Thread: Sunday Red: A 1932 Roadster Build Log Started in 2022

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What's the rear axle ratio? Assuming it has the final drive in place? Also assuming it's a Ford 9 inch style rear axle.
Also, now's a good time to find your transmission. Hello SUMMIT? Get one that's already rebuilt and has some kind of a warranty. You'll probably never be able to take advantage of a warranty as it'll expire before you get on the road. But for a short time, they'll stand behind it. Also - you'll need to find a flywheel as that 5.0 you have was a manual tranny car judging by the gear hanging on the back.
Also the flywheel bolts and the starter locate plate. Should be able to source one from a local junk yard or U-Pick... Just some thoughts..

Originally Posted by 34_40

What's the rear axle ratio? Assuming it has the final drive in place? Also assuming it's a Ford 9 inch style rear axle.
Also, now's a good time to find your transmission. Hello SUMMIT? Get one that's already rebuilt and has some kind of a warranty. You'll probably never be able to take advantage of a warranty as it'll expire before you get on the road. But for a short time, they'll stand behind it. Also - you'll need to find a flywheel as that 5.0 you have was a manual tranny car judging by the gear hanging on the back.
Also the flywheel bolts and the starter locate plate. Should be able to source one from a local junk yard or U-Pick... Just some thoughts..

Yes, obtaining the transmission components is definitely high on my list. I have asked the chassis to be set up for AOD. I had a really positive experience with the junkyard service I used to obtain my engine, so I'm going to be on the lookout on their web site for an AOD. Worst case, I think Jegs, Summit and American Muscle all carry a version of the AOD and I can just buy one (its just a lot more money).

Couple of key things I learned today:

1. I've been doing some work on my garage and installing some new LED lighting that really gives some great light. It has let me take a really good look at this engine for the first time.
2. I had an OK set of tools. But prior to starting this project I knew I would need a lot more and a new toolchest. So far I have spent about $1400 in new tools alone and it has been worth every penny. Doing today's work I was able to instantly reach for things I needed to finish out specific tasks and it kept me going. Really glad I prepared that way.

The plenum, the intake and fuel rails are now completely off and I will do the intake tomorrow. Most of the plastic pieces, hoses, tabs, etc. on this engine are as brittle as can be and would basically fall apart in my hands as soon as I applied any kind of pressure. Made today's work easy but a little messy.

Next Up:

• Remove the intake manifold
• Inspect the valley.
• Remove all the clutch components
• Lift the engine off the pallet and onto an engine stand

I'll decide on the next steps from there. I have a 5 month wait ahead of me and I found an engine shop that can turnaround the work on my engine in 1 week. I also have some Edelbrock components in mind for my carb setup and I might put those on order soon.

I'm a little concerned by the color here. Indicates that there might have been water in here at some point


These heads and a good part of the block have a lot more rust than I thought. I think this starts to point towards a rebuild again


I found some water in the plenum. I know it can't reach the internals from this particular spot but this engine has clearly spent a lot of time outside.


Managed to get the whole wiring harness off the engine. It's basically a pile of brittle plastic at this point



Anyone have some fun ideas on what to do with this? I think it would look amazing all polished up or maybe bronzed in some way.

Welcome to the valley! Nothing jumps out at me as being overly concerning other than the specs of dirt that I keep finding every time I remove something. But everything else looks OK to my eye.





Every time I pull off a gasket or bolt it either disintegrates or is rusty as heck. I put a couple of these bolts and the Ford sign in a CLR bath to see if that will help bring them back to life.






The headers are now also off. I needed to take these off to make it easier to wrap my straps around the engine for listing it with the hoist


Next up, use my engine hoist to slightly lift the engine and remove all the clutch components. From there it will go up on the engine stand and I will continue the tear down. I will also check the CLR bath. If that seems to be working OK, I will order a bunch more of it and start cleaning up these bolts and components because *everything* on this engine is rusty!

On your chassis order did you take advantage of P&J's "show chrome" options? One of the best values they offer, considering the costs of having things chromed today.

Originally Posted by rspears

On your chassis order did you take advantage of P&J's "show chrome" options? One of the best values they offer, considering the costs of having things chromed today.

I did not. P&J advised that any chrome options would add significantly to the already-long delivery time

Originally Posted by JimBeam

I did not. P&J advised that any chrome options would add significantly to the already-long delivery time

That surprises me, as I thought that Pete & Jakes stocked a bunch of already chromed pieces & parts, plus the IFS is from TCI and I again assumed that they would have them stocked. Guess I was wrong, and they're made to order, or at least chromed to order. That's too bad.

