-custom.com/carshow.htm

 

Have you given any thought to using a zips riser to center your fin in the radiator? HRP

 

That is one gorgeous 5w Deuce. Glad you lost the wire wheels. Subscribed

 

the semi-flex fans offered by flex-o-lite work fine and dont make any noise and they are pretty flat on the front or should i say have a negative offset. Itll fit.

jeff

 

The old resto style paint looks fantastic with your white firewall and your wheel and tyre combination. Excellent.

 

I am running a mechanical fan. Each car is different. Most guys cut the firewall back. Without cutting the firewall and running an original sized radiator and a hood, it's a tight fit.

 

Looks like I will be in the MSRA booth at GSTA

 

My buddy Chuck Dupaul came over today and i told him you were going to put the 32 in the show, turns out Chuck use to own that Coupe and sold it to Luke whos widow you bought it from. (Chuck also owned your 36 roadster) He knew all the people that had worked on it and lots of other cool info so when you go to make yoru show sign ill get some for your, he knew who did the interior, paint etc etc.

jeff

 

A friend told me you can fit a sbc in a 32 without cutting the firewall at all. I had to cut mine at the very bottom, maybe a 1" cresent shape right above the trans. I did move the radiator forward 3/4" and bought hood tops that were 1" longer, all still using a mechanical fan with a zip waterpump riser.

 

Jeff,

Wonderful. Yes, I need to give credit to the guys who did all of the hard work. It would also be nice to establish a timeline to when the car was purchased by Luke, and the body and interior done.

Doug

 

Subscribed! Have heard about this car through Wade and am looking forward to seeing the progress. It looks great so far!

 

Looking good....I have been lurking in the back watching this build. I like your new windshield....

 

Dude.... I chased that car for over 2 years with the son in law of the owner. Never could get him to agree with a sale price.. It was always " I dont know what its worth I need to get back to you".. I kept upping my offer but it never was enough. He had 6 cars to sell and 20 more in a barn for parts or projects.
tough hop.
I do have a little bit of info on the owner, you probably heard it all already.
Best of luck with the build.... oh yeah by the way... you suck.. I will be building a fiberglass car.