In Pennsylvania, they made me jump through hoops of fire to get legalized, but the wood floors was not an issue, not with the enhanced vehicle inspector or the G-men at the D.M.V. And, in my case at least, rightly so. I made a unified subframe, which is attached to the frame & the body. Really, the wood panels are equivalent to the plywood sheathing on a house. The integrity of the floor is only marginally dependent on the wood panels. Another nice thing about the wood (in my case, anyway) is that the panels are removable (which I've already had to do once already for a repair).
you know i keep seeing every one say, 'well the wood is cool cause its removable' why cant the metal be removable? i made mine to be this way. all my floor is going to be fully welded except the floor board right over the trans. like factory, mine comes out to work on the shift linkage,master cylinder, and what not. but it is steal. just used some square metal tubing to sit in the ledge, and made sheet metal on top, of course you have to make it bend and fit around what you need, but it can be made removable.
Not a Model A ... but it is a Ford Henry used steel from the seats back on my cars. The wood is OK and a good insulator. I like the STEEL. I sprayed my floors, doors and firewall with Lizard Skin and then covered them with DynaMat No heat and good sound insulator. With the mat down and the carpet ... it is very sound and heat proofed.
Got wood in the p***enger part and medal in the rear in my roadster. Guess that is why they call em floor boards.
Well, you're right. My metal panels are removable in the front & the wood ones in the back. I already had to remove the trans hump to work on the linkage..it beats slavin' from underneath. Still, there's something about mixing some wood into 20's & 30's cars that I like.
i feel it does beat workin under it, speacialy if its kind of low. that was my take on it to, in fact fleetside, i think i was talking to you about floors before i did mine, i finaly got mine figured out, i dont have it bolted in,in the front but its on its way to being done. my sub frame is not like yours tho, mine is stock.
Wood is actually quite a rational choice for the application. Wood is generally not as strong for its weight as steel, but it is a lot more rigid for its weight. That means, a wooden floor that is rigid enough will probably be lighter than a steel floor that is, by whatever means, rigid enough. A Proudhonian mutualist ****ysis would state that OEMs have an agenda other than technological superiority when electing to press ribs into floor panels for rigidity rather than to use wood ...
Well, I'm using metal in my '29 Sedan because my wonderful brother bought me the entire setup one year from that sheetmetal place in Escondido. But the '50 Burb has the original plywood floor in the back half and it's quite good.
Sorry for bringing the topic back, but can someone give me some measurements for the 31 tudor floor? Mine is rusted out and all I have is the body with nothing holding the original dimensions. I have new subrails but no idea how wide and whatnot to weld them. Any info on the width at the front post on the door, rear post for the door and width at the brace in the center of the rear wheel well would be greatly appreciated! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!