My 32 Truck

[Brendan]

i have a 36 pickup, it has mechanical brakes, and i drive it pretty much everywhere try to get them to work good

 

[tiquer]

I have to put juice brakes in it. I just doesn't stop worth a darn. Its already got a new muffler. Carb kit, new rad hoses, and motor mounts this weekend. Other than that drive it as is for awhile. Its just too cool to change right now.

Everyone has lots of advice. If you choose to go hydraulic and do not want to go disc, try the F1 or f-100 pick up brakes. they are much better than the 39-48 and the parts are readily available and more affordable than the earlier ones. The 39-48 on the rear axle is still a good choice. Just my 2 cents

 

[Charlie Stephens]

Everyone has lots of advice. If you choose to go hydraulic and do not want to go disc, try the F1 or f-100 pick up brakes. they are much better than the 39-48 and the parts are readily available and more affordable than the earlier ones. The 39-48 on the rear axle is still a good choice. Just my 2 cents

You should check out the adapter required to run original wire wheels on the F1 or F100 pick up brakes (I hope you decide to keep the original wheels). It is my understanding that it is very thick. I am running the '46-'48 brakes on my '32 roadster and have never had a reason to complain. The car is powered by a 181 inch Mercruiser Marine engine. The guru on brakes is Richard Lacy at earlyv8@aol.com, (626) 338-2282. Be sure to check out his master cylinder mount that requires no cutting and uses the original pedals.

Charlie Stephens

 

[Kevinsrodshop]

I have a question pertaining to the color of this PU, Were they painted from the factory with all one color or were the fenders black like on the model A's?

I think the fenders were black. I might change mine to black since I think it looks better however trying to get the patina to match the rest of the truck would be difficult.

Based on the advice I've got so far I'm going to try adjusting and using the mechanical brakes first, then go from there.

 

[Seth Swoboda]

There is nothing wrong with mechanical breaks and when set up and adjusted properly they are vary safe. In fact if your truck will be sitting or in storage for a long period of time, mechanical breaks will give you less trouble than hydraulic breaks.

 

[Charlie Stephens]

I think the fenders were black. I might change mine to black since I think it looks better however trying to get the patina to match the rest of the truck would be difficult.

Based on the advice I've got so far I'm going to try adjusting and using the mechanical brakes first, then go from there.

There was a post on "patina" on HAMB a while but I can't seem to locate it. I remember when the thread started thinking I am going to need this someday. I have a '32 Fordor that needs work and a gloss black fender would definitely clash with the rest of the car. Please let me know if you come up with anything.

Charlie Stephens

 

[JM 35 Sedan]

That is a beautiful little pu! I'm driving a mostly stock '35 fordor sedan with properly adjusted mechanical brakes and it stops just as well as some other '35's I have driven that had hydraulic brakes. Don't be too quick to spend a lot of money changing them to hydraulic. Contact Richard Lacy @ the EV8 Garage and get all of his recommendations on how to make those mechanical brakes work well. JMO

 

[Kevinsrodshop]

Just a quick question about the clevis and pins at each wheel for the mechanical brakes. I assume they should be tight and have no slop in them. Mine are quite sloppy proabably from the 80 years of use. By the time all the slack gets taken up the pedal has moved quite far and hasn't even started engaging the brakes yet. Also I've put on new linings and retracted the adjusters as much as I can. The drums fit but there is some drag on the new linings that, I'm sure would wear off quite quickly, but is this normal?

 

[wadsies1]

Real nice pickup - keep it stock but definitely try flathead Ted's floaters and keep the rod brakes, they work as good as juice guaranteed!! Bruce

 

[39portlander]

Nice 32. When I'm working in Laconia NH I always see a guy with a similar truck. I love that one with Gray paint and the black fenders make that front end pop

 

[ora masters]

I think the fenders were black. I might change mine to black since I think it looks better however trying to get the patina to match the rest of the truck would be difficult.

Based on the advice I've got so far I'm going to try adjusting and using the mechanical brakes first, then go from there.

i painted mine washington blue with black fenders with all new lineings my orignal brakes work great but then i am an orignal nut

 

[Kevinsrodshop]

The motor mounts were shot also so they got replaced as well as the rad hoses. Flushing out the rad and the block produced a bunch of nice brown sludge.

 

[Kevinsrodshop]

I started redoing the brakes since the truck came with brand new linings and a rivet kit. Pulling off the left rear drum I found a small leak from the axle tube. However pulling off the right rear drum revealed a major leak. Everything under that drum was soaked in gear oil. So that means new axle seals on both sides. The banjo rear needs to come out for that to happen. A quick cleaning and a spray bomb paint job just to spruce things up.

 

[Kevinsrodshop]

Then the fun really began. Found the wheel bearing race on one end bell was shot. Thankfully a repair sleeve is available so a quick trip to Cactus machine got that fixed. The next problem was a huge chunk of tooth missing from the pinion gear. Since I'm buying a new ring and pinion I may as well get a better gear ratio. Originally it was 4.11 gears and I'm putting in 3.54s just to get a little more speed out of it. I'm going to need all the help I can get with a 50 hp engine. A spray bomb overhaul on the endbells as well.

 

[35 Ford]

Nice truck!

 

[Mart]

Nice work you're doing there.

I'd love a truck like that.

Mart.

 

[Rem]

Hey Mart, I know where there's one

That's a nice truck - mine is a similar colour.

I don't know what others think about that high a gearing, but I recently changed from 6.00-16 rears to 7.50-16s, and it has really killed top gear. It used to seem really buzzy with the banger at, say 50-ish, but now it seems to struggle with the jump from second to top. Now, I don't know what the ratio is as it doesn't appear to be stamped on the banjo like on the V8 rears, so it could be taller than your 4.11s, but I think I'm going back down to 7.00 or even 6.50s to bring it back to life.

 

[Kevinsrodshop]

Well after a long gruelling few months of setback after setback the 32 is back on the road. It now has a rebuilt rear end, new gears (3.54 from 4.11) new bearings, races, seals and a spray can paint job. Changed the speedo gear for the change in the rear gears but haven't checked its accuracy against a GPS. More importantly I finished going through the brakes and installed the Flathead Teds brake floater kit. Took it out today and other than a slight pull to the left it actually stops now! Even managed to get the fronts to lock up. For the first time I'm actually not scared to drive it. The original brakes were non existant. Took some polishing compound to a small spot and the green paint shines up a little. That might be the next project, shining up the rest of the paint. Still have to install new chrome handles, window cranks and mirrors. Also starting to think about wiring upgrades to 12 volts and some real lights for a little more safety.

 

[Roadster5040]

Nice truck enjoy let me know if you would like to sell it to me.

 

[38 coupe]

Depending on how much the paint shines up, you should be able to paint the fenders black to match. If you get a somewhat flat shine to your paint, you should be able to paint the fenders semi-gloss black and then wax the whole truck. For a completely flat shine, paint the fenders flat black and wax the whole truck.

For lights I highly recommend the 6 volt halogen bulbs that lbcarco sells for your truck. I have their bulbs in my 37 and really like them.