Projects 32 deuce mid engine hemi fuel coupe build(pics)

My dad has been drag racing for his whole life and he has rubbed off on me. growing up around that stuff planted the seed. As I grew older my cousin darrell was a great body man one of the best I pretty much followed in his foot steps and now I am a frame tech in the collision industry. Growing up my dad said to me that he had a 32 coupe that he had bought for me and tucked it away. I never realy saw the car cause it was in a thousand parts looked like more of a pile of junk to me but now 20 years later it looks like a pile of gold. I got the chance to get the 32 and now I am in the process of putting the peices together. After watching movies like american grafitty a thousand times growing up you can't help to want to go back in time.

I my early childhood My dad gave my brother a Model A coupe that was a complete car. My brother diddnt realy do a lot with the Model A but he did do the body work and paint it. For most of my life I had to look at that car in the garage just sit there and sit there. It killed me to see it sit. My brother lost intrest in the Model A and never touched it for 12 years. I couldn't watch the car sit any longer I had to do somthing with it but it wasn't mine to touch. So I made him a deal and it was that I would fix up the car with my money and time if he would put the car in both of our names. So he did and so I did. So for me the Model A was my first time getting to know Hot rods first in hand but that car was already built. Even after restoring that car I still felt the need to build a hot rod of my own but here is the thread from when I restored the Model A To veiw pics of the model A click here... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152266

So here is my 32 five window right where my dad said it was. That day it was really mine. I gotta get going on it soon if I plan on driving it before I die. Now that I started to build it I want you all to know that I am putting my mind back in time many many years before I was even born to relic a time when hot rods were at their prime this is the way i would build a hot rod if I were able to back in the day. So here it is. first we dug it out and drug it home. This was the first time I laied eyes on her since I was a little boy seeing the 32 again is like being a kid again I remember climing on this junk when my dad had the door open. This is a good day The day I drug it home.This is a picture of my first day with my 32
This is my jalopy ...... This is my journal


32 pickup

.photobucket.com/albums/q109/kennycoolcars/IMG_2328.jpg[/IMG]
So this is what I started on first. I have no floor that is all gone. The rocker panels are gone along with all the rest of the panels on the bottom. The body has a peice of sheet metal screwed to the side to hold it together. The question is where do I start?? After thinking about it for a while I figured that I would get the body muonted on a moveable frame so I took the wave runner off this trailer and used that so I can move the body aruond. I mesured every thing and got it mounted strait so it dose not rack around. next I will mesure the frame rails and order the patch panels. [/B]

 

That looks like a decent start on a real hot rod. But one thing, They are either refereed to as 32'a or Deuces and not 32 Deuces. That is real common hot rod grammar mistake.

 

Very cool project! I'm in the process of bringing back one from the dead. That one looks like a decent builder!!!

 

Before I start this build I just want to say that I am going to try to build this car as period as I can. With the exception that one day wanting to take the car to bonniville to run it in a vintage class. Which may mean some non period things may have to be done for safety and rules which you might expect. Im reading the rule book many times for study. Im thinking the coupe will fit in the Blown Vintage Gas Coupe ( BVGC ) class. Another thing, I want this car to represent that " This car will always be a rusty car" In my opinion I do not want to hide the fact that it is a rusty car so it will always have imperfections which many people would cringe to see but for me I want every one to see what the car realy is. Don't get me wrong I want to paint and polish the car and make things nice but want to leave things the way they are. I want the old race car feel and look. not perfection and over restoration. I have restored many cars to perfection for other people working in a restoration shop doing concourse restorations on Buick's , Chevelle's and Aston martin but to be honest even though they were works of art prize winning at car shows, I would never want a car that nice for my self. I am the type of dude that is rough on my stuff. I feel you only live once so " Drive it like you stole it and kick the door shut " because Im in this to have fun and get durty no trailer queen. The last thing is the car will be a full blown race car but also have working removable lights and a license plate because I plan on driving it on the street, strip, salt, and sand what I call the four S's

 

I'm not sure but my dad traded the car body for some engines a while ago. he got lucky. It has been storage for about my whole life and he gave it to me when I was about 6-7 years old. He has been giving me parts for it for X-mas since I was little. What a cool dad! I am now old enough and wise enough to handel it now so here we go. So it is history in the making now!!!!!!

 

I have been dreaming of building my 32 all my life and now that I am older it is time for me to get started well I allready did. so far I have 32 ford frame and body. The frame is in good shape and was at one time a project because it is half way boxed and crossmembers welded in.

The body is rough and rustd all out at the bottom. no trunk no hood no fenders. the grill is in good shape. so far I have a p38 bomber seat. which by the way I'm now looking for a second bomber seat. I have hemi rocker arms and a block. potvin front mounted blower and hillborn two port injector head lites. A crome tube front end. hemi starter.

Every thing is rusty and needs to be restored but lots of tlc will get me there. I am starting the project by gathering up parts first and mocking up the body to fit the frame. Then I am going to have to find a quick change rearend and mock up the rear and a mid engine hemi with a front mounted blower. body high boy with a rake rule of thumb in the front. The ass end has to have just the right amount of hight to flow with the front. It will be built to fit into the blown gas coupe class for bonneville and one day I want to run it there. but one catch is it also has to be street leagle because I will not build a car that sits in the garage or gets trailered everywhere. ohh ya and it has to be as period correct as I can get it.

