There’s a few other tasks to finish off before I pull the body and start preparing the body for paint. One of the main tasks to finish off would be mounting the gas tank and cutting out the holes for the brake pedal and steering column and then rough mounting the Wanlass windshield to the roadster. All these will require some cutting and I’m just not looking forward to the fiberglass itch.
Once all the above is completed, I plan on building a jig to mount the body on so that I can roll it around. Then the fun starts, I get to start the running the brake/fuel lines and all the wiring. It’s going to be an exciting point in the build and I really enjoy doing that detail level of work. Of course, photos will be taken..
After the chassis is finished, then I will start the body work.. oh joy, the itch!
Still working on the routing of the plug wires on my 32 Ford.. In the photo below, you can see how I’m bringing them up the back side of the engine. I’m using the plug wire brackets from 58-62 Corvettes, will be tweaking them a little to tuck them in tighter and not expose the wires so much.. But this photo give you a good idea of how I’m routing the wires.. In the previous post I mentioned that I was thinking of creating a channel for the wires on the back side of the engine.. Now, I’m thinking that I may just run them in the brackets and leave it at that. As I finish off the wires and trim them to size, I’ll take a few more photos…
Here’s a better photo of how the wires are tucked down and close to the engine of my 32 roadster.. This creates a really clean look with the engine.. Remember, I’m putting on the eight stack fuel ingestion system from Inglese, I want that system to be the focal point of the engine.. Not some spark plug wires hanging loosely around the engine.
1932 Ford Roadster spark plug wires
You can click on the photo to give you a real zoomed in look at the spark plug wires on my roadster..
Also, the picture gives you a good look at that Jegs mini starter that I installed.. It tucks in there nicely as well. Well worth the extra money..
Next step, fab together something to channel the wires up to the distributor. I think I will be using some plug wire brackets from my 60 Corvette. I just ordered all those repro pieces to see what I would work with. Will take some more photos once I get the pieces installed on the 32 Ford.
Routing those spark plug wires is a daunting task. I prefer to keep the top of the engine clean and not show the plug wires at all. So first, I installed wire brackets that belong to my 60 Corvette. I’m pretty sure these little brackets cross over to other cars as well and show up in C2 and C3 Corvettes. So it shouldn’t be a problem from anyone to find them.. They are only $2.75 a piece and you only need four of them.. The nice thing about those little brackets are they pull the wires in nice and tight, keeping them away from the exhaust manifolds.
1932 Ford Plug Wire Routing
As I work through the next step of bringing the wires up the back side of the roadster engine, I’ll take a few more photos. Looks like I will have to fab some routing channel to bring the wires up to the distributor.
Well, been working on and off between my 60 Corvette and the Ford Roadster.. The Corvette is getting more attention right now because I’m so close to getting back on the road.. In the past few weeks I have picked up a few additional parts for the roadster, including mini starter, distributor, plug wires and coil.
Jegs had a really good deal on a turnkey bundle package with Pertronix. The bundle package includes: Billet Plug & Play Distributor, Flame Thrower II 45K Volt Coil & 8MM Universal Spark Plug Wire Set for only $264. Since I wanted to keep the chrome and colors to a minimal in the engine compartment, this package fit the bill, with a black cap on the distributor and black plug wires. I think I’ll change out the coil, as it has a chrome base, go with a black base.
As for the mini starter, I picked up one the JEGS Prostarter Mini Starters for $179, perfect fit and looks great.. I think I will mast it off and paint the body of the starter black just so it’s not distracting.
Now the trick is going to be routing the plug wires on the roadster so that don’t heat up nor get caught near the headers. I purchased some wire looms from 68-75 Corvette, going to try to route the wires behind the engine and bring them up by the oil pan. This is the same style as my 60 Corvette. We will see, wire looms are in enroute, should get them by the end of the week..
I’ll take a few photos showing the starter and the routing of the plug wires shortly, so you all can see how it’s looking.
I was browsing ebay this evening and found these cool original headlights. Hey, these are really a good deal and would look great on any ford roadster or hotrod. Check them out…
Original set of Ford 1936 “Bubble Headlights”. The unique Bubble headlight is often used on Hot rods or Custom Fords from Model A, T, though the late 40′s. Return it if not delighted!
Click here:
Ford Headlights
Original Paint with excellent patina, there are some areas of lite oxidation. Overall good used condition. There are a few small digs to the buckets and one ding on one of the stainless ring. The reflectors are missing bulbs. The are minor flaws that you would expect from items this old. The Ford scripts are easily seen on the glass as well as the buckets. I see no chips to the glass. The mounting nuts easily spin on the studs and the mounting plates are included. Returns allowed if you are not delighted, but must be within three days of reciept. Returns not accept if item has been disassembled, scratched or damaged.
