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Features 1932 Ford project -Have you ever cut a car in half?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by modelacitizen, Jul 15, 2013.

  1. modelacitizen
    Joined: Jun 24, 2006
    Posts: 878

    modelacitizen
    Member

    ****NOTE- stupid photobucket deleted all my linked photos, so you'll have to scroll to the end for all the photo updates.**** :(

    Well here we go. My dad and I just bought this... it should be arriving at the homestead in a week or so. It was an old dirt track car from the 50's. The entire body was narrowed (sectioned) 3 inches, front to back. A good amount of the body was cut off the bottom as well. Obviously the subrails are long gone. The doors and trunk are welded shut. Yeah it needs a lot... but looking at the lengths others have gone to in order to save these cars, we figure we are in good company. We can't WAIT to get started on this. We've both built hotrods but this is my dad's dream car so we decided to combine our resources and build one together. The only definite plan at the moment is to get the body back to stock specs. Stock subrails and firewall will be ordered soon. We'll take our time and cut carefully. We are SO excited. This car has soul.:D
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2017
  2. hotrodderhaag
    Joined: Jan 22, 2007
    Posts: 2,140

    hotrodderhaag
    Member

    best thing to do its buy a replacement fire wall, a new deck lid. and then the rest is simple metal work. i have seen several that were narrowed like this. the tail pan, roof and cowl are fairly easy to lengthen back out. a new steel roof plug also makes the job nice and easy.
    just my opinion. others may have a different process.
    thats a hell of a nice 32.. i love the old dirt cars.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2013
  3. Rickybop
    Joined: May 23, 2008
    Posts: 9,606

    Rickybop
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Good luck with your father/son project '32.
     
  4. This will be a interesting build to watch......
     

  5. tinmann
    Joined: Nov 11, 2005
    Posts: 1,588

    tinmann
    Member

    As an old friend used to say, "with patience and perseverance, you can piss a hole through a rock". Giddyup, bring that ol' deuce back to life.
     
  6. Smokey2
    Joined: Jan 11, 2011
    Posts: 919

    Smokey2
    Member



    The Car has lots of character...........
    Bring It back the way it is, And drive heck outta it !

    smoke
     
  7. Subscribed. HRP
     
  8. dynaflash
    Joined: Apr 1, 2008
    Posts: 506

    dynaflash
    Member
    from South

    Cool
    This should be a fun project


    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
  9. chevy54man
    Joined: Feb 7, 2013
    Posts: 1,683

    chevy54man
    Member
    from NC

    Sounds like a great father and son project! Will be watching!
     
  10. cavman
    Joined: Mar 23, 2005
    Posts: 669

    cavman
    Member

    You could just sit closer together :)
     
  11. Looks in pretty good shape for an old dirt tracker. They must not have run it much.
     
  12. Take a section out of the flanks too
     
  13. jkski
    Joined: Jan 27, 2009
    Posts: 137

    jkski
    Member

    oh boy,i will be watching this one
     
  14. fleetside66
    Joined: Nov 20, 2006
    Posts: 3,003

    fleetside66
    Member

    The funny thing is, at least from that one pic you posted, it doesn't really look odd. Maybe it's the angle? I'd love to see some other shots of it. I'm assuming this was an old dirt track thing to do in the 50's? I actually did see a lot of these races back then, but I wasn't savvy enough to notice any differences in car widths. I only remember the carnage.
     
  15. T&A Flathead
    Joined: Apr 28, 2007
    Posts: 1,985

    T&A Flathead
    Member

    My old pal in central missouri has done this many times. If it were me, i would use an original firewall. Get a new panel below the deck lid. Find an original car to get a lot of measurements from. Use upac subrails and get going. Have fun.
     
