Need info on '32 Deuce Coupe

[john66]

Yes that Deuce coupe, the American Grafitti coupe of John Milner fame. I have

decided one way or another to build one. I will either seek out the old Revell metal

body kit or use the 1/25 Revell 5 window coupe kit and chop the top of the roof to lower

the stance. What has evaded me is the engine. I have heard it was a 283 but others say

it is a 327. Also what color was the engine block, from all the images I have seen I can't

really tell, it looks black or very dark gray? I would think a Chevy of that size and year would

be an orange or reddish orange color. Any advice would be appreciated.---John

[Lordmodelbuilder]

Engine was a 1966 327.

[Toner283]

There is not much visual difference between a 327 and a 283. The majority of the differences are internal. In scale you can not tell one from the other. Most small block Chevrolets in scale you cannot tell the difference from one to the other. 283, 267, 302, 305, 307, 327, 350 all look virtually identical. Even full size 90% of people cannot tell one from the other. 

That being said, very early small block Chevy 265s and early 283s did not have engine mounts on the side of the block like the millions produced since. They had mounts bolted to the front of the block and to the sides of the bellhousing. This was changed in I believe 1958 to the side mount arrangement.

And the engine in the graffiti Coupe I believe it's black. A widely held belief early on was that performance engines were painted black. Something to do with helping with heat transfer.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Lots of info on building this car already available in the thread below, particularly on getting the carbs and manifold right.

BUT...be sure to read the text carefully. There is some conflicting "advice", some of which is just flat wrong.

Far as engine color goes, when you build a hot-rod, you can paint the engine any color you want. If it's a Chevy, for example, you're not stuck with orange just because that's what the factory used.

 

Edited May 12, 2019 by Ace-Garageguy

[john66]

Thanks for the information. I did build the 1/25 Revell 5 window coupe as a "looks

similar too" yellow Deuce coupe about 4 years ago. I was never totally happy with

it. I didn't know how much to chop out of the door posts and windshield at the time

so I left it stock. I did however learn how to make the bobbed rear fenders from the

kits and made motorcycle fenders from plastic card stock. Now to put it all together with

what i am learning now. I am very weak on frames and suspension, something I never really

paid attention to.---John

[Toner283]

Remember to also section the grille shell. There are should be resin grille shells available that are already sectioned if you wanted to go that route. The unsectioned body and the sectioned grille shell is one of the odd signatures of the graffiti Coupe.

The rumor that I have heard was that Spielberg wanted the coupe to be sectioned  to make it more "hot rod" and the production crew started with the grille shell and depending on who is correct, when they got to the body either because of time constraints for production or difficulty of sectioning the body it didn't get done. To 90% of the viewing public the car looks like a normal hot rod. To old school hot rodders it looks odd with the grille shell sectioned and the body not.

Oh, and don't forget the piston shift knob. ?

[john66]

Thanks, this is a ways off. I am still gathering information. I still have a '69 Dodge Charger Daytona

which is about 1/3 done, a 2017 Kurt Bush Monster Energy Fusion Nascar about 3/4 done, a '70 Plymouth

Superbird with just the engine done, a '69 Dodge Daytona NASCAR kit unstarted and a Mark Martin Folgers

Thunderbird still in the box unstarted. I am not sure when to do the coupe or what "kit" to use.---John

Edited May 13, 2019 by john66

[NOBLNG]

This build is also on my to-do list. I will be watching!

[john66]

How much head room would there have been if they did section the body and chop the roof? It

seems "Milner" was already crouching as he drove with just the roof chopped.---John

[Darin Bastedo]

If you want to build a plastic kit of it the best place to start is a kit bash of the Revell "Rat Roaster" 32 ford and the Revell 32 Ford Five window. The Rat Roaster has the correct headers and fenders for the build. Model Car garage has a chopped 32 ford grill shell with PE grille, and you can choose your favorite set of Chrome reverse rims as there are many out there. The tough part is the 4 carb intake and the top chop. If you are feeling lazy you can use the Jimmy Flintstone resin body.

[john66]

Thanks, the top chop I saw here on You Tube. A place called The 40 Watt Garage. They explain

it pretty good.---John

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A2KIbMfEPdZcmKYAnDdXNy

 

[Mr. Metallic]

On 5/12/2019 at 11:02 PM, Toner283 said:

Remember to also section the grille shell. There are should be resin grille shells available that are already sectioned if you wanted to go that route. The unsectioned body and the sectioned grille shell is one of the odd signatures of the graffiti Coupe.

The rumor that I have heard was that Spielberg wanted the coupe to be sectioned  to make it more "hot rod" and the production crew started with the grille shell and depending on who is correct, when they got to the body either because of time constraints for production or difficulty of sectioning the body it didn't get done. To 90% of the viewing public the car looks like a normal hot rod. To old school hot rodders it looks odd with the grille shell sectioned and the body not.

Oh, and don't forget the piston shift knob. ?

Drag City Castings makes the Milner Coupe grille in resin...

 

My understanding on the 1:1 was that Lucas wanted it channeled over the frame(not sectioned), but ran out of money and time to get the car to fit his vision.

[Toner283]

5 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said:

My understanding on the 1:1 was that Lucas wanted it channeled over the frame(not sectioned), but ran out of money and time to get the car to fit his vision.

It is very possible that I have read incorrect info. It has been a long time since I did any research on the graffitti cars and there are plenty of different stories floating around about the cars. And yes, George Lucas was the director not Steven Spielberg. I had just watched a documentary about Spielberg and had a brain fart.

[Mr. Metallic]

6 minutes ago, Toner283 said:

It is very possible that I have read incorrect info. It has been a long time since I did any research on the graffitti cars and there are plenty of different stories floating around about the cars. And yes, George Lucas was the director not Steven Spielberg. I had just watched a documentary about Spielberg and had a brain fart.

