Thread: 32 Roadster Identification

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I'm new to the Street Rod scene, just sold my race car and bought a 1932 Roadster kit and I need some help identifying what I bought. I'm not sure I got what I was told.

Here are some picures of the rolling chassis, could someone please tell me the brand of body and chassis I have!! I would like to contact the manufacture and ask some questions as well as make some changes.

Thanks in advance!

Phil
aka Gearjammer

What were you told by the seller?

It's really tough to figure out a chassis and body manufacturer from just photos. There have been literally hundreds of each which in today's economic world has dwindled to only those that had a good business plan.

The body looks decent with pretty good character line definition with the frame being a four piece assembly rather then ASC rails. That can be good or bad depending on who built it and how much attention to proper alignment was made when building it. It looks like a tubular front axle. Most folks wont use a 4 bar set up but hair pins. I'm not sure it really makes a difference, but 'tradition' and some 'engineering' babble have pushed them that way. The rear shocks are probably angled too much. I would expect no more then 15 degrees from vertical, tose are in the 30+ range. To compensate, you need to do some spring calculations, but it would be better to straighten them up. The front brake brackets - for GM calipers?? or someone's after market "junk". The rear end looks to be a Ford pickup with the differential so far offset

Get the body off, do some measurements to check frame alignment then go from there. It appears at first glance to be a decent start, but lots of upcoming work and the folks here will help (especially when it comes to helping you spend your money)

Now, what I'll tell anyone, make a plan as to what and where you want to go with the build. Do a budget. You'll exceed it regardless, but it will still be a point to aim at for the car.

Like Dave says, I doubt anyone is going to ID this frame & body from snapshots. What were you told by the seller? You'll have a better chance of someone either supporting or shooting down that info than anything else. Dave has given you some good advice about the path forward, and by the way, it won't help you get an answer by posting in multiple areas of the forum - in fact it may hamper your efforts. Just my $0.02, and good luck as you get into the build.

Thanks guys, I was told the builder was from Michigan and it was 3 letters, I was told it was a 9" but it's an 8", I was told the frame was boxed well that's a play on words because some of it is. That part is my fault it was 11:00 pm and in the country when I picked of up and forgot my flashlight in Michigan. I want to change the rear end with a centered pumkin but I was wanting to find out the manufacture so I could get the mounts jig welded to the housing, maybe you guys can give me some ideas on where to send the housing and where could I purchase the right housing brackets etc...

Thanks again
Phil
PS: sorry about the other post, I thought I may have posted it in the wrong location afterwards due to the fact that I wasn't showing progress of my project but rather inquiring on what I have.

If it is a kit, did the seller give you an MSO (Manufacture's Statement of Origin)? Are you going to need one in your state? I would find out if there is going to be any issues registering it before I put any more $$ in it.

Just a thought.

Phil - a couple things that if you are a total 'newbie' to street rodding and the mix and match to make things work.

Boxed frames will not be from end to end. Most builders will leave them open from the front cross member forward and the rear cross member back.

An 8" differential will work fine for street use and modest horsepower, i.e. 350+/-. They can be difficult to tell apart under a car, but the 8" usually has a couple dimples in the back cover and that cover is always rounded while only a couple of years for original 9" are that way ('57 and '58). There is one good source of differentials in Michigan, John's Industries. Ring and Pinion Gears. A friend has one from there in a '32 and it was nicely done. They can do the brackets and shock mounts, but you have to tell him what kind of attaching bars you will be using - 4 bar or triangulated.

Again, tear it completely apart, find out where you are, know what you already have then do your basic build plan. I'll preach that until you get sick of hearing about it

Rear wheel is not centered in opening or it's the pic angle. Front frame looks stretched to me.
I don't see much steel reinforcement in that glass body.
I have no idea what you have.

IC2, thanks for the information, I will do as you recommended. I do have a large racing background, I know based on the center section that my rear end is an 8", I really don't have a problem with the 8" however, I would prefer to have the rear end centered and if I change it I will
go with a 9". My performance will come from a 390 FE with 500 HP 530 lb ft of torque. By the way Dave, you have a great eye I just checked my shocks and they are 40 degree's.

Depending on how much you paid it seems like a good start. Dave/IC2 has made some good comments which I agree with but I thought it was old school engineering to only use a tube front axel with hairpin radius rods. With a four bar set up there will be a twisting force on the axel when one wheel dips more than the other. A standard I-beam axel can provide that flexibility while a tube axel is more rigid and may eventually crack under severe use. The formula I learned was to use hairpin radius rods with a tube axel so the hairpins would flex or use an I-beam axel with a four bar setup. Since you have the four bar set up it might be a good idea to swap out the tube axel for an I-beam. Perhaps others here can comment as to whether they have ever seen a tube axel crack when mounted in a four bar geometry. Even so you have a very good start on a classic roadster!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Don, I believe the popular consensus is to use hairpins with I-beam axles and 4-bars with tube axles.

The 4-bars form a parallelagram (?) and don't put twist in the tube axle while an I-beam will twist a bit and not put undo stress on the single mounting point of the hairpin.

I'm no front end expert but have always run them this way.

Mick

........................

I'm with Mick, I think Don's memory is working backward today....

This whole setup has an early '90s kind of look to it, that's probably when it was purchased originally. It looks like a mid level quality deal; not a high end body like Wescott, not a cheapo, flimsy splash body either. Same with the frame; not a stamped rail, tubular X member, but not minimum material meant to resemble a decent chassis. Not having the boxing in the center portion of the side rails isn't much of an issue if the X member legs tie into the boxed portions front and rear, the stress is transfered through the X to those areas. I don't see the stretch that Steve sees, but as he said, photo angle might be in play. As you may already know, stock wheelbase is 106", but it's not uncommon to move the front cross member forward 1" for 107. It's subtle, but more pleasing to some eyes. On the rear end housing, if you're intent on changing it you could take/send your existing housing to the fab shop to replicated the bracket placement, but with that triangulated four bar setup the shop might prefer having the whole chassis to ensure proper placement/orientation. That would be the best time to change the shock placement too.

It would be nice to know the theme you're shooting for when giving advice, particularly in detail choices. Supposedly there are no rules in hot rodding, but there are certain conventions that are a tip off. For instance, four bar/tube axle fronts are an '80s/90s thing, so would be out of place on a, say '50s traditional theme. No big deal in a practical sense, just a matter of taste.

Thanks for all the comments guys, this is a learning curve for me coming from racing. Here is an idea the wife and I are shooting for

We are not looking to long haul cruises, however, I do want to have some comfort, so please keep the ideas coming.

Before you go too far, read this: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/BF...3__83315_7.pdf. It tells you how to register an assembled vehicle in Michigan. If you don't prepare for this, you will be in a world of hurt. You also might want to talk to someone who has registered an assembled vehicle there. State DMVs can be a serious headache for guys like us.

Oh, and also read this: SOS - Your Title