It will be a challange trying to fit a hemi a clutch a tranz a front mounted blower ,water pump, hillborn fuel pump,genny, radiator ,fuel tank ,passenger ,driver ,roll bar and full belly pan and exsaust pipes all in a 32 chopped coupe but I think with enough engineering custom made parts it can happen. so I will be in the garage for a while scratching my head ,grinding, welding ,drilling, fabbing and mocking. now it is time for me to get to it..
A HAMB member once gave me this advice he said in a message "I wouldn't start on the body other than to tack some supports into it so it doesn't move around, I would get your Frame together and square ( so you have a good foundation to repair the body on,.. assuming your going to keep the car a highboy), then get some sub rails from McPherson and get your sub structure fixed first, maybe set shims in your door jambs all the way around ( for equal spacing) and tack the doors shut during this process. get the body square and plumb on the new sub rails and tack everything together, after you measure the crap out of everything and your sure the body is in proper position, you can weld it all up,... than move onto patch panels, dents etc. ( this is just the way I would do it,... good luck looks like a fun project) " and so I took his advice and went for it . I just want to say that it is the people on the HAMB that get you through and egg you on keep you going to see the light at the end of the tunnel this thread is my jalopy journal.

 

Some more advice from a Hamber in a message I also took his advice he once said. " All of the sheet metal shapes you need to rebuild the floor are available from Brookville Roadster. Shop I hang out at used their stuff to "un-channel" this old East Coast hot rod". So that is where I bought my sub rails you will see later in this thread. and thank you guys for the advice to keep the project on a roll

 

when the journal changed all of my photos got lost so im trying to relocate some of them for future photos

 

message by FAB32 The subrails from Brookville only need to be tweeked a little in the B Pillar (rear door post) to be used. We used them to unchannel a 5w project here and the body turned out super.

Frank

 

Here are some updates on the 32 I got the body on the frame in a good location going to get subrails after the holiday but untill then I cleaned the hemi up and the heads they were rusty I was covered ball honed the surface rust on the cylenders two of the cylenders have deep pits I guess I will have to sleeve it. the heads are rough but good for mock up. going to through a light coat of paint on the engine and rub greese on the journals and cylenders. Made some ajustment bars to hold the body where I want it been measuring but need to get the sub rails in place to get a better fit then tack.

So here is my Potvin front mounted blower set up for Hemi with Hillborn injection and Hillborn fuel pump Which will mount nicely about half way through the cowl area with cylender set back detremine by the bonniville rule book.

The next thing is Im going to clean the blower and get it bolted so it is ready for mock up.

 

future pics

 

Here are some better pics of the frame and body.

 

future pics

 

Subscribed..

 

Wow, This thread is going to be fun to follow !!!

 

potvin...nice

 

Watching. This is going to be a good one!

 

Oh neat build. Thats alot of engine/blower to fit in a 32 frame and still have feet room but Im sure it can be done. Looks like you have a good start thought. good luck RUSTY hemi Coupe build

Funny you mention that ya I plan on resting my feet right on the engine block may have to put the pedals up high don't know yet depending on head room and foot room that will be function over comfort . I like the sound of that RUSTY HEMI COUPE . You know it a good build when your all done and driving it still shakes out little sand piles a year after you done.

 

future pics

 

engine back like a mid engine? You have an lot of length there with that setup.
future pics

 

five years ago my dad gave me this bomber seat. He was at the scrap yard one day and some scrapper was scrapping it when my dad saw it he could not beleive his eyes he offered the guy double or tripple what the value of the scrap price was for it and the guy agreed. what a lucky score all stainless. Any one who knows what plane this came out of please let me know Im not to shure. I do know it has mounts for removable pins on the bottom Im not sure if it is a gun seat or bomber seat.

 

Very cool project. Good luck with it.

 

Well seeing the engine, this thing just got exponentially cooler!!!!!

 

That is very similar to a Curtiss P-40 Pilots seat, could be difficult to identify exactly there were an awful lot aircraft out there it could come from.
Maybe try asking on a site like this http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/index.php

I know I want it though!!

One thing I know for sure, this is possibly the coolest project on the HAMB!! Please keep us up to date on this build!!

Doc.

 

My wife and my dad got together and got me this trunk skin from United Pacific it fits perfect nice peice to start with. This was a great chrismas gift.

 

My wife got me the rear body panel from socal in vegas which is a nice part. It is all welded and has the jamb and bracing in the back. that will be alot less work than the one that is in there I was going to use the original but since I have this one it will save me a week of metal work.



This will make a great charging system just have to figure out how I am going to get it to spin off the engine since I will not have the crank to spin it. Might need to do some engineering with this one.

 

and i'm subscribed!

p.s.
We have all of the pieces to complete your sub rails/ floors in stock. They are all the 5-window pieces, so they will not need to be modified like the roadster ones. We can also get the complete floors already jigged and welded together for you.

-rob

 

This is going to be a pretty cool project. There was a chopped 34 I always liked with a Potvin style blower in front of a Hemi on the cover of R&C. It is not a 32 like yours, but it could be inspirational. I always wanted to build a car inspired by that race car. In the mean time I will just dream and watch your build, thanks for your progress pics!

 

Thanks for all the info guys! Here is some orginal HURST motor mounts for a HEMI bolt in 32 ford even though I am setting the engine back I still want to use them it will be a nice touch. The mounts have HURST stamped in the side I am told they are rare.

 

thats cool