Hey guys, just getting ready to do the floor in my chopped and channelled 31 model A. Can anyone post pics of how they did there floors so I can get some ideas? Thanks!
It's not hard, build a sub floor, I used 1x1 tubing and then skin it. If you have a bead roller then get creative on the panels. are you planning on having the floor removable or welded and carpeted over, there is lots of options. Do a search.
Ya... 1x1 and sheeting was what I was thinking aswell so i can keep some head room, I just wanted to see some construction photos To get some visuals ya know? I did some searches but didn't come up with much.
And no I will not have a removable floor. I want the floor skeleton and sheet to be part of the body and not secured to the frame just set on it so when I pull the body the floor comes with it....if that makes sense....
I don't have any good pictures of my floor, but I used 1x1 with "main tubes" running between the a pillars and b pillars. The attached picture is the rear half from the b-pillar back. On top of the tubing I've got 18g welded to the tubes and where it interfaces with the firewall. I've also attached a finished shot - the plywood still needs to be varnished.
Didn't do a subfloor out of tubing on mine. 18g steel with a center channel that runs across the top of the frame rails and k-member for some extra support. The sides I added some bent channels to extend the existing subfloor up to the new floorboards.
Rusty got it right. No manufacturer ever felt that it was necessary to add all the weight of square tubing to the floor. Do it right and the next owner wont have to cut your work out.
This is what I meant by the channel added to the existing structure. The extra 2 inches on top of the bottom door jam. It runs the length of the entire floor from the firewall just to infront of the wheel wells. Plus you can see that perpendicular channel just behind the e-brake. All the strength and support is built into the floor itself. It also continues back up and over the frame to create the inner trunk as well.
Thanks for the comments guys this is good info for me keep it comming.....the main reason I was thinking 1x1 tubing was to add some structural integrity back to the bottom of the body since I had to cut the floor completely out. I like the 2" channel idea but since I chopped the top I can't sacrifice that extra inch of head room..lol might be able to do the same with 1"....
I contemplated getting a set of repop rails, or even trying to fab something similar, but channeling a model A 4" over the frame requires way to much of it chopped out. The original subrails and the lower 6" of the body I started with didn't even have enough remaining metal to even make a pattern from. The 1" tube I used is no heavier than the original subrails - 18g tubing, properly laid out and welded is sufficiently strong and light. Oh - and if anyone has a dimensioned sketch of model a subrails that I was supposed to copy, post them up. I searched for hours to find just the basic width measurements at the a and b-pillars. Most of the references that folks point to for measurements are the frame drawings.
This will give you an idea what I did. I wanted it to be super strong. Just be aware you want your door gaps right before starting the floor especially if you build it really rigid. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Subrails with metric dimensions. I think I made a copy and converted to inches. PM me if you want those. RB
Think about recesses in the floor, this gives more headroom. It a lot of extra work but if you need headroom with a chop&channel rig ...
Great pics guys thanks! I don't think I can use left-right sub rails because of my 4" channel. So without that its looking like 1x1 unless I'm missing something. These pics are giving me really good examples thanks, the continued help is much appreciated!
Saving to the library of useful stuff. I may even CAD that up... Thanks for posting that - that is amazingly hard to come by.
Are you 100% sure all these dimensions are correct? If they are I have big problems with my new rails. Can someone verify these please? In Std. not Metric would be great. Thanks