Another Build Thread - My '32

[J. Robinson]

OK, one of the things I said I would do is bob the rear frame rails and recontour them to fit closer to the body. The original frame is built to hold the gas tank under the rear edge of the body. It is protected by a rear spreader bar and a bumper mounted on spring steel brackets. All that looks pretty good on a full-fendered car. The tank fills that ugly gap between the bottom of the body and the frame rails and a stock '32 bumper and brackets is pretty substantial. I see a lot of fenderless '32s with no rear bumper, but still using the stock gas tank. It fills that ugly space and looks OK, but to me, that is just asking to be burned to death in a rear end collision. Anyway, that's just my opinion and I'm not badmouthing anyone else's choices, but my fuel cell is going in the trunk just like the one in my '31 coupe. If someone hits me in the rear hard enough to get to that tank, I'll be dead from the impact before the tank explodes...

So, the tank is going in the trunk - what to do with those ugly frame rails hanging out there beyond the rear of the body? A lot of builders just lop them off somewhere under the body. That certainly helps the appearance, but I have this pretty brand new Bob Drake chrome spreader bar... Actually, I like the idea of having the spreader bar and frame rails under the back of the body in case some distracted asswipe, playing with his/her phone, bumps me at a stoplight, etc. (It's happened before.) It could save the fiberglass body from severe damage and at least keep it minimal enough to repair reasonably.

First some measurements are necessary. The top of the frame rails are 3 7/8 inches below the body and they stick out 8 inches. The trunk floor is sitting on the frame rails 17 inches from the end. I have to do the cutting and reshaping behind this point, so I put a mark on the frame rails with a Sharpie (not shown). Next I measure from the frame rails, at the back edge of the body, to the floor and write that measurement down. With all the measurements taken, I hoist the rear of the body up off the frame and just for safety, I put some 4 x 4 blocks on the frame under the trunk floor near the rear axle. If my straps slip I won't get my hands or fingers crushed.