  16. modelacitizen
    Joined: Jun 24, 2006
    Posts: 878

    modelacitizen
    Member

    Thanks guys. We are definitely planning on the lower deck lid panel, the firewall and the subrails. Of course we'll have a much better idea of what will be needed once the car is in our garage. I have a lot of faith in my father guiding the project as he has been known to scratch build cars from oak pallets, steel tubing, flat sheet metal and loads of patience. I have a feeling I'll simply be doing the heavy lifting and grunt work. My dad will bring his finesse. He built his roadster pickup over the course of several years. The entire body, bed and cowl were hand fabricated. So as far as the 32 goes, he actually has more to work with... haha.
    [​IMG]
     
  17. modelacitizen
    Joined: Jun 24, 2006
    Posts: 878

    modelacitizen
    Member

    The project showed up on Sunday. We are pumped to get started. First thing we gott do is tear it apart and make sure the frame is within spec.
    [​IMG]
     
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  18. modelacitizen
    Joined: Jun 24, 2006
    Posts: 878

    modelacitizen
    Member

    Work is under way. We cut out the decklid area as it was just a piece of sheetmetal bent over the trank rain gutter. Thankfully the gutter is still intact. We also cut out that rather crude fire wall. A flat replacement wall was ordered from Honest Charley. We also bought the feet that go with it. We were also thankful that most of the lip on the cowl surrounding the firewall is still intact. It should give a solid starting point when we begin piecing the body back together.
    We also stripped the frame down. Front and rear suspension out and pulled the 302. We started measuring the frame and it's obviously going to need a bit of massaging. Nearly every measurement is out of whack by a 1/4" give or take. We are going by stock 32 measurements. We started cutting out all the brackets we don't want. The home made k-member was removed as well as all the 4 link brackets. We will be running hairpins up front and radius arms out back.
    We also chose our powerplant... big Oldsmobile. We have a good Toronado 425 block with the big .924 lifters, forged crank, and the good 'C' heads. Plans are to run the Offenhauser dual 4 intake with an old Chet Herbert grind cam in the neighborhood of 520 lift. Should be fun :)
    We have a ton of work to do on the frame first. We are trying to come with a good original k member and we will making some type of steel jig to hold everything together while we massage it back in to place... The only reason it's not in the garage right now is because my dad's other hot rod has to sell first...
    Pics
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  19. modelacitizen
    Joined: Jun 24, 2006
    Posts: 878

    modelacitizen
    Member

    finally some forward progress. we've spent some money too. lol
    [​IMG]
     
  20. gordspeed
    Joined: Jul 9, 2013
    Posts: 225

    gordspeed
    Member
    from Oregon

    It starts to take shape..... Good Luck and have fun!!! :)
     
  21. big duece
    Joined: Jul 28, 2008
    Posts: 6,830

    big duece
    Member
    from kansas

    Is the floor system United Pacific? Super start!
     
  22. modelacitizen
    Joined: Jun 24, 2006
    Posts: 878

    modelacitizen
    Member

    Yeah it's a United Pacific part. It's an expensive piece but we really needed it as our body came with no sub-rails or floor. It has also helped to identify some issues with our frame. It's a really nice piece. We just ordered their header and b-pillars as well...
     
  23. Lookin forward to progress!
     
  24. looks to be, its going to be an interesting build ...
     
  25. scotti32
    Joined: Jul 13, 2009
    Posts: 284

    scotti32
    Member

    This is going to be great to see this come together.
     
  26. Gary Addcox
    Joined: Aug 28, 2009
    Posts: 2,528

    Gary Addcox
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    modelacitizen, Ilove the chopped top. It is sneaky looking and not radical at all. This will truly be a labor of love.
     
  27. as fleetside posted earlier; that Deuce didn't really look that much out of proportion,
    good luck with your project, looks like you've got a great plan.
     
  28. rcnut223
    Joined: Oct 12, 2006
    Posts: 1,275

    rcnut223
    Member
    from wisconsin

    Good Luck with your project, if you need any measurements let me know!

    Mike
     
  29. banginona40
    Joined: Mar 5, 2007
    Posts: 773

    banginona40
    Member

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