32 Ford build info

[kb426]

How high do you put the centerline of the crank in a 32 Ford?

[Deuce]

How high do you put the centerline of the crank in a 32 Ford?

Like most everything on 32 Ford hot rod ... it varies.

I like for mine to sit where the round bolt for the motor mounts are level with the top of the frame rail.





That location allows a decent crossmember setup ... and not interfere with the floor yet not be so low that it drags all the time.



Any higher ... and the center hump in the floor is LARGE ... any lower ... and you drag the oil pan a lot.
But I like my 32's to sit on the low side ...

This gets crowed under a 32 real quickly ...  

[C9]

Aside from having a reasonably low floor, getting the engine down helps in the handling dept.
Not to mention leaving room for darned near any kind of intake you want to run under the hood . . . including blowers.

I run 455 Buicks and aim for the low point of the pan to clear 7".
After things settle in pan clearance is at 6".

I worried during the build when the ground clearance was 7", measured my stock 72 Ford Pinto and it's pan - factory stock car - was 6" off the ground and had never dragged.

Same deal with the 32, it's never dragged going over speed bumps in the parking lot or entering a driveway.

The 32 isn't as low as Deuce's car, but it's probably similar in the front end area.
It is a touch high at the rear, part of that an optical illusion due to bobbed frame horns and no rear gas tank.

The main reason for that is I failed to "C" the rear frame for additional axle travel.
Along with I didn't notch the front frame rails for additional travel either.
In retrospect, something I should have done - and did do on my 31 on 32 rails project roadster.
Down the road a ways.

The floorboard in the 32 is probably higher than Deuce's roadster, that due to the T-400 and the desire for plenty of airflow around the trans to aid in cooling and a hoped for improvement in floorboard heat.

The floorboard in the 31 is lower than the 32's and still has good airflow.

In either car, I didn't worry too much about floorboard height.
The driver is pretty much locked in place and ain't going anywhere.
And the passenger has room to move around.

I did put the emergency brake handle on the drivers side.
That made some extra room for the passenger and doesn't get in the drivers way.

[Deuce]

Same deal with the 32, it's never dragged going over speed bumps in the parking lot or entering a driveway.

The 32 isn't as low as Deuce's car, but it's probably similar in the front end area.

I believe my roadster is lower than yours by at least one inch ... maybe more.   The front tires are 165X15X80  ( the tallest type ) The bottom of my front fender braces have paint rubbed off    from going cross ways over speed bumps. I should raise it up ... but for almost 15 years ... I have procastinated.



The frame photo are actually of my current 32 3W project ... but the roadster is the exact same way except it has a Turbo 400 instead of the 700R4 like the coupe. The 3W coupe frame being the same exact way as the roadster means It will be too low also and I will procastinate about raising it up too  

[Dave]

Unless you really want to make your own mounts the the ones everyone sells  that mount pretty much flat with the top of the frame rail as far as the engine goes work fine They are on a bit of an angle when set up properly to get the engine angle right.  Lets see. Ok (im probing my memory banks here but they have been scrambled of late) Harwood and american street rod design made thier bodys (ASD was a harwood copy thats what my coupe body was) to allow for raised engine mounts(see im avoiding the word motor here to be correct)   The raised engine gave plenty of oil pan clearance but it was over kill cause the suspension would hit first anyway. (see im really not stupid and have done some homework)  I didnt build my frame it was welded up by street rods by michael but it had the generic flat style mounts for the engine and tublar x members with trans mount.  All said and done my coupe was low but i never hit anything with the oil pan cept the curb i drove off an indy but thats another story and no i wasnt drunk. (at least not that time)  The other draw back with the ASD and Harwood stuff was foot room. I modifyed my trans tunnel and made it smaller for more room and i wear a size 8 shoe :!:  It was a lot better after i was done.  Ok enuff of my story and i hope it helps you.  Oh ya one more thing to keep in mind when building a 32. If your using a front 4 bar setup ill garuntee it will hit at sometime or another. My new roadster project is 4 bar front and im still considering changing to hairpin. The location of the mount combined with the frame lenght etc etc leaves em prone to bottoming out on ruts and such. Now this is wierd drives and car show fields so dont lemme scare you.
I had a 4 bar front on my 30 model a and with the way my driveway was configured at that time i rubbed em all the time.
Dave