photos by: the author
A ’32 Ford Pickup Hits the Road with the Help of Many Friends in the Industry
When you think of hot-rodding, what vehicle instantly pops into your mind? The ’57 Chevy, ’69 Camaro or one of the all-time greats, the ’32 Ford? If you ask us, it’s the ’32 Ford; be it a roadster, pickup or a coupe. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find a solid body to start from these days. It seem that just about everything out there is already built or restored, overpriced or completed rotted up to the windows.
Sure, you could possibly still get lucky trying to find something on the West Coast, but you’re certainly going to pay a pretty steep price for it.
However, there’s an alternative; you can source a brand new, licensed by Ford steel body from a company like United Pacific Industries. They not only make 100% accurate recreations of the ’32 Ford, but they offer plenty of options and specifications for you to build the rod of your dreams! They also house some top quality components for you early Bronco, Mustang and other classic vehicles.
Such is the case with the truck that you’re looking at on this page. Built in conjunction with Street Rodder magazine, Hot Rods by Dean and Ford Performance Parts, it’s the very first all-steel body ’32 pickup to hit the streets from United Pacific. We just caught up with the truck at Precision Hot Rods and Fabrication in Macedonia, Ohio, where the crew looked over the truck one last time before Jerry Dixey, Street Rodder’s Event Coordinator, hit the road for the Street Rodder Road Tour.
Under the hood is where the Ford Performance X34D crate engine sits. Packing 347 cubic-inches from a BOSS 302-stroker foundation, inside you’ll find a forged Scat crankshaft and connecting rods, paired with forged MAHLE slugs equipped with floating wrist pins. A COMP Cams bumpstick, aluminum Ford Performance cylinder heads and an Edelbrock intake manifold finish off the top end.
A Holley Terminator Stealth EFI system sits on top on the intake manifold, while an MSD distributor controls the spark. The small-block Ford is equipped with a Powermaster starter and alternator, and is matched with a Hughes-modified Ford automatic gearbox. It allows the driver to cruise in comfort, as it sends power to a Dynatech driveshaft and Winters Performance rearend.
You’ll find a beneath that steel United Pacific body, is a Roadster Shop chassis, that’s being held up from the ground courtesy of a Pete & Jakes Hot Rod Parts suspension system. Hidden behind the Wheel Vintiques steelies and Coker rubber, are Wilwood brows at all four corners.
On the inside, a Vintage Air climate control system, Dakota Digital gauge cluster and various Lokar shifter, trim and accessories accent the cockpit nicely. The sound system has been brought into the 21 century, courtesy of Custom Autosound and the power window and windshield wipers come by way of SPW. The power steering setup is credited to Flaming River, which adds even more modern driving comfort to the vintage pickup.
By the time you read this, the truck would have made its rounds on the 2018 Street Rodder Road Tour, featuring some of the country’s raddest rods! We have a feeling that we’ll be seeing more of this truck in the future as well, and this has certainly inspired us to build a ’32 Ford ‘rod of our own!
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of AutoCentric Media, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles; GM, Ford, Dodge, imports, trucks — you name it! When he isn’t clacking away on his keyboard, he’s building, tuning, driving or testing his current crop of personal projects!