Haha, I hadn't even noticed you said Spielberg 

And i could be wrong on the channeling too. We can agree on one thing, it was always intended to be lower. 

[john66]

Thanks, very interesting stories and information. Is channeling dropping the body to be lower than the side frame channels?

That would mean you wouldn't see the frame because the body would be dropped over it? I understand channel as I was an

iron worker for many years.---John

 

[Spex84]

I actually heard the reverse--that the car was channeled, but Lucas remembered hi-boys from his youth, so they de-channeled it and kept the chopped grille shell, which is why the car had that (phenomenally ugly IMHO) uphill rise in the radiator support rods. But I'm no movie trivia expert so I could be wrong!

Edited May 14, 2019 by Spex84

[Toner283]

12 minutes ago, Spex84 said:

I actually heard the reverse--that the car was channeled, but Lucas remembered hi-boys from his youth, so they de-channeled it and kept the chopped grille shell, which is why the car had that (phenomenally ugly IMHO) uphill rise in the radiator support rods. But I'm no movie trivia expert so I could be wrong!

Yup, lots of interesting stories floating around about the graffiti Coupe. And the movie is 40-ish years old now so who knows what's the truth and what is fantasy. 

[ChrisBcritter]

Here's another tidbit - this is a quote from the shooting script, released in paperback in December 1973:

"Suddenly, there's an ear-splitting roar and they all turn as a yellow '32 Ford deuce coupe - chopped, lowered and sporting a Hemi V8 - bumps into the lot. The low slung classic rumbles and parks at the rear of the drive in."

Maybe you could build one as the script describes it?

I recommend getting a copy of the script book either way - it has a lot of little differences (and two additional scenes) from the finished film.

[Mr. Metallic]

8 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Here's another tidbit - this is a quote from the shooting script, released in paperback in December 1973:

"Suddenly, there's an ear-splitting roar and they all turn as a yellow '32 Ford deuce coupe - chopped, lowered and sporting a Hemi V8 - bumps into the lot. The low slung classic rumbles and parks at the rear of the drive in."

Maybe you could build one as the script describes it?

Shhh... I'm currently gathering parts for just such a thing as a surprise build for a friend of mine. Last part I'm really on the lookout for is the rear bumper from the MPC/AMT milner coupe. I know it's a simple bar that I could probably bend out of aluminum, but I like the look of the kit piece.

[Greg Myers]

Now try on The Beach Boy's " Little Deuce Coupe".

Deuce Coupe, three or five window?

Flathead mill, one must assume a Ford V8.

Ported & relieved, stroked & bored. Not to worry, these won't show up on your model.

Competition clutch, same thing, you can't see it.

Four on the floor, now this one puzzles me, a four speed hooked up to a flat head?

and lastly some more controversy, "lake Pipes", Lakes Pipes" ?

Oh yeah. "A hundred and forty in the top end floored" that's gotta be one healthy Flattie. What else have they done to this mill that they haven't told us. Gotta be something to make it go that fast.

[Greg Myers]

No, that ain't it. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, Greg Myers said:

...Four on the floor, now this one puzzles me, a four speed hooked up to a flat head?   Lotsa trans adapters were available to bolt lotsa different gearboxes to flatheads, even the post-1957 Borg Warner T-10...probably Wilcap still offers one...and those were the days when guys actually made stuff. An adapter is easy for a fabricator-machinist.

...Oh yeah. "A hundred and forty in the top end floored" that's gotta be one healthy Flattie. What else have they done to this mill that they haven't told us. Gotta be something to make it go that fast.   Barney Navarro ran a normally-aspirated flathead to 107 in 1941. After the war, his supercharged flathead-powered car ran well over 140. Probably a normally-aspirated car could have done it too, with a little aero cleanup, light weight, and the right gearing. But choo know...it's only a song.  

Edited May 17, 2019 by Ace-Garageguy

[Phildaupho]

On 2019-05-17 at 9:08 AM, Greg Myers said:

Now try on The Beach Boy's " Little Deuce Coupe".

Deuce Coupe, three or five window?

Flathead mill, one must assume a Ford V8.

Ported & relieved, stroked & bored. Not to worry, these won't show up on your model.

Competition clutch, same thing, you can't see it.

Four on the floor, now this one puzzles me, a four speed hooked up to a flat head?

and lastly some more controversy, "lake Pipes", Lakes Pipes" ?

Oh yeah. "A hundred and forty in the top end floored" that's gotta be one healthy Flattie. What else have they done to this mill that they haven't told us. Gotta be something to make it go that fast.

This was my take on the Little Deuce Coupe song versus album cover

[PeeBee]

Regarding the Milner coupe:  The scenes taken of Milner, and the others, in their cars while cruising and talking from their windows were shot by a camera-man (the picture I saw has Spielberg himself doing a take) strapped to a rig mounted directly to the side of the cars.  That may partly explain why the Milner coupe wasn't channeled; it could be that it would've been too low.

Personally, I always liked the stance of that coupe.  It had the classic California rake, and I think the grille helped emphasize that "look," wittingly or not.

 

PB.

[styromaniac]

2 hours ago, PeeBee said:

Regarding the Milner coupe:  The scenes taken of Milner, and the others, in their cars while cruising and talking from their windows were shot by a camera-man (the picture I saw has Spielberg himself doing a take) strapped to a rig mounted directly to the side of the cars.  That may partly explain why the Milner coupe wasn't channeled; it could be that it would've been too low.

Personally, I always liked the stance of that coupe.  It had the classic California rake, and I think the grille helped emphasize that "look," wittingly or not.

 

PB.

Spielberg? I think not.