Bolting Down A 32 Sedan Body

[Krylon32]

Most of you don't remember but last fall after a run to the ROC when I got home both back corners of the body at the rear base of the wheel wells were badly stress cracked. I confess I built the chassis but hired most of the finish work. That was in Oct and this week the body shop did the repairs. He said the body had been repaired back there and it looked like a gas weld job that was ground down. 92 year old body so who knows when it was repaired? He cleaned the area and did a reweld on the inside that closed the seam and didn't need any outside welding. When it came to bolting it back down he said the body was tight to the frame and required no spacer pad. I argued that every 32 needed a rubber pad at the back 2 body holes on each side to absorb shocks and stress. I'm headed to KC MO Friday and it will surprise me if it survives the trip. David G sent me a Ford drawing of an update from around Oct 32 that involved using a bolt at the rear body hole with spring similar to the radiator mount with a rubber pad between the body and frame. I'll see if I can talk him into that?

[glennpm]

Hi Krylon,

This is a thread started back in December regarding the service bulletin you've mentioned.


https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showt...ht=spring+bolt


I was able to buy a compression spring and made the mod. My '32 had the pad but I never had the spring/bolt fix shown in post #11 of the thread

[TomT/Williamsburg]

Sorry for your troubles , Gary - they are not museum pieces for guys like you and me but meant to be driven. That’s in our dna but not in everyone else’s. Hope you have safe travels …….

[32phil]

The problem is all the weight at the rear of the frame.
When you add up the weight of a full gas tank, rear tire and carrier, rear bumper and brackets, frame horn covers and taillights etc. that adds up considerably.
Many original frames show evidence of sagging down right at the kick up (you'll see a slight bulge on the side rail) because of the constant downward pressure at far rear of the frame.
If the car was rear ended, even lightly, the bulge will be more pronounced.
A quick check of the space between the rear of the body and the top of the gas tank will give a good indication of the condition of the frame and how much it's pulling down on the tail pan.
If the space is too big the frame is probably bent down and is putting pressure on the bolts.
There should be enough room for the rear frame horn covers on each side and then a space across the tank about 3/8" or so. That should leave enough room for a rubber spacer between the body and the frame at rearmost body bolt.
Also, I like to have enough webbing under the frame to lift the body up slightly so the door adjustments can be made properly. That should leave enough room for the rearmost pads. I hope this helps.

[glennpm]

Note that rear frame reinforcement was provided early on to deal with the sagging. DavidG's post and the balance of the same thread discuss it.


https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showp...6&postcount=15

[Krylon32]

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Sedan back in the museum, body repairs done but no rear body mount springs. 600 mile round trip to Pete & Jake's open house this Friday and Saturday will test the body repairs. No spring on the rear bolts yet. Also changed the cups in the 32-34 early style tie rod ends to the Teflon impregnated bronze cups. Steers easier and drives better?