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32 Ford Highboy Roadster Streetrod


Phildaupho

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This is a model of one of the two Deuce roadsters that appears on the front of the event t-shirt for Northwest Deuce Days which takes place in Victoria BC July 19-21, 2019 and is the largest gathering of ’32 Fords. The model will be on display at the accompanying model car show – Deuce Days in Scale. Marty Still from Colorado owns the real car. Photos of his car can be seen at https://public.fotki.com/phildaupho/deuce-days-in-scale-2019/purple-hi-boy/

Although in many ways the completed model looks almost box-stock, many modifications were made.

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BODY – door handle holes filled, cowl vent filled, lip on cowl removed, windshield mounting transverse rib removed and mounting recesses filled, bottom of trunk scribed and sanded even, filled and smoothed hood top, aluminum tube spreader bars, taillights from 29 Roadster, license plate frame from 427 Cobra with photo-etched frames and Photoshop licence plate, side rear view mirrors from Revell 40 Ford Coupe Street-Rod kit, windshield frame fabricated with side uprights from Phantom Vickie, top bar from 32 5-W and bottom from Evergreen Styrene. The paint is Colors by Boyd Grape Pearl.

INTERIOR – New flat dash panel installed with oval opening for 5 gauge decal made up on Photoshop, converted to three pedals and floor shift, column mounted tachometer fabricated from aluminum tube. The shifter from 5W kit which sort of looks like the old microphone in the real car.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT – Installed flat firewall with self-made engine-turned decal printed on clear and applied over bare-metal-foil, installed non-electric fan radiator, installed longitudinal hood sidebars

ENGINE – Used Replicas & Miniatures dual quad manifold, valve covers from 5W kit, air cleaner from 64 Thunderbolt, added fan, replaced auto trans with a 4-speed manual, dual exhaust tips adapted from AMT Ala Kart

SUSPENSION – The front suspension and brakes are based on the most recent Revell 29 Ford kit. The hairpin radius rods for from the Revell 32 5W. I was not successful trying to come up with a replica of the real Deuce’s shock absorber/headlight mount. I modified the 29 Ford kit mounts, shocks and headlights to get part way there. [I had not noticed it until it was pointed out to me that the artist who did the rendering for the t-shirt chose to illustrate the beam front axle as drilled all the way across but the real car is not drilled in the center]

CONSTRUCTION NOTES – I strayed from the instructions a couple of occasions which seemed like a good idea at the time but turned out to be counter productive.

The 29 axle is wider than the 32. The track became even wider to give more exposure to the brakes so I also had to widen the rear track.

I attached the rear wheel opening inner sections before painting and assembly, which made installing the completed interior virtually impossible. I had to disassemble the interior and install each piece separately

I fully assembled the engine but decided to install it after the body was attached to the chassis. Fortunately I had pinned the exhaust headers which I was able to remove and then reinstall once the engine was mated to the chassis

 

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Edited by Phildaupho
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Nice, and a good reminder just why the '32 Ford, though being only a one-year design, is THE most sought after car for building a hot-rod. The lines and proportions are just so very fine, no matter what style one gets built in.

Your model "sits" much better than the vast majority of what I've seen built from this kit. The more I look at it, the more I like it. :D

And please don't take this as criticism, because it's NOT intended to be. Though you have "427" on your engine, it has smallblock Windsor-style heads and valve covers.

The only smallblock-based 427 I'm aware of was in the Saleen S7/S7R, which, IIRC, used Cleveland-style heads (and of course, valve covers).

EDIT: Wait...I'm wrong. There IS a smallblock-based crate motor from Ford Racing in displacements up to 460 cu.in., and it uses the signature-shaped Windsor valve covers. So your engine could be entirely correct.  :)

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Nice, and a good reminder just why the '32 Ford, though being only a one-year design, is THE most sought after car for building a hot-rod. The lines and proportions are just so very fine, no matter what style one gets built in.

