its time i start getting my floors worked out for my 30 Roadster. its channeled with 30 pedals and a manual trans. currently only has 2 flat wood floors with a drive shaft hump in metal. its got safety loops inside the hump. i would like to know some of the pros and cons when using wood or metal for the floors. what wood is best for this job, etc? i plan to roll the trans cover and drive shaft hump in metal and do flat wood floors with angled wood up to the firewall. i really like to the look on Bass's and Jordan's wood floor. well, i searched the tech posts and didnt find anything, figured this being tech week maybe somebody had something worth sharing. today ill be "templating" my floors out of chip board, plan to continue it into the trunk area too. thanks, Yaril
Yari, I can not see your sub floor or structure from pics but this is what I am finishing right now on a buddy's 27 T that is channeled approx 6 inch's. Main thing with a channeled car is have a good strong foundation to build on that is tied in well to the body. Here are some pics of his. I will install nut zerts to hold all removable panels when finished. good luck later Andy
yeah Andy, in my pics you can not see the sub floor / structure, but its there. not as beefy as yours but sufficient. i began the templates for the angle parts. driver side being the most complex. passenger side is pretty straight forward. still contemplating on what wood to chose from. my bud works at a Shell Lumber so i can get the stuff fairly cheap / quick. by today i should have the templates complete. pics later.
I am going to be running wood floors in my coupe. After seeing Jordan's, I just think they look rad. You may see a benefit of running a metal floor and substructure and laying the wood on top of it. I am not sure of the pros and cons though. Good luck on the Roadster!
Henry used plywood. I've always used 3/4" plywood. I think marine or exterior grade is over kill. Mine never sit over mirrors so I like to paint them and then apply the spray undercoating to water proof them. I've known guys that apply fiberglass resin but I don't drive my hotrod much in the rain and snow. It's worked for me.
alright, im feeling good about this so far, thanks for the feedback fellas. so ill look into 3/4" wood, thought 1/2" would be enough but ill see. figure i can treat the wood before its last install. gotta pick a nice looking wood since it will be the finished floor. got my chip board template made up... did some adjustments along the way: then i transfered it to foam core boards. these are thicker and lay straight so i again further adjusted the pattern. i think this is good enough for the final wood transfer. since this pic i adjusted the clutch pedal to not need such a large slot. you can see also that the trans cover should not be too complex either. 2 rolled sheets of metal and weld them in the center, should work, but i wont tackle that till the real wood is laid out. this is a thought i had while doing the mock up... figured i could add a "trap-door" which could double as a storage compartment. simple hinges and what not so that you can keep stuff in there, or your girl can shove her purse in there. ill keep the flat wood and simply make a triangle on the side of the trans to keep the stuff from falling out. again, its a thought, not 100% on it. till next time.
You can get cabinet grade veneer plywood if you want to get sexy. You can also buy exotic veneer and glue it to the plywood. I once made birds eye maple dash inserts this way.
cool, i think being that the body will later be painted a darker version of the oxide red it has now, more burgundy. think ill go with a cherry maple varnish, something dark and rich. its a thought...
My thoughts, I dig steel. Helps stiffen old Ford bones when welded in. I also will comment on your use of the stock ToeBoard.........man you lost a lot of potential legroom there!@ I would rethink before you commited to that.
If you want to get really crazy you can use African Ebony Wood like they did in this car. Not my kind of car but the craftsmanship is pretty spot on. I personally think a Dark Hard Mahogany would look rad but I guess it depends on you exterior color. Did Henry paint them or leave them bare?
Oh and the I think the grain should not flow perpendicular to the car (especially the floorboards) but that is just me being anal.
I use 3/4'' ply for noise deadening and glue with contact cement, powder coated flat sheet metal to the underside for clean looks. Could flat stainless sheet if prefered.
I've got a pair of tractor seats from the same amish guy that cast those... Had em for 4 years, apparently I should've gotten my coupe done quicker so people could see them?
thanks for your thoughts. i know what you mean about the toeboard. the driver doesnt really need it cause the peddles are in the way, the passenger is the one that looses. thing is, behind the pedals its difficult to make the boards. the 30 clutch and brake take up a lot of space when pressed. making the driver toeboard (like stock) and the passenger further back creates an awkward situation to connect the 2 over the transmission. if you have examples id love to see it. thanks for the examples, i agree with ya on the grain should run parallel front to back. so far my plans are to paint he body flat burgandy (brandy) and the frame a gloss version. most suspension components will be gloss black as will the dash. so i think a nicely varnished cherry could work with everything. got it 3/4" helps with the noise. think ill be varnishing both sides so that the bottom will look just as good as the top. only thing will be the black floor structure will be underneath everything. ill try another template with chip board to try and gain more leg room.
I think that Brandy color is going to be awesome. I have really been considering it for my coupe lately. Kind of like a Nararro Roadster type color right? Sooo Nice.
The Jalopy Journal
