'32 Vicky spare tire

[Roadrunner]

OK, fellas, I have a dilemma (the first of many I imagine). I just started working on a 32 Vicky (AMT kit), and I’m curious about the spare tire arrangement. Was this a hard case, bag, combination of both, or what?

 

It’s very difficult to tell from the way the parts are molded, how the original might have been configured, and Google has been of no help at all.

 

Thanks a bunch,

Edited October 2, 2015 by Roadrunner

[oldscool]

I don't have the answer but I'm smelling a stock build happening here. Bring it on!

[southpier]

not sure if this is exacly what you need: https://www.bobdrake.com/SearchForm.aspx?Search=spare+tire

[horsepower]

Looking at the option list, it says all Ford passenger cars were standard with a rear mount spare, and side mounts were optional unless the vehicle had a tailgate or rear opening door. Since the list didn't offer any choice of styles for the spare mounts other than location, I would lean toward the standard open spare tire that most pictures show on the two and four door sedans.

[Roadrunner]

I don't have the answer but I'm smelling a stock build happening here. Bring it on!

 

Well, not totally stock with this one, but my next Vic will be very stock, with the exception being perhaps the colors used.

Edited October 2, 2015 by Roadrunner

[Roadrunner]

I'm still confused. Granted it's just a model, but could AMT have been that far off? Here's a scan of the instruction sheet. The outer face has what appears to be a fabric sort of representation; but I've found no photos on the web to illustrate such a wheel cover design, most being open, or only partially enclosed, as Del has stated.

[jbwelda]

I would not necessarily bet that AMT had that right at all, especially if it shows otherwise in photos of actual cars. I think there were many economies of convenience in those old tools.

jb

[Art Anderson]

OK, fellas, I have a dilemma (the first of many I imagine). I just started working on a 32 Vicky (AMT kit), and I’m curious about the spare tire arrangement. Was this a hard case, bag, combination of both, or what?

It’s very difficult to tell from the way the parts are molded, how the original might have been configured, and Google has been of no help at all.

Thanks a bunch,

I'm not exactly sure what you mean (hard case, bag, combination of both) here, but I'll give it a stab: All 1932 Ford Model B (4cyl cars) and Model 18's (V8 cars) came standard equipped with a single spare tire, rear mounted, the spare tire mount being very much like what AMT did on the 5-window coupe, Victoria, and Tudor Sedan kits they produced. Side-mounted spare tires were an extra cost option on passenger cars, both 4- and V8 models, and standard on the three principal light commercial cars (single spare on the right side front fender), the 1/2 ton pickup, 1/2 ton panel delivery, and the station wagon (through 1939, Ford listed their station wagons in the commercial car & truck line).

As for spare tire covers for '32 Fords, those were dealer-installed accessories, the most common being a fabric one which covered the tire only, not the wheel itself; but a stamped steel spare tire cover was offered for use on cars with the standard single rear mounted spare tire. There were aftermarket spare tire covers out there, both the "doughnut" style (covering the tire only) and "drum head style" which covered the entire tire and wheel, such as AMT tooled up at some point in their Victoria kit.

Hope this helps!

Art

[southpier]

OK, fellas, I have a dilemma (the first of many I imagine). I just started working on a 32 Vicky (AMT kit), and I’m curious about the spare tire arrangement. Was this a hard case, bag, combination of both, or what?

It’s very difficult to tell from the way the parts are molded, how the original might have been configured, and Google has been of no help at all.

Thanks a bunch,

reading between the lines, i get the impression you think the kit part looks too contemporary. i agree. at the risk of being prototypically incorrect, you might want to try the spare wheel from the AMT '36 Ford. at least there's some detail rather than the vast billboard of space on the '32 kit part.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

From the factory, you would have just the wheel, tire and hubcap hanging on the mount at the rear of the car. Anything else was installed on the car after it left the factory.

It was much common to use a vinyl booth over the tire.

On my build of the '32 I used the AMT part as it looks good and it's an accessory one could had installed just after purchasing the car.

Also used the wheels and tires from the AMT 1934 Ford coupe, that are much more accurate in look than the tires AMT provided with the 1932 Victoria. Those are the AMT 15" Firestones, the very same they put on all 1950s and 1960s car kits, that look odd on a 1932 Ford.

If you want a cool touch, use the spare out of the AMT '34 Ford too. It has a steel cover over the tire and exposed wheel that are a lot closer to a '32 equipment that the spare out of a '36 Ford.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

1932 Ford model 18 Victoria with the wheels and tires from the AMT 1934 Ford coupe (hubcaps are 1932 Ford):

1932 Ford Victoria V8 & Ford Deluxe Coupe by Lovefordgalaxie, on Flickr

The AMT part spare cover in place and painted as a steel booth:

1932 Ford Victoria V8 & Ford Deluxe Coupe by Lovefordgalaxie, on Flickr

[Roadrunner]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean (hard case, bag, combination of both) here, but I'll give it a stab: All 1932 Ford Model B (4cyl cars) and Model 18's (V8 cars) came standard equipped with a single spare tire, rear mounted, the spare tire mount being very much like what AMT did on the 5-window coupe, Victoria, and Tudor Sedan kits they produced. Side-mounted spare tires were an extra cost option on passenger cars, both 4- and V8 models, and standard on the three principal light commercial cars (single spare on the right side front fender), the 1/2 ton pickup, 1/2 ton panel delivery, and the station wagon (through 1939, Ford listed their station wagons in the commercial car & truck line).

