1932 Ford 3W Coupe.

[metalshapes]

More info on '32 Ford Coupe's here.


forum.retro-rides.org/thread/222311/1932-ford-5w-coupe

This is a 3 window, which is completely different from my 5 window.

If the '32 Coupe is the holy grail of Hot Rodding, the 3W is the holy grail of those ( although, some will say its the Roadster...)


The '32 was a one year only model, this makes it more special and rare.

Around that time Ford tended to have a 2 year run of most of their models.


And they sold a lot less 3W's than 5W's.

28,904 V8 5W's, 20,342 4 cyl 5W's, 

20,506 V8 3W's, 968 4 cyl 3W's.


These are really low numbers.

Racing crashes, builds gone wrong, WWII scrapdrives, etc, must have really thinned out the herd.

Its amazing there are as many original ( body by Henry) '32s left as there are...


That doesn't mean they all survived unscathed.

Most of these cars have been through several incarnations of being Hot Rodded, and with every version they ( usually) loose something.


And this one was one of the really bad ones.


A buddy of mine bought it as a project.

And although it was already painted ( shiny black), he saw some things he didn't really trust.

And he thought he'd better have it blasted to see what he got.

[metalshapes]

His hunch was correct...

[metalshapes]

Besides the sub standard metalwork, the last version it was built to ( as far as build style) the then fashionable Smoothy Billet style.

Fortunately, that style seems to have had its day.

Its no longer relevant,

But when it was, a lot of damage was done.

One of the key components of that style is to shave anything that sticks out and spoils the lines ( those were hickups according to lil' John Buttera, one of the pioneers of that style).


So this car ( of course) had hidden hinges instead of the original visible ones.

But the builder lacked the talent of lil' John, and the doors would bind and touch the 1/4 panels when you'd open the door...


So this was obviously going to be a very big job.


In fact, if it would have been anything other than a Body by Henry 3 Window 1932 Ford, it wouldn't have been worth saving...

[metalshapes]

When my buddy brought it to me, it was sitting on a chassis that was made out of 1" square tubing.

That chassis was laughable, so I cut it up and threw it away (after clearing it with the owner, my buddy, first).

It was so bad, I didn't even take pics of it...


He then found a restorable original 1932 chassis for it that another friend of mine ( same guy that roughed in the chassis for my own 5W) straightened boxed and put crossmembers into.


It was clear the body was no longer close to its original dimensions, so the decision was made to cut it apart on every major weld that was on it.





I spent a day at yet another friends place ( also a fabricator, who happened to have a customers 3W in his shop) to measure and write down as many dimensions as I could.








So I could start over on this one.

[metalshapes]

[metalshapes]

These are all old pics.

Work stalled on this car, and it sat for quite a while.


But now that my own 5W is to a good stopping point, I was able to get back on this one.


I've done some more work on it in the last couple of weeks.


I'll post some updates soon...

[metalshapes]

BTW, this is the engine it will get.

[jjeffries]

Big wow! Neat seeing that fork/folding/pleating shrinking technique but on a big pierce of sheet. That would be neat to see done in person.

I’d also forgotten the Zagato, in the background.

Always something cool going on in your shop.

John

[metalshapes]

Thank you John.

Yeah, some of those pics are quite a while ago.

The garage looks different too, now ( with the mezzanine, the drywall & insulation, etc).

The Zagato went back to Europe, and its being worked on.

In the pics you can also see the body of the 5W, the sandrail, and my very first project car.

Or at least, the part I saved.

When I was 10 years old, I got a '52 VW floorpan given to me.

Me and my dad shortened it to Mini wheelbase ( that was my first plan, to put a Mini body on it).

At about age 13 I changed my mind, and I drew a body for it.

It had to be simple, single bends in the sheets only ( no compound curves), and I had to guess on the height of the roof ( because I wasnt done growing yet... )

I worked on it (after school and in the weekends) until I was 19, by that time the energy crisis of the '70s had hit.

When I had downsize my Austin 1100 to a Fiat 500.

I couldn't afford to run the Austin at the then current fuel prices, so I knew a souped up VW was completely out of the question.


I parted it out, but I kept one side of the body.

And that has been in my various garages ever since.


Some time I decided to do it a bit nicer than just the bit of body I kept.

This is what it looks like now...

[mylittletony]

ah, excellent! More hot rod goodness to drool over

[ratchart]

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks as if that body shell had been chopped then someone attempted to return it to stock height?
It definitely needed saving by someone who knows what they're doing which judging from the progress so far you do.

Personally don't mind the billet style, when it's done well, that is the early 80s version of the style when it was a new look, but if you're going to do that sort of thing then you may as well start with a GRP replica body and save the real steel cars for people that appreciate the history of it.

[metalshapes]

ratchart , It has been cut and welded ( I'm being generous here...) a lot.

When I got it, it was still chopped.

So they didnt bring it back to stock height, but who knows...

Maybe they attempted it.

It may be as simple as being really rough and not accurate with making their cuts, and having massive gaps to deal with after that.


As far as the Billet style, I was impressed when lil'John Buttera introduced it in Hot Rod Magazine.

His 3W '32 Coupe is still one of my favorites.


But when guys like Boyd started copying it, it went stale for me, pretty much right away...

And when clumsy clunky Billet parts were in all the Hot Rod catalogs, it was completely past it, for me.


In a way, that buildstyle pushed me to getting into Traditional Hot Rods ( as in "I love Hot Rods, but not done like that... ")

There was a British builder who did a series on his '32 Roadster build ( Thacker?), who said something similar at the end of his build.
( He thought if he'd done his car in a more Trad style, it would have been more timeless).

His moment of self reflection had an influence on me too.

[metalshapes]

Here are some pics of that 3W.

( looking at it, I can see the door hinges are not shaved.
I thought they were... )






I still love that car.

But unfortunately they Boydified it...




And a pic of the UK built Roadster.






I devoured those magazines.

Specially if they had build series in them...

[metalshapes]

But this is going to be a very traditional build.

The owner has a Flathead V8 with a Ardun hemi head conversion ready to go into this car.

A period correct 3 speed with Zephyr gears ( close ratio ), a Columbia 2 speed rear axle, and maybe even a set of Kinmont brakes ( or Lincoln Bendix ones).


Super rare period correct parts...


But that is all because of the owner's commitment to this car.

I'm just the fabricator...

[jjeffries]

Not to speak ill of the dead, but I never cared for Coddington’s cars and that style went off relatively quickly. His TV show was also rather nightmarish.

The great irony of an Austin 1100 being considered a gas guzzler …

John

[metalshapes]

Jun 15, 2024 1:25:30 GMT jjeffries said:

The great irony of an Austin 1100 being considered a gas guzzler …

John

Yeah, its all relative, isnt it... 


But that situation set me on a multi decade rear engined Fiat journey, which I'm still on...

[braaap]

Jun 14, 2024 16:25:34 GMT metalshapes said:

I was always wondering if these rectangular head lights were 2CV parts, since I can't remember any other old car having such?

Jun 14, 2024 17:05:55 GMT metalshapes said:

I'm just the fabricator...

You say fabricator, others might say saviour.

[crockpot]

Stunning work as always.
Are those original Ardun heads or repros? Given the rarity of them I'm surprised how many have survived and still turn up.

[Alpina99]

Brilliant work as always,
Another to devour each new installment,
Bookmarked as always,
Nigel

[Alpina99]

Brilliant work as always,
Another thread to devour each new installment,
Bookmarked as always,
Nigel