Technical Are the wooden body blocks required?

I've done some searching and I can't find anything that tells me if I am required to use the wooden body block mounts. I am building a 1929 Model A Closed Cab Truck and I am leaning towards going fenderless. I have a ton of parts on the way to my house right now and I am getting ready to jump into this build. Can I mount the body directly to the frame, or do I have to use the body blocks? Sorry if I am beating a dead horse, but I couldn't find anything explaining whether to use them or not. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

You probably don't have to use wood but you should use something to cushion all that's going on.

I also assume some amount of panel/fender alignment shiming happens with those wood blocks

 

Blocks or rubber will be needed to align the body. HRP

 

(See above) Yes you do need the wood blocks. The body actually sits on them and the rubber pads allow for door adjusting and quieting squeaks.

 

Thanks Hotrodmyk, that's what I needed to know.

 

If you are building a highboy, the space between the body and frame looks strange. My 30 Tudor highboy sits on the frame with only a welting to dampen vibration. Works perfect and my doors work. This is what I used from Mac's Model A parts.

Warren
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/reliving-my-youth.984769/

Body To Frame Welt - 1/8 X 2 X 20' Roll With Adhesive Backing


Click on above image to view full picture(s)




Part #: 28-26865-1
Alt Part #: B5000AS
Price:
$32.99 rl.

 

where the body mount bolts are on an A cab , are actually up inside a hat section called the subrail, so you do need a spacer otherwise the body will sit hard on the rail in the wrong spots, and pull the doors out of alignment, and probably squeek too! the stock wood blocks are the simplest way, I usually make my own so i can customise the sizes to get the body/frame gap nice and small. you can obviously just plane them down to suit too.

 

Thanks for all the info, it is very appreciated.

 

Last summer I worked on a 54 Ford that was turned into a 4x4. When i was pulling the fenders off i discovered that all of the body bushings where made of hockey pucks. Seems hokey but it worked, may be worth a shot.

 

They also work well when used as engine mounts.

 

I ended up purchasing the correct wood blocks, my chassis is not boxed so will still flex a lot. If I was fully boxing I would have used fabricated steel pads with rubber blocks between the chassis and the mounts, each will still require some form of shims to get everything correctly aligned.
A old tire tread cut apart into blocks would be good for the rubber block (or a old conveyer belt) if you have something to cut it up.

 

Wood blocks are traditional.

I mocked up with wood, got my doors hung and square, then machined new blocks that included shim sizes. Just trim the height to get the body closer to the frame. I used a non traditional material... UHMW (ultra high molecular weight polypropylene). You can cut it on a table saw, drill in the drill press. It won't squeak, split, rot, warp, break, shrink, or grow mold.

If you live in a city with a plastics distributor, go look in the dumpster for cutoffs. Or look on that auction site.

 

Get yourself a wood graining kit and you are all set. Nice work. Bob

 

I forgot to mention that you can't paint or glue UHMW. It comes in black or white.