Thread: Car Weight/Windshield

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Good Morning,
I was wondering if any one has weighed their '32 Hi-boy and what is a typical weight? I have a fiberglassbody with 350/700r4.
Also what different kinds of windshield frame/stanchions are avalabile, and if any body has any extra pieces they might want to get rid of.
Thanks,
Jim

There are a lot of different kinds of windshield frames and stanchions available. How are you building your rod--retro, traditional, modern? Some more information would help.

My 462" Buick powered, T-400, 4-point 2 1/2" diameter roll bar, cloth topped 32 roadster with Wescott body weighs 2400#.

Most SBC powered 32 roadster's running the popular 350 - 350 - 9" sans roll bar and cloth top weigh in at about 2300# regardless of body used.

It looks like the new project, a 31 A roadster on 32 frame rails running the same power combo as the 32, but without roll bar - gets one later - and cloth top (probably get one of those later) looks like it will weigh in at 2200#.

Take a look at Wescott's and/or LeBaron-Bonney's online catalogs and you'll find windshield stanchions, posts stock and chopped as well as windshield frames.
Plain and chrome in most cases.


The big Buicks are very lightweight considering their size.
Remove the heavy cast iron intake manifold, install an aluminum one and the Buick weighs about 15# more than a SBC.

510# torque stock though....

Thanks for the info RUMRUM. C9x, I am planning to semi-traditional car. I am building a primered driver with w/w tires, moons and the hi-boy headers/side pipes to get it driving so I can work out all the problems that will popup. I am going to have a certain amount of new parts (they will mostly be under the hood/interior. I am also planning a top and heat/ac. I have a smooth cowl on the car now and have had a stock made if I decide to go that way. I am leaning towards a painted windsheild frame. I am unsure if side curtains can be added and/or how to add them to other than stock stanchions.
Thanks,
Jim

I forgot to mention that all the roadsters noted are highboys.

I recommend a heater for roadsters.
Even without a top it helps.
Especially so for the passenger.

Windwings help, make them from Lexan (trade name for Polycarbonate).
You can get Poly at Home Depot.

I also have Lexan rear quarter windows in my 32.
It stops the highway speed generated wind from turning in and hitting you in the ear.

I've been thinking about side windows.
Folks may wonder why in a roadster, but last time I had it out, it was 19 degrees F. when I left the house.
Looks like hinging a window at the top and folding it in and up towards the inside will work.

There'll still be some air leakage with side windows, but dressed properly for cold weather and running the heater usually does it.
Surprising too, how much a blanket across your lap helps.

Strange as it sounds you need to weather strip the doors.
More than likely you'll have the windshield W/stripped top and sides, but once you get a top on it creates a low pressure area within the cockpit and sucks air in through the door gaps.
Hot air from the louvered hood sides in summer and cold air in the winter.

Be sure and get a top that has a snap-open rear window.
It makes a heckuva difference in the summer.

I recommend you do not use glass in the top or windwings.
It's too heavy.
Lexan works well here and generally speaking if a modicum of care is used, Lexan doesn't scratch.
The windwings on my 32 are about ten years old and the only scratch on them is where some clown dragged his diamond ring across it . . . just testing, ya know?

In the pic you can see the top folded up into the three retaining snaps.

The top - and top irons - are available at LeBaron-Bonney.
Nice people to deal with and the top is a kit you can do at home and in fact is what most upholstery shops install.
Some of them allude to making the top at the shop, but I've seen a few of these "shop tops" and they're identical to mine.

Wow C9, nice. Do you have any other pics with the various pieces in place? I am also going to run "BUN" warmers as my wife and I use them year round in her Bravado. You would be surprised how much they help(even in the summer) after a few hours on the road. I will have heat, but in Texas you have to have A/C or only drive at night in the summer.
Jim

N/W Arizona where I live now gets hot in the summer.
It's not quite as bad here at 3300' altitude, but down on the river in Laughlin it can get "stupid hot" as my daughter likes to say.

It got pretty hot in Central California as well.
Over 100 degree days were commonplace although about 105 degrees is my personal best there.
And it was fire up, drive to my friends big shop, park in the shade and stand in front of the caster mounted sitting on the floor big swamp cooler.

Here's one pic of the 32.
I'll try to find another that shows windwings etc. a little better.

Here's a fairly good shot of the windwings (WW).
WW mounts are Vintique fwiw.
Available at Wescott's and Lebaron-Bonney.

Note that they are shorter than stock WW's.
I used to remove the WW's each summer for more airflow, but I made a shorter set - as seen in the pic - and they work just as well in the winter, but allow more air in the summer.
Sounds offbeat, but adjusting the shorter WW's has more of an effect on airflow than does adjusting the longer ones.
Nice part about Lexan is that you can make them what size you want and try another size if that doesn't work out.

This pic shows the quarter windows.

These are the prototypes and were made from 1/8" Lexan.
Since they were mounted in the middle, right on the angled piece with oak bow, they didn't work out well.
The thinness of the Lexan allowed them to set up an aerodynamic buzz.

Changing to 3/16" thick Lexan cured that problem.

The quarter windows come out in the warmer weather.

Incidentally, I've found that a cowl vent is a necessity with these small cars.
It makes a big difference in hot weather comfort.

Only bad thing about the 32 is it's louvered hood top that dumps air right down the cowl vent when running city speeds.

At highway speeds, air flow patterns over the car change and hood top hot air is depressed to a great extent so the cowl vent does a good job there.

For that reason, my new project - 31 roadster on 32 frame rails - doesn't have hood top louvers, but it will have a cowl vent once I find the right donor car.

I hope my '32 will turn out half as nice and dependable as your's. You have some great ideas that I hope to steal for mine when I get that far.
Thanks,
Jim

From a style point of view, I think you would be best off going with stock style stanchions but chopped for a chopped windshield. That way you could run a top like C9's and still look traditional.

Lynn,
Just checked you album, Koool.
I am updating this message after thinking about it all night. I think that my best bet is to go with a setup like C9's. Now I just need to get all my parts together(or more correctly, my $) and get to work.
Thanks,
Jim