So, as many of you know, I am in the process of rebuilding my A Tudor after a head-on crash. The debate now is whether to replace the wood floor in the car with steel or just leave the nice wood floor in place. The wood floor survived the crash (a 70+ mph impact) without being compromised at all. Not even a crack! The seat mount was bolted to the frame of the car and stayed in place as well. I have the opportunity to replace the wood with steel, but am wondering if it's necessary. The car was a long hauler and cruiser with an occasional trip to the drag strip. As I rebuild the car, much of it will be rebuilt to the way it was before the crash with the addition of about 100 more hp (up from 300 to 400). It may get a rollbar this time around as well. Any thoughts?
I've used both,,my first Model A pickup had wood floor boards,,but I used metal in all my rods since then,,, This is my 32 truck floor,,all metal I guess it's all in what you want. HRP
I have wood in my sedan. I planed it off and sheeted it with engine turned 3/32 aluminum. I like. The ability to remove the floor makes maintenance easier and I think it looks good.
Either is fine in my book. Your floor was obviously pretty tough, so I'd personally just leave it as is. Post some pics of how the rebuild is going (and some current ones of your other sedan project).
wood is good but for that HP hope you have a sturdy frame i am woried about mein 302 fd and just a boxed frame, think it will twist too much, well its not much power anyhou
Im going wood..looks good, sound deadner, looks right...might even be..dare i say it.. traditional...also a good insulator from heat
The teardown & rebuild stuff is towards the end of this post. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=275101&showall=1 Hasn't been a ton of progress lately since the shop has gotten busy with collision repair this winter and a 70 Boss 302 restoration. Paying work comes first! I did buy a Barry Grant Six Shooter/3 Deuce set-up for it from Continentaljohn though. Just posted some updates to the car ***us and I are working on: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=371150&showall=1
Steel vs Wood floor in Model A? Heres my latest, I see no real problem with wood I have had both........
Whoa !! I have a bunch of that stuff left over from re-flooring my 5th wheel trailer... saved it in the shed to maybe used on the floor of my current build Model A coupe........ Never throw anything out !!
Im using Wood in the A and covering the bottom with some vinyl coated aluminum I picked up ,Also thought about formica.
So it looks like either is acceptable. What are the thoughts on a rollbar with a wood floor? Obviously it would be bolted to the frame rails. Any pics of rollbars in A Tudors out there?
I had always been told that seatbelts should be mounted to a solid floor, not the frame, so you wouldn't be injured if the the body came loose in an impact. I don't know if thats really true or not. I plan on metal floor in mine, with seat belts mounted to floor.
you do know that you can tie into the sub rails for your belts, right? and if the body does seperate from the frame the subrails go with the body..and I have re-inforced my sub rails and will be re-inforcing my B pillar where my shoulder restraint will be anchored. If you do tie into the subrails, and re-inforce them..you can still go wood floor, (or what ever material choice), and not have to additionally brace your floors. just a thought
If the body seperates from the frame in wreck, I think where you mounted the seat belts is a moot point.
I am a proponent of steel and boxing the frame. If you are going to be putting a 400hp ATC in the car and doing any drag racing with "real" slicks putting steel floors and boxing the frame is a must. Yes, it does add some weight, but the suspension stays put, door/hood gaps stay put an it gives the car a more solid feeling. IMHO
I used 14 ga 1 x 2 steel for my subrails and 16 ga for the floor mainly to keep the body from flexing at all.' Maybe not to traditional but very strong, and yes it is much heavier now but a SBC in a model A will be plenty quick enough and won't make any difference for how I want to use it. I also put 1" square tubing around all the windows and inside the B pillar, across the windshield header and across the roof and tied it all the the steel floor so the car should feel really solid going down the road and I can bolt seatbelts almost anywhere I want.
Im running an original wood floor in my coupe, and I feel that it not only looks a bit more original, but i feel it helps quite things down in the cab. Metal is loud, wood is quite
I've got a wood floor in my '28 rpu and steel in my '29 roadster -- and really prefer the wood for all the reasons mentioned above. One additional concern: the steel floor really conducts heat -- I had blisters to prove it. On a long summer drive, I much rather be on wood.
To clear some things up: The frame is boxed front to back. The stock subrails are still intact. The seat frame is bolted through the floor and into the frame rails. The seatbelts are bolted to the seat frame. I'm fairly convinced to just leave the wood floor in the car, but what about adding a rollbar? Here's some pics of the floor for reference (not the greatest pics, but you get the idea):
for those guys using wood floors, did you stain or paint yours? wondering which would hold up better...
Have you seen the plywood coated in a black plastic covering. Used to shore up ditches when being dug. It's about 5/8 th's inch thick. Also has many thinner layers and is VERY strong. Very moisture resistant. Wouldn't need a floor mat........
heres my floor im going to put a clear varnish on it or something to keep it from turning black so fast. i like it cheap and clean
I went half & half...steel from the seats forward & plywood under the seats. The trans & driveshaft humps are steel. I really like wood & wonder if the wood may have been better all the way around. It certainly would have saved a lot of build time.
Personally, with the exception of restoration, I'm unable to think of any rational reason why a person would use wood and not metal for a floor board. Not pickin' a fight. Just my opinion.
I used marine grade plywood along with steel for the floor in roadster. Wood is a good insulator. I feel comfortable with a wood floor.
im going metal with sound deadner on top.some of us cant get wood to do what metal can in our floor contours
what about you guys in inspection states? i know these are old cars and often exempt from certain aspects or regs, but everywhere isn't the same... i know Virginia was tight as hell on any floor not being solid metal and welded up when i lived there. granted, i didn't have that old a car, but they sure frowned on anything other than solid, welded steel. i've followed several build threads on "A" type cars, and think that having the body tied together as much as possible makes it inherently stronger and resistant to damage than the original design. not traditional per se, but stronger anyway. i'm compiling as much data as possible regarding A's for a future build and soak up everything i see, so keep it coming.
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