I am in need of repairing the rear lower corners of a 32 Sedan and wondered if anyone had parts or tips on making them? The car for some reason has the body on a stack of washers for the last two body mounts on each side. This caused the impact from bumps and about 170,000 miles to tear the rear corners from the body. It has a leaf spring suspension and they tow a small trailer to make it worse. I want to modify it so the body is supported by the frame along the whole rear section. That will take the pressure off the rear corners. The existing corners are rusted and previously puttied. I want to replace that sheet metal with good metal. I am picturing making the corners from several pieces of sheet metal, welded together? Has anyone done this type of repair and do you have any helpful advice?
Shaping and welding a few pieces together can be done, may even be necessary. You might consider seeking a metal worker in your region who can shape metal with compound curves, as is done with mallets and shot bags, then smoothed on an English wheel. That may still require more than one piece, but likely fewer than the first method. Either way, best wishes on your project.....sounds like the car is in good hands. Ray
How about rebuilding the body corners like they are supposed to be, but replace the washer stack with a longer spacer? Spread the load. The problem is your frame and trailer, not the body.
There is supposed to be a "fat" rubber pad under the corner of the body at that point. As I recall it is 3/8" or 1/2" thick. The rest of the body just sits on welting.
Thanks Ray. I have seen demonstrations of metal working with a shrinking hammer and a shot bag and actually won a master metal working set form Dagger Tools at the York NSRA show one year. I have yet to make a dog bowl, but I plan use it on this project. I just need the bottom of the corner about 2" up and the under pieces, so I think I can get by without and English wheel on this one.
Agreed. The frame doesn't even touch all long the wheel well either. Not sure what is going on there yet, but I will need to disburse the weight along the whole area.
I am not aware of a rubber pad? When I put my 32 together, it just had a welting strap that went along the length of the body. I don't recall room for a rubber pad, but there is something definitely weird about this frame. I will see what I can do with filling the gap with a strip of tire tread or something, then let the body down on that to disburse the weight along the whole section. ...and fix the corners.
I think the trailer hitch may be the problem. If the frame was not re enforced at the rear it may have been flexing from the trailer bouncing on rough roads. Thus tearing the body.
The very rear mounts on 32's are supposed to have a spacer of some kind. They don't touch the frame like all the other mounting points do. But, 32 frames are commonly bent right at the axle point from hard bottom out hits. So that makes the rear horns go down, and makes this gap even more.
I have built original '32s and a Brookville. The rear of the body needs to rest on the thick rubber pad at the very rear of the body as it kind of floats at that point. The pad fills the space and gives support to the rear of the body. On the Brookville, tightening the rear most bolts affected the door gaps, so be aware of that. Krylon '32 is the expert on this forum, maybe check with him
Alchemy is correct, most every frame will have a bulge over the rear axel the result of the rear axel pounding the frame on hard bumps. This causes the rear horns to tip down. I have seen a gap of over an inch between the body rear mount holes and the frame rail.
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