Projects 1932 Ford Roadster Build- "The Template Roadster"

Will do Matt, just sent some parts to get media blasted so hopefully I can move forward soon!

 

Today I picked up my gauges after a fresh resto! They turned out beautiful and I can't wait to see how they look mounted up!

 

Nice. Al.

 

Are they mounted yet???

 

Ha! Not until I decide if I'm adding a second temp gauge or not

 

Is the volt gauge one of the new Classic Instruments?

 

No- Chris made it for me out of Stewart Warner bits. I know they didn't make one original, but I thought it would be handy to have volts rather than amps.

 

This week I worked in the exhaust quite a bit. Man do I hate welding stainless tube. I finally bought a Y valve so I could run a purge line inside the tube and it was like night and day easier to weld and with better quality. Once complete I'll be able to out the body back on for final mockup. I'm going to run chambered tube mufflers like on my sedan and 2" stainless, but for mockup I have just a set if straight pipes in there.

 

Where did you buy that pipe and did it already come in pre-bent sections? Is it 2"?

3blap.

 

I bought pre bent 180 degree sections (2" stainless), and then I found this for 45 degree bends:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-45-Degre...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

These are 304 stainless and really flawless and the nicest quality I have seen- and cheap! They must be food grade?

 

But is food grade good enough to use on a hot rod?

 

Thank you sir!!!

You're right... that's not that expensive! I acquired a few scrap pipes from Freescale when they were moving that look to be the same quality. I was worried that it would cost a fortune to use it...

3blap.

 

I think it sanitizes the exhaust fumes

 

More importantly were the welds polished so bacteria can't hind there and sour the exhaust? Nobody wants sour exhaust.
-Dave

 

Ha- yes actually. It's the only way to make my stainless welds look tolerable before I figured out to backpurge it

 

Are you TIG welding the pipes together? Are you using the flanges from that eBay link also? I looked up 2" flanges and they're more expensive than 2.5"... I'm guessing price is completely based off demand.

3blap.

 

Yes- tig welding everything. flanges from eBay also. You are right too- they are crazy expensive but really handy and clean compared to standard clamps.

 

Worked on the driver side exhaust this weekend. Learned something else new- I had tacked several sections in place and them removed them to fully weld. Stainless moves around enough with the heat that i had to cut back apart a few welds and realign . From now on I will fully weld one section at a time.

 

Exhaust looks GREAT! Nice work!

 

Great job Matt!

 

Great work! Thanks for the ideas.

 

Hey guys- well, this exhaust has taken me 4 times longer than anticipated but I was able to wrap it up today. I hung it with 4 rubber hangers but I may add one more per side to make it bulletproof. Now that this is done, I can cut the hole in the floor for the model A crossmember and set the body back on.

For the mufflers, I used the identicaluffler that I used on the sedan from Classic Chbered exhaust: http://classicchambered.com
He is local and does a nice job.

For the hangers, I used stainless on the pipe side and steel on the frame side. On the frame side I doubled the bars for stiffness like we would on a typical OEM application.

Tomorrow I am going to a friends house to have him help me cut down the torque tube. Stay tuned...

 

Looks sharp!

Sent from my SM-T530NU using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Really like the “OEM” style exhaust hangers, that’s a nice touch

 

Thank you!

 

Yesterday CTaulbert helped me cut down the torque tube using his gigantic band saw, and bad ass torque tube welding jig. I put the torque tube in, cut the rear crossmember hole, and set the body on for another mockup. Seems like no matter how you brace these roadster bodies, every time I take it off and put it back on, all the gaps go to hell!

This week I will probably pull the rear out and start doing the final fab with the '36 bones and get the rear end ready to build out.

 

Rear axle:

The standard 36 bones are quite long for the 32 and they must be cut shorter. Also the quick change snout puts the torque tube lower than a banjo so you need to do some surgery to get everything to fit right.

I cut off the bones at the weld and then grabbed a set of curved 46 Ford front bones that I had in stock, and shortened them up. I like the looks of the curved bones and it should give me a little more clearance to the frame rails as they transition under the frame.

 

Wish my welds were that nice.

—louis

 

Tonight I wanted to test fit the rear back in the car but the quick change really gets in the way of spreading the spring. I grabbed an idea from a past thread on the HAMB and built a dropped spring spreader out of scraps to clear the quick change. Worked pretty good!

 

Nice work car looks great, the later front bones on back is a pretty trick idea