Projects Building a Traditional 32 Roadster Beater

Are the lever action shocks stock ? I do not know how I am going to squeez shocks
Into the back of my 32 roadster ! Love what you are doing here !

 

Car looks great! Thanks for all the pics and details of the build.

 

You stated you have a oil pressure gauge mounted on the motor, but I sure would want one in-side the car so if you would drop pressure going down the road you would know it in time to shut it down.

 

The shocks are Ford shocks from the '38 - '48 range. I'm no expert on these shocks. They can be bought all day on eBay reasonable. They are not the stock 32 version. I had to heat and bend the rear levers to get them to work. Also, on all of them I had to ream the hole from the opposite direction with a special reaming bit to have the links work in this configuration.

 

Yeah, probably mount a gauge under the dash so I can see the pressure while driving.

 

I really dig the execution of your roadster. Now I've got my eyes out for '35 Poncho tail lights should I come across some..

The tool tray is a great idea too.


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Love this build great job .
Im curious how long did it take okie joes to do your front end thanks
John

 

It only took 3 weeks, including shipping time. Timing is everything. I got it to him right before he was doing a bunch of them. Joe did an awesome job!

 

bad ass! great job..

 

How was this ever a beater?

 

The car will be driven as my daily beater ....

 

Ok ... another big milestone in the garage .... fired it up and it appears to run just fine.... The new electronic distributor, carb, wires, etc. seems to be done correctly for a change

The engine was supposedly rebuilt, then pulled for a streetrod project. Time will tell. Once I get a few miles on it, then the heads and intake will need an upgrade.

I could pull it out into the snow and take a test drive, but I'll wait a bit. I need to get the gennie radiator cleaned and finish wiring of the lights.

 

Min-a-sorta in late dec.... take it out for a drive, probably it will never reach operating temp. Off to Florida & panama tomorrow.

 

Driving a car doesn't make it a beater....

 

Guess I would call this hot rod a driver.....fun to drive and not worry about getting a stone chip or scratch.......perfect!

 

Finally got the dash insert complete. 1934 Hudson Terraplane cluster complete with escutcheon. I put new glass in it, Had the speed-o cleaned and reset to all zeros, and fixed the gauges. I'll make the gas and heat gauges work with my sending units. The heat gauge will be used on the right head. The Amps and Oil jewels will be used for my turn signals. Using the stock Terraplane start button and the headlight knob. The 36 ford amp/temp gauge is on the far left. That temp gauge will be used on the left head. I will need to mount an oil pressure gauge or idiot light somewhere ......

I am not entirely sold on the all gloss black dash that I powdercoated. Initially I had the Hudson escutcheon done is a color that matched the interior with a soft clear coating. It looked like a big zit on the dash ...... perhaps a satin black would be better.....

 

very cool.

 

Going down the final stretch on the build. Finished the wiring, had the stock Deuce radiator cleaned out and tested, and the gennie grill shell and grill bolted on the for last time.

I used an original V8 headlight bar, and cut and welded like so many others have done.




I bought this beat up set of Guide 682 lights for cheap, filled the many dents with JB weld and powdercoated them. It's great that you can buy reproduction trim rings.




I should be driving it very soon !

 

It is Spring and you're just about ready to take the ole' girl down the road - that will be a FUN day! Great work and like the fact that you're not trying to make everything too perfect . . . this way, you'll be encouraged to drive the heck out of it and not be terribly worried about every little nick in it.

Nice work,
B&S

 

About time I post an update on my roadster. I guess I have been having too much fun driving it

The first 100 miles were not good. It blew a lot of smoke out of both banks. I did not know the history of the motor other than it was recently rebuilt. I did a compression test on all 8, the numbers seemed reasonable. It was embarrassing to drive with the smoke. I had people telling me "did you know your car smokes a lot".... oh really ??

I needed it done for our big show, MSRA Back to the Fifties. I had a couple of weeks. I knew I didn't have the time to pull the motor and go through it. Another motor was not an option. So, I dropped the pan and pulled the heads while in the car to see what I had.

The engine looked clean. I removed the pistons. Like new rod bearings. Clean cylinder walls, super clean pistons and ring groves. No ridge. But I soon discovered it had chrome moly rings. I replaced them with new cast rings, new head gaskets... and to my surprise the smoke went away. Runs incredibly well. No smoke, no oil consumption, and no leaks. I am a happy hot rodder



Now it was time to enjoy the roadster!!






Here it is at Back to the Fifties along side my 37 truck. I had 4 friends from Oz here and we had a great time.


Thanks to many of the guys on the HAMB who help make this car a driver! A great resource for a guy building his first truly traditional car.

 

Stunning!

 

That car and this website ,peas and carrots .

 

Congratulations on your diagnosis that the rings were the problem. Most guys wouldn't have figured that out. Glad you're back on the road smokeless!

 

Great build thread, very nice 'beater' you have there.

 

In the piston ring terminology that I have picked up over the years, "chrome" and "moly" don't apply to the same rings.
Chrome rings have steel construction and hard chrome plating applied to the wear surfaces, they last a long time, and are at their best in something like a new car back in 50s up till much later, and dirt racing where they resist the abrasive actions of grit that gets in the cylinders. Require a somewhat coarse cross hatch hone on the cylinder walls and are notoriously hard to seat. There were also plain steel rings without the chrome wear faces which seated more quickly but didn't last as long.
Before that you had cast iron rings, quick seating, worked fine in the old days when engines wore out quicker due to bearings and oils not up to present day standards and all of it was needing repair about the same time the rings wore out. They did seat in no time at all.
Now along with specialty rings of rather exotic materials needed to resist high pressures and almost explosive combustion in NOX drag race competition classes, you have the "moly" ring.
The "moly" ring is a cast iron ring with a groove cut in the face which is then metal sprayed with a moly compound. This is then removed from upper and lower flats and then the OD is precision lapped to finish in a special cylinder. Moly rings seat almost as soon as the engine has run long enough to break in the cam. The porous moly holds an oil film which resist heat galling, etc. But the porous, metal sprayed surface is easily damaged by dirt abrasion, detonation, or NOX. Enmgine cylinder walls require a much finer hone being used to prepare cylinders for best service.
With all that being said, which rings did you install?

 

Nice "Beater"!!

 

Thanks for the education on rings. Did not know any of that. They must have been chrome rings from your description. I bought cast rings from MAC'S. I was very surprised on the standard bore. I measured the bore taper and it was very good. Obviously low miles on the flattie.

The guy I got the motor got it from a friend. 48 ford and he was obviously was not happy and had a 350 put in. If I read between the lines , paid big bucks for a rebuild on a flattie and was not happy.

Would the rings have seated if I was willing to put up with hundreds of miles of smoke ?

Got the engine for free..... not complaining at all ....

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It really depends on what the finish on the cylinder walls as to how the rings seat. With chrome rings it can be real PITA. Some people even put Bon Ami in the cylinders and running it with that in there.

 

heated garage, straight pipes not too loud and you are calling this a beater - gotta love this