32 commercial radiator cap

F

F-6Garagerat

Senior Member
Does anyone reproduce the 32 commercial radiator cap? I've been looking around on the net and can't seem to find one. I know real ford caps are impossible to find and expensive.
 
DavidG said:
Unfortunately, no.
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That's what I thought when I didn't see one on the net.

I have a really nice 32 commercial shell on my 31 pickup, it's a hot rod that was built in late 50's. It has an aftermarket radiator with the elbow neck. I need something to fill the hole so it doesn't need to be functional.

As I was reading on the net I heard talk of the 31 cap being similar in size and appearance. Does anyone know if this is true? I just really need it as a dummy to fill the hole in the shell.
 
32forddump said:
I have a 32 commercial truck and bought a radiator cap from macs for 32 car radiator and it works fine.
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But, how does it look? The 32 car grill uses the chrome trim from the under cap area to the ford logo. The commercial grill uses none. Isn't the cap too tall? Plus it's also got that little wing on top where as the commercial has none.

Is the 32 car cap dimensionally the same as the commercial except for the "wing" on top?
 

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At one time a noted 32 expert on here told me a 30/31 A gas cap was really close in size and since I was using a Walker radiator with no provision for a fill cap it dummied up just fine and looked good.
 
Krylon32 said:
At one time a noted 32 expert on here told me a 30/31 A gas cap was really close in size and since I was using a Walker radiator with no provision for a fill cap it dummied up just fine and looked good.
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I've heard that also but wanted to hear from someone who's done it and maybe see a pic. All I'm trying to do is like you did, dummy up the hole so there is something in it.
 
F-6Garagerat said:
Any idea how much smaller? Like I said, I just need it to fill the hole, not be a functioning radiator cap. I do want it to look like it belongs there.
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32 commercial cap is 3.5" in dia.You need to ask the Model A guys what the dia of the 30-31 cap is or call a vintage Ford store.
 
The reason a passenger car cap looks a little awkward on a '32 with the commercial/truck radiator shell is the lack of the die cast surround and the presence of a skirt on the commercial/truck cap as shown below.
 

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sonny said:
I bought a cap for my 32bb from Macs.
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The right kind of cap or the passenger car cap?

EDIT: just saw the caps that macs sells. There are 2 of them and neither are like the stock ford commercial cap. They both have that "fin" that runs front to back, one is just worse than the other.
 
Last edited:
Answer nobody reproduces the correct 32 commercial radiator cap. You can fake a non functioning one by using a Stainless steel Model A gas cap as they are similar. Here are pictures of the parts so you can reference them out.
 

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I use a passenger car rad cap on my 32BB. Looks good and does not have a gap between it and the rad shell. The "die cast surround" is not useable on the commercial shells because there is a surround stamped in the commercial shell.
 
F-6Garagerat said:
That's what I thought when I didn't see one on the net.

I have a really nice 32 commercial shell on my 31 pickup, it's a hot rod that was built in late 50's. It has an aftermarket radiator with the elbow neck. I need something to fill the hole so it doesn't need to be functional.

As I was reading on the net I heard talk of the 31 cap being similar in size and appearance. Does anyone know if this is true? I just really need it as a dummy to fill the hole in the shell.
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Weld the hole and lead it in like a true 50's hot rod since you have the filler neck under the hood. G.M.
 
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