Well I just became a deuce owner as I purchased a 32 from United Pacific. I am a newbie as far as 32's go but I have build cars since I was 18 and now I am 70. I plan to built a 60's style full fender car. I will rely on this forum and the many 32 experts to help me. My first question is should there be a gap at the rear mounting point( see photo?). The body sets on the frame as I expected but starting about mid point of the rear axle a gap starts and at the very end mounting point the gap is about 1/2 inch. I talked to United and they said this is not abnormal and I should shim it (I am not sure the United guy understood me but I am not certain). I don't want to tighten the body down and warp something. I don't see anything touching but the rear crossmember is close.
All 32 Passenger cars came with a wedge shaped shim at the point you are talking about. It's only seen on cars that have never been disassembled as most of the time it was discarded. You can make one out of duralon as I have done in the past
Hey you need a Hemi to get that front down LOL BTW I've got a UPAC 32-5 window too. Also as well as a shim in that area you should run the proper body/frame webbing before shimming for your door gaps.
Looks like your frame has been " C " notched . If it has, that will cause the rear of the frame to tip down from the cutting & welding. Check the droop of your rear frame horns against those on a good stock frame. This will cause that rear body mount gap to open up , it will also cause a larger gap between the body & the gas tank .
The frame is not "C" notched. It does have a fabricated rear cross member for the Corvette swing axle under it but I don't see any indications that the frame rails have been modified. I found some 32 frame blueprint dimensions on this site. From my measurements it looks like the rear frame rails are to original specs.
Ford used a spring under the bolt for that rear mounting point. The spring would allow some degree of movement when the body and frame wanted to flex. This spring was added during '32 production since the early bodies showed cracks developing in this region.
Before you start cutting, take the spring loose from the ends of the trailing arms and lower the car down with a floor jack under the center section until the half shafts are almost level. That is where the rear suspension should be at ride height when the car is finished and loaded. That will tell you if you need to relocate the crossmember. If at all possible, keep the OEM mount as it will eliminate driveline vibrations from transferring into the car.
Looking at the bump stops you only have a small amount of clearance at present so to get the rear down will require some major fabrication. Not familiar with Corvette rears but I've got a Jag rear in my fendered 32-5 window and I know that to get the right stance the drive shafts need to be very close to horizontal. I'm running American Classic tires which are 28 3/4" diameter. Edit: Weedburner types faster than me LOL
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