Thread: How much is my '32 3 window going to weigh???

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....Hi Everyone, Just wondering if anyone has a rough idea on how much my '32 Ford 3 window coupe is going to weigh??? Its a fiberglass unit from Redneck Street Rods. Wayne told me that the body alone weighs between 600 & 650 pounds. It is on a P& J's chassis, with a 9" rear {drum brakes}, 'I' beam axle {disc. brakes} up front. I have a 400 small block Chev with Aluminum heads for it and a turbo 400 trans. I haven't gotten any wheels or tires for it yet but was thinking on the lines of the ET III wheels {12x16 rear & 6x14 front}. Of course I realize that there are a lot of 'variables' involved but does anyone have a rough idea??? Not sure if you need any more info, if so please ask Oh, the reason I'm asking is that the motor I have for it put out 499 Ft/Lbs of TQ @ 4000 Rpm & 438 HP @ 5250 on a flywheel dyno. This motor used to be in a Camaro that wiehted 2800 pounds and although it was fast {or at least to ME it was}, I want my '32 to be faster. And I think the '32 is going to be close to 2800 pounds. May be I need a bigger motor???
Thanks a bunch everyone Oh, and have a fantastic week-end, Bill....

Thank you Streets, so mine will probably be less a little less than 2800..... Bill

Well it should weigh a few hundred less than the camaro but it is WAY less aerodynamic, but hey you can always add a monica.

Thank You Viking, So we're looking at around 2600. Ah hah, yeah, the aerodynamic thing! I forgot ALL about that . I guess having the '32 would be like bolting a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood on the front of my Camaro??? Not a good thing ;( Ok, now a Monica??? I hate to sound stupid or even ignorant for that matter, but is a Monica a supercharger??? If so, I asked some questions a while back on adding a GMC to this motor but was told not to. May be cuz the motor is bored .060 over??? Thin walls??? Bill.....

a-h-h-h-h now I get it Thank you Streets ..... Bill....

My 32 Victoria weighed in at 3050, so I bet your in the right area.

...Thank you Pro 60, Wow 3050 lbs.??? Yeah, I had no idea the old Fords weighted that much. I heard somewhere that the all steel 3 windows weighted somewhere around 300 pounds {body only}so fiberglass is more, as the Redneck '32 is 600 or so. So I guess, as someone suggested I'll just have to 'Monica' it..... I'm worried about the overheating but may be if I use an 8:71 and then underdrive it a lot??? Thanks everyone, Bill.....

Over heating.
Not a problem !
Use a U.S. Radiator 4 core, 3 pass desert cooler.
WOW does this rad keep em cool.
Good luck on your project, keep focust.
And don't let the rest of life get in your way !
Have fun with it.
Remember, if you don't get it built
Youll just end up an old man without a hot rod.

Originally posted by billlsbird
Thank You Viking, So we're looking at around 2600. Ah hah, yeah, the aerodynamic thing! I forgot ALL about that . I guess having the '32 would be like bolting a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood on the front of my Camaro??? Not a good thing ;( Ok, now a Monica??? I hate to sound stupid or even ignorant for that matter, but is a Monica a supercharger??? If so, I asked some questions a while back on adding a GMC to this motor but was told not to. May be cuz the motor is bored .060 over??? Thin walls??? Bill.....

Well not quite that bad, you did'nt say what year camaro but heres a few to compare,

Year...........Body............Front Area...........Drag Coef

34..........Roadster.............18.0.....................0.42

69...........Camaro...............22.0....................0.36.

77...........Camaro...............18.0....................0.35

01.....Typical Pro Stock.......18.0....................0.34



With the 4 core Radiator and the 8-71 monica underdriven you should be cool in a couple of ways.

rocknrod, a US Radiator 4 core, 3 pass desert cooler? Ok, I'm going to check and see if they have a web site in a minute or two. It just doesn't seem possible to get 'that' much radiator in the small space of a '32 grill shell. But I guess it is.... Thank you Bill....

viking, well it was an '84 so it was probably somewhere around or between the '77 Camaro & the 'typical pro stock' that you mentioned when it comes to front area {which looks like it is also right about where my '32 will be}. And when it comes to drag coef. it looks like that's where my '32 suffers. Althought I really know nothing about 'drag coef'. It seems as if that is where the '32 suffers. A .07 less for the drag coef.... Hummm, interesting, Thank you, Bill......

ps, oh I read something, somewhere about drag coef. not coming into 'play' until highter speeds? Whats up on this? Is this referring to over 50 MPH? over 25 MPH? or what??? Thank you Bill....

