Projects Old 32 Ford Hot Rod gets "Updated"...Part II (Racing History, added 06-29-15)

Awesome simple clean ride.
Nice job sir.

 

I love mordors, especially your pair! Thanks for sharing!

 

Wiped the body down. You can clearly read "RUN OUT OF PAINT" on the passenger side. My brother Mark and @nostalgia59 figured out that it said "DESOTO POWER" on the back. The beads of the fenders were also painted red.

Changed the mis-matched hood out for some green patina hood tops...


See you at the LA Roaster swap this weekend.

Neal

 

If you remember back in the beginning of this thread, I had mentioned that the car was raced by the Boudakian Brothers out of Visalia, CA.

With the 32 on the road again, I decided to make contact with Jack Boudakian, the youngest of the 3 brothers (Charlie, Harry and Jack). We set up a meeting in Visalia last Friday. It was really neat to spend some time with Jack and hear some stories about the car.



Jack really got a kick out of riding in their old 32. We even "cruised" Main St, as they used to do.

Here's the history time-line I was able to gather from Jack:

1946/47 - Harry Boudakian purchased the 32 from the Nash dealership in Visalia. The old brick building still stands on the corner of Acequia and Santa Fe. He said the 32 was a nice old car, even with a trunk on the back. Harry used it as a daily driver until 1951.



1951 - Harry was building a 3/8 x 3/8 59A flathead for the 32 when he got drafted to go to Korea.

1952 - Harry returns from Korea to find his flathead in the oldest brother Charlie's 47 Ford convertible. As Jack tells it, Harry arrived home on a Thursday, had the engine swapped into the 32 on Friday and then headed off to the Fresno drags on Saturday. This is where the story get interesting. Remember back to the first post when I said the 32 had been rear-ended at some point. Harry took the 32 and Charlie and Jack took their GMC 6-powered '37 Ford coupe. As they were pulling up to the Fresno drag strip, Charlie and Jack were too busy watching the racing action that they didn't notice Harry stopped ahead in the 32. They hit the back of the 32 doing 15-20 MPH. They hit hard enough to damage both cars and send 12 year old Jack through the windshield of the 37. When they got home, they hammered out the back of the 32 the best they could and welded the channel iron rear frame horns on.

1952-57 - The 32 was raced and driven on the street with the flathead. Jack said they cruised Main in Visalia plenty of times in the 32 when it was still running the flathead. The 37 was raced with the GMC 6-cylinder.



1958 - The brothers installed a 57 Desoto Hemi with 6-97's in the 37 Ford coupe. One foggy morning at the Alta Airport (dragstrip) near Dinuba, CA they laid the 37 over on it's side. At that point they pulled the Desoto out of the 37 and put it in the old 32 Fordor.

1959 - Jack Boudakian and Ed "the Ace" McCulloch towed the 32 "all over" the valley and up to Fremont racing the old Fordor all that year. They ran a best of 118 at Fremont in '59. Here's a shot of it at Famoso Raceway from '59 as well.



1960 - The brothers pulled the Desoto out of the 32 and put it in their Fiat altered coupe.



1962 - Jack was drafted and lost track of the 32.

After the story telling, we then went for a ride...



Here's our whole crew, Jack in the driver's seat, myself, my friend Mike that found the car, my brother Mark, and my dad, Chuck.



Jack said he will see what he can do to find some old pics of the 32. I will stay in touch and see what else we can dig up. He suggested putting something together for the CHRR this fall...

Neal

 

THAT is AWESOME Neal. Incredible. You made that man a good day. Bless you sir !

 

You know, old HotRods with bona fide traceable history
is as good as it gets.
And to be able to meet the old owners, and have them see the car again,
oh man!!!

 

Great stories, great get together and thank you for sharing it with all of us old hot rodders. Awesome

 

It doesn't get any better than that Neal!!!!!!!

 

Very cool to dig up more of the history on it! Especially the story about the rear end damage. I bet they were pissed after that!

 

Thanks for the update Neal. Great to see one of the old owners back in the driver's seat. Great stories, too. a real proper history for the car.

Mart.

 

Yes, Great update Neal. Thanks for posting the video.

 

Great!
Really neat to reunite old owners with old cars.
Thanks for sharing,
Al

 

Hey Neal ... I thought you detailed converting a 1937-39 box all by itself in a steering box thread ... on the board .... but for some reason I can't find it. Am I not looking hard enough ? Or am I sadly mistaken ?

I have a '38 Lafayette box/column/mast. Any finger point in the right direction, would be much appreciated. Or do I lick a stamp and just send it to you ? Surely I need other parts for the latter ... which brings me back to the missing thread, of course.

Thanks for your help .... and time to bump a bad ass thread. Up !!

 

Very Cool. Sounds Great!

 

You might be remembering this...

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/1206sr-improving-the-steering-in-32-34-fords/

I think that was the only tech deal I did on the Hudson boxes. I have changed a few things since doing that article, but it's the same basics.

Let me know if you need any more info...and thanks for bringing up this thread. I do do miss that car a bit.

Neal

 

What kind of steering box is this ? Trying to figure out what I have and it looks very similar

 

It's a 37 Nash. Neal specialises in making these (and hudson) boxes fit the early Fords. It's mentioned earlier in the post.

Mart.

 

Thank you ! I'll read back

 

1960 - The brothers pulled the Desoto out of the 32 and put it in their Fiat altered coupe.


Hey Neal,
Great build of the old Boudakian Bros sedan. If you ever see them or family, tell them here is an old movie clip that I shot back in 1960 at the Smokers Meet. It was the only one I could find so far, but I am still looking for more. Thanks to 296Ardun for remembering who owned that Fiat coupe at Bakersfield.
Thanks,
Jnaki

 

1970's Rod&Custom magazines, and threads like this one, can keep me entertained for hours.
-Thanks

 

Charlie Boudakian was my grandfather. If you ever decide to sale the car please let me know. I'd love to own a piece of our family's history.

 

Great story Neal! I need to talk to you!

 

Very KOOL

 

Why dont the pictures show up?


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