Here’s another really nice 32 Ford for sale, it’s a project car, but that’s the best way to buy them…
Click here to check it out…
Here’s some of the details on the 32 Ford Roadster:
What you are looking at is a Kilborne fiberglass body on a Kilborne chassis. This looks to be a pretty nice body with a lot of steel bracing inside, including the necessary bracing for the steering column and windshield. The car is sitting on a Superbell 4 inch drilled dropped axle with a chrome monoleaf spring up front. It has an 11 inch disc brake kit on the front. The rear is a triangulated 4 link with a ford 9 inch housing sitting on new Afco coil overs. There is a 28 spline
open differential in it but would require checking/rebuilding before using. There are no brakes currently on the rear. I believe it has the new style ford axle ends on it. This was sitting in a humid garage so there is a light surface rust on the chassis, nothing that a little sandpaper and elbow grease won’t clean right off.
The drivetrain currently sitting in it is a 1969 chevrolet 327 and a 700R4 transmission. The 327 came out of my buddy’s 40 coupe and ran fine when it was removed 15 years ago but I have not tried starting it. The transmission was pulled from a 92 S10 pickup that also ran when it was removed. You could take your chances and try running them both and possible work out fine (that’s what I intended to do since an engine swap on this car would be a breeze) or use them as cores for a freshen up.
New parts also included are a griffin aluminum radiator, a Hagan 3 piece hood with braces, a Brookville steel grille shell with a Dale’s stainless insert, flaming river steering box, 2 inch chopped chrome windshield frame and stanchions, front shock brackets, Bob Drake stainless spreader bars for front and rear.
I have a pile of used parts that goes with the car including some coated block hugger headers, Edelbrock aluminum 4 barrel intake, Edelbrock 600cfm electric choke carb, a whole pile of TPI fuel injection parts, some old guide 682 headlights, along with whatever extra parts I have laying around that I can think of. I am cleaning house on this one.
The grill shell and hood were just laid in place for the pictures, they are back in there original packing and set inside the car.
THE WHEELS SHOWN ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE SALE, BUT ARE AVAILABLE FOR AN ADDITIONAL COST OF $1200.00
THE CAR WILL BE ON SOME ROLLERS FOR TRANSPORTATION ONLY
They are custom 1936 ford wheels with custom adapters made to convert them from the original large bolt circle to a 5 on 4-3/4. They were sent out for modifications, the fronts were widened to 16 x 6 ½, the rears were re-ringed to a 17 x 9 and the adapters fully welded on. Unlike the bolt-on adapters from speedway, these clear the brake calipers! I did have to put 1” spacers on the rear to clear the body as they have a deep 6″ backspacing.
Tires are American classic radials with about 2000 miles on them. A couple of the hubcaps got some small dings on
them moving the car around the garage, nothing really noticeable.
Check out this 1932 Ford Real Steel Traditional Roadster on ebay this week.. Not a bad price for a real steel car…
1932 Ford Roadster For Sale
Click Here to check out this car:
This is a real traditional 32 Roadster, all steel, with a 1955 Cadillac engine. The 1955 Cadillac engine is backed by a traditional 3 speed Ford gearbox, which mates to the 1940 Ford rear differential. This engine was a powerful engine, 270hp stock with the stock duel carbs and 9 to 1 compression. This one has 3, 2 barrel Ford/Holley 94 carbs, and a free flowing exhaust, which should put it close to 300 hp. Not bad for 1955!
So, don’t miss your opportunity on this real steel car:
Well, just like the gauges, rear lights, etc., the interior is one’s personal preference. I’ve opted to use a middle seat frame from a Dodge Caravan instead of spending hundred of dollars on a special 32 ford seat frame. It may not function as nice as one of those special made 32 frames, but I’m not going to be using this roadster as a daily driver. And I rather spend the money on other things for the car. I’ve seen other roadsters with the Caravan seats and a good interior guy can work magic on those frame. So, it’s up to you as to where you want to spend your money.. The seat that I picked up was from a 2005 Dodge Caravan, it’s roughly 42″ width, so it will fit perfect in there the roadster.. I did make the mistake of buying another seat just before this one, it’s the three seater version, I thought I would cut it done.. But when you are talking about $40 for a seat, just not worth the time or effort to cut up a frame to make it smaller, when you can get another one that will fit fine for $40.
Side note: Seems that 2000-2005 Chrysler and Dodge mini vans all use the same seats, just be sure to get the 40-42″ one and not the 47″ one.
Standard Dodge Caravan Mid seat
Need to remove the track assembly before installing
Picking the gauges for your roadster is a personal preference. Some want the modern high-tech look and others want the old fashion look.. Some people go as far as getting old gauges from the 30-40s and putting the modern gauge technology within them. The end result is a really nice look, but costly.
I’m opting to go the old fashion look and have chosen the All American Nickel from Classic Instruments
All American Nickel Instruments
These gauges have a really nice look and feel and will work well for the style of roadster that I’m going for now.. The guys over a Classic Instruments were very helpful in advising exactly what I would need to hook up these gauges to my Painless wire harness. So a Shout Out goes to Classic Instruments for the great customer support! Thanks!
As for the installation of the gauges, I’m going to do something a little different then the rest of 32 fords out there.. don’t want to spill the beans just yet, need to mock it up to see how it’s going to look.. But I think I have a really cool idea that going to make the dash look really great with these gauges, so stay tune to see photos of the mock-up and the install.
