Floorboard Trickery

Having built a few cars, I know now what I like, and what I don't like..

one thing I like is a relatively flat floor, I despise a tall transmission tunnel.

and I HATE openings that allow HOT AIR into the passenger compartment.

this one piece front toe board and integrated transmission cover (still needs to be bolted and seam sealed in) should solve both those problems.

YES.. it will be "bolted" and seam sealed, so that in a pinch, it can come out to enable service to the transmission

around back.. another trick, something that I have incorporated into several cars I have built..



This panel (which will be under the rear seat) will allow me to access (from the top side) the drive shaft, rear air springs and (through another panel not shown) have access to the rear differential.

As a result, servicing these components can be completed from "the top side" and I may never need to crawl under the car again!

Each of these panels will be sealed so as to eliminate the infiltration of hot air into the car..

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you.. and me.

Progress is a good gift.

4PM - 4AM.. 12/30/2008:

Finish inner fenders, weld to car, bolt running boards and rear fenders on, and prep for fitting the "patch panels to the front of the rear fender's.

INSIDE OUT..

I had a crazy idea that I could shape my rear inner fenders. (owning a english wheel and a power hammer gives you those silly thoughts)

of course, I would only build inner fenders because the stockers I had found were so expensive.. that I just couldn't justify the cost. Even if they were "worth it"

Given that I have a few extra 40 ford parts.. I went to the stash today to see what I could come up with.

heres were it started

a few years ago.. I bought these stock inner "coupe" rear wheel houses

this one came back from the sandblaster in pretty poor condition. ..

my wife helped me mark it, and then we used the plasma cutter to trim it.
had this inner fender been in better shape.. I might have used a pair of these (rather than have progressed to attempt #2


given that this inner fender looked like it may have worked..
I got this crazy idea that perhaps one of the spare rear stock 40 coupe fenders I had might work even better..


a few minutes of figuring, trimming, and viola..




the driver side worked well.. but I quickly realized that the passenger side could be done with less trimming..



dont let the fenders fool you.. both were ROUGH.. at the front and rear edges (toward the bottom) as such.. both were really only good enough for this particular application..

currently they are "clamped in place" next I'll work on bolting them into my subfloor, and screwing them into the wood. Following this process I will hopefully be able to assemble the rear fenders onto the car with the running boards and finish the repairs to the outers..

soon we might just have a complete floor!

FLOORED

Started to work on the front floor installation..

Should have photos tomorrow.. looks good, thanks to "Precision Coach Works" and David Bradley floor pans.

Amazing what a minimal amount of sheet metal can do.