 

As for spare tire covers for '32 Fords, those were dealer-installed accessories, the most common being a fabric one which covered the tire only, not the wheel itself; but a stamped steel spare tire cover was offered for use on cars with the standard single rear mounted spare tire. There were aftermarket spare tire covers out there, both the "doughnut" style (covering the tire only) and "drum head style" which covered the entire tire and wheel, such as AMT tooled up at some point in their Victoria kit.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Art

 

Awesome. Thanks, Art. What you refer to as the drum head style, is what I'm curious about. The AMT kit appears to be fabric, but with a metal hard case (shell) around it, and that's what I'm trying to nail down. I think I'm getting closer to a definitive answer to my dilemma here, so thanks for the input.

Edited October 2, 2015 by Roadrunner

[Roadrunner]

reading between the lines, i get the impression you think the kit part looks too contemporary. i agree. at the risk of being prototypically incorrect, you might want to try the spare wheel from the AMT '36 Ford. at least there's some detail rather than the vast billboard of space on the '32 kit part.

Not at all. I think it looks pretty cool, I'm just trying to figure out how to paint it. If it's supposed to be fabric, I don't want to paint it with the same metallics I'll be using on the body is all, as I think that would look pretty silly.

[Roadrunner]

OK, Túlio , thanks. (Your Vicky came up several times doing a Google web search for images.) I think I'll go with the stock kit piece, but painted black as you have done. I also see what appears to be a chrome trim ring on yours, but my kit has no such ring. Was that added by you?

[Dennis Lacy]

Not at all. I think it looks pretty cool, I'm just trying to figure out how to paint it. If it's supposed to be fabric, I don't want to paint it with the same metallics I'll be using on the body is all, as I think that would look pretty silly.

Yes, it is supposed to represent a fabric cover.

When AMT tooled these kits in the late 50's and early 60's the quality and accuracy of restored vehicles was not to the level that it is today. Many times, the restorer would take liberties to suit their personal taste. The car would be more, or less, stock but sprinkled with personal touches like a vinyl spare tire/wheel cover. It is highly likely that this was the case with the real '32 Victoria that AMT used to pattern their kit after.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

OK, Túlio , thanks. (Your Vicky came up several times doing a Google web search for images.) I think I'll go with the stock kit piece, but painted black as you have done. I also see what appears to be a chrome trim ring on yours, but my kit has no such ring. Was that added by you?

Chrome trim ring? No, I didn't add any. The wheels are just black, and the cover too.

[Dennis Lacy]

I think he is referring to the bare metal foil strip around the back of the radiator shell. Yes, that is a correct detail for a '32 Ford passenger car. It was a stainless steel band that wrapped around the back edge of the radiator shell. AMT did not include this detail on the shell. If you look at the modern Revell '32 Ford series, there is a raised lip around the back edge of the shell meant to represent the trim band. Most people don't do it when they build those kits but for accuracy it should be foiled.

[Roadrunner]

Chrome trim ring? No, I didn't add any. The wheels are just black, and the cover too.

Must be an optical illusion then. I could have sworn there was a chrome ring in the photo above (post #11), but after now looking at your other photos (I've got your Vicky bookmarked), it certainly appears not to have it. Odd how photos can trick the eye.

[Roadrunner]

I think he is referring to the bare metal foil strip around the back of the radiator shell. Yes, that is a correct detail for a '32 Ford passenger car. It was a stainless steel band that wrapped around the back edge of the radiator shell. AMT did not include this detail on the shell. If you look at the modern Revell '32 Ford series, there is a raised lip around the back edge of the shell meant to represent the trim band. Most people don't do it when they build those kits but for accuracy it should be foiled.

Not that that's not an intresting bit of information, Dennis, as it is, but I was actually referring to what appeared to be a chrome band around the spare tire. (See post above.)

[southpier]

I think he is referring to the bare metal foil strip around the back of the radiator shell. Yes, that is a correct detail for a '32 Ford passenger car. It was a stainless steel band that wrapped around the back edge of the radiator shell. AMT did not include this detail on the shell. If you look at the modern Revell '32 Ford series, there is a raised lip around the back edge of the shell meant to represent the trim band. Most people don't do it when they build those kits but for accuracy it should be foiled.

ha! i always figured it was from the mold process and sanded it flush.

[Roadrunner]

Yea, that chrome band behind the radiator does seem to show up on lots of Vickies, but not all, with many of the street rods not having them.

[Art Anderson]

Yea, that chrome band behind the radiator does seem to show up on lots of Vickies, but not all, with many of the street rods not having them.

I believe that chrome band was a feature of 1932 Model 18 Fords (V8 cars), most of my images of original Model B's (4-cylinder cars) seem not to have that trim.

Art

[Tom Geiger]

Here's the spare that comes with the AMT '34 sedan kit. It is obviously a hard cover. It comes in 3 pieces. The outer ring, the front piece that snaps right into it, and a back panel that is a tire on rim sitting in it. On this one, I chose to cut down a real vinyl kit tire for the inside piece.

I also chose to finish the cap in white with a decal I'd been itching to use for a long time. Then I decided to leave the ring in primer since this is a traditional rod / rat rod.

I think any way you choose to go is right for a car of this era. I've seen bare tires on the back of these, I've seen soft covers and here's the hard cover.

[Ace-Garageguy]

... but could AMT have been that far off?

AMT was VERY far off concerning the cowl-height of the bodies of all their '32 kits. Never really understood why, as most of the rest of the kit is pretty well scaled.

Anyway, the tire cover depicted in the kit was either aftermarket or optional.

[Tom Geiger]

When I was working on this '32 Vicky I wanted to have interior window frames (see the inside of the door). So I cut up a second body and turned those parts inside out to be window frames. When I mated up the parts from the opposite sides, they weren't even close! Yea, the windows on either side are different sizes.