So you're going IFS with everything painted on a '32 without fenders?

Originally Posted by rspears

That surprises me, as I thought that Pete & Jakes stocked a bunch of already chromed pieces & parts, plus the IFS is from TCI and I again assumed that they would have them stocked. Guess I was wrong, and they're made to order, or at least chromed to order. That's too bad.

So you're going IFS with everything painted on a '32 without fenders?

It is too bad about the chrome, but I'm OK with it. I was on the fence about going chrome anyways - it's a nice look but I can live without it because I don't want this project to sit around.

Yes, IFS, no fenders, with paint. I am going to use part of my wait to do some color tests with different paints so that I can start forming ideas on what color combinations I want. I also plan to pain the engine block and headers so I will start looking at some of the color/paint options for that.

Today was my first full day working on this project and I managed to get a lot of things done and down to the bare block. Pretty good progress for a single day!

I don't even want to begin to admit to some of the things I had to do to get this engine on this stand. I'm working by myself and using a proper engine hoist for the first time - it was hard! Plus the pallet that the engine came on kept on getting in the way and I ended up destroying all of it to the stand close enough to the hoist. There was a lot of standing around doing the Hank Hill "Yup" in order to get some ideas to get it all working, but I did it!


Cylinder heads looked OK overall. Should I be surprised that these are not bearing? I thought 1994 Mustang GTs would have converted over by then but it does not look that way





Pistons also generally look OK, nothing that looks blatantly bad.




I kept on finding these color discolorations throughout the engine. I guess its the early signs of rust? I found it on various components and I show some of those pics below. Anyone know what this is?




Crankshaft looks OK. These lines were on the surface but I am sure they are no big deal


All the block numbers match up to everything I know about the engine - 1994 Mustang GT in that awful forest green that generation had


I found this tag in one of the engine plugs. B&R is the name of the place I got the engine so I'm guessing this is some sort of property tag they add in case of theft?


NEXT UP:
Take the block off the stand and off to the machine shop this week. I called a few places and they are 1-2 week turnaround time. So really not that bad and I can't wait to get started on it. I need to order some things from Summit to take to the machinist, but they can get that stuff here quickly.

That last picture, the device pictured is a high temp indicator. Many machine shops install them on their rebuilt units to give proof if they've gone over temp. that one is 250 degrees. I think.. there were a few different makers of those devices and the numbers didn't always line up to the indicated value on the part number.

Originally Posted by 34_40

That last picture, the device pictured is a high temp indicator. Many machine shops install them on their rebuilt units to give proof if they've gone over temp. that one is 250 degrees. I think.. there were a few different makers of those devices and the numbers didn't always line up to the indicated value on the part number.

That's great info, thank you! It's my first time dealing with an engine like this, so it's good to have you guys to point out things like that

Today was a light day. Just wiped down some parts to take them for sandblasting. I order some rattle cans so that I can do some color tests while I wait for the block to be done. Order was placed with Summit, I will take the block in as soon as those parts get here. Other parts will be taken for sandblasting Monday afternoon.

Light work day today. Summit order arrived today so that motivated me to prep for the machine shop. Just took the last of all the plugs and senders off the block. Also got the block off the engine stand and it is now hanging from my hoist, waiting for me to load it into the car (which will be a whole other adventure!). Block, cam and crank go off to the machine shop tomorrow afternoon.

Also, a couple of parts are now with my sandblasting guy. They said they could turn them around in 24 hours and for $50. That doesn't sound too extortionary so looking forward to seeing how those come out and doing some color tests on them.

Finally, Summit just came out with a 5% back offer for a max of $100. Since I have so many more parts to order, I'm making some moves to try to take advantage of that offer since it's free money to go after.

Anyone here have experience with the 1932 bodies from Speedway motors? They seem to have 1 in stock and I know Speedway has a good reputation. Plus their body is the 2" extended version, which I almost certainly need. Any opinions out there on this body???

You'll have to check if the chassis you ordered will accept a stretched body.

Originally Posted by 34_40

You'll have to check if the chassis you ordered will accept a stretched body.

Someone else with more experience here can chime in but my understanding is that the body itself isn't stretched, its only the cabin area that is 2" longer. It just allows for more seat positions for longer legs. The overall body dimension is the same and, in fact, comes without mounting holes so that you can drill your own for whatever chassis you choose (Speedway doesnt even sell a 1932 chassis from what I can tell).