Viking, would you have any frontal area/drag coefficient figures for a 32 Ford highboy roadster you could post?

And perhaps for a 31 A highboy roadster?
Probably a very small difference with the A's shorter radiator/grille shell.

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600-650# sounds like a lot for a glass body.
I'm fairly sure the Wescott 32 roadster body weighs 200-250#.
It can't be too heavy cuz I can turn it upside down by myself and I'm not as strong as I used to be . . . if I ever was....

Fwiw - my 462 Buick powered 32 roadster with Wescott body, T-400, 9" rear, wheels and tires similar to yours and a gasser bumper out back weighs in at 2400# on an NHRA scale.
It's a street driven roadster with 2 1/2" x .120 wall four point roll bar and folding top.
Most SBC powered roadsters similar to mine - glass or steel - come in at 2200-2300#.

Why not weigh your body?
Three blocks of wood equal to the height of your scale on three corners of the body and the scale on the 4th would do it.
Weigh each corner and add the weights up.

It's conceivable the guy quoting the weight is including the crate the body comes in.

Another small fwiw - my Brookville 31 roadster body weighs about the same as the glass 32 body.
It's also easy to turn upside down by myself.

(Upside down for paint and floorboard stuff on the 32 and upside down for fitting the 32 chassis on the 31. Padding the floor with carpet and several layers of cardboard does it. only thing to watch out for is to get some of the weight off the rail that runs around the back of the 31 cockpit. Looks like it could bend if it ends up supporting the weight of the body and a pair of frame rails.)

C9x, Thank you .... hmmm, Ok this is what I'm thinking;

1) '32 Roadsters weight between 2200 & 2400 lbs.
2) '32 Roadsters {body only} weight
250 lbs.
3) My '32 Coupe body weights 650 lbs.
4) So 650 - 250 = 400 lbs.
5) I add the 400 lbs more that my body weights to the 2200/2400 that your whole car weights and this means that my car will weight between 2600 & 2800 pounds.
{and to think that I flunked basic math??? Anyway, this corrisponds to what I was thinking from other estimates.
Next time I talk to Wayne at Redneck I'll ask him again but I'd almost bet that he said his coupe body weighted between 600 & 650. I could have misunderstood him......
Oh, the reason I don't weight it is because the car is still at his shop in Kansas. Thanks for telling me how to weight it though. I'm going to have him do a couple of other things to it and probably have it sent out the middle of January..... Oh C9x, what did your car run at the drags???
THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE, Bill.......

Originally posted by billlsbird
rocknrod, a US Radiator 4 core, 3 pass desert cooler? Ok, I'm going to check and see if they have a web site in a minute or two. It just doesn't seem possible to get 'that' much radiator in the small space of a '32 grill shell. But I guess it is.... Thank you Bill....

viking, well it was an '84 so it was probably somewhere around or between the '77 Camaro & the 'typical pro stock' that you mentioned when it comes to front area {which looks like it is also right about where my '32 will be}. And when it comes to drag coef. it looks like that's where my '32 suffers. Althought I really know nothing about 'drag coef'. It seems as if that is where the '32 suffers. A .07 less for the drag coef.... Hummm, interesting, Thank you, Bill......

ps, oh I read something, somewhere about drag coef. not coming into 'play' until highter speeds? Whats up on this? Is this referring to over 50 MPH? over 25 MPH? or what??? Thank you Bill....

Most of what I have read is figured at 65 mph, so far the best was a 70 superbird...Front area 22.0......Drag Coef 0.28 and at the other end was a 18 wheeler, no front area listed but a Drag Coef of 0.60 to which 50 % of it's fuel is used to overcome this drag, no wonder we see more and more spoilers on them.


C9x,

I could'nt find anything on the 31 or 32, I would guess they would be fairly close to the 34 roadster, I'll let you know when/if I find out.

....LOL, the drag coef of an 18 wheeler {now this probably 'fits' my example of a piece of plywood bolted to the front, huh???}...
interesting about the '70 Superbird, a frontal of 22, which is larger than a pro stock but has a better drag coef than the pro stocker {.28 x .34).... Thank you Bill...

Streets, Thank You , Wow, a stock '34 Ford Fourdor weights 2510? yeah that would explain why Pro60chev's '32 Victoria's weighed 3050.... I think I read somewhere that a stock '32 roadster with a V8 was somewhere around 2200 {roughtly, I don't remember exactally}.... So I'm sticking with my 'guess-ta-ment' of my '32 weighting between 2600 & 2800.... Thanks again, Bill.....