Quote Originally Posted by GMR
I don't plan on covering the engine and I do plan on driving it often and I don't want to be afraid to travel a couple hundred miles at a time on rare occaisions - do you think cooling will be a concern under those circumstances?

Also, let me shift gears, so to speak, and ask this (anyone please chime in). I like manual transmissions. Assuming I'm not worried about resale value and like shifting, are there any reasons not to have a floor shifted manual transmission in a deuce coupe?
A open hood sided Deuce usually runs cooler than a Deuce with a hood ... and Big Blocks can run cool but most do not ... that are Hot rodded... compression ratio, timing and lean/rich induction all play into it.

When GM installed a Big Block into a vehicle ... it ALWAYS got a larger radiator and big fan.

Have you ever driven a 32 Ford ??
There is very little room around the brake pedal and steering column. Clutch linkage can be done but it takes a good bit of room and engineering to work properly. I have B I G feet ... and shifting gears in rod run traffic is not my idea of a fun weekend ...