what was the weight of a stripped down ‘32 Ford 3w back in the ‘40s & early ‘50s I know the flathead is heavy, but I was wondering if these coupes could get down to 1500 pounds?
Not likely. Lots of acid-dip needed. Built a recent 31 on 32 frame. Four banger, T5, alloy rear & front axles. Weighed in at 1790 lbs. Pic above.
In my experience, (steel) '32 three windows, even when 'gutted', scarcely made it down to 1850, or thereabouts. There was a rumor of a law in California then that any vehicle UNDER 1500 lbs. was exempt from the fender law. Hence, many hot rod builders strode for that weight by trimming, drilling, and (mostly) replacing their 'A' and '32 bodies with gutted 'T' roadster bodies! 1500 is a hard mark with cast iron flatheads and '39 boxes, back to steel driveshafts and cast torque tubes. Most guys ran 'I' beam front axles, too, dropped mostly. Springs were heavy, too. (no lightweight coil overs there at that time)
Just looked it up. 53 flathead 239 weighs 525 pounds. Generic 60s-70s small block Chevy were 535 - 570 pounds
I weighed my flathead and I came up with 670. That’s complete with generator, starter, and flywheel. I’m still building my frame, but I think it will be less than 220. So about 1850 is about as light as I can make it. Thanks for all the information. This is my scratch built frame other than the speedway front crossmember.
Boy if it doesn't come out right you've got plenty of raw material there to have a second go LOL How did you do the reveal in the side rails and I assume the rails are made from 4 pieces? BTW back in the day T-buckets built on the much lighter A frames were pushing to get in under the 1500 lbs to beat the fender law.
I just bought a sheet of 11 ga. cold rolled and made the frame. I made a die to press the revel in. Everything is still just tacked together. I’m still going to box it except for the front horns.
Here are the two flat sides of the rails cut out and spliced together. I only bought a 4x8 sheet. And me pressing in the revel.
Beautiful craftsmanship Tony. I heard lot's of "stories" of early, fenderless Coupes that were in the 1500# area that were basic street race cars, but I never witnessed one on a scale. They were stripped of everything....
My 32 Henry cabriolet hiboy(no fenders,no hood,no roll up windows) full top bows and all hardware associated with an operational top(no cloth fabric top) full upholstered seat,door panels and upholstered kick panels with full tank of gas and oil in engine—-street driven almost daily weighs 2210 pounds run 80 mph in 1/8 mile with 9 in 3:89 Detroit Locker and gm 5 speed/260 in flathead v8. I weighed the car at a certified scale(county dump).Early pics show lack of upholstery,but upholstery was finished when crossed the certified weight scales
Had my Model A coupe (350 Chevy engine, 350 turbo trans, 9" ford rear end, 32 frame) weighed several years ago on a certified truck scale: 2500 pounds. I was surprised it weighed that much. That was with a full 16 gallon tank full of gas.
I built a "T" bucket in the '60's. 270 Dodge hemi, steel "T" touring front body with a 12" Model "A" pickup bed, a flimsy (had to be replaced) 2" X 2" steel tube frame, Model "A" front axle and a '53 Plymouth rear end. I had it weighed for registration on a certified scale, It came out to 1835 lbs.
65standard....beautiful frame rails? Do you have a photo of the die you used to shape the reveal? I'm probably just dense, but was the die was a relatively short section and moved along the length of the blank to make the reveal? Lynn
That seems about right for a hot rod with all the street equipment. My fenderless ‘33 5w weighed a hair over 2600 lbs with a 396 Chevy, 4 spd, and an Olds rear end. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
my fenderless '32 5w weighed 2375. This is with 3/4 tank of gas, SBF, C4 trans, 9". I believe SBF's weigh about 75 Lbs less than SBC's
I run my 30 coupe B chassis ( boxed) 8BA, 4 speed box early ford front and rear 16 inch wires 700X16 and 500 525 /16s no trim , over the local breakers weigh bridge , it tipped the scale at 1125 kgs ( 2480lbs)
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