Your model "sits" much better than the vast majority of what I've seen built from this kit. The more I look at it, the more I like it. :D

And please don't take this as criticism, because it's NOT intended to be. Though you have "427" on your engine, it has smallblock Windsor-style heads and valve covers.

The only smallblock-based 427 I'm aware of was in the Saleen S7/S7R, which, IIRC, used Cleveland-style heads (and of course, valve covers).

EDIT: Wait...I'm wrong. There IS a smallblock-based crate motor from Ford Racing in displacements up to 460 cu.in., and it uses the signature-shaped Windsor valve covers. So your engine could be entirely correct.  :)

Thanks Bill  - I always enjoy your insightful and knowledgeable comments. Here is a photo of the real engine. Maybe you can identify its source.

IMG 20160707 104950512
 

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12 minutes ago, Phildaupho said:

Thanks Bill  - I always enjoy your insightful and knowledgeable comments. Here is a photo of the real engine. Maybe you can identify its source.

It looks like it is indeed the alloy-headed Ford Racing 427 based on the smallblock (rather than the FE engine we usually identify with "Ford 427"). It's a very special engine...which I wouldn't have known existed if it hadn't been for your great build here. :D

It looks like it came out in 2010, which shows how far behind the curve I can be at times.  https://www.dragzine.com/news/fords-new-427ci-windsor-crate-engine-535-hp/

I figured I'd better make sure I knew what was out there before I went too far out on the ignorant-limb.

One of the things I've always loved MOST about model cars is the opportunity to learn from them. B)

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10 hours ago, ChrisR said:

Very nice!

Thanks Chris

8 hours ago, DumpyDan said:

Awesome, looks great.

Thanks Dan

8 hours ago, TooOld said:

Very nicely done , I like the red accents !

Thanks Bob

2 hours ago, slusher said:

So sweet and impressive!!!

Thanks Chris

I have started work on the Brizio built - Tom Gloy Lo-Boy on the t-shirt. It is going to be challenging yet interesting project but I have a plan and the required parts.

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I saw this in the recent newsletter you sent out and I was impressed not only by the quality of the result, but also the rigor and discipline involved in getting so many of the details right. Quite the replica build!

And the Gloy Lo-Boy is perhaps my favorite car from Roy Brizio's shop. The proportions and inherent sophistication are just staggering. You can see Tom Gloy's influence as a road racer and it exploits everything that Brizio does so well. If anyone can do it justice you're the man!

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4 hours ago, Bernard Kron said:

I saw this in the recent newsletter you sent out and I was impressed not only by the quality of the result, but also the rigor and discipline involved in getting so many of the details right. Quite the replica build!

And the Gloy Lo-Boy is perhaps my favorite car from Roy Brizio's shop. The proportions and inherent sophistication are just staggering. You can see Tom Gloy's influence as a road racer and it exploits everything that Brizio does so well. If anyone can do it justice you're the man!

Thanks Bernard - Road racing is my favorite form of motorsports and I saw Tom Gloy race a few times back in his Formula Atlantic days so I took notice when he got into vintage customs and hot rods. His Lo-boy was definitely influenced by the Jim Khougaz roadster which was chosen as one of the 75 Most Significant 32 Ford Hot Rods back in 2007. I am very intrigued with the Moal torsion bar suspension used on the Gloy car and think I can come close to replicating it on the front where it is very obvious. In back it is more complicated and largely hidden.

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  • 5 weeks later...
On ‎10‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 8:49 AM, Phildaupho said:

Thanks Bill  - I always enjoy your insightful and knowledgeable comments. Here is a photo of the real engine. Maybe you can identify its source.

IMG 20160707 104950512
 

I'm not the final word on this, but I believe, if you start out with the 351W based block, instead of the 289/302 low deck base, you can bore and stroke to achieve 427 inches. The valve covers fit all289/302/351w the same. To the other person's point, he's correct, Ford never offered a 427 Windsor style engine....but you know how hot rodders are!

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