Thread: What a difference............

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.............a few small changes can make. Not exactly a build log, more of a "fix what ain't right" log.

So I got another bug up my butt recently that is all part of that "Hello, my name is Bob, and I'm a hot rod-a-holic" thing. I came upon a '32 Brookville bodied roadster that had been built by a retired railroad guy for his son. The boy's name was Andy, and dad wanted to give him a nice, well built hot rod to enjoy. Sadly, Andy came down with leukemia and passed away just about the time dad finished the car. The dad, Stan, kept the car for awhile as a remembrance, but, understandably, he eventually came to accept that it was time to let it go. Stan made probably 85% of the choices I would have made if I'd put this kind of car together myself, so my interest level was high. His workmanship, generally, was of a fairly high level. The wiring is very neatly routed and he used the vintage cloth style wire. The system is powered by a generator rather than alternator, and functions well. The rest of the items I'll note almost all fit for the '60s style car I had in mind. While many are still chasing the early nostalgia stuff what with flatheads and skinny bias tires, I've pretty much run that course over the past 20 or so years. I wanted to do a roadster in the style I might have done in 1963 if I'd had the ability/sense to pull it off.

Stan chose to do a fairly traditional chassis with Ford buggy springs, a dropped front axle and a 9" rear out of a '57 wagon. It's got BLC headlights, a stock '32 grille assembly, chopped windshield, roll and pleat interior with banjo wheel and all the bumps and things that a post war traditional car might have. But at that time the car would have shed it's old style flathead V8 in favor of them new fangled overhead valve v8 engines. The most likely, despite all the whiny b.s. we often hear, being a small block Chev. What better than a slightly over bored 283 with a mild cam and tri=power? Back it up with a T10 four speed shifted by a Hurst shifter and tah-dah.......we're right in the early '60s. So far, so good. So what needs improvement to hit my target more in the center? First he didn't quite get the tire sizing right. I'm sure he had a goal in mind, but it doesn't work for me. So one of the first things I did was work up something that would have been done in '63 to "update" the appearance of the car in a similar way to updating the horse power/performance. Nothing says '60s style hot rod wheels better than 5 spoke aluminum rims (well, maybe magnesium, but us po' boys had to settle for aluminum look-a-likes). And of course sizing for a nice rubber rake is essential. Stan's choice had about a 1.5 inch stagger front to back..............ugh! The new skins now have 5 inches, a much better look to my old eyes. I cheated a bit with the choice of radials, but tried to come close on profile as the early '60s didn't offer the jumbo wide tires of the late '60s into '70s. I had to work out some tuning issues, mostly with the tri-power, but since he went all in on the era stuff it still has a points style distributor. They actually work pretty well, but one of the solutions I had to employ was bringing the plug gap down to points spread rather than what electronic ignitions use. It runs better, but still needs a little more tweaking to get where I like it. It had blue dot lenses in the '39 tail lights, and I abhor those so original style lenses have been installed. I may yet change those units out for the '50 Pontiac ones instead, but that can wait. One of the things that helps a '32 hiboy is a hood. Yeah, the hoodless look works, but somehow the addition of a full hood gives the body a visual lengthening that just works..............at least to my eye.

There will be other small changes over time, but for the most part the above list should get the car where I want it thematically. It drives nicely, and doesn't have any hugely bad habits that need repair. Let's hope for a nice summer now......

If these come out the way I put them in the first pic is the way it started followed by the wheel and tire update, along with a dink around shot of test fitting the new hood while playing with the idea of using hubcaps instead of 5 spokes..........those would probably work better with whitewalls, but not for now.

Nice changes. I like the hood too.

Lookin' really good, Bob! The story is a sad one, but it's understandable that Stan couldn't keep the car for too long. I like the changes you're making, especially the hood. Glad you got it there without incident, too. Wish I could have been more help to you with that part of the puzzle.

It seems readily apparent that you have way too many cars at this juncture!!! I would be happy for you to ship the '36 or the Mustang out here for safe-keeping......

Great ideas, Bob. You nailed the era. Classic hot rod of the times.

Nice little project. I like what you've done so far. Here is hoping for some dry weather!

What a great project, I'm jealous!

Rich

Thanks guys, nice to get positive feedback.

Originally Posted by rspears

Lookin' really good, Bob! The story is a sad one, but it's understandable that Stan couldn't keep the car for too long. I like the changes you're making, especially the hood. Glad you got it there without incident, too. Wish I could have been more help to you with that part of the puzzle.

Not to worry Roger, I appreciate what help you contributed. It took a bit more time for transport than I would have liked, but the service was good and no damage, so all is well.

Originally Posted by randyr

It seems readily apparent that you have way too many cars at this juncture!!! I would be happy for you to ship the '36 or the Mustang out here for safe-keeping......

You're more correct than you may know Randy, I do have the '39 sedan up for sale with what sounds like a live wire due to look at her tomorrow. One (of many) of the problems with being a car addict is overloading the available space. I'm at least one stall short of enough. Hmmmmmm, you'd look good driving a '39 sedan don't you think?

A little more eye candy, a shot of the interior to round out the show.............

Hey Bob that looks great bud !!!

Good change on the wheels and tires (60's mags). Gives it the proper look.
He did a good job on choosing the interior, fits the era.

I like it with the ford hubcaps .........but you never listen to me.

Lookin' good, Bob. Would like to see it with the hood and the 5 spokes.

What points distributor is it running? My coupe has an old Mallory YC-465 mechanical tach drive distributor and it works well.

Mick

Wow the interior is definately vintage down to the heater and steering wheel, The upholstery is very clean, cool and simple, which sets off all the other stuff added to the car. I even like the shifter and brake! Where did you find this little Gem?

Originally Posted by Scooting

Good change on the wheels and tires (60's mags). Gives it the proper look.
He did a good job on choosing the interior, fits the era.

For a younger guy, he's only 60 , he did a pretty good job of catching the early '60s vibe. Just enough stuff from earlier mixed with then current parts and trends to create a picture of a car transitioning from a '50s style closely tied to post war ideas, to the more modern approach of the time.

Originally Posted by robot

I like it with the ford hubcaps .........but you never listen to me.

And for a host of good reasons.

Originally Posted by lurker mick

Lookin' good, Bob. Would like to see it with the hood and the 5 spokes.

What points distributor is it running? My coupe has an old Mallory YC-465 mechanical tach drive distributor and it works well.

Mick

Yeah Mick, if I was any kind of good at photo shopping I'd whip up that image for you, but.............. I'm not............ so that will have to wait until I get the hood whipped into shape.
The engine is a '62-3, the distributor is same vintage Delco......the one with the window in the side of the cap to tweak the points.

Originally Posted by stovens

Wow the interior is definately vintage down to the heater and steering wheel, The upholstery is very clean, cool and simple, which sets off all the other stuff added to the car. I even like the shifter and brake! Where did you find this little Gem?

Yeah Steve, that's the thing about the upholstery back when, it was different from stock, but not too flashy as to distract. Quite a contrast to the '80/90s with swooshy patterns and pastel palettes.

The car was on the big bad auction site folks like to pretend they hate. I took a flier at the guy and offered around 20 percent off his ask. He countered with just a small discount and I told him I'd offered all I could afford (gotta figure changes and transport). He thought about it and must have concluded I was the only one stupid enough to pay that much.

Unc Bob, I thought you were banned from that web auction site since your rant at them at SEMA a few years back.....did they
rethink their ban and give you back your auction paddle? I could put a word in on your behalf but that might hurt your image.
Mike in Tucson